To All the Rakes I've Loved Before by Anne Barton

Lord Stephen Brookes and Amelia Wimple






To All the Rakes I've Loved Before (Honeycote book 1.5)

By Anne Barton

Book Blurb:
After being jilted by her former beau, Miss Amelia Wimple retreated to her Mayfair town house and her ever-growing collection of gossips rags. Now, almost two years later, not even her beloved cousins, Rose and Olivia Sherbourne, can persuade her to give love another chance. But an unexpected midnight caller may open her heart once more.

Lord Stephen Brookes is the prince of pleasure, the duke of decadence-and it seems his exploits have finally caught up with him. When Stephen comes to Amelia seeking refuge, she can’t deny him . . . or the intense desire he sparks. As he attempts to heal her broken heart, they indulge in a private passion unlike anything either has experienced. Stephen knows sweet, sensual Amelia is meant to be his one and only. Now, he will do whatever it takes to convince her that a rake really can change his ways.

Very pretty cover. I was totally drawn by To All the Rakes I've Loved Before by it's beautiful cover. Well okay, the .98 price tag at Amazon and the good reviews was another. 

Unfortunately, the story did nothing for me at all. I thought for .98 I'd give a "new to me" author a try. I felt unsatisfied with the story and a whole lot of "meh". To All the Rakes I've Loved Before is a novella and is book 1.5 in the series but you can read as a stand alone without any issues at all. 

I was very confused at the title. I didn't get it. Amelia Wimple, the protagonist, was engaged a prior two years before to when this story takes place. Unfortunately she was jilted on that engagement. That was it. That was the extent of the men in her past. The man she was engaged to at the time wasn't even a rake so I felt the title was misleading. I was expecting a feisty lady who didn't want to settle down or something. 

Now Lord Stephen Brookes was a rake by reputation but all of a sudden, overnight, without any preamble leading up to his decision, he is through with being a gambling rake and wants to settle down with a wife, take on loads of estate responsibility, pay off his hefty gambling debts and even have children. I fear that is the issue with novellas; not enough time for a back-story for his predicament to warrant a change. 

He is beaten badly and rescued by his dear friend (who just happens to be the man that jilted Amelia's engagement dreams) and ends up at Amelia's house (of all places) to be nursed back to health. The ex-fiance friend is squeamish at the sight of blood and leaves Amelia and Stephen alone. Stephen's eyes are swelled shut and it even looks like one eyeball is protruding out of the socket and yet Amelia thinks he is so handsome and a maid wants to hang around him because he is so good looking????? 

The story goes on with unlikeliness after another and finally I decided it was just a novella and with all these great ratings, I must be missing something so I kept reading onward  I also must mention next issue (because this is a huge pet peeve with me) the ebook finished and it was only at 70%. I was sure that there was more to come. It didn't.