The Rake by L.J. Shen Series: Boston Belles #4
Published by Self-Published on February 16, 2022
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
Genres: Romance
Amazon Audible
Emmabelle Penrose has cruised through life never needing a man, a plan that has worked stunningly well until about five minutes ago, when she decided she must have a baby.
Devon Whitehall is 6’2” of premium DNA, financial security, and British royal titles. Best of all, he fears the one thing she dreads the most: getting hitched.
Emmabelle figures it’s a no-brainer when Devon offers his services—sperm and involvement in her future child’s life.
What begins as an innocent, modern-family arrangement, quickly erodes into a web of lies, dark pasts, and unfurled secrets.
Inside this chaos, Emmabelle and Devon are forced to face the awful truth—they are capable of love.
Even worse, they might feel it toward each other.
I had an itch for a planned pregnancy romance, and The Rake scratched it quite nicely.
Emmabelle Penrose has fertility issues that make it necessary for her to get pregnant as soon as possible if she ever wants to have a child.The problem is that she is allergic to relationships, and she is also financially unstable. Enter Devon Whitehall, a wealthy British aristocrat and Marquis. He is a well-known womanizer for whom marriage or even relationships are out of the question. However, he is interested in producing an heir to pass on his royal title. It’s a match made in Heaven.
Belle has a deep distrust of men that goes back to some pivotal events in her teenage years. She works overtime to push men away and squash the possibility of any romantic feelings. Despite her hostile behavior, Devon is enchanted by her. On the one hand, I really felt for Belle and understood the reason for her volatility. On the other hand, I kept wondering why Devon was so attracted to her when she treated him poorly. It is difficult to sympathize with her at times. Even so, I enjoyed the magnetic attraction between Devon and Belle and rooted for them to be a real couple.
Devon’s relationship with his dysfunctional royal family is like a juicy soap opera that I wanted to enjoy with a bowl of popcorn. Some developments towards the end seem rushed and haphazardly thrown together, but all’s well that ends well.
I liked the dangerous mystery element. It creates a little extra excitement. I admit I didn’t understand how Belle could treat the health and safety of her and her baby so cavalierly when her pregnancy was high risk though.
The audiobook is wonderful, with Joe Arden and Maxine Mitchell turning in fantastic performances—with British accents no less. Arden is particularly emotional in his portrayal of Devon. I highly recommend it.
Recommended for fans of:
Planned pregnancies
British aristocracy
Mystery
About L.J. Shen
L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.
Before she’d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who’d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples’ birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.
She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.
I’m glad this author is back to working for you. I’m sure the wonderful narrators help.
The narration really sold the book for me.
I’m glad you liked this, I also like a planned pregnancy romance.
I can see how much you enjoyed this one.
It certainly sound intriguing, and the cover is quite appealing 😍
Thank you. Yes, the cover is not hard on the eyes!
I haven’t read this LJ Shen romance. Maybe I will now.
I hope you enjoy it!