Sarah Elliot Reforming the Rake

Reforming the Rake

Sarah Elliot

Harlequin, Oct 2005, $5.50

ISBN: 0373293747

She is twenty-three years old and starting her fourth season in five years, having taken time off for good behavior, because Beatrice Sinclair wants only to marry for love. Since she has refused several proposals, the Ton calls her "Cold Fish".

Derek Summerson has no plans to marry, but he notices the beautiful woman in the next door garden. He goes out of his way to meet her at the boring Teasdale Ball. His mother notices her son's interest in Beatrice, so she invites her to dinner. Beatrice quickly realizes he is the man she has been waiting for. Though she knows he is a certified rake that a good female should not fall in love with, Derek cannot stop thinking of Beatrice. However, he refuses love as he remains scarred from the deaths of his brother and father in a carriage accident years ago.

Sarah Elliot's historical novel is a fine Regency romance that uses the classic (some will say overly used) theme of an innocent finding love, but to attain her soul mate, the heroine needs some REFORMING THE RAKE. Beatrice is not a cold fish, but simply wants a lifetime of love only to find it in the wrong person. However, Derek makes the tale as his reason to shun love, goes back to his childhood, when as the sudden man of the family he never found closure with the deaths of his father and brother. If this is any indication of her writing skills, Ms. Elliot will live up to her surname with a long successful career.