“What do ladies wear beneath their riding trousers?” “I would think an infamous rake would already know.” “I was never infamous. In fact, I’m fairly standard as far as rakes go.”

In one word: Roguish

Cannonball Read Bingo: Gateway

My one word may seem a little on the nose because “rake” is right there in the title, but this is a fun romp about three roguish rakes (or two and a half really, since one fellow is introduced mainly as the set-up to book #2 in the series) who have forsaken love for either leisure or work but might be (okay, definitely will be) answering the siren song of a woman soon. Though I started with book 5 of this series because it was the only available at the library and The Ravenels came highly recommended from my romance-loving pal, I think this book is a great introduction to romance, and to Lisa Kleypas.

The main story is between Devon and Lady Trenear who are the A Plot of this will they/won’t they battle of wits in the English countryside (Spoiler. They will). She’s a widow a bit before her time, with both a commitment to propriety but also a propensity for speaking her mind. He inherited the estate from his late cousin and has every intention of parsing it, selling it, and continuing his life of leisure.

We also are introduced to Devon’s brother West, similarly rake-ish, who has no romantic machinations in this installment, but will go toe-to-toe with another wily woman in book 5 of this series. The last strapping gentleman we meet is Reese Winterborne, the Scottish department store owner who came up from the streets to make his considerable fortune. Unlike the rest of the crowd, he doesn’t come from means so he has massive chips stacked on his broad shoulders and an icy demeanor that is only warmed to about 35 degrees by the end of this book, as Helen and he attempt a courtship. But book two is where we are going to see if they can work things out (Spoiler. I bet they d0). Rounding out all these couples are the two young sisters of the widow’s deceased husband, Pandora and Cassaundra, who have been kept from society and are breaths of fresh air in the stale house, shrouded in mourning curtains.

This marks only the third romance book I have ever read and I gotta say, I’m here for it. So far I’ve only down audio and the charming woman who reads The Ravenels series is a delight. If you have been interested in the romance genre and don’t know where to start, I humbly submit this as your first foray.