Good book. Nathaniel is one of three "rakes" who are being blackmailed into doing something very ungentlemanly. In order to keep scandal away from his family, Nathaniel has been tasked with seducing Lady Georgette, one of the women selected to possibly become a royal bride. It's not something he's proud of, but he'll do what he must to protect his family. To complicate matters, Georgette is the younger sister of his deceased fiancee, one who he still mourns.

Since Anne's death, Nate has enjoyed the attentions of many women, but has gotten close to none of them. He doesn't want to suffer that kind of loss again. Because of his mission, he has to get close to Georgette and make her believe that he cares about her. When he sees her again after several years, he's surprised to see that she's no longer the shy and bookish girl he remembers, but a beautiful and spirited woman. Suddenly the seduction doesn't seem like such a chore, but the guilt for doing it is hard to bear.

Georgette feels guilty for being the sister that survived the scarlet fever outbreak. Since then she has been determined to be the type of daughter her sister had been, which means doing what her parents want. Right now that entails being the type of woman that would appeal to a royal duke, even though that is not the life she wants for herself. When she was sick, she had promised herself that she would become the kind of person who would make a difference in the world. To that end, she has begun an effort to help prostitutes leave that life and start new, respectable lives. Nate's appearance in her life throws everything into turmoil.

I liked both Nate and Georgette. In spite of being described as a rake, I thought he was quite honorable and a good man. I loved the way that he came to Georgette's rescue at the beginning, and how that gave him the "in" he needed to spend time with her. I loved his protectiveness and his efforts to keep her safe, even though it sometimes seemed to be a losing battle. He came to know her very quickly and could see what her mission meant to her. It was fun to see him try to help her and protect her at the same time, especially when she fought the protectiveness. He also started to let go of his grief for Anne as he got to know Georgette better and her happiness began to mean more to him than his own goal,

Georgette has a mind of her own and it creates conflict with her desire to do what her parents want her to do. She isn't particularly thrilled wit the idea of being a princess, but she doesn't have much choice in the matter. Her heart really lies with her mission to improve the lives of prostitutes. She is a mix of naive and worldly and this gets her into frequent trouble. Her first encounter with Nate is when he rescues her from one of her attempts to save one of those unfortunates. She's not happy to be dragged off by him and lets him know it. It gets even worse when her father asks Nate to be her escort around town and therefore keep her out of trouble. It was a lot of fun to see the way that her determination got Nate involved in helping her, and how they turned into a good team.

There were sparks between them from the start. For Nate, it initially meant that seducing her would be a lot easier. But for him, those sparks grow into more, and he's suddenly trying to figure out how to keep her for himself. Georgette doesn't quite know what to make of the feelings Nate rouses in her at the beginning, but soon realizes that he is far more what she wants than the royal duke is. I loved seeing how she responds to Nate's advances, and what it means to her. I loved how Nate knew her well enough that it was important that she come to him when she was ready. Their love scenes together were terrific. Nate's attempts at self control and Georgette's determination that he lose that control were fun to see. As their feelings for each other grew, both had choices to make about their futures if they wanted to have that future together.

I really enjoyed the story of Georgette's reform attempts. What she is doing gets tangled up with a piece of property that Nate won, and the danger to her increases. There was some mystery behind the murders of a couple people, and their efforts to solve it brought them closer together. I enjoyed Georgette's conversations with the various "ladies" and the effect they had on her. I was pretty sure who the bad guy was, and was happy to be proved right. The final confrontation was pretty good, though it did end rather abruptly. I felt like there could have been a bit more to it.

The secondary characters of the footman, Reuben Darling, and Georgette's maid, Mercy, the former prostitute, were great to see. I really enjoyed Mercy's blunt speech and interesting outlook on life. She had a neat way of making Georgette look at things. I was moved by the things she said to Reuben when she thought he was unconscious, and what it showed about the life she had led and the effect it had on her. Reuben was an honorable man himself, and I loved the way he treated Mercy. It was sweet to see what he told her after he regained consciousness. ( )

I barely made it through this book. I finished because I've enjoyed so many books by Connie Mason that I kept hoping it would get better. The story moved extremely slow with so many trivial events. I started skimming then skipping and finally just read the last chapter. Lord Nathaniel needs to seduce Lady Georgette. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Georgette was a great heroine. She was trying so hard to help the soiled doves and in fact, she did help one by giving her a job as her lady's maid. The maid, Mercy, was quite entertaining and had a small subplot of romance of her own. But no matter how hard Georgette tried she kept running into trouble. Thankfully, enter Nathaniel. He was originally engaged to her sister, but said sister died of Scarlett fever. He was then charged with seducing Georgette to ruin her chances of marrying into the royal family. Even though he was known as a rake he did have a conscious and of course, his rakish ways take a backseat to protecting Georgette. Along with trying to ruin her he ends up helping her save a few already ruined women and falls in love. Really great book and I can't wait for the last of the trilogy.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. ( )

ONE NIGHT WITH A RAKE by Connie Mason and Mia Marlowe is another Regency Historical Romance in "The Regency Rakes". Book 2 in this series, but can be read as a stand alone. See, "Waking Up With a Rake". As usual these two talented authors have created a fast paced story filled with love,passion,danger,suspense,betrayal,and the fate of an monarchy. Join Lady Georgette,and Nathaniel Colton on their journey to happiness,and love. Nathaniel is a notorious rake,one who has been engaged to stop the King from marrying a virginal bride,that would be Georgette. Together,they find wicked desire,and a bit of danger. A delightful,fast paced story that will have you turning pages as you set on the edge of your seat hoping against hope that the two can find love together against all odds. The plot is intriguing,the characters engaging and entertaining. A historical romance readers paradise,with all you could wish for in a story. Sexy,handsome,fierce,rake and a head-strong,beautiful heroine,and oh did I mention a maid who speaks her mind, albeit a little mouthy. The secondary characters are just as engaging as the main characters. A must read for any and all historical romance readers who enjoy a great story. A must read! Received for an honest review from the publisher.

RATING: 4.5

HEAT RATING: MILD

REVIEWED BY: AprilR, Review courtesy of My Book Addiction and More ( )

'I won't be back dearest...you see I have to seduce your sister'

Continuing on with the Regency Rakes series set in 1817, we meet another of the officers held responsible for the crushing English defeat at the Battle of Maubeuge, just prior to Waterloo. Lord Nathaniel Colton and his brother officers are searching for a way to clear their names as intrigue and treachery have been whispered at, but until now unproven. If they can clear their names of that disaster, then their families will not be ruined. This time we watch the road to near perfidy of Lord Nathaniel Colton as he is manipulated by he slimy Mr. Fortescue Alcock, to bring ruin to another of the contender's for the Royal Bride . For their services Alcock promises evidence of treachery, or at least evidence of the truth about Maubeuge to be revealed.
Based on the true search for a royal bride to secure the English throne for one of the unmarried sons of King George III, vulgarly referred to by the press at the time as 'Hymen Race Terrific,' the authors have taken two occurrences as intriguing hooks with which to grab our attention.
This time the royal contender is the Duke of Cambridge. The potential bride is Lady Georgette, the Marquis of Yorkingham's daughter and sister to Colton's dead fiancé, Anne.
Georgie turns out to be quite a stubborn young woman interested in saving unfortunate woman from lives of prostitution. Fortuitously Nate has just won a house of ill repute in cards.
It is at this intersection that the story takes some interesting twists and turns and develops into a romantic adventure with touches of murder and mayhem that fits the times.

A NetGalley ARC ( )