Grade: 3.5
The sixth book in the Cavensham Heiresses, Wild, Wild Rake, follows the story of Lady Avalon Warwyk and Devan Farris. This is my first book of Janna MacGregor’s, so I can rightfully tell you the book holds as a standalone. While there were existing couples mentioned that you understand to have their own stories, missing those did not detract from this story.
Lady Avalon Warwyk suffered the fate of a verbally and emotionally abusive husband. She’s now been widowed for 9 years and focuses on raising her son along with setting up a charity for women escaping prostitution. Devan Farris is a fourth son, whose family refused to buy him a commission instead pushing him in to the clergy. Their interactions through the years have been somewhat adversarial never reaching full enemy status. Now, they are pushed into a common goal by Devan’s brother, who also happens to be Lady Avalon’s son guardian.
I appreciated Janna MacGregor’s ability to walk the line of believable. We all know there are situations in the Regency era that were unlikely to have happened. Such as, a noblewoman meeting and befriending her husband’s paramour and starting a non-profit with her. Ultimately, the book was written well enough that I didn’t have an issue suspending disbelief. I applaud the author’s use of plot devices that aren’t seen all the time. It’s incredibly hard to do in a genre that has seen so many books written. She wasn’t completely successful in all her attempts, but it was still refreshing.
Between the townspeople, the friends from London, the staff at her estate, his vicarage staff, and the soiled doves she is rehabilitating, there was a large list of names to keep track of. The sheer amount of people meant you didn’t get to know any of them well, leaving a lot of cardboard characters. Lady Avalon’s sister was a character I wanted to get to know, but we only had glimpses of her until she is smack in the middle of a large plot point. I would have appreciated slimming down some of the characters and using the time to build up the others.
Bottom Line: If you like Regency Romance, this was a good read. Characters that you don’t see a million of in the genre and a plot line that hasn’t been overused. I’m not dying to read the other books in the series, but if I came across one, I would pick it up.
Lori Carroll
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