The Taming of the Rake by kasey Michaels

August 18, 2011

Road Trip! Road Trip! Road Trip! Saddle up those ponies we are off on an adventure!

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Kasey Michaels has been around for quite awhile. In fact, a number of her older books are some of my favorites, but I've been disappointed in her newer offerings. I opened The Taming of the Rake with a little trepidation. Have you ever picked up a book and from the very first page, just knew that it was going to be a humdinger? Well, my fellow readers, Ms. Michaels' latest is that and I was more than delighted to find a little bit of the old Kasey Michaels hiding in those chapters.

This is the beginning of a new series about the three illegitimate Blackthorne brothers: Beau, Puck and Jack. The first story is about the eldest brother, Beau, and his nemesis, the heroine, Chelsea.

As I read this story, it became hard for me to say which of these two characters I liked best. I love Chelsea - she reminded me a lot of some of the women from a Preston Sturges movie - rapid-fire, snappy, smart dialog - quick witted and always one step ahead of the hero. This doesn't mean she's mean, it's just she has a wise-cracking mouth. However, she has a brain to go with that mouth. She also sees the frailties of the people surrounding her, especially our hero Beau.

Beau. What a wonderful hero. And the moniker of rake is misleading; he's more of a a bad boy. Beau's character is also loaded with fun dialog, but there seem to be more layers to him. And, after being introduced to his mother and father, a lot of his layers are explained. Ms. Michaels has created quite a fascinating dysfunctional family. I'm really looking forward watching the family dynamics unfold. Beau's brother Puck plays a large part in this book and while he seems a bit of a frivolous fellow, I suspect there's a lot that doesn't meet the eye. Jack has a smaller part in the book; however, his character seemed to be a lot darker. And wait till you meet the mother - what an appalling woman!

Back to Beau. I loved watching him as he fell in love - it was a mighty struggle, but pretty funny.

The is also a trio of villains, or as they end up, a trio of not very nice sleazy people. They were even interesting, but I doubt we will see them in the next books.

The Taming of the Rake was a great story of two people who have an adventure and along the way discover love. I was on my way to giving this book a really high rating, except there was just one too many adventures or maybe two to many. And even though there was an explanation given for the enmity between Beau and Chelsea's brother, I found it a little lacking considering how many lives were disrupted. But those were just minor quibbles in an otherwise wonderful book. For those of you who are fans of Ms. Michaels, you're going to like this one. And for those of you who have never read her, this is a good one to start with.

Time/Place: Regency England
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