Never a Gentleman (Book Two in the Drake’s Rakes Series)

Eileen Dreyer
Grand Central Publishing (2011)
ISBN 9780446542067
Reviewed by Tiffany Schlarman for Reader Views (6/11)

The stakes are high in “Never a Gentleman” since everyone has something to hide as well as everything to lose.  Grace Fairchild grew up among her father’s soldiers amidst battlegrounds, hardly the life of a lady.  Now, after her father’s death, she is thrown back into the life of the ton.  Grace has never felt more lost or alone.  It doesn’t help that she has been sabotaged into a marriage she didn’t want with a man who wants her even less.

Diccan Hilliard has been drugged and framed.  Caught in a scandalous act, he is forced to marry Grace in order to avoid ruin.  Diccan known his assailants are not to be taken for granted.  Caught in a race of time, Diccan’s risky job complicates matters worse, throwing his new wife into the sites of murders that will stop at nothing to see him fail or wind up dead.

The result brings intrigue, suspicion, lies and scandal to the forefront of marital battle grounds.  Only when all secrets begin to be revealed will the biggest secret disrupt their lives in an entirely different manner.  Fans of Elieen Dreyer and new readers alike will love the intriguing characters, suspenseful plot lines and twists that take place in this novel.

I really enjoyed the story of Grace and Diccan.  I was constantly wondering who could be trusted among the characters.  I was anxious to find out who was involved behind the elaborate scheme taking place in this story.  It is what kept me hooked to this novel.  On the flipside, I had issues with this title as a romance.  There simply wasn’t much to it.  The limited romance scenes were not much to brag about.  They were short and not entirely sexy as most of them felt like acting rather than passion.  The characters also lacked connection to each other.  Though they both secretly harbor hope and desire for the other, I didn’t feel the chemistry between them.  Grace was made out to be an unsexy character in the eyes of others.  When her beauty is shown it’s not believable since the reader has already been programmed to see her as unattractive.  The story mirrors one of the ugly duckling that is really a swan, it’s just not apparent to most.

While I really enjoyed this story, I wish the chemistry would have been more apparent between the characters.  While the attempt was there, I just didn’t feel it.  If you’re looking for a good story, this one has it.  “Never a Gentleman” was an enjoyable and very unique read.  I am interested to read the other titles in this series in order compare them to this novel.

Make comment on weblog

FTC Disclosure