The Rake Mistake by Erica Hadley

Thank you, NetGalley and WebMotion, for the chance to read and review The Rake Mistake by Erica Ridley.

I read a lot of regency romance and thought that one way or another, The Rake Mistake would fit in that category. I was wrong! It’s a charming prequel heist novella that makes a very interesting standalone.

While the book builds up to a heist, I loved getting to know Phillipa and her family dynamics in this one. I also think publishing this is fantastic from a marketing perspective! Not only will we get these great little heist stories featuring each woman from the heist club (I hope), but the books also tie into The Wild Wynchesters series, which is more of a romance novel series. As a whole the story was really fun to read and perfect for when you’re in the mood to just be entertained!

I gave the book three out of five stars. A lot of the stuff was a little unbelievable to me. You can tell me that’s stupid of me because the whole point of reading a book like this is to tell reality to bugger off. I think it was the animals and the amount of stuff I had to take in with the Wynchesters. If you read this after reading The Wild Wynchesters, you probably won’t have this problem. I also didn’t care for the ending; I know it’s supposed to be happy ever after, but I would have found it more interesting if things with the rake and all the women had been more intense.

My last problem is with the cover. I wasn’t expecting a cover like The Wild Wynchesters, but this one is not my favorite. It just seemed very low-budget to me. I don’t know if the publishers will approve me again after that last comment. That being said, I want to acknowledge that I was drawn to this cover because we have evident diversity on it!

Overall, this is a lovely prequel novella that whets your appetite for other books by Erica Ridley.