The Dissolute Rake

by Francine Howarth

"Do not say it, unless you mean it"
A scandalous moment of surrender to Marcus Fairweather, Earl of Sheldon and May Thorne is riddled with guilt: all despite the fact her debauched husband’s passions are sated anywhere but in the marital bed. Worse, when Squire Thorne is brutally murdered, her legacy is determined by a clause in her late husband’s will. Thus wedlock to his lawyer, a man of zealous moral and religious bent is utterly abhorrent to her. Nonetheless, the lawyer is of mind to enact the clause in haste, and his ardent advances are somewhat intense and unsettling. But who shot Squire Thorne poses a mystery – the lawyer, the earl, or a strange intruder who steals nothing? In the aftermath of death a long-held family secret is finally revealed, and when a shadowy figure looms in her moonlit bedchamber, she fears the outcome...

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 15, 2017

About the author

A portrait, a landscape, wind whispering through trees, a droplet of rain or snowflake on eyelashes: all can stir Francine's imagination and result in either a modern contemporary romance, or that of a steamy historical. Francine is not only an ex-mainstream published author and ex publisher, she's now a self published author. Years back she was a professional reviewer for a well-known magazine supplement, and still writes reviews for several romance review web sites.

See her reviews @ https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pdp/profi...

facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/francine.how...

But please feel free to visit her blog:
http://francinehowarth.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those Regency Rakes are definitely a degenerate bunch, though some are entirely able to be saved from a sad and lonely end. The story heats up almost immediately, no coy hanging around for the two main characters in this Regency tale- though it’s perfectly clear from the disclaimer that it is going to be ‘steamy’.

It’s a quick read, a mix of well known themes intermingled in this tale from Ms Howarth. Well written, the author finds a distinctive voice, the language displaying a real flavour of the era yet some of the themes also seem to be very modern.

Finding real love, and satisfying lust, isn’t going to happen within the lovely May Thorne’s marriage but it’s amazing how quickly one man, Marcus Fairweather, can overturn all of her guilt. I’m totally glad it is Marcus who can make May stray because the lawyer, Harris, is an objectionable horror and very well portrayed as such!