REVIEW: The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh

The Notorious Rake by Mary Balogh (1992) attracted my attention when it was listed in the Top 100 Romances at All About Romance for 2007. A community of romance readers ranked this particular title by Ms. Balogh #98 despite the fact that the book is sadly out of print and will cost you at least $20 to obtain a copy online. Well, my fellow romance readers, you made the right call on this one. The Notorious Rake was very good and it had been sitting in my TBR pile for years.

Do you enjoy themes where the hero is the pursuer? Or where you have opposites attracted to each other? How about a story that starts off as a light romance then becomes a much more serious story about a wounded soul who has lost his way? Or a story about two people wearing masks in public and true love allowing each to take a glimpse behind that mask? I know it is horrible of me to rave about this book when it is OOP but this book is good. This book was written back in 1992 but the story, the writing and the characters gripped me and engaged me until the last page was turned. It is one of the best romances I’ve read this year. By no means is The Notorious Rake a perfect book but it managed to entertain me despite a few complaints I had which you’ll read later.

Lady Mornington aka Mary Gregg has a terrible fear of thunderstorms and rightly so. Four men in her husband’s regiment were killed when their tent was struck by lightning. Unlike many women in that time, Mary traveled with her husband while he was with Wellington’s army. After her husband’s death, Mary took up residence in London and started hosting weekly “literary evenings” where the ton are invited to discuss politics and the like. Despite being a widow for seven years and being rumored to be the purported “mistress” to a married man, Mary has been able to sustain a decent reputation with the ton. Her literary salons are famously popular during the London season. Poets and politicians often accept her invites to provide interesting commentary and entertainment for her guests.

Lord Edmond Waite is a gentleman of ill-repute. Like the title suggests- a notorious rake that the ton shuns. Only wealth and title has allowed Waite to not be completely ostracized. Instead of changing the opinion of the ton, Waite pretty much plays up to it by giiving polite society the vulgarity that they expect from him. It is at Vauxhall Gardens that Edmond first meets Mary Gregg and after one night in her company, he finds that he can’t stop thinking of her.  

Mary accepts an invitation to her friends party at Vauxhall Gardens and learns that Lord Edmond will be in attendence. Like the rest of the ton, she has heard all about Lord Waite’s reputation. She would like nothing more than to avoid him. However it is he who comforts her during the thunderstorm. It is he who calms her fears and helps her through bad memories. It is during the thunderstorm that the two become lovers.

After Lord Edmond makes love to Mary - he actively and relentlessly pursues her. Perceptions of her being plain and ordinary has vanished. However, Mary wants no more to do with Lord Waite and she tries to shake off his advances to no avail. The two spar with each other often, with Mary giving most of the set-downs and Edmond playing up to his vulgar reputation.

However, Edmond is not as cold as Mary might think. Her barbs have teeth that draws blood. Her shunning him in polite society wounds him. He plays the cad while secretly his heart is breaking. Eventually, Edmond becomes so desperate to have her like him and respect him that he is willing to let her go if that is her desire. He rationalizes his attraction to her over and over, saying it is more” lust” than anything. However, he soon figures out that it is more than lust that attracts him to her.

The Notorious Rake is vintage Mary Balogh and it has plenty of passion and angst. Characters were well developed and thereis actual character growth within the story. For example, when Edmond feels the need to impress Mary, he stops drinking and whoring. He feels a need to reform himself for her, to be worthy of her love. Also, his perceptions of her has changed: instead of being plain and ordinary as he had originally thought, Edmond sees Mary with fresh eyes and finds her beautiful even if he is the only one to think so.

Mary and Edmond have great passion and chemistry together. The author gives readers a couple of explicit love scenes that added to her character’s depth and were a necessary part of the character’s development and emotional growth. I found the protagonists confrontational exchanges quite engaging. However, Mary’s set downs were quite cringe worthy. Edmond stole my heart from the start. His need for her was so touching. God, I loved Edmond. He is a lost soul looking for a way back and it is through Mary that he finds himself and is able to be himself again. Mary essentially brings him back to life again.

I thought I had the plot pretty much figured out but I didn’t. The author surprised me a time or two especially when the thread turned to Edmond’s past and how his reputation was ruined. So he jilted a lover for another to the horror of the ton, however, it is his guilt about a particular “family accident” that has eaten inside him for 15 years.

Readers learn that Edmond has been estranged from his family because of that “accident”. Thankfully, Mary is able to see past Edmond’s mask, his facade, but I felt it took her too long to get there. She helps him find the courage he needs to reach out to his family. Edmond’s aunt, Lady Eleanor tells Mary that Edmond hadn’t always been a bad person. She learns from friends that Edmond was attending Oxford and wanting to be a clergyman. He was “bookish”, quiet and a “serious” student before the accident. An intelligent fellow. It is through his aunt’s eyes, Mary is able to see that Edmond is redeemable (at last!).

I enjoyed The Notorious Rake very much and would list it in a top 100 romance list, too. It’s on par as far as intensity is concerned with my other favorite Balogh titles like The Temporary Wife and Snow Angel to name a few. If I had any complaints with the story, it was with Mary’s character. I felt she was too harsh and so uncompromising to the hero. I did not enjoy being in Mary’s head at all knowing how she despised Edmond. Thank goodness, Balogh does give us both protagonists POV. I liked being inside Edmond’s head, knowing his thoughts and feelings that go well past the veneer. He is truly a wounded soul who hated himself and needed healing.

The ton is quite wrong in their view of Edmond for he is quite intelligent and very perceptive. Sensitive and thoughtful, too. Of course, there is a rival for Mary’s affections to make things even more interesting where conflict is concerned. However, I think I’ve elaborated enough on the plot.  Anyway, after a week or so, the memory of this lovely story will fade and then I’ll find something else to rave about. The Notorious Rake was a very good, intense read with great pacing. I hope many of you can locate a copy. I wish I had one to give away but I don’t. My grade, A. Now, I’m going to go see what other Balogh titles I own that are just as good as this one (fingers crossed).

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