It was an alright read, quick and pretty easy.
But i expected more from the character, their development and their chemistry.

This book is the third book in the Besotted Scots series, and I want more! This was such a fun read! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun period romance. I read this in one day because it was so fun I couldn't put it down.

Our heroine, Lady Lucinda Sutcliffe, has lived a fairly sheltered life. After her father passes away, she goes to live with her Uncle and his family. Lady Lucy meets Ciaran Ramsey and he is befuddled by Lucy's bold behavior. Lucy feels like she has missed out on so much, she wants to take life by the horns and experience it all.

Suddenly, Lucy is removed from the country and heads for London and her first season. Ciaran follows her to make sure she's all right. I won't spoil the plot, but it really was exciting a fun story.

I received an advance readers copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Brighton, England, May 1818

Lady Lucinda Sutcliffe - Lucy - is being very daring. For once she has some freedom, and goes for a swim, all alone before sunrise, without a bathing machine and attendants. How very scandalous! But surely nothing bad could happen; she's careful in her recklessness. And this is how tiny Lucy came to meet huge Scotsman Ciaran Ramsey. They're both bored, he's been depressed for some time, and is itching to return to Scotland. But Ciaran is a born protector, so he'll protect his new friend, who seems bent on achieving her own ruination; the road to hell and all that... Lucy is a few weeks short of turning 21, then she'll inherit her considerable fortune and she will be free from her tyrannical guardian, her despicable Uncle Jarvis, who desperately wants her money.

I absolutely adored the two previous installments in this series and I was eagerly waiting for this book. Unfortunately, I didn't find FOR THE SAKE OF A SCOTTISH RAKE as sparkling as Anna Bradley's works. It had a pleasant beginning but I thought it was a bit slow to get started; on the other hand, this allowed Ciaran and Lucy's relationship to develop properly. But however charming Lucy and Ciaran were, the story continued to drag as other romances develop, villains multiply, and the drama goes into overdrive. At times it felt like elements were added to make the book last longer. My favourite parts are those featuring Sebastian, the charismatic and flamboyant Lord Vale; he is simply magnificent and he stole the show, as far as I'm concerned.

The nefarious Jarvis almost steals the show as well, and not in a good way. I felt he was too present in the story, and that it created unnecessary unpleasantness. It just took so very long for anything to progress, there were so many repeated thoughts, too many rehashed conversations, and it took forever to conclude while a crucial matter was dealt with rather too swiftly. Ms. Bradley's prose is impeccable, as always, the characters well developed, and she creates such wonderful visuals that the story unfolds like a movie. But it took so long to reach the end, with all the melodrama that only got worse as the unappealing villains took too much space. I love Anna Bradley but FOR THE SAKE OF A SCOTTISH RAKE didn't entirely work for me. Pity.



I volontarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I recieved a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Lucinda is free for the first time and intends to enjoy her life. When her guardian and uncle forces a courtship with a old man she is determined to maintain her freedom until she gains her independence and fortune when she turns 21 in a few weeks. Ciaran has just been wasting his days and nights since losing the woman he loves but Lucinda has a way of bring him back to life.

I loved the romance between Lucinda and Ciaran. Lucinda was a fun, spirited, and independent character. Ciaran was sweet and fascinated by Lucinda and in no way wanted to change her. The secondary characters were also interesting and helped the plot without becoming a distraction for the main romance.

Lucy and Ciaran( I love his name!) has a love to die for! I enjoyed reading this book and wish it didn't have to end! I hope to hear about them in any future books! This story was very entertaining and I felt for Lucy and wanted to go through the book and give a 'what for" shout to the uncle. For the Sake of a Scottish Rake is extremely entertaining and I highly recommend all readers of romance to read!

After a sheltered upbringing, Lady Lucinda Sutcliffe is finally embarking on her first season, eager to experience everything she’s missed. When Lucy realizes that her uncle plans to quickly marry her off in exchange for a slice of her fortune, she begs a favor of a new acquaintance Ciaran Ramsey.
A historical romance with plenty of love and treachery.

This book was okay. Not exceptional, nor particularly memorable (I only finished it a few days ago and already forgot what it was about), but a good book to pick up in a pinch. I'm having trouble finding the kind of book I'm looking for, so I'm mostly digging through my backlist ARCs to try to dig up any hidden gems.

Lucy was a great character, but her background was pretty flat. We don't know much beyond a supposedly 'mad' father and that she was kept isolated. Not much about how her personality was formed or why she does what she does beyond searching for adventure and life previously un-lived. Ciaran was similarly underdeveloped. He has some sort of heartache that leads to gambling and semi-depression, but it's never fully dug into. The bits I saw about both characters seemed interesting, but they never felt fully developed.

Anna Bradley has become of my favorite historical authors of today. This series is one of my favorites. This is a friends to lovers trope. I wish we could have seen more of the secondary characters or if they had their own book. Why do you do this to us Anna!

After a sheltered upbringing, Lady Lucinda Sutcliffe is finally embarking on her first season, eager to experience everything she’s missed. When Lucy realizes that her uncle plans to quickly marry her off in exchange for a slice of her fortune, she begs a favor of a new acquaintance, Ciaran Ramsey. If Lucy remains single until she turns twenty-one, she—and her money—will be out of her uncle’s power. All the charming Scot needs to do is woo her for six weeks, and then jilt her . . . The Ramseys don’t need the scandal of a false engagement attached to their name. But Lucy’s older suitor is both distasteful and dangerous, and Ciaran can’t allow his lovely friend to be forced to marry such a man. And besides, the more time Ciaran spends with his new “betrothed,” the more their ruse begins to feel very much like the real thing. Passion like this is impossible to feign, but how much is a rogue willing to risk for love?
This was a great story by a great author. I’ve read a number of her books and they don’t disappoint. I really liked both main characters as well as the plot. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

This was a good historical romance where friends become lovers. I enjoyed some time on the beach reading this and it was a great escape. It was well written with likeable characters.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a delightful story of two people becoming best friends and turning into so much more! I loved how Lucy was a unique and quirky woman from the regency era and how her and Ciaran met and connected. How their friendship carries them through some difficult times without either realizing how much they truly care for the other. There's a great balance of danger in the story as well as Lucy's uncle tries to marry her off to a villain three times her age! Lucy is a force to be reckoned with, but we all need a little rescuing sometimes and Lucy and Ciaran end up rescuing each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for the eARC!

I find that Anna Bradley is a hit or miss author for me. I have enjoyed some of her books a great deal, where as other fell a bit flat. This one is a little flat for me. I think part of it is just my mood, which is very unfair to Anna Bradley, but I'm feeling a little bored with the rich heroine debutante. Maybe it's because I'm getting older so I am preferring older heroines. The story is cute and fun, although a bit busy and wordy at times.

I was hoping for a cut and dry, fun fake engagement story and was a bit disappointed with what was delivered. In a different frame of mind, I would have likely scored this one higher…so I think a good back cover description can sometimes be make or break it.

The reality is this book starts with more of a friends to lovers, where after a meet cute (she goes for an ocean swim and he thinks he is rescuing her from drowning) these two keep running in to each other until a reluctant friendship is born. Lucy hasn’t had a ton of friends over her twenty years and a depressed rake seems an odd choice, but the two somehow find a connection. Its interesting, I am not sure if I was reading into it but it felt a bit like the unspoken kinship had something to do with mental health. Its not something Bradley spends a lot of time on, so I am probably just inferring, but I wonder if this was a subtle thing that some readers didn’t connect with (I saw some reviews that criticized the insta-bestie set up).

I found the beginning portion of the book a bit of a slog, and there were unanswered questions about both MCs past that were less of a hook and felt more like incomplete writing. I am not clear why Lucy was Mr. Jarvis’ ward, for instance. I think he was her mother’s BIL, so had a loose connection to her father and absolutely none over the estate. Who inherited her father’s estate? Why weren’t they in charge?

The pace picks up when the group travels from Brighton to London for the Season. There are bonus parallel love stories with two other couples, and some cute and funny scenes. There are also compelling reasons for the fake engagement which turn into some angst/villianry that again I was not in the mood for. Had I been prepped, I would have enjoyed the baddie and his wicked ways. Just not in the mood for angst at the mome. But you might be, in which case you will probably like the tension and mood.

Lucy is a likeable heroine, daring and kind, and filled with enough doubt and insecurity that she is no Mary Sue. Ciaran is also more Beta on the spectrum (which I heart) and a pretty nice guy for a rake. His dissipation seems to stem largely from ennui and depression, so that its easy for him to reform his rakish ways.

Intimate scenes are later on in the book and pretty mild, but sweet.

Overall, recommended for readers who love the friends to lovers mashed with fake engagement and a little angst/villainy in the plot to spice it up.

★★★★★★ 4 out of 6 Friends to lovers and fake engagement between an Earl’s daughter and Scottish rake

I loved the cover of this book. I was not familiar with the author prior reading this book. Overall, the book did not wow me, but since the storyline was good I kept enjoying it. Author passed the approval rate for me, so here I go to read more books of hers!

I liked this story but I wasn't blown away by it. It showed such potential in the beginning but somehow lost it's way.
I found the protagonists to be a little full and not as multifaceted or engaging as I'm used to reading from author Anna Bradley.

Lucy, needs to stay away from her uncle till her birthday. Luckily, she meets Ciaran must figure out how to stop her uncle who is trying to sell her off.
Good read likeable characters.

We meet Lady Lucy scandalously swimming in the ocean at dawn when she accidently kicks Ciaran in the face while trying to save her from drowning. This is pretty much their relationship for much of the story, Ciaran trying to save Lucy while she is very capable of saving herself. Until she isn't.

This friends to lovers story is very well done. The relationship seems to change organically and the character development is done really well. The story with the secondary characters was really great too.

The only thing that sort of got to me was that it was a really similar plot to a couple other books I had recently read: Wickeds Scandal by Kathleen Ayers and Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch. So if you have read either of those recently, maybe wait a bit before you pick this one up.

Ciaran and Lucy meet on the beach and form an unlikely friendship. Ciaran is determined to return to Scotland, and Lucy is biding time until her 21st birthday, when she will come in to her inheritance. They form an alliance when they discover Lucy's uncle/guardian has betrothed her to an abusive older gentleman, to whom he owes an extremely large gambling debt. I received an ARC of this book.

I liked this better than the second book in series but that’s not saying much. I don’t think I am going to remember much about this in future. It didn’t standout much.

Ciaran and Lucy formed a bond through spending crack-of-dawn moments at the beach swimming. Nice, if implausible. They’re friends first. Then it comes to a point when Ciaran and Lucy need to runaway to keep her safe and things move to the next level. There’s quite a bit of other craziness going on, plus two other peripheral romances (maybe they will have their own stories?).

Bradley is a compelling writer. Pages turn easy and quickly when reading. The connections between the leads are usually convincing and there’s enough character development for a reader to care. But the plots are starting to be a problem for me. I think each I have read has had some glaring plot holes. This is no exception.

All in all, this was a diverting romance but it’s not going down as a favorite.

*I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I adore Anna Bradley and everything she writes, and For the Sake of a Scottish Rake was no different. A fun friends-to-lovers, slow-burn romance with an exciting plot, I enjoyed every minute of this story.

There were so many tropes to love. Fake boyfriend/girlfriends, predicament rescue, and friends-to-lovers and they all worked. I'm a huge fan of the fake relationship plot device, and so I was immediately hooked. I also liked that Lucy was a girl who beat to her own drum and didn't feel pressured by society's rules. She was quirky and unique, and I love that in a heroine.

The big Scottish character always works for me (natch), and so I was predisposed to like Ciaran, but he won me over more and more as the story went on. Ciaran was just so nice. I think a lot of authors are afraid of writing nice male MCs, so they air towards making them rude or boorish. Ciaran was just a good dude, and I was so happy when he finally realized his feelings for Lucy.

Anna Bradley does a good job with side characters and accessory romances, and I loved that here. I was invested in Lucy's friends and their side plots, and it made the story feel every more exciting.

My one issue, and this is not at all the author's fault, is I had just read Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch and the two books are very similar. I kept mixing them up in my mind a bit, and that maybe affected my enjoyment of this one a tiny bit. I wouldn't recommend reading them back to back!

Overall, a romping good time romance with a fun plot and a very sweet couple. Another win for Anna Bradley.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*