It's a fairly rare thing for a regency romance book to get five stars from me. They are all soooooo similar. I enjoy them. I do. But I don't usually find many that rise above the crowd when it comes to plot or characters. The Perfect Rake manages to do that, though. In Gideon, Anne Gracie has created one of the best heroes of the genre. Practically perfect in every way. Every heroine deserves a hero who is so attentive and caring and protective and willing to do ANYTHING to ensure that the heroine finds true happiness. Gideon is just such a hero. For the first half of the book Gideon was shaping up to be a fairly average hero of this genre. He's simply a man labeled a rake by society who doesn't seem to attempt to do anything of substance in the world. He just roams from pleasure to pleasure to pleasure without ever bothering to commit to anything in life. For this genre? Typical. And just like is wont to occur in these sorts of books, Gideon sees our heroine, Prudence, and pretty much immediately decides that his rakish ways are a thing of the past. He is a man in love. I've read it all before. Like I say, I enjoy these stories, but I know what I'm getting when I grab them. But at the 50% mark of the book things changed. Gideon finds out that Prudence has been beaten and terrorized by her grandfather for most of her life. Once Gideon realizes the awful truth the story takes off and heads into five star territory. That scene where Gideon learns the truth was beautiful. He rises to the occasion in such a beautiful way. Prudence doesn't always see just how much Gideon has changed, but (oh man!) does Gideon change! This is not a frivolous man wiling away his day with wasteful activities only meant to be fun and temporary. He is a man who will not allow the woman of his heart to suffer at the hands of others. Loved him! I loved the story. I loved how Prudence is trying so hard to be a woman of honor, but she is so quick to berate herself for the mistakes of her past. She cannot forgive herself and allow herself to have happiness. Instead she makes up an alternate reality in her head that makes her feel better about keeping her commitments, even if those commitments are not the right thing to do. I loved, loved, loved Prudence's uncle and Gideon's aunt. The only criticism I do have for the story was that the grandfather was a bit too evil. I like more nuance in my villains. In the end they try to explain exactly why he was so predictably awful, but I still think it would have been scarier and more realistic if there were patches of good mixed in with the awful of the grandfather. There is another villain who emerges at the end of the story as well who I will not mention in order to avoid spoiling things. I think that the story would have been enhanced as well if this guy had not been so bad. It made things conveniently easy for Prudence in the end, but I don't think this villain had to be quite so icky. Still, I give this book a strong five stars. It is a story that I am sure I will read again in the future.

this was exactly what I had been hoping for when starting a new historical romance.

4.5

Very happy, sweet, silly read.

This was delightful! I picked it up on a whim and wasn't expecting much, but it turned into this wonderful gift of a book. The hero and heroine are strong on their own and together they're a treat- romantic, funny and well written. The hero's love for the heroine is almost overwhelming. It's so nice to read something where the man is so completely gobsmacked by the woman and is beyond effusive in his praise of her. I had a great time reading this and look forward to the next.

I enjoyed this story. I liked both Gabriel and Prudence as characters and their relationship. There were a few key phrases that were repeated through the book that irritated me but over all I liked the story. What's not to like about girls overcoming evil and finding love all at the same time?

After reading two of her books, I think I am giving up on this writer because she has the WORST sex scene timing. "Before we have sex for several pages, let me tell you a terrible sob story about my past to get you in the mood." By the time the two get together I am not interested.