Title: Letter From A Rake

Author: Sasha Cottman

eBook 

Pages: 281

Publisher: Cottman Data Services Ltd.

ISBN: 2940161769829 (BN ID)

Release Date: 9-26-2018

Book Details: eBook, so you can customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: Barnes and Noble

Time that the story takes place? 1817, London

POV? Third person

What caught your eye? I discovered this via Bookbub. After putting in my reading preferences, this book was at the top of the list with that four letter word every book lover loves to see, “FREE!” Can’t go wrong with free. I see on the Barnes and Noble website that it is still available for free, so do yourself a favor and go get it! The cover was lovely, the synopsis was interesting, the sample chapter was charming, so I downloaded it.

Did you enjoy it? I really did. I kept telling my husband while I was reading this, how nice it was to read something so different for a change.

Was it predictable? No. Not even a tiny little bit. I honestly never knew where we were going and it was great! The characters were unexpected and charming, and just something we don’t normally see in historical romances.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was tame in the sense that the main characters aren’t pawing each other every other chapter. In so many ways this was very tame. However, the sexiness of this is more mental. I can’t explain it. It was very romantic. 

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Not funny, but it was amusing. Highly entertaining. 

Would you read it again? I actually would. In fact, I think if there were a physical copy of this, I’d absolutely buy it for the shelf. I wish I had a poster of the cover; I think it’s one of the nicest I’ve seen in a while.

Is this part of a series? It is and guess what? This reader actually started at the beginning! The Duke of Strathmore, is the series, and this is book the first one!

It is so refreshing to read a romance novel that actually focuses on the romance and not on the lust. Don’t get me wrong, there is certainly lust, but it was tasteful lust. Is that a thing? I’m making it a thing. 

Our Leading Lady is Millicent “Millie” Ashton, who is by far the most unique female lead I’ve seen in a good long while. Born and raised in India, Millie has never set foot in England nor does she have the English sensibilities of the ton. Millie has seductive curves, wears a nose ring, and she absolutely hates London. It’s too cold, it’s too grey, there’s no good tea to be had, and all the other girls are too snobbish to bring her into the fold. Her only trusted companion at the beginning, is her older brother, Charles.

The Ashton family is finally coming home after twenty some years, having saved the family business, they can depart India and introduce their children to English society. A grand party is thrown by Millie’s aunt and uncle to welcome them home.

At this party Millie meets a young woman named Lucy and two hit it off right away by coming up with a scheme to hit the desserts table in a stealth manner. Later on, Lucy introduces Millie to her two eldest brothers: David and Alex. 

Alex is our hero for this story and he is absolutely stunned into brainlessness the moment he meets Millie. He’s never met anyone like her before and asks her dance on the spot. 

However, as Alex is so taken by Millie, his body decides to let itself be known in the most undesirable way at the most inappropriate time. As they get onto the dance floor—with everyone watching them—he is unable to move due to . . . well, gentle reader, our hero has gotten an erection and is unable to talk himself off the cliff, so to speak. Millie is naturally humiliated (though she doesn’t know the reason behind Alex’s sudden “refusal” to dance) and leaves Alex on the floor. 

Alex, in the hopes of making amends begins to send Millie flowers every morning until he is able to verbally speak to her whilst she is out walking with her brother. Soon the families of Ashton and Radley are all fast friends.

Normally I would go through the entire book with you, however with this one, I will decline. Only because the book is so densely rich in character development, it is the nuances that really make this story. This book also didn’t seem to follow the normal way of things, but in the best possible way. Alex and Millie feel like living breathing people, they each have their issues that they struggle to hide, either from the other or their own families. 

One of the things that I really found interesting was the fact that Alex has severe dyslexia, to the point that he cannot read or write and has developed a phenomenal memory in order to get by in life. The author detailed his struggle so well that I wanted to write her a letter and tell her, “Yep, you captured it.” One of my dearest friends in the world had to go through school having all her books read aloud to her, all her school exams done orally—much the same way Alex details in his private thoughts. Of course at this point in history, such an affliction wasn’t recognized, and Alex has great shame in the fact that he, a man who will one day be a duke, cannot read or write.

It is this disability that causes all the conflict in the book as well as gives the story its title. Wanting to write Millie a love letter, Alex enlists the help of his brother, David, to assist him. Of course, his brother agrees but struggles to write as Alex. David isn’t in love with Millie, so he struggles to capture the passion that is needed for a love letter. After a few glasses of whisky, David writes to the only woman he’s ever loved, pouring his heart into the letter in the hopes that it will help him get into the headspace needed for such a task. 

Alex, in his impatience, goes to the den and sees his brother is asleep, but also sees an envelope on the floor. It’s addressed and seeing an “L” on there, he decides this letter is bound for London, it must be the letter for Millie. He seals it, gives it to his man to post, and feels great about things.

Until later, when David hands him the letter he wrote for Millie. 

Of course, the letter has made its way to the unintentional target and everyone is abuzz about the engagement of Lady Clarice Langham and Alex Radley. And Millie is rightfully heartbroken. 

This is just a fragment of the awesomeness of this book. I cannot do justice to all the little moments between Alex and Millie. And honestly, this is a clean romance, their stolen moments together are not filled with passionate kisses and torrid embraces, they actually talk to each other. There is an interesting kinship that develops between them that is so sweet and tender that when that first kiss does happen, you have absolutely earned it. And when you get to that first kiss in what I will refer to as the “Tea Scene,” you can see truly how much Alex cares for Millie. It’s nice to read a story where the hero falls first. Though, she’s not far behind.

This was a great read and one of the few books I didn’t just burn through in a couple of sittings. Like I said, the book is dense, but every moment between these two is delightful. If you like BBC period dramas, you know the ones that are a family saga and love story all rolled into one, then you will LOVE this book. I can’t wait to read the next one. Especially with that set up in the epilogue . . . 

I’m Cautiously Optimistic that I’ve found a new series for the winter.