The Perfect Rake

Mysterious pasts full of family secrets, charming writing, and confusion abound in Anne Gracie's The Perfect Rake. This warm love story is filled with all the requisite characters-- an evil guardian, a rogue worth reforming, a missing and duplicitous fiance, diamonds of the first water, and a heroine with a will of her own. But it's also got its share of plot twists, moral dilemmas and interesting surprises.

Prudence Merridew is charged with the care of her four younger sisters, now that their parents have passed. Their legal guardian, and grandfather, Lord Dereham is a vicious man, who abuses the sisters at will and keeps them isolated from all others. When fate offers Pru a chance, she and her sisters, all beauties, of course, escape to London, in the hopes of making advantageous matches before their time runs out. During their stay, a simple lie turns into a grand farce: Prudence must pretend betrothal to Lord Carradice (a self-proclaimed and widely acknowledged rake) to better her sisters' chances at catching beaus. What follows is a solid historical novel, filled with amusing banter, a case of mistaken identity, and the challenge of seduction.