Avon, $5.99, ISBN 0-380-80289-9
Historical Romance, 1999
Eileen Putman makes the dive from traditional Regency to more mainstream historical with Never Trust a Rake, which begins with Gabriel, twelfth Baron Sinclair, sneaking into Our Lady of Mercy (a convent). Gabriel has to find a lock of virgin’s hair to win a bet, and the best Virgins-R-Us equivalent in London is, of course, a nunnery. Too bad he’d forgotten the first rule for all rakes: never mess with virgins. Before he can say, “I beg to differ!” he is ambushed, knocked out by a band of angry nuns, and sent to the gallows.
To the rescue of the gentleman-in-distress come fiery, golden-haired Louisa Peabody and her giant of an assistant David. Gabriel thinks he is in heaven with this glorious angel nursing him back to health. Life couldn’t be worse, right?
Too bad Louisa wants to rescue a thief named Alice. In the heat of the moment, David has grabbed Gabriel instead of Alice, and Louisa isn’t at all happy. And worse for Gabriel, Louisa wants nothing to do with him. Men are untrustworthy snakes in Louisa’s book. After slaving away for years to put her unappreciative father’s estates in order, that man gave her away to an abusive man in marriage. Louisa now runs a covert operation to rescue women unjustly punished by the law and offered them shelter. The only thing she wants from Gabriel was his manly expertise and not his manly… err, talents.
Gabriel isn’t too dejected. Hey, he will still get to tag along with this glorious angel. He is an accomplished Casanova, no woman has ever said “No” to him much. Besides, Louisa offers him enough money for him to leave London. A wanted criminal, he has nothing to lose.
Thus the stage is set for these two to traipse all over the place from a prison hulk to Louisa’s country house. I must admit I sometimes find Louisa a bit too reckless and impetuous, but the author does a wonderful job in sustaining my interest in the story. In fact, these two are fascinating people. Gabriel isn’t your standard rake – his debauched front is only a mask to hide his loneliness. Raised by a rather cold father on an isolated island, Gabriel’s first love is the sea. Yet he isn’t a tortured hero, nor does he indulge in self-pity party. Indeed, as he joins Louisa in her rather mad schemes of reform, he grows to admire her courage and resolution. It is a pleasure to follow his growing affection for Louisa. Gabriel is a really dashing rogue who always knows what to say at the right time. I can’t help but to like this cheeky, rather naughty young man.
Louisa too can’t resist this cad any more than I. He isn’t the unprincipled scoundrel she thought he was, and soon she isn’t trying too hard to keep some space between them. The author really stretches taut the sexual tension. These two wonderful people are friends first before lovers, which only make it more fun. The love scenes between them both are sweet, sexy, yet heartbreaking in their poignancy. The last few chapters which, under a less talented author would make me go “Huh?”, only make me want to cheer them both. Oh, and Gabriel’s realization that he loves Louisa more than anything makes me sniffle a tear or two.
And I haven’t even gone on about the touching romance between David and one of the women Louisa rescued. Or the women, called Flowers on the account of their new names (Rose, Violet, Lily – all after flowers). And a wonderful heroic horse. All these characters only serve to make this book even more enjoyable.
