ARC Review: How to Romance a Rake by Manda Collins

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
 
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Miss Juliet Shelby has had a tendre for the dashing Lord Alec Deveril since she first met him, but as one of the “Ugly Ducklings” she knows he is well above her social standing and despite his gentlemanly manners and friendship she knows he will never want anything more. As well as being on a lower social rung, she is also crippled and cursed with a selfish overbearing mother who is ruthlessly intent on her marrying a man she finds repulsive and a little scary. But with one of Juliet’s old friends disappearance and the offer of dancing lessons, Alec and Juliet become close and neither can seem to deny their attraction.After reading How to Dance with a Duke I have been looking forward to reading the next in the Ugly Ducklings series and I wasn’t disappointed, it was fun, romantic and sweet. As with How to Dance with a Duke the book had a mystery to be solved, which gave Juliet and Alec an excuse to spend time together, but more then that the mystery itself was genuinely interesting if not a little disturbing (in a good way!) and I liked the unexpected twist at the end.

Although the title of the book How to Romance a Rake is deceiving as I thought Alec was in no way rakeish at all, he was a gentleman and a very sweet, gallant one and I did like him. He was the kind of man you would bring to meet your parents but would still ravish you on the carriage back home! Juliet, although I preferred Cecily from the first book, I still really liked and it isn’t often that you have a heroine with such a disfigurement.

This was an enjoyable almost a friends-to-lovers book where the hero and heroine were perfectly suited and an interesting mystery to make sure the story is told at a steady pace, I highly recommend it!

*ARC provided by publisher

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Suzanne

Blogger/Reviewer at Under the Covers Book Blog

Gosh, we all seem to be admitting our ages…and I hate that I am at the point in life when admitting my age is a “thing”…whodda thunk it? I was kind of hoping I would remain 21 forever. However, I have moved out of that New Adult stage of my life and am now strictly in the Contemporary Romance age zone of 28. I would prefer to be in an Urban Fantasy arena, but I don’t think I own enough black leather. However, I could probably squeeze into some PNR, I am fully prepared to give a horn job to my favourite demon, or suck on my sexy vamps…fangs and I am definitely up for some heavy petting with some fine looking shifters. Than again their’s always Sci Fi…I am fully prepared to do the right thing and help some poor alien race with more 6 packs than a supermarket repopulate their planet. Not that I am loose woman or anything.

Annnnnd I will stop myself there, before I start waxing lyrical about my love of historical romance and fantasy as well; no one needs to know about my elf fantasies. As you can tell, I adore and day dream about most romance genres, and my three big loves are 1) reading about romance 2) writing about romance and 3) talking about romance with my gals. Which, is why I love Under the Covers so much, I get all my bookish needs satisfied and don’t get judged when I talk about my favourite characters like they are real people. Which they are right?

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