A review by aoifesbookshelf
The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie

adventurous emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book just... didn't do it for me. Which is a pity because it had so many elements I enjoyed and I liked some of the characters. 3.5 stars almost feels too harsh and yet anything higher feels like too much. 

Lets start with what I enjoyed.
  • The main characters: 
    • Prue and Gideon were great. Genuinely great characters and had they not have been, this book would have been a DNF for me. 
    • Both of them were mature, yet funny. They knew when to be serious and when to be lighthearted. 
    • Gideon was a dream. One of the best MMCs in HR. The title of the book was apt; The Perfect Rake. Rakish and flirty but smart and protective. His attraction to Prue made him even better. He only had eyes for her despite everyone else thinking she was the plain, ugly ducking sister.
    • Prue, the mother figure to her sisters. Right from the beginning we see that she is selfless and will do anything to save her sisters. She will always out herself in the firing line and take the blame. Everything she does, she does with her sisters in mind. 
  • The supporting characters; James, Sir Oswald and Lady Augusta
  • The
    Fake courtship!
    This is one of my favourite tropes when its done well
  • Gideon & Grace's dynamic. Very sweet.

Now, what I didn't like
  • The three middle sisters. I didn't feel connected to them at all. They have no personalities or defining features and simply blended together. When I finished this book, I want to be excited for the following 3 but I wasn't. I have no desire to read about them. In all honestly I was far more interested in
    Ozzie & Gussie.
  • There was too much going on
    • The Grandfather and his very graphic
      abuse
    • The runaway plot and fake letter 
    • Misaken identity 
    • Fake courtship!
       
    • Secret courtship/proposal between Prue and Philip
    • The backstory between Gideon and Edward's parents 
    • Another runaway but this time with the Heros
    • Gideon getting shot. This was resolved very quickly and honestly felt as through it was there for drama's sake when there was enough of that already
    • Philip's return, ending of the engagement, him being married to someone else
    • The miscarried baby
    • Being found by the grandfather
    • Prue getting kidnapped
    • A wedding!
  • There was about 2 books worth of plot lines here and it was all simply too much for me that I couldn't enjoy it. It was all tied together at the end but there was so much to keep track of.
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