Review: Rake With a Frozen Heart

Things are going from bad to worse for poor Henrietta. First, the young governess accidentally intercepts a thief breaking into her employer's home; then she gets knocked over the head and left for dead.  For a moment, her situation looks up as her dashing neighbor rescues her from a ditch. But the diversion is short lived.  As soon as she returns home, she is accused of colluding with the thief to steal the family's jewels.  Henrietta panics and runs, stowing away on a carriage bound for London. A carriage that belongs to none other than Rafe, that mysterious stranger who saved her.

Rafe is quite taken with Henrietta, though he doesn't want to be.  He's a man full of contradictions. He doesn't deny his reputation as a rake, but he's prickly about it.  He is a widower who doesn't want to talk about his wife.  And he is both intrigued and irritated by Henrietta's frankness, her honesty, and her naivete.  He decides to help her track the jewels to clear her name and, in close quarters, they quickly fall for one another.

I like Henrietta. She is virtually incapable of subterfuge.  She is charitable and refreshing and she owns her feelings and desires.  I enjoyed watching Rafe succumb to her charm.  He is a hard man, driven by tragedy and guilt, but in her company, his frozen heart begins to melt.

The story was simple but I liked it well enough. I thought it was a little slow moving, especially in the beginning and there were times I had to fight the urge to skim ahead to the dialogue.  There are a few developments that I felt worked out just a little too easily for our heroine. And there wasn't much to speak of in the realm of secondary characters or subplots.  But the sex was good, even if Henrietta went from an innocent to a wanton at lightning speed.

It was ok. 

Rating: C

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Rake With a Frozen Heart

by Marguerite Kaye

Release Date: April 17, 2012

Publisher: Harlequin