Member Reviews
This just left me cold and I can’t figure out why. The journey of the couple did not feel especially fleshed out, and thus feels rushed at the end. The character of the brother, Bede, I wanted to give him extra credit because the name is so great but he’s utterly reprehensible and not especially believable. Just not enough there plot wise and romance wise.
THE RAKE GETS RAVISHED - Sophie Jordan
Duke Hunt - Book 2
Avon
ISBN-13: 978-0-06303-567-6
ISBN-10: 0-06303-567-7
ASIN: B0983MDFDQ
February 22, 2022
Historical Romance
London and Shropshire, England - 18th Century
Mercy Kittinger travels to London to save her family home. Her brother Bede who owns the land but doesn't care for it, lost is gambling; doesn't care for anything beyond his own needs and desires. Mercy goes to the Rogue's Den to steal her brother's voucher away from the gambling den's owner Silas Masters. She gets caught in Silas's room, but her history of looking and reading Bede's pornography, helps her seduce Silas, but she is caught in her seduction and his response.
After his unexpected encounter with Mercy, Silas, for the first time in his life, succumbs to a night of deep sleep. The dangers encountered in his childhood have prevented any sexual encounter or sleep like he enjoyed that night. Yet, the next morning, he wakes alone and soon discovers what Mercy has stolen from him. He is determined to follow her to reclaim 'his land.'.
Mercy agrees to Silas's demands that he stay with her long enough to determine she is not pregnant. He will not let any child of his grow up in the destitute danger he did. While they are together, they face many challenges but, without admitting it, become even more attracted to the other.
Neither Mercy nor Silas are the expected characters in a historical romance. They are both fiercely independent. The story starts with a very explicit sex scene that changes both characters, but they don't realize it until their later encounters.
Robin Lee
This book started strong. The readers get placed right in the middle of the action and the “action” starts right off the bat. As a unique twist on the genre tropes, the “one night changes it all” happens in the first few pages and sets up the story to play out in any number of interesting ways.
After that however, things slow down a lot. The premise that Silas would upend his entire life just to follow up on the results of his indiscretion seems unlikely, even by genre standards, given that pursuing his rights to the property is right there and much more plausible. The supporting characters are one-dimensional (dumb entitled brother, naive spoiled sister, creepy old suitors etc.) and the heat between the protagonists fizzles a bit. The narrative feels like it drags, then when it is time to wrap it up, a ton of things all happen at once and somehow everyone acts out of character to get a HEA.
Was it a fun read? Sure. Does it hit all our favorite romance-trope check boxes. Sure. Is it what readers generally expect from Sophie Jordan? Nope. I would still read more in this series/by the author, but this title just didn’t hit the mark.
The Rake Gets Ravished is the 2nd book in The Duke Hunt series. This can be read as a standalone. The book centers around Mercy Kittinger and Silas Masters. Mercy is on a mission to steal back a debt voucher for her family farm. She sneaks into a gaming hell owned by Silas. One thing leads to another, Mercy ends up in his private rooms, and seduces Silas. After a night together, Mercy steals the voucher and returns to her farm, but not without leaving a note behind. Silas realizes what has happened, and chases after her.
Overall, this was an ok read. I felt like the characters lacked chemistry midway through the book. The responsibility Mercy was facing with her family overwhelmed the story, in my opinion, Constantly worrying about the actions of her twin brother, her sister (Grace), and saving them from ruin. Silas helps her in this matter, but it wasn't enough to keep the spark going.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I liked reading this book very much. It was a light and very amusing story. Sometimes you just need a book to read that is a pleasure to read, and this was that book.
I gave this book 3.5 stars. I usually love anything by Sophie Jordan, but could not get into this one. Mercy, the heroine, broke into the hero's bedroom to steal back a gambling chit and gets caught, Instead of devising some clever reason for being there, she, a virgin, jumps into bed with him. I had hoped for a more interesting approach to her problem than immediate sex. There were good points, but I just couldn't give it 4 stars.
This book started off steamy from the very beginning! Usually I enjoy a long slow burn in my historical romance, but I ended up enjoying how this book switched it up from the typical historical romance formula.
Mercy and Silas were a fun couple to follow along- I enjoyed them more and more as the book progressed. My only complaint with this book is how short it is. The story, while enjoyable, felt a bit rushed. I feel like due to the books length many of the secondary characters did not get enough development... obviously Mercy's brother is awful, but he felt very much like a one-dimensional character who only seemed to possess negative qualities. I also felt like we did not truly get to know much about Mercy's sister (and since they spent the majority of the book isolated on a farm, these are the main supporting characters.)
Besides the length, this book was a fun read! I enjoyed the plot and will be interested to read more books from this author in the future.
Getting caught in the owner of a gaming hell's boudour mid-robbery, Mercy is mistaken for a loose woman in wait for Silas Masters. Instead of denying it, Mercy kinda just goes for it. Go, girl! This was a fun book with a nice twist on a Regency premise and an unlikely heroine. I really enjoyed it although I was a bit confused about which series this belonged to. But no matter. Anything with the name Sophie Jordan on it is a solid romance read.
4.75 stars rounded up
Sophie Jordan is becoming one of my favorite historical romance authors! Her books are so comforting, like a hug in a book.
The Duke Gets Ravished opens with Mercy traveling to London to try to steal back the deed to her house, which her lousy brother has lost gambling. When sneaking into Silas' rooms, she is caught and makes a split decision to seduce him and then disappear. I was a little worried this scene would feel detached because the reader doesn't know Silas yet, but, whew, it was very hot. What follows is a wonderful love story between a hardworking farmer and a man that has risen from nothing to owning the most popular gaming hell in London. A delight.
Thank you NetGalley for the copy!
I love Sophie Jordan and this book did not disappoint! The steam starts almost immediately. Good girl Mercy needs to save her family from ruin. Worldly hell owner Silas Masters holds the deed to her family home. The action between these two is simmering hot. I could write more but I don't wish to spoil the plot. Highly recommended!
Hot and steamy from the beginning, The Rake Gets Ravished grabbed my attention from the first few pages. Mercy Kittinger, beholden to her reckless twin brother attempts to save her family farm from a gaming hell, where it has been given up as collateral for gambling debts. We learn very quickly the character of Mercy, Bede (her brother), and Silas Masters the gaming hell owner. When characters have intertwined from the beginning I find myself quickly page turning to see how their interactions will build up to the next moment of possible heat. Sophie Jordan brilliantly rebuilds the tension between Mercy and Silas making the reader long for a moment where they might find themselves in a solitary predicament. Fast, fun, with delicious steam, I enjoyed The Rake Gets Ravished, but found the ending (no spoiler alerts!) to be a little predictable and maybe tied up too quickly. I would have liked more of an emotional build up before the epilogue. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Sophie Jordan didn't disappoint in her latest novel ! The book started off strong with plenty of steam and dialog between H/h. I do wish we would have more of a physical description of h ..even throughout the story I couldn't get a good picture of her in my head from lack of description of her character....I will say the storyline was somewhat unusual compared to other hr that had the owner of a gaming hell as H .
I loved the beginning of this novel: after her brother gambles away the family farm, Mercy breaks into an infamous gambling hell to steal back the proof. When she gets caught in Silas Masters's private quarters midway through, she seduces him as a distraction. They have incredible chemistry and it's an unforgettable premise. Unfortunately the book loses its fire as Silas follows Mercy back to her family farm to make sure she isn't pregnant. Silas is... not much of a rake, as promised by the title. He is considerate and upstanding, and frankly a bit dull. Aside from a plot line about Mercy's precocious little sister, not all that much happens. It felt disjointed and ultimately disappointing.
Thanks Netgalley for a arc copy of this book for a honest review..
The Rake Gets Ravished was an okay read I enjoyed the first book. 3 🌟🌟🌟 stars for me
Happy Reading Lisa 📚
Sophie Jordan does it again. I was unsure of the premise of this love story. I ended up rooting for Silas and Mercy.
Silas and Mercy come together in a complicated situation. Mercy needs to save her family. Silas is looking to get even. They slowly learn to trust each other and work together for their HEA.
Dang. The title was not kidding. The duke gets ravished and basically right away!!
I thought this book was a great quick read. A pretty straight forward romance that I liked. Great steam, great heart, great, great, great.
I really appreciate Sophie Jordan’s writing that isn’t bogged down. It’s swift pacing and plot has me zipping through it and sad when it’s over.
Another wonderful read from, Sophie Jordan!
The Rake Gets Ravished is not my first Sophie Jordan, but I have not read the first book in this series. I didn't feel lost at all and very quickly got swept up in this world.
This book starts right off with the steamy scenes and the rest of the story deal with the aftermath of the enconter between Mercy Kittinger and Silas Masters. The book does have POV from both characters but you mainly live in the head of Mercy, a 26 year spinster who had taken on the responsbilty of her family farm and taking care of her family. She comes face to face with Silas after she is forced to destroy the proof that he won her family farm in a card game against her brother. She seduces him and the dissapears back to the country. Silas quickly figures what happend and follows her.
I likedthe story. It is high drama but there is actually very little conflict, which I honestly enjoyed. I read it in one sitting and was happy to just go along with the story.
I have added the first book to my TBR and I am excited for the next one.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
This was an enjoyable and quick read! I was sucked in from the very first page, that I blinked and it was almost over. The heroine, Mercy, has an irresponsible brother and an immature sister that she is constantly having to pick up the pieces of their mistakes. The author did an amazing job of making me resent her brother and ache for Mercy's misfortune. Where to even begin with Silas. He was the perfect hero. In the end, I fell completely in love with his character. I can't wait for the next book in the series!
I LOVED the beginning of this book.
Farmer and country girl, Mercy Kittinger sneaks into Silas Masters' gambling club The Rogue's Den to retrieve a promissory note her brother has gambled away giving Masters her family's farm and everything inside of it. A chance encounter during her mission leads to a night of passion with the handsome and alluring Masters. When Masters finds about Mercy's theft, he chases her back to her farm and refuses to leave until he's certain she's not carrying his child.
This book's steamy beginning draws you right in. The middle drags a bit as Mercy spends a lot of time denying her continuing attraction to Silas. I also loved how much of Silas' character comes out in his actions towards Mercy and helping her around the farm. The only thing I didn't love was the resolution with Hinton. The way he's described and then for him to benefit from their love story wasn't a great end. Otherwise, I loved it. I can't recommend this book enough. This book is the reason why I love Jordan's books so much.