Review: How To Romance a Rake – Manda Collins

You can lead a wallflower to the ball, but you can’t make her bloom—unless one daring young bachelor turns up the heat…

What’s a nice girl like Miss Juliet Shelby doing at a place like Lord Deveril’s ballroom? With her shy demeanor, she’s a total stranger to the dance floor and a source of mockery for the ton. So imagine her surprise when Deveril gallantly comes to her defense—and offers to teach her to dance! Juliet can hardly believe the most handsome bachelor in London would notice her, until he takes her in his arms and sets her heart ablaze…

Lord Alec Deveril has never felt such a spark of attraction for an unmarried lady before. Unlike the “fashionable” ladies he’s accustomed to, Juliet possesses a generous spirit, a fiery intelligence—and an explosive secret. Deep in the London underworld, a dear friend has vanished, and Juliet fears the worst. Deveril insists on helping, escorting her through the darkest alleys in town. But he too is hiding a shocking secret—and the only way he can defeat the devil in his past is to seduce the angel in his arms…

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Reviewer’s Thoughts:

I always enjoy when an author takes a character who seems likes the least likely to obtain what others so desperately want, but ends up with that and much much.  This story has the added twist of the heroine not only being a wallflower who was ridiculed by her peers within the ton, but having the worst parents imaginable.

Juliet Shelby was one tough cookie.  Injured in a carriage accident when she was fourteen, she’s left with a limp and a secret.  That secret seems to suck the life out of Juliet.  Not because of what the secret it, but because of the stigma her own mother puts on it and Juliet’s worth as a person.  So it’s no wonder that when Alec stands up for Juliet and befriends her that she questions why he’s doing it.  Despite what she thinks Alec’s motives are, she relishes having someone other than her cousins appreciate her for who she is and support her.  She may have to fight against her mother, but even then she knew Alec would always stand behind her.

Alec is a man who suffered unimaginable cruelty at the hands of an alcoholic father.  Because of what he was subjected to, he doesn’t think he’s worth much as a man.  Sure, he’s cleaned up the tarnished name of Deveril, but what his father was and what he did still loom over Alec as an adult.  Alec finds himself needing to protect Juliet from the evil gossips and help her as she tries to find out what happened to her music teacher.  But Alec soon discovers that what he thought was friendship for Juliet was much more.  He has a hard time reconciling himself to the fact that he could care so deeply for Juliet while still harboring the nightmares of his youth.  But Juliet proves to Alec that despite what he may think, the sins of his father do not rest at his feet.

I loved this story and I loved the underdog heroine.  Despite her physical limitation and her perceived shortcomings, she absolutely shined when she met the man who saw her as the person she is and not just the girl with the limp.  An absolute treasure.