Never Resist a Rake

March 16, 2015
Marlowe’s second Somerfield Park Regency (after A Rake by Any Other Name) is more fluffy than chewy. John Fitzhugh Barrett, the next marquis of Somerset, has never forgiven the snobs of high society for turning their backs on him when he was penniless, orphaned, and thought to be illegitimate. Now established as the Somerset heir and quite eligible, he has no use for the ton’s fawning attentions and rules. But he is intrigued by Rebecca Kearsy, a stubborn, innocent, and staunchly loyal bluestocking. He fears that Rebecca will suffer socially if he shuns the wealthier ladies for her, but he can’t stay away from her cheerful company. Rebecca falls for John almost instantly, but her father’s massive gambling debts put her at a disadvantage on the “marriage mart.” Plenty of farce, an easily defanged villain, and some complicated intrigues liven up this otherwise unremarkable country house party.

April 1, 2015
The invalid first marriage of a marquess is discovered to be legally binding, transforming the adult son of that marriage from a lonely bastard into a bitter lord. The second book in Marlowe's (A Rake by Any Other Name, 2014) Somerfield Park series features a love story between two naive and gullible young people. John Fitzhugh Barrett was raised by decent but unloving minor nobility after his opera-singer mother died, because he was unwanted by his unknown father's family. When it turns out that his parents' marriage hadn't been annulled, as his grandmother had tried to arrange, he's elevated to the rank of earl and dubbed Lord Hartley, heir to the Marquess of Somerset. John is understandably angry with his biological family, especially his grandmother, who orchestrated the farce to begin with because she thought it was best for the family. Urged to marry no less than an earl's daughter, John is determined to hitch himself to Miss Rebecca Kearsey, the penniless daughter of a baron. Rebecca's father is a profligate gambler, and her mother is suffering from the early stages of tuberculosis. Rebecca is sweet-tempered and gets herself into bad scrapes from which John delights in rescuing her. The book's prose is fluid, but the main characters are so insipidly stupid about human nature that it's frustrating. John is taken in by a slimy, deceitful band of rakes and is given to childish tantrums, misbehaving just to get revenge on his grandmother. Rebecca is too passive. Although she's theoretically an intelligent bluestocking and an amateur astronomer, she's completely lacking in common sense. The author's writing abilities make the book worth reading in spite of the unlikable main characters. Walk, don't run, to get your hands on it.

May 15, 2015
Rebecca Kearsey always repays a debt, and she owes John Fitzhugh Barrett her reputation if not her life. After being abducted while shopping in one of London's sketchier markets, Rebecca is offered up as the prize for the winner of a bare-knuckles boxing bout. Fortunately, John is one of the competitors, and he not only wins the match but also escorts Rebecca safely home. So when the dowager Marchioness of Somerfield asks Rebecca to convince John, who has only recently been installed as the true heir to the Somerfield title, to attend the family's annual hunting house party, Rebecca can't say no. Helping John escape the attentions of the marriage-minded mamas and their daughters, however, proves to be more difficult than Rebecca imagined, especially since she isn't completely sure that she doesn't want to marry John herself. Marlowe (A Rake by Any Other Name, 2014) has a delightfully dry wit and a definite flair for creating compelling characters with realistic foibles and relatable flaws, traits which make the second in her Somerfield Park series an absolute delight.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)