I didn’t read the first book in this series but was able to pick right up work no confusion. List me say this was a page-turner from the very beginning. I loved Mercy and Silas. Both of them very intriguing characters! I can’t wait for more of this series!! 5 stars.

I adore this series by Sophie Jordan. This second installment of The Duke Hunt series was steam and intrigue right out of the gate. When Mercy goes to steal a bet voucher from a gaming hell, she gets more than she came for....and so does Silas. This story of Mercy working so hard for her family and to protect their farm and livelihood was a fun change from balls and fanciness of most historical romance. Their love was definitely non traditional and one that I couldn't stop reading. I love the farm. I love how unexpected Silas turned out to be. I am so excited for whatever comes next.

The Rake Gets Ravished is a familiar trope - wastrel brother loses the family home while gambling, responsible sister has to get it back. Mercy heads to London to do just that, planning to simply steal the note from the gambling hell owner, Silas Masters. What follows is a romp of a romance, as Mercy and Silas can't keep their hands off each other. At the gambling hell, at the Mercy's home, in the inn while trying to save Mercy's sister, sexy times everywhere. Mercy and Silas burn up the pages in this one. I usually want more character development, more plot, take me on the trip while they fall in love. Well, these two fall in love by spending time together over a couple of weeks and fighting (or giving in to) their chemistry. This is fun read full of sexy times and I couldn't put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This book is amazing. It’s one of the best I’ve read. This is especially significant due to the fact that I did not like the first book in the series. I am glad I didn’t give it up, because this second book is excellent.

We meet Mercy in the previous book, and learn a little about her history—we are briefly introduced to her sister Grace and hear about brother Bede. She seems very innocuous in the first book. In this book, she sparkles.

First of all, I adore that she a 26-year old spinster who is trying to maintain her family farm and take care of her siblings and employees. She’s strong and disciplined and devoted to her family and the farm. But she also has big problems with her siblings. Mercy is always giving of herself to help others, particularly her little sister, who she’s been raising since her mother died, and her brother, who is selfish and careless. She is a straightlaced, proper country miss—or is she? Mercy will do ANYTHING to help her family, which sets her on a collision course with Silas. Silas is amazing. I fell in love with him immediately. I only wish we could learn more about him, though Sophie Jordan does give us insight into his background, which explains his motivations. He is gorgeous and his character is written so well. I could read about him all day long.

As soon as Mercy and Silas meet, sparks ignite, even though she’s innocent (but still a woman with needs, wants, and desires). She is not his type, but something about her draws him in and enraptures him.

You can feel the heat between these two, especially from Silas. He is rich and powerful and urbane, and definitely doesn’t need a country miss in his life. The thing is, the reason they met is a lie—she is a thief, and he is a blackguard who doesn’t care about others. They’re such an unlikely couple that you just have to root for them. Plus, when they’re together, it’s explosive. You can FEEL it. The description of when they come together is just perfectly detailed and exciting.

Of course, we expect a happily ever after, but the path to that type of future is neither straight nor smooth—and to get there, Mercy and Silas will have to become very different people than we met in the first chapter.

I also like the secondary characters, and am impressed with how the author fleshed those out—servants, employees, friends, townsfolk. There is some foreshadowing for the third book, which I will preorder as soon as I can.

I absolutely loved this book and these characters. I could NOT put it down. After reading just a couple pages, I knew I wouldn’t rest until I finished it. Once I did, I knew I would read it again!

I loved Mercy and Silas as they both navigated the unknown together, but the circumstances bringing them together in the first place were beyond frustrating, her brother was beyond redemption in my mind. Frankly, she was strong but still let him get away with entirely too much.

This was a good story but not as satisfying as I had hoped. It was too difficult to get past my frustration with the characters who made up much of the plot that brought Silas and Mercy together.

I really enjoyed this book. It had some surprising light hearted parts. The book flowed easily and kept you interested. I like books which have more than one POV's. The Mercy and Silas are enjoyable characters. I like the spark between them. The author made me want to read more of her work. I would recommend this book if you are looking for an a twist from the normal historical regency book. and a good read.
**I received this book free from NetGalley.**

Big thanks to Avon Publishing for the e-ARC of this book via NetGalley. This review is being given honestly and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Overall 4 solid stars

CW: gambling, attempted SA, attempted forced marriage

This is book 2 in Sophie Jordan's The Duke Hunt series, though it's part of a series The Rake Gets Ravished can be read as a standalone. There are some minor spoilers for book 1 events but as someone who hasn't read book 1 it did not impact the story or romance of this book at all.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read ASAP a d thankfully Avon Romance gave me the opportunity to read an advanced copy which was SO good! The basic plot of the book is that, Mercy, an industrious woman from the countryside makes her way to London in order to get (read: steal) a debt voucher from the owner of a gaming hell. Silas, said owner, walks in on her in his room so Mercy does what any woman would do, she seduces him! This exact part is what made me desperate to read this book because I love seeing things like this in HisRom books (femenist ideas/themes like owning your sexuality w/o fear of the repercussions). And, as I explained to my sister, after she f**** the sh** out of Silas, she dips tf out of London, to the countryside where she resumes her day to day life. BUT Silas, realizes she stole the debt voucher and is like 'no, you're not gonna just fu** the sh** out of me AND steal and get away with it!', so he, of course, chases her to the countryside, where the rest of the book takes place AND IT WAS *CHEF'S KISS*

I really loved Mercy and how she took charge of everything in the initial situation between her and Silas, and just how downbad Silas was for Mercy from the beginning. The side characters were meh but they fulfilled their duty in terms of what they bring/do for the plot. The brother, absolute trash, and the sister was better but I wanted to slap her around a few times. There were some things at the end that felt a little unnecessary and combined with how I felt about the siblings, influenced my rating from 4.5 to a solid 4.

For a HOT minute all I wanted was for Silas & Mercy to just TALK TO EA H ITHER AND ADMIT THEY WERE DOWNBAD FOR EACH OTHER but it wasn't some big miscommunication thing so it wasn't actually bad I just wanted them to move a little faster.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am so glad I was able to read this early! Can't wait for the next book in the series & I plan to read book 1 soon!

Yet another Sophie Jordan that stomps on my heart.

This one does require a certain level of suspension of disbelief when it comes to the first interactions between the love interests, but I enjoyed watching the very starchy hero completely unravel.

Sophie Jordan stories are always interesting with flawed characters who manage to grow and yet retain their personalities which captivates you from the beginning until the very end. The Rake Gets Ravished is a fantastic story that brims with tension building twists, sizzling passion, enjoyable banter and with one fantastic plot that brings this read together perfectly!

The Rake Gets Ravished is the first Sophie Jordan book I've ever read. I've heard a lot of great things about her Romances, and so when I saw this available on Netgalley, I decided to try it out finding both the blurb and the cover intriguing. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. It was a quick and easy read, but had too many problems for me to fully enjoy it or compel me to bestow more than a 2-star rating.

Mercy travels to a London gaming hell to steal back the voucher to her family home that her brother Bede lost at cards to the proprieter of the establishment, Silas Masters. She gets caught in Silas' rooms and pretends that her presence there is because she's trying to seduce him. They have a one night stand and Mercy returns to the countryside with the voucher back in her possession. The next day, Silas figures out why she was really there - the voucher is missing - and travels to the country determined to stay with the family until he can be sure she is not with child. Over the course of his stay they begin to develop more than simply lusty feelings for one another and a romance begins.

One of th biggest problems with this book is that the characters fall completely flat. Their back stories were thin and their character development was almost non-existent. Silas was supposed to be a rake. He wasn't. In fact, from the moment he joins Mercy at her farm he is the picture of both propriety and support, jumping in and working the farm right alongside Mercy. There was very little (if any) character or relationship conflict - the romance developed in almost a completely healthy way.

I will say, though, that their sweet romance was probably the highlight of the book for me; Silas comes to Mercy's aid and "rescue" in a seemingly mundane and yet profoundly meaningful manner: he simply helps her. Mercy is exhausted, working so hard to keep the farm going and take care of her family while her useless brother can't be bothered to even lift a finger, and Silas simply helps her in her day-to-day tasks. It was unbelievable romantic and the best part of this book!

This is one of those romances where the couple has sex right up front and then the rest of the book is spent developing the relationship. I've read several of these over the years, but I'm really not sure its my preference and it really didn't work for me in this book. First, she was a virgin, but was having sex (on top, no less!) as if she knew exactly what she was doing simply based on reading some books. And second, this was probably the hottest scene and it took the air out of the rest of the book, because the characters and the plot never grew into the intensity of that scene.

Finally, the end "conflict" was completely ridiculous. It turns out that the horrible brother Bede who started the entire plot by gambling away their family home tried to win back their home and instead gambled away one of his sisters' hands in marriage. This completely implausible situation is rationalized to have legal teeth by stating that because even though marriage would have to be entered by choice, their family doesn't have the 12,000 pounds to pay the original wager anyway, so if it went to court it would ruin the family. And so Mercy simply agrees to marry the disgusting man that won her. This portion of the plot arc is what drove the book down from a 3 to a 2 for me. It was silly and incongruous with the tone of the rest of the book and pulled me out of the romance. I really wish the author would have done something differently here.

I will not read on in this series, but I will most definitely be giving Sophie Jordan another try.

This book is about Mercy, a woman who is trying to save her home after her brother gambles it away, and Silas, the gaming hell owner her brother lost it to. It started off strong—the characters had chemistry right off the bat and I enjoyed seeing their relationship progress. However, I thought the third act drama was entirely unnecessary, and the resolution of that conflict was pretty unsatisfying. There was also no nuance to the brother—he was basically a cartoonish villain the whole way through, which I found disappointing. Overall, it was an enjoyable read, but there are things I would change.

3.5 STARS

Mercy Kittinger is on a mission to regain the piece of paper that her wastrel brother, Bede, thoughtlessly signed giving away their home and property. Mercy’s foray into the gambling den known a gaming hell is so far out of her provincial comfort zone that it proves how much she is willing to risk to get the accursed proof back. As owner of the gambling establishment, Silas Master’s runs his very lucrative business with an iron fist and though he enjoys the ladies, none in particular strikes his fancy. When he catches Mercy in his room, Silas is less than interested in her provocative suggestions; however, something about the bold young woman changes his mind.

Mercy scrambles to find a reason to explain why she is caught by Silas in his bedroom so she sets about trying to seduce him despite the fact she has no actual experience. His initial disinterest changes so that they end up spending the night in passion. Mercy escapes to her rural farm thinking all will now be well at least until her despicable brother causes more trouble.

Silas Masters will not be beat and once he realizes what the woman whose name he does not know has done, he is determined to track her down and reclaim his rightful due. After Silas finds Mercy, he makes a bargain with her that includes staying in her family home for two weeks. While there Silas begins to see not only Mercy’s very commendable attributes as it is she who keeping everything running in the household and property, but that the attraction between them is only growing.

While I liked Mercy well enough, her brother was so feckless and disgusting it detracted from the story. This is the second book in the Duke Hunt series, but can be read as a standalone. This story has quite a different tone from the first book diving right into the steam and heat as well as implying some scandalous secret thinking by the proper Mercy and then taking the long road for an actual relationship with Silas to develop.

Loved this story! I've wanted to read a Sophie Jordan, as several of her titles are on Sarah MacLean's recommended list, so I was glad to have the opportunity to read it here.

Mercy, our heroine, has tasked herself with rescuing the family estate and livelihood from the gambling den where her idiot brother gambled it away. In the process, the confirmed spinster sees an opportunity to treat herself to an episode of carnal pleasure before she returns to the estate and her role as the responsible custodian of her family and their affairs. I love that Mercy decides that she works hard enough for her family and deserves to satisfy her curiosity and take a small detour from her familial responsibilities. As expected, the gaming hall owner. Silas, discovers Mercy's deception and is determined to be compensated. Swooning and wooing follow, as Silas' integrity and his own sense of responsibility become evident. An admirable heroine and hero in this fast-paced historical romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an advanced review copy. All thought and opinions are my own.

Meet Mercy, the farm girl heroine who is the absolute backbone of her family, works the fields every day, has an orange grove she tends, pays all the bills, and tries to raise her younger sister into a perfect lady and keep her twin brother from gambling all their money away. As you might could imagine, she gets no credit for all she does on their estate and her father left everything to her selfish brother instead of her because Patriarchy.

When her brother gambles the family home and loses it to a gaming hell owner, Mercy has to figure out how to get it back. So she travels to London, sneaks into his private rooms and steals the contract. But she gets caught and has to seduce Silas Masters so he doesn't suspect anything. Mercy is a virgin, but somehow pulls off this feat in a wild fit of passion and Silas is none the wiser. Until he wakes and she is gone, his sheets are bloody, and she left a note and he quickly deciphers the truth.

Silas travels to their home and tells Mercy he will stay until he is certain she isn't carrying his child. What ensues is a sweet romance where Silas recognizes how Mercy cares for everyone and everything around her and makes sure her world doesn't fall apart. He is amazed at the sacrifice she made to save her family and pretty much is smitten with her. Mercy desperately needed someone to notice her and appreciate her worth and Silas needed affection because of a traumatic childhood.

These two were precious together and I loved how Silas cared for Mercy and helped her with everything. He understood her duty and even tried to help her with her sister who gets into a scandalous situation.

My only complaints were a few times I couldn't figure out who was narrating and that took me out of the story because it frequently switches and isn't always apparent. Because I had a review copy I am
hopeful that some more editing was done and some grammar and sentences were cleaned up a bit, overall it wasn't horrible writing or anything like that, just some noticeable issues.

The only other thing that stuck out to me was that it felt like there were time jumps and the story wrapped up a bit quickly even though it was a full length novel. It just felt rushed at times.

I also didn't really buy or understand why Silas just completely gave up his gaming hell and all of his money for Mercy. It didn't seem like it was necessary or well thought out or at least we didn't get to see him reason through it.

As much as the title is true for the purposes of this book (catchy and cute title), this is a standard historical romance in the Regency era. Mercy goes to London to get her farm back after her brother has gambled it away, and ends up "ravishing" the gambling hell owner. Silas comes to her home after he discovers that she has stolen the promissory note, and stays "until he's sure she's not pregnant". Of course they end up falling in love, saving her sister from potential ruin, the two sisters from another horrible fate and the brother is somewhat redeemed at the end. That being said, I truly enjoyed the two main characters and read the book in one sitting. I will definitely look for the others in this series and by Jordan because I enjoyed this book that much.

This is a short, fun read. The heroine is a bit too perfect. She breaks into the hero’s gambling hell in order to find the voucher her brother had signed to turn over his farm where the heroine, Mercy, lives taking care of her younger sister and the family’s finances. Of course, she meets the owner of the gambling hell, Silas, who is super good-looking, and decides that she should seduce him. After all, she’s a virginal spinster and this is her chance for a rockin’ night of sex.

Later on, Silas visits her little farm, and they get to know each other and find out how admirable the other one is. It’s all a bit predictable, but still enjoyable.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Cute, fun, and sexy — a great read for a rainy day. Sophie Jordan once again delivers a sweet, fast-paced romance, lovable characters, and some excellent spicy scenes.

I received a digital advance copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Jordan is a must-read for me. I really enjoy how she can always create chemistry between her h/h. She never disappoints.

When Mercy Kittinger‘s boneheaded brother gambles away her family’s farm, she’s determined to get the voucher back…even if it means stealing from club owner Silas Masters. Nearly getting caught leads to a fiery one night stand, and then Mercy takes off for home assuming she’ll never see him again. But Silas refuses to be duped and finds her, for they have unfinished business!

This is second book in the Duke Hunt series. It can be read alone. There are minimal references to the first story and the previous heroine only makes a small appearance.

I love Sophie Jordan’s storytelling and devoured this book in a day. Mercy is carrying the full load for her family; and when she has an unexpected chance to have a moment of pleasure for herself, she takes it. Silas tracks her down for revenge, but quickly comes to realize how special Mercy is. She’s strong and loving, and the pair have blazing chemistry! There weren’t quite as many intimate scenes as I was expecting, but the couple couldn’t seem to find a lot of privacy around the Kittinger household.

Tropes: One Night Stand, Revenge (sort of), Working Heroine (lady farmer)

Steam: 2

* I received an ARC and this is my honest review. #TheRakeGetsRavished #NetGalley

An excellent read and I loved it. I love that it has a strong female who has a take charge attitude and does what is necessary to save her family home. Silas gets more than he bargained for when he goes after her, but he wins Mercy in the end. The story is entertaining, has a HEA and is definitely worth reading.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley and are voluntarily leaving a review.