The Ruin of a Rake: An Enemies-to-Lovers Historical Romance Novel of Forbidden Love

What makes Cat Sebastian’s books unique to me is how kind they are, both to their subjects, but also to their reader. “Come on over, and be happy with us,” they always seemed to say to me. A new Cat S. book is something to be cherished, and enjoyed when you’re feeling down. Ever since Soldier’s Scoundrel, I’ve felt comfortable and safe reading them, knowing I could trust her not to let me down. When a book supposedly based on Lord Courtenay’s exploits gets published, he gets denied access to his beloved nephew by his protective father. Seeing how hurt her beloved friend is, Eleanor Standish asks her younger brother, the very prim and proper Julian Medlock, to help repair Courtenay’s image. Julian, desperate to get back onto his sister’s good graces, grudgingly accepts the challenge. Forced to work together, they find companionship and hidden depths in each other, yearning for things they are unsure they deserve. Courtenay and Julian are both wonderfully complex characters who, despite everything, absolutely belong together. If asked, Julian might say he’s a bad person, who’s trying to be better. He is manipulative, completely out of touch with his emotions. He’s bossy and cold, cares too much about what others think about him and hides his true self behind a polished and shiny façade. But he’s also fiercely protective of those he loves, capable, clear-headed, and so, so very smart. People tend to forget how young he really is, Julian himself included. But when he’s around…

Oh, I like Cat Sebastian's writing a great deal and this play with the uptight hero and the rake is lovely. The connection between Courtney and Julien thrills and yet the heat between them is a sweet loving heat. I love that Courtney is turned on by Julien's genius. The plot is a fun one of making a rake respectable again but with a deeper look at why rake was a rake. Julien's illness is really well drawn and I trust that they can make their HEA work. I wanted a bit more from the book as I had read the others in the series and didn't think most of characters that have appeared before acted in character. I liked the secondary romance but wanted more insight and wanted to see Julian work through his relationship with his sister on page. Overall, a delight.

THIS BOOK, GUYS. Now THIS is a fun and thoroughly entertaining book. I decided to go ahead and listen to the audiobook the wonderful performance by Gary Furlong in The Lawrence Brown Affair. The book literally had me laughing out loud in public. There are unexpected twists and turns that I loved the banter between the two love interests! The accent and narration for one of the love interests, Courtenay, makes me swoon. The story is about Courtenay, who is as good as disgraced in the public eye and upper London society. In his twenties, Courtenay would spend what he had of his inheritance galavanting about Europe and parties and women. He is in his thirties now and grow weary of that life, and he doesn't really have that sort of money to spend in any case. When a novel is published that seems to liken the villain to his characteristics, Courtenay is further shunned and left without the only part of his family he still cares for. Julian Medlock is only 24 and has worked almost his whole adult life to polish and engrain himself and his sister into London society. He tries to keep on the straight and narrow but finds himself bored at the prospect when he loves nothing more than calculating sums and setting people's affairs in order. When the prospect arrives where Julian has to introduce and seemingly reform Courtenay to society, it breathes life into his day-to-day duties. Julian is at first scandalized that his sister and Courtenay appear to be fast friends, so he quite…

Having read two modern-day m/m romances over the July 4 weekend that both had plot holes, inconsistencies and poor research, Cat Sebastian’s excellent storytelling in Ruin of a Rake was a very welcome change! I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Quality writing (I don’t think I noticed a single typo – AMAZING) and plotting. It all just works so well and was a pleasure to read. The research was well done. It isn’t as much of a history lesson as KJ Charles’ or Joanna Chambers’ books, but there was clearly a lot of work done to get the language and propriety of the time correct. I liked both MCs and they had great chemistry. I enjoyed them each being surprised about the things they learned about each other and how they let themselves show their true personalities to each other as the book progresses. I liked that Julian has some redeeming qualities, because he comes off at first as a prissy social climber. His social machinations were clever and saved him from being too boring/irritating. The secondary characters are interesting, though Eleanor’s husband doesn’t deserve such an easy pass after being gone for 6 years. I have a few quibbles – I don’t think the book allegedly written about Courtenay’s exploits would be enough new scandal to keep Radnor from letting Courtenay see his nephew. That seems rather priggish of Radnor, which he isn’t. I’m also not sure why Courtenay felt comfortable enough to flirt with Julian so strongly and essentially identify himself as a man…

Premise: Julian Medlock is an efficient, stoic pillar of society! He is tasked to restore or at least improve the reputation of a known libertine, a person of ill repute... the Rake Lord Courtenay. Because of Courtenay reputation he has been barred from seeing his beloved nephew and he wants to change this. However, a relationship develops that changes both men forever. I stumbled upon Ms Sebastian’s novels and I’m glad I did. They are interested stories, very unexpectedly sexy, along with being romantic and sweet! I’m a fan!