Redeeming a Rake

by Cari Hislop

Geoffrey Lyndsey Grayson, the thirteen Duke of Lyndhurst, is trapped in an emotional winter. His childhood dream of finding love is frozen under thick sheets of ice along with his heart. He feels nothing but discomfort as he passively waits for death to end the nothingness. Receiving a summons to his mother's latest ball, he decides he might as well attend as sit there and die. Stepping into the ballroom his eyes are drawn to a woman wearing a pale blue silk dress and rubies in her white blonde hair; she's wearing his colours. Meeting her gaze he feels a strange sharp pain through his forehead. He has to meet her to see if she can make him feel anything else. He tries to aproach her, but the horrified crowd unconsiously swirls around her keeping the young woman out of reach. Shunned in his own ballroom he stands alone watching her dance. He knows it's too late for love. Geoffrey's kind heart and youthful beauty were lost on the road to depravity, leaving a repulsive empty shell. When the young woman breaks several strict social rules and aproaches him to introduce herself he's suddenly enveloped in warmth as if he's stepped into the sunlight. Confronted by the smiling Widow Spencer's friendship the ice begins to melt, reviving his heart causing agonising guilt. He doesn't deserve the smiling woman, but he'll do anything to convince her that he's willing to change, but redemption will cost him dear.


The young Widow Spencer has no wish to remarry, but tucked away in her heart is a dream to find her childhood hero. She never saw his face and failed to learn his name. He was an elegant hand wearing a large ruby ring whose small act of kindness gave birth to hope that helped her keep smiling and dreaming even when hell threatened to swallow her whole. She's attending the Duchess of Lyndhurst's ball when a deathly hush falls over the gathering and she turns to see the never mentioned Duke of Lyndhurst dressed in pale blue silk ornamented with numerous rubies. Meeting his gaze she's rocked by an inexplicable wave of pleasure. She must speak with him, whatever the cost.

ebook

First published December 20, 2010

About the author

I’m an American married to an adorable English Goblin. I’m an artist with a degree in fashion design, but I’ve always been a story teller. Stories are everywhere; in every scent, every glimpse out of the corner of the eye. The most magical moments of my life have been born of ‘what if?’.

I’ve been making up stories as long as I can remember. At ten I started writing (it was a romance – the girl’s parents are killed by a plane falling on their house so of course she moves to England. Don’t ask me where she got the money or the passport!). I knew I was going to grow up to be an author! All my artistic talents (portrait artist, sculptor, illustrator) converge on my favorite subject; people. I find both individuals and general humanity endlessly fascinating.

Reviews

[tacitus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. It was far more on the serious side than most of Hislop's other novels (which have a delightful farce element to them). That element is still present here with the outrageous dialogue and near complete lack of restraint in the characters (which is actually a refreshing twist on the usual oppressive restraint of regency novels).

Be forewarned that the hero here really is an anti-hero in the most serious sense. He isn't just a little bad, or bad by Regency standards. He is AWFUL. The terrible lengths he has to go to in order to achieve redemption are appropriate considering the terrible things he has done.

I also really liked the heroine, which I will admit is rare. Far too often, heroines in historical romance are overly-sensitive, reticent flakes, but Hislop actually manages to write a strong, intelligence heroine that ISN'T a (excuse my French) ball-busting harpy (another flaw common in Historical Romance).

Lastly, in case it concerns you, know that Hislop's novels (thus far) are very PG-13 and don't feature any sex scenes. Just adorable smooching and longing, LOL!! =D

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted more. I hated the feeling of uncertainty at the end. Will he be ok? Will they grow old together. Hmmm.

[Facemaker01 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of Cari's novels I have read and thoroughly enjoyed both. There is an otherworldly, at times fairy tale aspect to the plots. Dialogue is quite playful and whimsical. The physical attributes of our main characters are far removed from the traditional Regency heros and heroines. Geoffrey is not an attractive specimen at all. Rather cadaverous in fact. 17 years of debauchery have taken their toll and now at age 37 he is to be avoided at all costs. Tolerance Spencer; 22 yrs old and a widow, is also described as rather plain, yet for some reason Geoffrey is drawn to her and his dark and crusty hardened walls start to crumble slowly.
Tolerance seeks out Geoffrey at a ball and the story follows on from this moment. It is a lovely tale of redemption and a rather unusual courtship through shared dreams and letter writing. Of course there are some major hiccups along the way. The ending is kind of what we hoped for, yet a little lacking. As another reviewer commented, it would be nice to read that Geoffrey and Tolerance had a long life together with children of their own. Given both their family histories, to have them be loving parents would be lovely.
The supporting characters are interesting as well and I particularly loved Geoffrey's long suffering butler Howard!
Overall, a pleasant read.

[KitCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please get a proofreader

Good story with great dialogue. I always love how this author describes things - rather poetically. However, as per her other book I read, the spelling errors let it down e.g. Writing complement instead of compliment. They have different meanings! I also found the ending rather abrupt, it felt like there were pages missing!