Recent Read

Well, after a day of blogging about socks of all things and then a day mostly off the computer, it’s time to do another Recent Read

Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake – Laurie Brown

Why this one: I received an email from someone from SourceBooks asking if I would write a blog about this book. Normally I say no to such answers ‘cause knowing me, I’d feel obligated to like it and then if I didn’t then I wouldn’t feel as free to offer my thoughts. But the brief outline on this one sounded intriguing, a ghost and time traveling both together. I’ve always liked both genres so I decided to bite the bullet and say yes.

Heat level: It took a while to get to it, but once it did – it was quite steamy. I was happy.

Blurb:

A modern career woman thrust back in time into the glittering Regency period and the arms of an unscrupulous rake

Josephine Drummond is a professional paranormal researcher (aka, a ghostbuster) hired to prove that the ghost of Lord Deverell Thornton, the very handsome Earl and a notorious rake in his time, haunts the crumbling Waite Castle. But the ghost drags Josephine back to the Regency period to help him try to prevent the swindle that impoverished the Earl and threatens to turn his castle into a most undignified modern-day tourist attraction.

Josephine has to contend with being a modern career woman trying to navigate the complex social scene of the Regency period, make sure no one discovers her real identity and unmask a charlatan. But all of these are easier than resisting her undeniable attraction to the Earl, who is clearly determined to sweep her off her feet.

My Thoughts: I was very (very) pleasantly surprised by this book. It was quite delightful, funny in spots and poignant in others. I’m the kind of reader who goes by feel, rather than fact and this one made me feel good when I finished it. I could have driven myself crazy trying to figure out how a ghost could travel back in time with someone else to the very same time he lived – but I figured ‘what the hey – just go with it'. This made the book a very pleasant enjoyable read.

I adored Dev/Deverell – both incarnations; his ghost self and his real self. It was very cute watching ghost Deverell getting jealous over real Dev and the growing feelings Josephine had for the real Dev.

And Josephine who was emphatically Not a Ghostbuster, made a great heroine. I felt pulled along with her towards the end with her growing feelings for Dev and her mixed feelings about returning to her own time. I thought the resolution quite satisfying.

Also I noticed the author had a wonderful way of imparting interesting facts about the regency period – many of which I didn’t know. She has obviously done her homework, yet it all had a natural flow to it – what I and other readers were learning.

It took a while to read this one – in between I read The Serpent’s Prince and Mine Till Midnight, but they were both exceptional books and ones I’d been waiting a while for.

When I did go back to reading Hundreds of Years to Reform a Rake, I didn’t feel any of the let down you can feel after a great book. Instead I continued to enjoy this one very much.

So – I took a gamble with this book and it paid off very nicely! A new author for me to keep my eyes on; I like it. It get’s a thumb’s up from me and I will certainly be interested in other books this author has to write.

Grade: 4 out of 5

'til later