Well researched, well written and an historical romance with
plenty of punch, Mia Marlowe and Connie Mason's
collaboration must be rated a success.
The characters seem to behave within the parameters set by
their historical circumstances, the passion and emotion is
certainly appropriate and the story line has enough twists
and turns to captivate most people who enjoy historical
romance.
On a personal level, however, I did not enjoy the reading of
BETWEEN A RAKE AND A HARD PLACE. I respect and have enjoyed
many books by Connie Mason in the past, and I think I have
also read some Mia Marlowe works I enjoyed. What set this
book into a niche rarely occupied, a book I find difficult
to read is probably a foible of my own, and should not be
used to judge the book by other readers' standards. On the
off chance a reader shares my particular quirk, however, my
own sense of responsibility as a reviewer means I need to
lay it out, so they can be warned off a bit.
What happens is the two main characters have secrets one
from another, most especially the male lead has necessary
secrets that are kept from the female lead. These are
secrets that would betray not only himself but others should
he share them. Because of those secrets, however, the female
lead jumps to an erroneous conclusion and makes a decision
and takes an action that could very well mean the man she
loves would lead a shadowed life forever after. On a
positive note, Marlowe and Mason have clearly created
characters I found easy to care about, or that particular
twist would have meant very little to me.
I truly hate that type of situation, where the ignorance of
a character causes the plot to twist in a way horrible to
read about. Like I said, it is an oddity in my own reading
profile. If that sort of thing adds to the enjoyment of a
book, or doesn't particularly bother you then BETWEEN A RAKE
AND A HARD PLACE is a very good book to read.
Wealthy heiress Serena Osborne feels like her father is
determined to sacrifice her on the marriage altar. The Duke
of Kent is negotiating for a bride, and the wickedly
appealing Sir Jonah Sharp is sent to woo the Lady Serena on
the Duke's behalf. It only muddies the waters when she
succumbs to Jonah's charm. Repeatedly. But Jonah has a
secret agenda-to prevent the marriage at any cost. When
Serena is kidnapped in a desperate attempt to force the
royal betrothal, Jonah realizes his new agenda is to secure
a bride-for himself.
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