16 October 2014

The Passionate Love of a Rake Review


The Passionate Love of a Rake - Marlow Intrigues #2
by Jane Lark



Genre: Historical Romance
Period: Regency
Published: November 17th, 2013
Publisher: HarperImpulse


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What they say: The only woman who had power over notorious rake Robert Marlow was now walking away from him, again.




He'd heard Sutton had died, and known Jane was free, but he'd always thought his desire would only be for revenge, not her. Yet here he was, unable to deny what he felt for her…what he’d never felt for any other woman before…






Author Spotlight:

Jane is a writer of authentic, passionate, and emotional Historical and New Adult Romance, and a Kindle top 25 bestselling author. She began her first historical novel at sixteen, but a life full of adversity derailed her as she lives with the restrictions of Ankylosing Spondylitis. When she finally completed a novel it was because she was determined not to reach forty still saying, I want to write.

Now Jane is writing a Regency series and contemporary, new adult, stories and she is thrilled to be giving her characters life in others’ imaginations at last. You might think that Jane was inspired to write by Jane Austen, especially as she lives near Bath in the United Kingdom, but you would be wrong. Jane’s favourite author is Anya Seton, and the book which drew her into the bliss of falling into historical imagination was ‘Katherine’ a story crafted from reality.


Jane has drawn on this inspiration to discover other real-life love stories, reading memoirs and letters to capture elements of the past, and she uses them to create more realistic plots. ‘Basically I love history and I am sucker for a love story. I love the feeling of falling in love; it’s wonderful being able to do it time and time again in fiction.’


Jane is also a Chartered Member of the Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, and uses this specialist understanding of people to bring her characters to life.









Excerpt:


Robert nodded up at his driver, Parkin, before taking Jane’s hand and helping her ascend. Once she was inside, Robert turned and whispered instructions to James, then followed her in, climbing the step and ducking inside.
He neither lit the internal lamp nor drew the blinds. Instead, he let the gas lamps in the street give them a little light, but there were not many, and the carriage was frequently thrown from light into shadow as it rolled forward.
She’d taken a seat in the opposite corner, her back still stiff, her fingers clasped on her lap, and her eyes turning to the view from the far window.
He did not break the silence, but leaned against the window beside him, propping his shoulder against the pane of glass, his elbow resting on the narrow sill and his chin on his fist. He lifted one foot to the seat on the far side, leaving his knee bent. But he did not look out the window; he looked at Jane.
Lord, she was beautiful. At times, he’d thought her beauty embroidered from his patchy memories, as much of a fiction as her personality had been. Yet she was sitting before him now – it had never been a fabrication.
He’d spent his entire life since Jane honoring the beauty of women, learning to appreciate their every form, and Jane was the pattern card he judged them all by. But when he’d appreciated a woman’s body and compared it to Jane’s, that had only ever been an imagined view. He’d never seen her naked, never touched her beyond a superficial fondle. She’d been innocent, so had he, and he’d treasured it then, and treasured her.

Now, though? Now, they were experienced, mature players of the game. Now, he would know if she was all he’d dreamt.



I received a copy in exchange for an honest review!


What I say: I'm a big fan of historical/regency fiction, but to stop it from becoming 'silly fluff' (not my words) it has to be well written. Thankfully Jane Lark's writing always draws me in and she does historical well.  I seem to be making a habit of reading book series out of order and this was no exception. I started The Passionate Love of a Rake having already read a later book but this didn't really matter because the plot mainly focuses on different characters.



The story is essentially a second-chance story with a fab historical setting. After being sold off for social standing and being separated from her childhood sweetheart, Robert Marlow, Jane has spent years with a horrible and much older husband (the Duke of Sutton). Robert, now the Earl of Barrington, believes she chose becoming a Duchess over him whilst she thinks he let her go... 

Whilst Jane is sad and alone, Robert has become an infamous playboy. A chance meeting pushes them together again and Robert is determined for revenge. Jane wants acceptance and kindness. I enjoyed watching them dance around each other. Their banter was one of my favourite parts of the story.

The book is sweet and sexy. Having already read the next book in the series, it was actually nice to see younger versions of certain characters, when I already knew where they end up. 

There were a couple of moments where I was concerned about the possible direction the plot was heading and when I wanted somebody to talk some sense into Robert and Jane. 

4 Stars in my Sky!


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