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Thank you, NetGalley and Escape Publishing, for the chance to read and review the ARC for Her Worthy Rake by Charlotte Anne.
Her Worthy Rake comes out on the 1st of January. The book will be published by Escape Publishing which is a part of Harlequin Books, which in turn is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
On the surface, the elements in this book were good and should have worked. A woman is looking for her twin brother, who goes missing after being forced to fight for his country after committing a crime without having the chance to say goodbye. As she looks for him, entering a life of genteel poverty, she comes across a family willing to help her and falls in love with the man who (accidentally) pushed her into the Thames. We also have a queer character and a subplot regarding publishing a pattern book.
All of this should have worked, but it didn't. For a book that is under 300 pages, it kept going on and on. It was so utterly boring that it'll be a while before I read another regency romance. I hated the twin brother they worked so hard to save; he didn't get enough trouble for what he did. Like he gets a hug and gets to go away. Not one note to his sister? No attempt to use the money he has that could help his sister and everyone else? I also don't enjoy how quickly they got the publisher to give up E.E., given how long he seems to have held out. I liked the dog, though. He had more personality than all the other characters.
On that note, armpit licking and boots staying on are things I will never understand. That was also incredibly specific, and I didn't need to know that!