My Fake Rake (The Union of the Rakes, #1)

by Eva Leigh

"[A] feast of female empowerment, positive friendships, feel-good moments, and social satire." - NPR

In the first book in Eva Leigh's new Union of the Rakes series, a bluestocking enlists a faux suitor to help her land an ideal husband only to be blindsided by real desire...

Lady Grace Wyatt is content as a wallflower, focusing on scientific pursuits rather than the complications of society matches. But when a handsome, celebrated naturalist returns from abroad, Grace wishes, for once, to be noticed. Her solution: to "build" the perfect man, who will court her publicly and help her catch his eye. Grace's colleague, anthropologist Sebastian Holloway, is just the blank slate she requires.

To further his own research on English society, Sebastian agrees to let Grace transform him from a bespectacled, bookish academic into a dashing-albeit fake-rake. Between secret lessons on how to be a rogue and exaggerated public flirtations, Grace's feelings for Sebastian grow from friendship into undeniable, inconvenient, real attraction. If only she hadn't asked him to help her marry someone else...

Sebastian is in love with brilliant, beautiful Grace, but their bargain is complete, and she desires another. Yet when he's faced with losing her forever, Sebastian will do whatever it takes to tell her the truth, even if it means risking his own future-and his heart.

• ISBN10: 1432877623
• ISBN13: 9781432877620
• Publish Date: 19 August 2020 (first published 26 November 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Thorndike Press Large Print
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 466
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leigha]

Lady Grace enlists her best guy friend into a fake romance in order to snare her dream guy, only to discover her friend might be the best catch of them all.

I loved the premise of the story, but it took me some time to invest in the characters and setting. Grace and Seb aren’t very interesting in the beginning, nor is Regency England. Watching these two boring characters interact in a boring setting made for a slow read. But the premise sounded amazing so I kept reading…and I’m so glad I did. While Seb is the one undergoing the physical makeover, it’s Grace’s character growth that fascinated me. I loved her simmering resentment of the restrictions of her society, particularly in regards to science and gender.

The two main character’s romance was epic slow burn (with a couple of annoying “just tell each other already how you feel” hair pulling moments). Their chemistry simmered from the first scene. They may have bored me in the beginning, but they obviously connected. The sex scenes were written to fan-yourself perfection. This is not a chaste romance so looks elsewhere if you prefer them.

tl;dr It may have started slowly for me, but the fascinating character growth and intense romance kept me turning the pages until the very end.