The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh Blog Tour

Today is my turn on the blog tour for The Good Girl's Guide To Rakes by Eva Leigh published by Mills and Boon, for my stop I have my review, enjoy.


The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes by Eva Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Avon Books

Source - Review

Blurb from Goodreads

In USA TODAY bestselling author Eva Leigh's new novel a notorious rake and an innocent debutante strike a scandalous bargain...

When Kieran Ransome’s latest antics result in a massive scandal, his father issues an ultimatum: find a respectable wife or inherit nothing. But as one of London’s most inveterate scoundrels, Kieran doesn’t know any ladies who fit the bill. Or does he?

Celeste Kilburn is a society darling, beloved by influential members of the ton. But keeping a spotless reputation leaves little room for adventure and she longs to escape her gilded cage, especially with her impending engagement to a stuffy earl. When Kieran—her older brother’s best friend and an irresistibly attractive rogue—begs for her help, Celeste makes a deal: she’ll introduce him to the right social circles if he’ll show her the scandalous side of London.

In between proper teas and garden parties, Kieran escorts Celeste—disguised as “Salome”—to rowdy gaming hells, wild fêtes, and sensual art salons. As they spend more time together, their initial attraction builds to a desperate desire that neither can ignore. But when someone discovers their midnight exploits, Celeste’s freedom and reputation are endangered, and Kieran must save the woman he loves… respectable or not.


My Review

Kieran Ransome’s is an absolute rogue, comes from money, does his own thing, wines and dines as he sees fit and sleeps around. Celeste is a debutante, the glimmering hope for her families solid stamp into the higher ranks of society. Living in a time where women are chaperoned, must act accordingly, smile, courtesy, preen and conform to all the societal expectations. When Kieran does something that forces his parent's hands they have had enough of his Casanova ways & he needs his friends sister, respectable Celeste to help him.

Oooooh all the fun and games he is a rogue, attractive, able to go and be wild without consequence. Celeste is the glowing respectable perfect societal lady and bored out of her head. Unlike the other females of her time Celeste wants fun, more than just a beautiful cage, so her and Kieran come to an understanding. She will get to see the unacceptable parts of society, have some fun whilst keeping her identity and most importantly her reputation safe!

It was really interesting to see how she got about enjoying what she wanted and the old actions and consequences for pretty much all of the characters. Normally when you read books set in the past the female characters are a bit shrinking violets but Celeste is pretty brilliant in that she has drive, a brain, thinks wants to enjoy what she can before fulfilling her families (and societies) expectations.

There is romance, sex and some graphic scenes with sex talk so if you are easily offended this is your heads up. The story has a whole mix, relationships, families (toxic in some parts), emotive, friendship, loyalty, boundaries - it has a good pull, starts well and keeps you intrigued to what is coming next. This was my first time reading this author, I would absolutely read her again, 4/5 for me this time.

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The Echo Chamber by John Boyne

The Echo Chamber by John Boyne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - Transworld

Source - Netgalley

Blurb from Goodreads

What a thing of wonder a mobile phone is. Six ounces of metal, glass and plastic, fashioned into a sleek, shiny, precious object. At once, a gateway to other worlds - and a treacherous weapon in the hands of the unwary, the unwitting, the inept.

The Cleverley family live a gilded life, little realising how precarious their privilege is, just one tweet away from disaster. George, the patriarch, is a stalwart of television interviewing, a 'national treasure' (his words), his wife Beverley, a celebrated novelist (although not as celebrated as she would like), and their children, Nelson, Elizabeth, Achilles, various degrees of catastrophe waiting to happen.

Together they will go on a journey of discovery through the Hogarthian jungle of the modern living where past presumptions count for nothing and carefully curated reputations can be destroyed in an instant. Along the way they will learn how volatile, how outraged, how unforgiving the world can be when you step from the proscribed path.



My Review

Dear lord what an unsavoury bunch a lot of the characters are in this book, shady, shocking, hillarious, rude ooft so so many words where to start. Meet the Cleverley family, George father and beloved tv personality with the BBC, Beverley his wife is a novelist snob and a firm believer in staff knowing their place. They have three grown children, Nelson the eldest is a teacher and socially awkward but working through it with a therapist and uniforms. Elizabeth is a spoilt brat who cares more about social media presence than pretty much anything else. Achilles is the baby, seventeen and at school, beautiful, gift of the gab and very aware how much he can get out of his looks. The book follows each of the characters and what is happening in their lives and the impact of actions and consequences.

I cringed so so many times at scenes in this book, sometimes I laughed out loud, shook my head, gasped, got enraged. The book looks at so many themes and issues, how we as a society are tied up with social media, our phones, our public personas. The book looks at homophobia, transphobia, racism, being pc and I think by making the characters such extremes of what they are it punches it through. Even in these times people behave appallingly but often think they can get away with it because of who they are or "it is just an opinion" or hide behind a computer screen. Whilst there is a lot of humour laced throughout there are some very serious messages/lessons in the book.

I do enjoy Boyne's writing, I have read a few of his books and find even if the characters are loveable or you loathe them you can sink into their world and loose yourself for a few hours. Prepare for some entitled self involved shady cheating unlikable characters - I sometimes find books with horrid people are often then ones you end up glued to, they said WHAT?!?!?! 4/5 for me this time.

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Bound By Their Secret Passion by Diane Gaston

Bound by Their Secret Passion by Diane Gaston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - Mills & Boon

Pages - 288

Blurb from Goodreads

A forbidden attraction… A hidden desire!

Years ago, penniless Lorene Summerfield wed for duty, giving her siblings the chance to marry for love. But now the generous-hearted countess finds herself widowed…and the man she's loved in silence for years is falsely accused of her husband's murder!

Although he closed his heart to love long ago, the Earl of Penford has always found Lorene irresistible. Their newly ignited passion may be scandalous, but now he'll stop at nothing to clear his name and win Lorene's hand!



My Review

Set in the Eighteen hundreds women are demure, main focus is marriage and babies, matched to families dependent upon their dowry. Lorene will do anything for her siblings including sacrifice her own happiness to secure a future for them. Resented by the staff, thought to be a gold digger after marrying a wealthy older man and unable to escape her mothers past Lorene defies her husband to see her family. When he dies in suspicious circumstances, suspicion falls on the Earl of Penford, the man Lorene's husband accuses of having an affair with his wife. A small down, titles, separated by classes, society is very judgmental and Lorene just wants a quiet life when her past catches up with her bringing trouble, judgement and heartache.

It has been a long long time since I read Mills and Boon books, I loved them as a pre teen. This was brought to my attention with the Mills and Boons insider and just what I needed at this time. Set in the eighteen hundreds I generally don't prefer historical fiction but it works in this book. A genteel period where women and the times are very different from modern day society. Lorene has always been attracted to Dell (the Earl of Penford) but her choices have meant she could never allow him or anyone to know. With suspicion cast on Dell for murder Lorene needs to keep her distance but she has never felt more alone. Then the past caught up with Lorene and her family bringing its own problems, emotions and judgments from the small town.

Very well constructed, the flow goes nicely, kicking off with the lead up t and death of Lorene's husband that sets the path for all that follows. A book that very much looks at morals, societies attitudes, the defined classes, love, families and as with all Mills and Boons stories there is a sex scene or two. Lorene is one of a kind, strong, selfless, loyal, passionate, kind and caring to a fault, whilst her character is one to be praised there were moments when I wished she would be a little selfless and stand up to one or two folk. Overall a really good tale of love, morality, class distinctions, family and honour, just what I needed, 4/5 for me this time. This was my first time reading this author, I would certainly read her again! Thanks to Mills and Boon for providing me with an ARC of this title.

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