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scoutmomskf's review against another edition
4.0
Good book. Rafe made an incredibly tortured hero. He did a great job of rescuing Henrietta the first time, even though he didn't want to. Then he stepped up to clear her name of the charges of theft. He had a terrible habit of going back and forth between cold and kind. I really liked Henrietta. She was a bit on the naive side, but she was a good person. She could see that Rafe had his issues, but she came to see that he was a good person under that rake-like exterior. I loved the way that she said what she thought, without any thought of lying. I also respected the fact that she stood up to Rafe and declined his offer, rather than settle for less than she felt deserved. I loved the concluding scenes.
alejandra_guerrero's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Entertaining, but there are several things that took me out of the story:
- Doesn't feel like the story took place in 1824. The heroine doesn't act like any woman at that time would, specially considering her mother's way of thinking, that sould've reflected on Henrietta's education.
- everyone spills the Count's secrets; servants were exceptionally loyal, specially ones that knew their masters since childhood like the housekeeper, Mrs. Peters, who, by the way, was given her position by Rafe himself, which would have warranted her complete loyalty to him, and yet she tells Henrietta, a complete stranger (and a governess, which servants didn't consider one of them and were generally treated with mistrust) all about the horrible Lady Julia.
-people leave them alone all the time, which would be unthinkable at the time this supposedly takes place. AND there's absolutely no way Mrs. Peters would have Let Rafe take an unconscious Henrietta to HIS bed, master or not, specially not with his reputation as a Rake. Nor would Lady Gwendolyn let her go unchaperoned with him anywhere.
- there's no way anyone would have Let Henrietta have breakfast outside her room in a robe (a man's robe), they would have sent the food to the room and insisted she stayed in bed for like a day at least, since she was injured. And definitely someone would have called a doctor way before she woke up, instead of waiting for her to refuse one.
- we are told Rafe Is a rake, but he certainly doesn't act like one. We're told he has a heart of ice, but never see It. He's described as "Byronian" (which I take means he is like a hero of one of Lord Byron's poems or something) but he's definitely not temperamental, proud, brooding, nor cynical. We're just told he is, but he never acts that way.
- the rooms are never described: in one scene, he sits behind a desk we weren't told was there, which is IN FRONT OF A CHIMNEY (who the hell puts a desk in front of the chimney?) then walks to a window that's not mentioned before, while she's sitting god knows where, because we don't freaking know the room, and was having tea which dissapears from one moment to the next.
- Doesn't feel like the story took place in 1824. The heroine doesn't act like any woman at that time would, specially considering her mother's way of thinking, that sould've reflected on Henrietta's education.
- everyone spills the Count's secrets; servants were exceptionally loyal, specially ones that knew their masters since childhood like the housekeeper, Mrs. Peters, who, by the way, was given her position by Rafe himself, which would have warranted her complete loyalty to him, and yet she tells Henrietta, a complete stranger (and a governess, which servants didn't consider one of them and were generally treated with mistrust) all about the horrible Lady Julia.
-people leave them alone all the time, which would be unthinkable at the time this supposedly takes place. AND there's absolutely no way Mrs. Peters would have Let Rafe take an unconscious Henrietta to HIS bed, master or not, specially not with his reputation as a Rake. Nor would Lady Gwendolyn let her go unchaperoned with him anywhere.
- there's no way anyone would have Let Henrietta have breakfast outside her room in a robe (a man's robe), they would have sent the food to the room and insisted she stayed in bed for like a day at least, since she was injured. And definitely someone would have called a doctor way before she woke up, instead of waiting for her to refuse one.
- we are told Rafe Is a rake, but he certainly doesn't act like one. We're told he has a heart of ice, but never see It. He's described as "Byronian" (which I take means he is like a hero of one of Lord Byron's poems or something) but he's definitely not temperamental, proud, brooding, nor cynical. We're just told he is, but he never acts that way.
- the rooms are never described: in one scene, he sits behind a desk we weren't told was there, which is IN FRONT OF A CHIMNEY (who the hell puts a desk in front of the chimney?) then walks to a window that's not mentioned before, while she's sitting god knows where, because we don't freaking know the room, and was having tea which dissapears from one moment to the next.
serialromancelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
This book was just meh. I didn’t feel a real connection between the MC’s. Henrietta was annoying and bumbling. I didn’t think her character was accurate for the time period since she never really acted with propriety. There were problems with plot continuity and it dragged. I skimmed.
daisy87's review against another edition
3.0
This is kind of a hard book for me to review, cause I found myself rolling my eyes at a lot of things happening BUT at the same time it did bring tears to my eyes... GAH!
The thing is, a lot of what was going on in Rake With a Frozen Heart didn't seem to comply to the time period these characters were living in. I mean, as you may know, I've read a LOT of historical romance novels. And as such, I know a little about the rules that dictated the behaviour of basically everyone. So in my opinion a man and a woman who are not related sharing a room together for about a week is not appropriate for the time they were living in. Also, it annoyed me that Henrietta pretty much start off by calling Rafe by his first name, and he's an EARL. I mean, unless he grands you leave to do so, which he doesn't, as a lowly governess you don't do that automatically.
And I found myself wondering why Rafe doesn't seem to have servants. Most of the earls I've read about before didn't drive themselves from their estate to London.
Also, Rafe being an earl didn't seem to factor into anything except his having social influence and could scare someone into doing as he pleased when it was convenient. It's not once discussed that Rafe even considering marrying a governess would be looked down upon by society. And there's from the beginning zero distance between Rafe and Henrietta though I thought society would dictate their behaving otherwise, at least at first.
What I did like: this novel definitely brought the emotions! It was all 'He does not love me and I will not take anything less so I will be unhappy until he realises what a complete moron he's been!' AND I LOVE THAT! Seriously, things like that and the woman (or in rare cases the man) walking out on the hero (or heroine) brings tears to my eye almost guaranteed. And it did this time. It was wonderful, it was stomach-clenchingly good.
I really liked Rafe and for once there actually was a good reason for the 'rake' in question to have sworn off caring about women. I mean, can you say traumatic?? And I love any man that's good with babies ;)
I'm still kind of on the fence about Henrietta, cause while she's pretty smart and a governess, she also did some pretty well, airheaded things. She doesn't seem to think it's inappropriate to 'explore' a man's chest and abdomen while he's asleep when said man is not someone she's in a relationship with.
Also, she at one point thought the hero was 'endearing' when he was VERY drunk. And you guys, drunk people are not endearing. As Emily from Reading While Female said: 'Drunk people are only ok when they're your friends at a party with you, and you have also been drinking. Other than that? Bad.' And even friends can be annoying then.
Also, when she disappeared on the hero and was all like 'oh, it hadn't occurred to me you'd be worried when I LEFT WITHOUT A TRACE' *flutters eyelashes of wide innocent eyes* I completely sympathized with the hero and went GOD WOMAN! SERIOUSLY??
I did like that she stood by her principles, but most of the eyerolling I did at the story was because of her.
So there were things I loved and things I very much disliked but because it brought tears to my eyes I cannot bring myself to give it less than this rating.
My rating: 2,5 stars
The thing is, a lot of what was going on in Rake With a Frozen Heart didn't seem to comply to the time period these characters were living in. I mean, as you may know, I've read a LOT of historical romance novels. And as such, I know a little about the rules that dictated the behaviour of basically everyone. So in my opinion a man and a woman who are not related sharing a room together for about a week is not appropriate for the time they were living in. Also, it annoyed me that Henrietta pretty much start off by calling Rafe by his first name, and he's an EARL. I mean, unless he grands you leave to do so, which he doesn't, as a lowly governess you don't do that automatically.
And I found myself wondering why Rafe doesn't seem to have servants. Most of the earls I've read about before didn't drive themselves from their estate to London.
Also, Rafe being an earl didn't seem to factor into anything except his having social influence and could scare someone into doing as he pleased when it was convenient. It's not once discussed that Rafe even considering marrying a governess would be looked down upon by society. And there's from the beginning zero distance between Rafe and Henrietta though I thought society would dictate their behaving otherwise, at least at first.
What I did like: this novel definitely brought the emotions! It was all 'He does not love me and I will not take anything less so I will be unhappy until he realises what a complete moron he's been!' AND I LOVE THAT! Seriously, things like that and the woman (or in rare cases the man) walking out on the hero (or heroine) brings tears to my eye almost guaranteed. And it did this time. It was wonderful, it was stomach-clenchingly good.
I really liked Rafe and for once there actually was a good reason for the 'rake' in question to have sworn off caring about women. I mean, can you say traumatic?? And I love any man that's good with babies ;)
I'm still kind of on the fence about Henrietta, cause while she's pretty smart and a governess, she also did some pretty well, airheaded things. She doesn't seem to think it's inappropriate to 'explore' a man's chest and abdomen while he's asleep when said man is not someone she's in a relationship with.
Also, she at one point thought the hero was 'endearing' when he was VERY drunk. And you guys, drunk people are not endearing. As Emily from Reading While Female said: 'Drunk people are only ok when they're your friends at a party with you, and you have also been drinking. Other than that? Bad.' And even friends can be annoying then.
Also, when she disappeared on the hero and was all like 'oh, it hadn't occurred to me you'd be worried when I LEFT WITHOUT A TRACE' *flutters eyelashes of wide innocent eyes* I completely sympathized with the hero and went GOD WOMAN! SERIOUSLY??
I did like that she stood by her principles, but most of the eyerolling I did at the story was because of her.
So there were things I loved and things I very much disliked but because it brought tears to my eyes I cannot bring myself to give it less than this rating.
My rating: 2,5 stars
alannaj's review
4.0
Rake With A Frozen Heart is about Henrietta Markham, a governess who is found unconscious in a ditch on the neighbouring estate, which belongs to the Earl of Pentland, Rafe St Alban. Rafe is an anti-social member of society, shutting himself off from the world around him as he recovers from his failed marriage. The last thing Henrietta remembers before waking up in the Earl’s house is being attacked by someone trying to break into her mistress’s house. When she recovers and manages to explain this to her mistress, she is accused to being in alliance with the housebreaker, and ends up having to run away in order to escape being taken to prison for a crime she didn’t commit. She ends up running straight back into the Earl’s life and the two end up fighting to clear Henrietta’s name. As things develop, Rafe has to decide whether or not to let Henrietta melt the ice that he’s allowed to form around his heart.
I really enjoyed this story; the chemistry that was there between the two leads was apparent from the start and it was a very well-written relationship. Rafe initially came across as a typical rake, but his stubbornness and apparent cool attitude towards Henrietta were soon easy to see through but it was great to see him slowly thaw towards her presence in his life. He seems used to being in control of a situation, so it was interesting to see him deal with the unexpected position that Henrietta puts him in – he’s not quite sure how to deal with her, and the uncertainty made him a much more interesting character to read. Henrietta started the book as any reader would expect the heroine to be – quiet, demure and innocent, however it quickly became apparent that she wasn’t your usual heroine. She was outspoken, truly honest, smart and surprisingly capable of dealing with the unexpected feelings that Rafe inspired in her; she didn’t run from the situation that she was placed in.
There were a few unexpected twists in the story that kept my interest fresh from beginning to end; I like a book that doesn’t follow the expected path. Usually, when there is an attraction to be fought between the two main protagonists, there is some sort of indication that they must end up married, but the author left the characters with the freedom to make their own choices and didn’t try to force something that didn’t feel natural within the story – there was an independence to both Rafe and Henrietta that you don’t normally see in these types of novels. This independence served to leave me as a reader feeling intrigued by how the two would find a resolution that they were both happy with, it was less predictable than normal and that was fantastic.
I really enjoyed this story; the chemistry that was there between the two leads was apparent from the start and it was a very well-written relationship. Rafe initially came across as a typical rake, but his stubbornness and apparent cool attitude towards Henrietta were soon easy to see through but it was great to see him slowly thaw towards her presence in his life. He seems used to being in control of a situation, so it was interesting to see him deal with the unexpected position that Henrietta puts him in – he’s not quite sure how to deal with her, and the uncertainty made him a much more interesting character to read. Henrietta started the book as any reader would expect the heroine to be – quiet, demure and innocent, however it quickly became apparent that she wasn’t your usual heroine. She was outspoken, truly honest, smart and surprisingly capable of dealing with the unexpected feelings that Rafe inspired in her; she didn’t run from the situation that she was placed in.
There were a few unexpected twists in the story that kept my interest fresh from beginning to end; I like a book that doesn’t follow the expected path. Usually, when there is an attraction to be fought between the two main protagonists, there is some sort of indication that they must end up married, but the author left the characters with the freedom to make their own choices and didn’t try to force something that didn’t feel natural within the story – there was an independence to both Rafe and Henrietta that you don’t normally see in these types of novels. This independence served to leave me as a reader feeling intrigued by how the two would find a resolution that they were both happy with, it was less predictable than normal and that was fantastic.
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