Miss Thornrose and the Rake

by Geraldine Burrows

When fiercely independent Verity Thornrose is mistaken for a lady of the evening by the Earl of Brathmere, she finds her pristine reputation on the line when this notorious scoundrel vows to have her forever. Original.

Genres: Regency Romance

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1999

Reviews

[QNPoohBear · Rating 1 out of 5]

Miss Verity Thornrose is the last of a line of a respectable family who are known for their principles of reform and good works. Raised in the tradition of reform by her aunts, Faith, Hope and Charity, Verity believes it is her mission in life to help the unfortunate. Her determination brings her to rescue the pretty Irish girl Deidre from a life walking the streets. Deidre is young and high spirited and allows herself to be lured into going to a masquerade with her former employer's husband (who is the reason she's on the streets). Rushing to rescue Deidre, Verity finds herself denied admission to the masquerade because she can not pay the fee. The door attendant suggests that Verity ask one of the gentlemen lurking outside and Verity searches until she finds her Good Samaritan. Unbeknownst to Verity, her "Good Samaritan" is Alaric, the Earl of Brathmere, a notorious rake and libertine who has mistaken her for a Cyprian! Alaric is puzzled by this woman who dresses like a Quaker and speaks like she's Oxford education but yet stirs his passions. Verity manages to rescue her maid from a villain of the streets and depart with her virtue in tact. Alaric is asked to lend an air of superiority to his young debutante cousin's ball where he discovers Verity's true identity and sets out to seduce her. Verity insists on dragging Alaric into her plan for Good Works and Deidre finds herself in trouble again. A daring rescue by Alaric, Verity and her servants places Verity in great danger. Her self-righteous Puritan cousin Ocativian is determined to marry her and make her his Goodwife and together they will rid the world of demons, including

Alaric. Alaric must reconcile himself to feelings he didn't know he had in order to get what he really wants. This is a long and complicated story. It seems to be a parody of 18th century Gothic novels with each chapter being titled with a clever description and the entire Thornrose family being named after virtues, including their animals. However, if the story was meant to be funny, it wasn't. I found Verity annoying and Alaric disgusting. The characters weren't well developed at all and behaved with a single-minded purpose and then just randomly developed passionate feelings. The villain was the most interesting character and he was totally crazy. I enjoyed the subplot about the maid Deidre more than I did the main romance. There are a few sensual scenes but they can be overlooked and not affect the plot of the novel. The story is told in third-person omniscient which makes it hard to follow all the characters as their story lines progress. I did really like the period details. It's obvious the author has done a lot of research on the time period and has a talent for recreating the nitty gritty details of life in the 19th century that don't often appear in romance novels. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel, Miss Sedgewick and the Spy.

[Sharyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

On vacation and find a little discount bookstore with a few used books, so picked this up. It is an adorable little story about a reformer and a rake. The beginning is quite misleading in a good way, and the story has a few cute, not aggravating misunderstandings. Also describes some of the British laws that took years to change, such as finally outlawing child chimney sweeps. A good way to while a way an hour or 2.