Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Rake’s Inherited Courtesan by Ann Lethbridge
Historical romance released by Harlequin Historical 1 Apr 09

God bless Harlequin. When it comes to slapping books with sensational titles and back cover descriptions, they just can’t seem to help themselves. The heroine in Ann Lethbridge’s first book for Harlequin Historicals is not a courtesan. Her mother was a prostitute, she is not. And the hero? The exact opposite of a rake. Not even remotely rakish. In fact, he wouldn’t know how to be rake even if he had a private tutor and a handbook on the subject. Harlequinization aside, this is a decent little story and ideal for readers who can’t get enough of Regency propriety.

Christopher Evernden is at the reading of his late uncle’s will when he spies his uncle’s lovely “ward” for the first time, Mademoiselle Sylvia Boisette. She’s impossibly, breathtakingly beautiful, and everyone in the family just knows that she was his late uncle’s mistress. Mistresses aren’t necessarily scandalous, unless, like Uncle John, you bring home a lovely bit of muslin from France when the girl is barely 12-years-old. Because of that scandal, Christopher has had virtually no contact with his uncle and is mostly at the funeral to represent the family because, scandal or not, someone should be there.

However, he gets the shock of his life when Uncle John’s will requires him to be Sylvia’s new guardian and protector! Sylvia isn’t any happier with the arrangement. Longing for a quiet life and respectability, she had big plans to strike out on her own. However, as she quickly learns, those plans have gone up in smoke. With nowhere to turn to, and no one running to her aid, she finds herself dependent on Christopher. Even more so when it becomes apparent that some very bad men are after her.

This story starts out a leisurely pace, and relies quite a bit on Christopher’s gentleman’s propriety to fuel the early scenes between him and Sylvia. Christopher is very proper, very gentlemanly, and genuinely a nice guy. It’s his older brother, Garth, who is the reprobate (and boy howdy, I cannot wait to read Garth’s story!) and Christopher has spent his whole life overcompensating. Garth antagonizes their mother, Christopher placates her. So to find himself wrapped up with Sylvia causes quite a bit of commotion in the family dynamic.

I did find myself frustrated by the lack of communication between Sylvia and Christopher. Lord deliver me from Regency characters who just won’t come out and say exactly what’s on their minds. Misunderstandings and miscommunication ensues, Syliva runs, Sylvia gets in trouble , Christopher rescues, Christopher assumes, Christopher runs etc. etc. etc. After a while I wanted to shake them both senseless.

The latter half of the story comes to a boil a lot faster than the earlier chapters, with some spicy love scenes, a dramatic soap-opera ending to the conflict, and the final happily-ever-after. All in all, it was a pleasant story and I happily kept flipping the pages to see how the peril Sylvia found herself in would be resolved. But propriety be damned, I couldn’t help but wish they would just sit over a pot of tea and really, truly talk to each other. Of course that probably would have made the story 100+ pages shorter.

Grade: C+

Summary:
.
Daughter of a Parisian courtesan, Sylvia Boisette longs for respectability, though gossips say she is nothing more than a gentleman’s paramour. Now, with her guardian dead, she finds herself in a shocking situation….
.
Christopher Evernden is appalled by his uncle’s will—Mademoiselle Boisette is now his courtesan! Although his body responds to Sylvia’s tempting sensuality, he knows he should rid himself of his disreputable charge. But, surprisingly, Sylvia has a vulnerability to match her exceptional beauty. Perhaps his inherited mistress could become his rightful bride!
.
Read an excerpt