I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.
I’ve been following Lydia Lloyd’s bookstagram for some time. In it, she does a deep dive into the Regency Romance genre, exploring the various tropes and the way similar scenes play out in different novels. It’s fascinating. So I was eager to read her debut, When the Duke Loved Me, the first book in the Rake Chronicles.
John Breminster, soon to be the Duke of Edington, and Catherine Forster are two people who are meant for each other AND who absolutely cannot be together. There is a scandal in the two families’ pasts that caused a great deal of hurt for both sides. Catherine Forster’s family was ruined and she is now destitute. John suffered a rupture in his homelife, though no financial distress or much in the way of lingering scandal – he is, after all, a duke.
However, when John’s father dies, he leaves a stipulation in his will that is going to ruin the marital prospects of John’s beloved sister, Henrietta, unless he is able to find the wronged woman (or was she a deceitful temptress?), Catherine’s aunt. His only hope of finding her is to team up with Catherine.
The difficulty is that, although they are longtime enemies, they also suffer from a bad case of instalust. The forced proximity during the search risks breaking down the barriers keeping them apart.
This is a high steam Regency Romance that plays with various well-known tropes, bringing together two damaged characters whose love can heal one another. Fans of historical romance with heat will love this new addition to the genre.
The other “rakes,” John’s closest friends, stand ready to star in their own love stories as the chronicles continue.
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