Review of 'The Rake's Challenge' by Rachel Hyde at Myshelf.com

                                                       
             

               The Rake’s Challenge       

              Beth Elliott

       Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

 

Anna Lawrence is not at all keen on life at home and runs away to emulate her hero Childe Harold. She hasn’t got far when she is molested by two young men intent on some “sport”, but is rescued by a mysterious stranger. This is none other than London’s most notorious rake Giles Maltravers, the Earl of Longwood and saving damsels in distress is not something he is normally associated with. But this young miss hardly out of the schoolroom awakens something in him and he is determined to protect her. Surely nothing amiss can happen once she is safely delivered to her place of employment as companion to an old lady?

Ms Elliott knows how to write just the kind of Regency romance I enjoy. Anna makes for a delightfully fresh and engaging heroine, whilst Giles manages not to be overbearing thus avoiding those endless bickering spats that have me closing the book in some romances. Instead this is a story where two people really do get to know – and like – each other and it is full of enjoyable moments. Anna’s new employers are Italians and are up to something underhand – what? Then there are descriptions of Brighton in its heyday and all the things that the ton did there. This is a relaxing, sunny treat of a novel with much to recommend it for fans of writers like Georgette Heyer.