Eva Leigh: The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes

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.  

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

CW: Family rejection

In the spirit of the good old help-another-find-a-lover trope (that’s what I call it, anyway), Eva Leigh gives us a rake who needs to reform and a starched debutante who longs to live on the wild side.  But, you guessed it, spending so much time together when both were already attracted to each other is a dangerous premise…especially when the stakes are high.

Leigh introduces us to Kieran Ransome (and his brother Finn) on the morning of his sister’s wedding to their bf Dom Kilburn.  The events that unfold lead to the Ransome and Kilburn parental units giving the trio of rakish men an ultimatum; they have a year to find respectable brides.  I am assuming this is a set up for a series (well, that its #1 in the Last Chance Scoundrels Series is probably a giveaway, too, but to be fair I didn’t note that until after).

The Kilburns come from poverty and have carved out a spot in the Ton due to their largesse.  But their respectability is a fragile thing, forcing much of Celeste’s life to be planned and plotted.  The way Leigh portrays the absolute suffocation of this life really delivers a perfect set up for Celeste’s decision to strike out.

There is a great “meet up” scene to initiate the help-another-find-a-lover/lessons set up and then we find Kieran and Celeste trading events to help each other in their pursuits.

Both characters have some challenging family lives.  Celeste gets a lot of guilt/pressure to maintain the family’s respectability and keep the Kilburn’s in the Ton’s good graces.  Conversely, Kieran has been written off by his parents and older brother (heir) as a scapegrace and they treat him pretty badly, rejecting him at a lot of instances in the book.  I gave a content warning out of an abundance of caution that this might hit some readers hard and in ways they aren’t looking for.

Otherwise, this was an enjoyable book I couldn’t put down over the weekend.  It wasn’t my favorite Leigh (although I am not sure many books can beat My Fake Rake), but it was still strong, the romance was swoony, the tension was real, the intimate scenes were hot, and there was a good amount of diversity in Leigh’s portrayal of London which was refreshing.

I generally like this trope and I really liked both of these MCs.  Celeste was the traditional head strong heroine who has a plucky spirit, a sensual side, and a fair amount of sass.  Kieran was a rake but oddly devoid of toxic masculinity, at least in my reading of him, so I enjoyed him thoroughly.

I don’t completely understand that motivations of the “villian” of this book, but maybe that is just being nitpicky.  I also missed some of the humor from Leigh’s other books and felt there were some missed opportunities for comedic elements, but at the end of the day thought this was a really strong book with a lot to love (including a great romance with all the feels a reader can want).

Leigh does a great job setting the scene, using the Regency era as more than a backdrop, and playing with the tropes of the genre to make it feel fresh and fun.  Tropes include best friend’s sister, virgin love lessons, reforming rake, masquerades, friends to lovers, and help-another-find-a-lover

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to readers looking for a fun ride along the love lessons variety of historical romance.

Side note: This title is part of a recent theme of “guides” and instructional type titles that don’t actually mean the MCs are doing anything in the book resembling the title.  Like, Celeste didn’t write a guide, and she isn’t even really giving lessons, either.  Mostly, she is just bringing Kieran to respectable events and making introductions.  This would’ve been more aptly been titled A Rake’s Guide to Secret London if the publisher wanted to stick with the guidebook theme.

I also kind of hate the term “good girl” and even though Leigh doesn’t place any emphasis on this and really works to show how complex people are, it does represent another potential issue for some readers.

The cover is beautiful, so no issues there, but gah I wish publishers/authors would really think about how the title does set up expectations for the reader that, when unfulfilled, can have a negative impact on the reader experience.

4.75 out of 6 A solid and fun tour of the respectable/rakish sides of London with great MC chemistry

Content Rating/Heat Index
Mature Content
Gambling, mistresses, family rejection
Intimacy
Mostly vanilla, but a lot of intimate scenes
Violence
Mentions of brawls and assaults

Overall
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