The Fake February Rake by Charlie Lane

Tracy’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Rake Review, #2

Release Date: February 1, 2024

Dr. Hades Jones’s life and livelihood spiral downward faster than the frigid London temperatures when the Brazen Belle Scandal Sheet names him as the February Rake in the Rake Review, claiming he wears his signature greatcoat with the outrageous green lining when he abducts women for his harem, earning him the sobriquet The Devil Doctor. As the illegitimate son of a notorious Marquis, Hades has worked hard to prove himself to the ton and to rise above the circumstances of his birth, but when someone steals his coat and wears it while abducting women, who are never seen again, Hades isn’t about to stand by and take the blame. He tracks down the thief and demands the return of his coat – which as gaudy as it might be, was a gift from his sister. He grabs the culprit as he is leaving the theater with a woman and gets a shock when he turns out to be a she. A she who is unwilling to return the coat and a she that he knows – Lady Ophelia Howard, the eldest daughter of one of his former patients (thanks to her). She takes off with his coat and Hades plots revenge. He shows up at her home the next day and demands to speak to her father. He is further shocked when upon realizing that Hades has spoken the truth about Ophelia’s nocturnal activities, not only has her join them, but demands that they wed! Marriage to her would salvage his reputation if she agrees and refrains from causing any more scandals. No problem…right?

Lady Ophelia Howard has a secret that could ruin her if the truth ever got out, she spends many evenings dressed as a man rescuing women from untenable relationships and delivering them to a safe house known as Hawthorne House using the moniker Miss Chastity. She nicked the doctor’s coat one day while he was treating her mother and has been using it as part of her disguise with great success and was shocked when Hades caught her outside the theater with a pregnant actress she is helping escape. He holds her at sword point but is surprisingly supportive of her mission, too bad she can’t return his coat. She leaves believing that is the end of her association with the much too handsome doctor, so when he turns up at her house the next day and her father demands that she marry him, she is outraged and refuses to even consider it. But when Hades leaves and her father makes it clear that he is serious, either she marries or he will cut her off, Ophelia will have to find a way out of this betrothal or lose everything she has been working for. But when Hades comes a-courting, she wonders if it is possible to have it all.

This is a new-to-me author and I was intrigued by the blurb of this book, so I jumped at the chance to read it. I thought it was good, not great and not what I was expecting, but interesting and Hades was a wonderful hero who was very easy to like. For me, Ophelia was not likable for most of the book, while I respected her work, and commiserated about her limited opportunities, she came across as selfish and self-centered for most of the story, thankfully she realizes this and does make an effort to right things, especially when it mattered. The book moves at a good pace, has some funny moments, a few steamyish love scenes, and ends in a HEA, but not before throwing in a bit of over-the-top last-minute drama where the characters start to second-guess themselves for no good reason. Overall, it was a decent read, but not one I would read a second time. This is the second book in a connected, author collaboration series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title with no problem.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*