Probably one of the best historical romances I've ever read, easily. This book works for me on a lot of levels. I feel like Eva Leigh looked into my soul, pulled out all the things that make me tick, and put them on the page. I will be coming back to this book again and again and I can't wait for it to be released so I can buy a physical copy to flip through at my leisure.

Things I loved about this book: the hero is a total rake as well as a passionate poet, the heroine is incredibly competent and sensual and ready to experience the world fully, deep respect between the hero and heroine, excellent witty dialogue between all the characters, a poetry duel, illicit parties, wild dancing, and the hero in eyeliner.

I have read a little bit of Eva Leigh in the past and thoroughly enjoyed her work but after reading this I am more than ready to dive into her back list. She is writing sexy, fun, and feminist romance and I would recommend her to anyone interested in historicals.

Add this to your TBR and pre-order if anything I've said sounds like your thing, you will not regret it.

Thank you so much to Avon, NetGalley, and the author for this eARC copy.

Okay, I loved this. It has so many things that I love in a historical romance - rake, good girl, they're both intrigued by each other. Let's see where this goes!

Kieran knows how to have a good time, and Celeste wants to be part of that world. Kieran and Celeste strike up a deal where Kieran takes her to adventurous places she wants to go, and Celeste takes him to society events in hopes of finding him a suitable wife. I loved Celeste's disguise, but also really loved that she considered her disguise as a part of her. They have lots of fun together, but their families have expectations for them that drive them apart. Throw in a blackmailing earl, and we've got a recipe for some drama.

Kieran and Celeste are super hot together, and we get some very steamy scenes. I love Kieran's artsy/poet side, too. When I saw the author had posted an inspo pic of Aidan Turner for Kieran, I could not contain myself. Absolutely perfect.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read Finn's story next!

The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes felt like a fresh historical romance with all the best parts of the classics. Where you have the traditional tropes of brother's best friend, a rake forced to marry, and a proper miss with a scandalous side, Leigh makes them feel new and modern in the Regency setting. I appreciate the work she put in to such details and it elevates the book as a whole.

You're hooked from the first chapter where Kieran stops the wedding of his best friend and sister, a love match at that! Understandably, their parents are furious and force Kieran, his brother, and his best friend to marry a respectable woman or be cut off. Kieran looks to the only respectable woman who would speak to him, his best friend's sister, Celeste. Celeste wants to ensure she has one last adventure before she marries into a perfectly proper, respectable, tedious household. Thus, she exchanges repairing Kieran's social standing for adventures to the dark side of Town, and adventures they do have.

I liked that Celeste is twenty-three, and that maturity and understanding of what she wants was so important. To summarize Kieran, he is liberal (in all the ways) and I want my own feminist, consent-focused poet. Both are intelligent which shows in how logical the resolution was, which I greatly appreciated.

Some amazing quotes:

"What if she were mine? What if I could make her smile like this every day and every night?"
"Her fight had become his fight, and by God, he'd be sure she got everything she desired."
"Because he'd wanted to kiss her. No, he'd needed to devour her. He ached to cover every inch of her body with his, surround her with himself."

I could go on!

I will definitely be reading the rest of this series, I think we've already been introduced to our next heroine...and need to see how the sister and best friend will be resolved! I look forward to reading more Eva Leigh.

Kieran Ransome is the third son of an Earl. He, along with his brother and friend, must marry a respectable woman within a year or be financially cut off. Kieran turns to the one woman who can help him accomplish such a feat. Reluctantly, he agrees to Celeste’s astonishing terms. However, he never expects to lose his rakish heart to her. Can Kieran help Celeste escape an unwanted engagement? At what risks?

Miss Celeste Kilburn is the daughter of a dockyard magnate. She is society’s most respectable woman. Celeste tires of playing the good girl. She craves for a taste of adventure before becoming engaged to a pretentious Earl. She agrees to assist Kieran, only if he agrees to escort her around London’s immoral scenes. Can Celeste maintain her sterling reputation? Or will she willingly embrace Kieran’s wanton lifestyle?

Kieran is such a delectable bad boy. He is a man who does not care what other people think of him and his past times. Instead, he embraces them to the fullest. I absolutely hate how Kieran’s parents and elder brother treats him. It explains why he does such outrageous and naughty things. I adore Kieran’s protectiveness towards his other brother and fellow partner-in-crime. He despises how their parents and their peers malign Finn, especially in front of him. What I love the most about Kieran is how he encourages Celeste to be her own person. He does not try to curtail her as society and others do.

Celeste is such a remarkable young woman. She is tired of being the person society and others dictate her to be. I like how intuitive and observant Celeste is. She sees far more than what people are aware of. Plus, she knows when to use that information as a weapon. I admire Celeste’s altruism. She willingly sacrifices her own happiness to appease and protect both her father and brother. What I love the most about Celeste is how she wants to help the poor and working class better themselves. She does not try to hide her humble background, nor does she try to forget it. Instead, Celeste wants to use her new resources to give back to her old community.

THE GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO RAKES is book one in Eva Leigh’s historical romance series, LAST CHANCE SCOUNDRELS. I am new to this author’s works. The story’s synopsis is what tempted me to give this book a try. It did not disappoint. I will be checking out the author’s other series when I get the chance.

THE GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO RAKES is a captivating tale of two peoples’ adventures through society’s respectable and seedier sides, only to discover their true selves and love. I have a guess on who the author plans for Finn Ransome. I cannot wait for the next book and see if my guess is correct!

Eva Leigh's The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes is the first book of her new Last Chance Scoundrels series set in Regency-era London. Three categorical rogues - two brothers, Kieran and Finn, and their best friend, Dom - are forced to find wives after Kieran and Finn help Dom leave their sister at the altar. Oops! Their parents are furious and vow not to give any of them a penny until all three are married to respectable women within the year. Kieran takes the challenge head-on, not wanting to let his brother and best friend down, and goes to the one respectable lady he knows - Dom's sister Celeste - asking her to introduce him to proper society. But Celeste is sick of proper society and of being forced to live within the cage of respectability. She'll help Kieran, but only on the condition that he return the favor and show her the scandalous side of London. Throughout both their tame daytime excursions and their clandestine nighttime outings (with Celeste in disguise), the two find they are far more similar than outward appearances and reputations would have led either to believe. Their partnership turns into a steamy love affair that will have you frantically turning the page for more!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For me, it was purely a pleasure read. I enjoyed the characters and found them engaging. The chemistry between Kieran and Celeste was intense and their encounters wonderfully steamy. The prose was well-formed with just the right amount of London slang, and Kieran's dabbles in poetry were a delightfully unexpected, and well-executed, addition.

The only critique I had was that the premise was a bit contrived and unlikely for my taste. But honestly, this book turned out to be so fun that it really did not detract from overall enjoyment of the book as a whole.

I will most definitely be reading on in the series - I cannot wait to find out what happens with Finn and Dom!

A very successful start to a new series! I loved the witty, entertaining dialogue as well as the way that Kieran and Celeste's relationship developed. It wasn't a very realistic scenario, but it felt so real. And I loved it!

Kieran has been allowed to live his life the way he wants, until his behavior goes too far for his family to tolerate, and he must get married within a year or else he, his brother, and his best friend will lose the financial support of their families. Celeste has never been allowed to live as she'd like, forced to acted entirely properly to ensure her family's social standing as newly wealthy among the elite. Kieran needs Celeste's help to fix his reputation in order to find a wife, and Celeste would like to experience the more scandalous side of London.

It's a wonderful historical romance between two people who don't quite fit into society's expectations of who they should be.

There's also a very nice reference to Beverly Jenkins.

This is my first Eva Leigh novel but it will not be my last. The premise for the story is pretty fun and I pretty much got everything that I wanted to get out the book.I really loved this romance - it's a fun and interesting read. Highly recommend!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh is the first book in her new Last Chance Scoundrels series. The series starts out as the rakish Ransome brothers, Kieran and Finn, help their friend, Dominic Kilburn, escape his wedding to their own sister. The Ransome and Kilburn families are so angry about the mens’ actions that they threaten to cut them off financially unless they each find a respectable woman to marry within the year.

The men have scandalous reputations and aren’t welcome to any of the right events where they could meet respectable young women to court. Kieran enlists the help of Dominic’s younger sister, Celeste, who is beloved by society and has access to all the right social circles. However, this “perfect society miss” is looking to unleash her wild side. She agrees to help Kieran in exchange for a few midnight excursions to London’s less savory side.

This book was soo much fun to read. I did not want to put it down. This story is enjoyable, witty, and sexy. Celeste and Kieran have so much chemistry. I loved their journey. Kieran is absolutely delicious. He maintains a rugged exterior, but is actually a secret poet who wears eyeliner.

I absolutely can not wait for the other books in this series to come out. I haven’t read a book by Eva Leigh before, but I am now going to go back and read them all. I love her writing style and how she incorporates humor and so much steam.

I was invited to read an ARC of The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #TheGoodGirlsGuidetoRakes

I would like to thank Avon and Harper for the Arc. All thoughts are my own.

Kieran Ransome is a rake of the first order obviously. And Celeste is his friend's sister and therefore forbidden. You know where this is headed. Celeste enlists Kieran's help in enjoying some freedom from her straight laced, confined life whereas Kieran wants to be respectable because he has to marry well and not to Celeste.
The good things: the flow of the book was good.

some lovely writing here and there specific ally on women's empowerment.


"Women had very little for themselves in this life. Their worldly goods were usually the property of husbands or male relatives. Their bodies counted as a man’s property, as did any children. Females’ reputations belonged to everyone. At the least, everybody seemed to care what happened to those reputations, no matter who that woman was.

Men think that they’re champions if they don’t behave like Beasts. "

You know now that Celeste is a feminist of the 21st century which also brings me to the part where I had to suspend disbelief. This is a woman who is sheltered. There has to be a very good reason why someone like her is so progressive thinking when she doesn't mingle with society that thinks that way.
Had she been a widow of the Era, it made more sense because they were granted more freedom than a 19 year old.
I did not like Kieran. It's a personal choice. You might see it differently. There was too much grunting, growling etc. His name didn't work for me because I got confused with Celeste's last name which was Kilburn.
I know it's a romance book but please make it logical.

I’d destroy myself if I didn’t make it good for you.”
“It is, Kieran. You are.” She blinked away the sudden appearance of tears. But his candid admission touched her, as did his desire to please.”

Celeste would have worked really well in a new age book. Her character was decently done. Kieran was forgettable.

I first came across Eva Leigh's historical romances in an anthology last year, so when I had the chance to try a full length novel of hers, I took it.



In The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes, our two main characters Celeste and Kieran find themselves in a predicament. Celeste has been "promised" to a perfectly nice titled gentleman who she feels nothing for. It seems that while she's resigned to having to marry this man (to maintain her family's standing in society because her brother really mucked things up), she'd much rather not. Meanwhile, Kieran's family has had enough of his (and his brother's and Celeste's brother's) shenanigans and has threatened to withhold all funding if he (and his counterparts) don't find a "good girl" in society to marry. Unfortunately for Kieran, his reputation is one of a rake and a rogue and unless he can turn that around, there will be no marriage for him. Enter Celeste. They come up with a plan that is truly what makes the novel sing, in my opinion.



It's the plan to reinvent Kieran's reputation and to give Celeste some life experience before she settles down that made this novel stand out. Their extracurricular adventures and the inevitable falling in love that comes with it were interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed everything leading up to the inevitable conflict and the unexpected resolution to it all. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of this crew finds their 'good society girls'; if this novel is any indication, I know there will be fun reading times ahead.

I loved this book, but that’s no surprise because I love Eva Leigh’s books. This book follows Celeste who has been charged with protecting her families social standing and Kieran who after helping his friend leave his sister at the alter is being forced to marry. The pair make a deal Celeste will help Kieran repair the damage his rakish behavior has done to his reputation so he can find a wife if he will show her the dark underbelly of London. The chemistry and the spice was on point, the only thing that kept this from being 5 stars was the main conflict just felt to easily resolved. I still highly recommend it

This is a quality historical fiction novel by Eva Leigh, who is must read. Her books can be pretty spicy, which I like. I look forward to reading more books in this series.

Is this one of my favorite books of the year? Yes! Absolutely! I totally adore it. What a cracking romance, perfect for any historical reader.

I absolutely adore this book! Kieran and Celeste have incendiary chemistry and it is captivating. Kieran sets out only thinking about himself and his needs, until he tries to use Celeste. While she may seem everything that is prim and proper, no one actually knows her. She is tired of everybody using her, so she decides to take something for herself. Their adventures are hilarious, sweet, and steamy. This is definitely going on my re-read shelf.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I almost did a happy dance when I got an ARC of The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes! Eva Leigh is a favorite of mine, and I will read every book she writes. I've been particularly anticipating this one, as the description looks extra exciting.

The book starts off with a wedding, that goes disastrously awry. As a result, Kieran, his brother, and their best friend (who happens to be Celeste's brother) are all required to get married within a year. Kieran makes a deal with Celeste that she will introduce him to polite society, and he will show her some of London's scandalous side. Both have some feelings for each other at the start of the book, but spending time together ignites those feelings into an inferno.

I honestly don't know what else to say. I don't want to spoil the book but most everything else I have in my head is just squeals. Long story short, I really enjoyed this book and recommend reading it when it comes out. I know I can't wait for the sequel!

Wow!! I could not put down Eva Leigh's latest romance, The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes. Celeste and Kieran are such a fierce, fun duo — Kieran needs to find a respectable wife to prevent his judgmental parents from cutting him off financially, and his best friend's little sister is the perfect woman to help him meet eligible potential brides. But Celeste wants something in return: she wants Kieran's help having a little scandalous adventure beyond her father's watchful eye.

It's a classic coupling of reformed rake/good girl who is more than meets the eye, with some wonderful explorations of female sexual agency, toxic masculinity and humor. I appreciated the inclusion of queer characters, though in small roles. The conflict resolution felt a little too easy, but the connection and passion between Kieran and Celeste more than made up for it. I can't wait to read the next book in the Last Chance Scoundrel series — Finn seems like such a sweetheart.

Many thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the free egalley.

Eva Leigh is always a “must-read” for me, and this book is a perfect example of why. I would describe this book as “all the tropes, no surprises, you are going to love it!” While this is a comfortably familiar plot premise featuring wicked rakes, smart good girls, gaming hells, fancy parties and happily ever afters, Leigh tells the story with a surprisingly fresh feel. The story also features lots of hat tips to previous works and beloved characters (including a small scene that actually made me gasp out loud and grin!) while introducing a new cast that promises a great series. I am already excited to read more in this series!

This is the second book I've read by Eva Leigh and I think she's becoming a one-click author for me. I can't wait to get through her backlog while waiting for the next book in this series.

The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes was non-stop fun from cover to cover. I loved the transformation of both Celeste and Kieran. From the beginning you could see that Kieran had a good heart and meant well...he was just slightly misguided. And Celeste was perfect because she had to be. They were both intrinsically good people who didn't quite know where they belonged but knew they wanted something different.

I also really liked the side characters. I'm excited for Finn and Dom's books (although I'm going to be so mad if Dom doesn't end up with Willa). But I also really loved the dad. He just wanted the best for his kids, but he didn't understand exactly what that was. I'm excited to see how he develops more in Dom's book.

I received an advanced copy of this book in consideration for my review. The opinions are all my own

I enjoyed the book. I thought Celeste was a wonderful character. I loved her spark and zest for life. Kieran was a good hero. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I would have liked a bit more at the end, I thought everything tied up quickly. I am looking forward to the other two books in the series.