Author: Eva Leigh
Audiobook Narrator: Zara Hampton-Brown
Series and Number: The Union of the Rakes, #1
Release Date: November 26, 2019
Oh goodness - Sebastian and Grace... where do I even start with you two?
The premise of this story is said to be based on the '80s romcom Can't Buy Me Love. Evidently, all the books in this series are packed with 80s pop culture references. And I got a few of them as I listened to the audiobook version of this.
But here is my confession - I've never seen that movie. Nor am I any great expert in 80s pop culture. Oh, there are some things I get. But having been born in the mid-1980s and thus being too young to really be immersed in such, some of this stuff went sailing over my head.
However, I am familiar with tropes associated with The Ugly Duckling/makeover stories and Friends-to-Lovers. So we'll go with that.
Though I am glad that I was aware of this series' dependence on '80s references. Otherwise, that font on that cover would have been... ehhhhhhhhh. But it actually works for what is going on here.
Okay - so the story is that Lady Grace Wyatt is a scholar, as is Sebastian Holloway. Seb is the son of a nouveau riche businessman, but he has no inclination to go into his father's business. So he lives on a paltry stipend while he also makes time for his anthropology studies. He is also painfully shy around strangers and avoids talking to people he doesn't know. He has a motley group of friends that we're introduced to in a Breakfast Club-esque prologue (because, the '80s).
Grace is obsessed with reptiles and amphibians. And she makes sure EVERYBODY knows it. Which has made her a bit of a pariah in society. But that's okay - she's a strong, independent woman who don't need no man. She does what she pleases, 'cause she's really a woman from Current Year trapped in Victorian England.
But when her father has a health scare, he asks her to get married so he can know that she's taken care of. Even though she'd intended on being the oddball spinster aunt that gets passed around between family members. Oh sure, she rails against the unfairness of it all (don't worry, I'll get to that silliness in a moment), but then she decides that she needs to up her standing in society so she can attract this one other scholar named Mason Fredricks who is actually welcomed in society, but he also goes on scientific expeditions. Mason considers Grace a colleague (and you will get sick of hearing about it), but she wants him to think of her as a marriageable young lady. The scenes where he talks to Grace about his quest for marriage and how he needs to meet eligible ladies are all pretty galling. It's like "She's right there, you dolt!"
So what does Grace do? She enlists the help of her shy best friend Sebastian to act like a confident society rake and pay attention to her in front of everyone else, so Mason will get it through his thick skull that Grace is a viable candidate for marriage. Because Grace can't possibly see herself marrying a man who isn't intelligent or shares her passion for academics.
At the risk of repeating myself: "He's right there, you dolt!"
It is clear from the outset that Seb is sweet on Grace. But his shyness and social anxiety prevent him from expressing that to her. You absolutely feel sorry for the guy, especially when Grace is treating him the way she claims society has treated her. But, dammit, he does EVERYTHING she asks of him. Even when her "training" causes him even further public humiliation.
Enter the Duke of Rotherby, one of Seb's friends from that not-Breakfast Club at Eton (really, they're called the Union of the Rakes, hence the series name). Holy cow, Rotherby is a godsend to Grace and Seb. In fact, this whole scheme of theirs would fall apart without Rotherby's help. Not only does Rotherby grease the wheels (as it were) to get Seb into society events so that he can be seen kind-of-courting Grace, but Rotherby actually knows what to do to prepare Seb for his role as confident society buck. Everything from how to act, how to speak, even how to dress - Rotherby's got it covered. He is easily the best character in this book. I know his book is next in the series and I hope to heaven that he is still as likable there as he was here.
But back to Grace. Because if there is a problem with this story, it is Grace. Holy. Hell. This woman prattles on and on about how SOOPER SMART she is, but she is dense as a ton of cement.
First off, she wants to get married to a man who is intelligent and who she can converse with about their fields of study. She claims that she doesn't give a fig about society - she just wants to run off and do her field work. Hey look - there's Sebastian Holloway! He meets her in the library. He talks to her about their studies. He is easygoing with her, even if functioning in society terrifies him. He has no use for high society either. They can go off and be intelligent misfits together. Perfect solution!
But, nope. She wants the polished naturalist who is perfectly at home running in those social circles that she claims that she wants no part of. Never mind that he's never given her a thought beyond their academic fields.
And every time that Seb feels like he might be getting closer to Grace, she has the GALL to remind him that this is all just an act. That Seb could HONESTLY fake his attraction to Grace - when just five minutes ago HE HAD ZERO SOCIAL GAME AT ALL.
Second off, for all her protestations that she has no use for society, Grace acts just like one of those simpering, spoiled misses. Just replace the obsession with clothes and hair and flirting and balls with reptiles and amphibians and being the epitome of those trite pretentious douchebags that populate such bullshit groups like "I F**king Love Science". She makes these impossible demands on her painfully shy friend and he goes along with it because he's besotted with her (again, I feel so sorry for Seb early on) and she just takes for granted that he's going to do this. Because she is the princess. She gets what she wants. And she is just going to dump Seb like a bad habit the minute Mason recognizes that she has child-bearing hips. Or whatever the thought process is.
 |
| Yeah, she knows EXACTLY what she's doing. Twat. |
What. A. Bitch.
Even later on in the book, she assumes that Seb doesn't love her because he said she should marry Mason. BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID, you dumbass! He thinks you want to be friends, so he's respecting your wishes! It's no more complicated than that. Guys aren't that manipulative. Especially guys like Seb. The man has no guile. Just because you're oozing with it.
And, yes, she does have a moment of realization at the end that she's been a horrible person and played with people's emotions and used them like toilet paper. But after hours of screaming at this beast, it was too little too late.
Maybe Grace frustrates me so much because I and my husband, Mr. Riker, were friends with common interests before we dated and got married. True, it took us a while to make the connection. Though part of that was due to Mr. Riker dating somebody else initially. But that relationship ended and, after a year and a bit of prodding from his brother (I found that part out later), Mr. Riker asked me out and the rest is history. The key is that we were honest with each other the whole time. And after years of trying and failing to have a meaningful romantic relationship with anyone, it was refreshing to find someone that it was so easy to be around and who actually wanted my company. By that time, the choice was simple. And we have been together ever since - quite happily and successfully, I might add.
One more thing that irritated me in this story - All the woke shit. Seriously, what is WITH historical romance authors and the need to insert their attempts to score woke points in their novels? Presentism always - ALWAYS - throws me out of a story. Like that bit about the artifacts and taxidermy animals in the British Museum. If it pains you to see such things, why in the hell are you even there? And where can we find that time machine to send you back to the Current Year where you can screech about toxic masculinity and cultural appropriation on Twitter along with all the other pampered white feminists with their nose rings and blue hair?
So... why did I finish this, if there were so many things that set me to ranting?
Honestly, it's Sebastian. I fell in love with the guy. He was so earnest and sweet. His journey of self-discovery - while instigated by a selfish hag - was beautiful to witness. He didn't really change himself in the process of becoming a society rake. He wasn't faking the rake act. I believe it was Rotherby who said that they just polished Seb up so people could see his true nature underneath. He learned how to navigate his own culture and people, after studying others like a disaffected outsider for so long. He found a place to belong and he learned to stand up for himself. He found strategies and techniques for channeling his nervous energy into something productive and good. His weaknesses became his strengths and he was a better person for it.
That's the kind of character growth that I LIVE for! I was even cheering during that chase at the end where he was rushing to stop Grace's ship from leaving, because it meant he was about to get his Happily Ever After. He deserves it. Though then I remembered that he was running after Grace and... I felt less enthusiastic about it.
Even so, I can tolerate a selfish prick of a heroine for the gold mine of a hero who is learning to overcome his flaws. Sort of.
So what's my final verdict? Enjoyed the hero, enjoyed his best friend, the heroine needed a boot up the ass. And Leigh needs to lay off the woke shit.
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