Taming the Take, by Erica Ridley. I love the format lol how this wonderful love story is written. It’s written as though it could placed in it’s own short story box. Ruben and Gladys are fabulous in this romantic story. The story was short and it was straight to the point on many things. Ruben and Glady’s story had imagination, and realism, and clear details to each scene.
I love the puppy love sentiments between the main characters. I enjoyed the book immensely. Until next time my fellow readers… read on! I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so good! Relentless rake? Shy wallflower turned independent, confident, seductive mistress? Revenge plot??? Yes, please!

I was hooked from the very beginning, where we see the fateful night Gladys’ reputation, and entire life, was ruined. The way everything went down definitely made sense, so if you’re worried about not liking Rueben (because, well he does compromise her, not remember her name, and literally never deign to check up on her afterwards) don’t be too worried - it makes sense from his perspective.

I don’t want to spoil much more than that, but it really is a great read and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. One thing I’m liking about this series so far, besides the May Day festival vibes, is how short the books are. You can read it in a day, which is exactly what I did!

Overall, I give this one 4/5 stars. Wonderful, but not quite outstanding. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Zealous Quill Press for the uncorrected proof in exchange for an honest review.

Taming the Rake is a wonderful mixture of this fabulous old-fashioned romance and modern approach relationship story.
Thanks for sending usable and readable ADE.
I enjoyed reading the story.

2.5 stars, rounded up

Gladys Bell is back in Marrywell for one reason, revenge. Five years ago an innocent, sheltered 21-year-old Gladys Bell attended the Matchmaking Festival in Marrywell with her parents and younger sister and was instructed to find a husband. A potential match is made with a man more interested in her dowry than her. But a case of mistaken identity finds Gladys being kissed by Reuben Medford, the heir presumptive to a viscount and a notorious rake, and leaves Gladys assuming that Reuben wants to marry her. So when the man her parents found to marry her proposes, she declines, thinking that Reuben will propose. But he doesn’t and her parents are livid – they declare her ruined, disown her, and cast her out of their lives without a penny. With supposedly no other options, Gladys goes to London and becomes a courtesan. And quite the courtesan she must be since in just five years, she can retire from the profession and seek her vengeance on the man who ruined her life! But Reuben isn’t exactly what she was expecting.

Reuben Medford is shallow, self-serving, and has commitment issues because he believes anyone he loves will leave. When Reuben meets Gladys again he doesn’t recognize her as the girl he kissed five years ago, but he is immediately smitten and falls right into her trap. It seems like Gladys’ plan will work, but does she really want it to?

This was a well-written book and the idea of it was good – but sadly, it didn’t work for me. I know it is fiction and that I shouldn’t take it so seriously, but the idea that a well-bred, innocent, young virgin is disowned by her parents and has no choice but to become a prostitute and then within five years has earned enough money to retire is ludicrous – not to mention she sets her sights on punishing the man who kissed her and not her parents? I wish the author had taken a different route with her ruination, like having someone in Marrywell feeling sorry for her and helping her find a position, and she ends up as a companion to an elderly woman, who leaves her a fortune – that is more believable than a courtesan in London who one: NEVER runs into the rake who ruined her and two: makes enough money to retire FOREVER in just five years! As I stated, the book is well-written and the idea of it was good, so I don’t regret reading the story and didn’t hate it – I just didn’t love it and had a hard time believing that everything played out as it did. I have read most of Ms. Ridley’s work and she is an amazing author with a lot of talent, so I will assume that I’m the problem and look forward to her next book. This is the second book in a two-author collaboration series, but they are very loosely connected and can be read as standalone titles.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I've been a big fan of Erica Ridley and her Wild Wynchesters series and was delighted to read more from her. While I didn't love this as much as that series it was still an enjoyable read.

I really loved the setting of this story being the matchmaking week. It made the time jump off 5 years work. Also I loved the length of this story, it didn't drag on and really helped keep it entertaining.

However, I honestly wasn't a fan of the MMC and felt his growth throughout the book was stunted. He just wasn't worthy of the amazing Gladys who was such an amazing FMC.

Overall, 3.5 out of 5.

Long story short: I’m a fan!

I don’t remember when I joined the authors mailing list, but I’m glad I did because one day I got the link to Taming the Rake in my inbox!

Like The Rake Mistake, this book is super fun and goes down easily. It’s also incredibly steamy and we can feel the tension between our mains from the get go.

For someone who came out four seasons ago, Gladys Bell is more innocent than she should be. Of course with no access to the papers and advise like this one can imagine why;

“The gentlemen attending this annual festival know that even something as simple as prolonged visual contact can imply marital intent.”

So when she’s mistaken for a courtesan and kissed throughly by the most handsome man at the ball, she assumes that a wedding is to follow. What follows are spiteful people airing Glady’s dirty laundry (that she didn’t even know was soiled) out to dry. With her family abandoning her, she turn from Lady Dawn to a lady of the night! This is the story of how she gets justice, even if that justice isn’t the revenge she wanted it to be.

This book features some of our favourite regency romance tropes! We have:
A Rake (or a bad boy)
A Compromising Situation
Mistaken Identity
Enemies to Lovers

The book does have flaws. Her parents disown her in a public park, which should be considered quite scandalous in it’s own right. She suddenly has all the money she needs with another patron. She forgives him in the blink of an eye. We hardly ever hear anything about her life as a courtesan and how she became one, even though the author could have written on more. There is no mention of ever reconciling with her sister now that she is in a more respectable position.

All of those things are true, and yet I still give this book 4 stars out of 5, because it was fun and light and I was invested in watching Gladys try to break his heart. I loved that she grew into a strong woman who managed her own affairs. I loved watching our main guy falling for her, and anyone who can hunt a book down like that is a keeper; as far as romantic gestures go, the author knew that this was the one that would send her audience swooning.

Gladys Bell has been told by her parents that she was lacking--in beauty, personality, and the ability to attract a husband. When an unfortunate encounter with a known rake, Rueben Medford, leaves Gladys ruined, her parents disown her and give her dowry to her younger sister. With no other means to support herself, Gladys turns to prostitution to survive. Now five years later, after that fateful night, she's back to exact revenge against Medford. Rueben Medford has never forgotten the young woman he kissed five years ago. When he meets Gladys he doesn't recognize her as the woman he ruined. For her part, Gladys wants to make Rueben fall in love with her so she can leave him and hurt him as he hurt her.

Ms. Ridley is one of my favorite authors, and I was happy to read the new book, although this one was not my favorite. Gladys's parents are appalling and awful people. I wish there had been some kind of comeuppance for them for the way they treated their daughter. I liked that Gladys was a strong woman who wanted to control her own life, although I found it hard to believe that after only 5 years of courtesan work, she'd had enough money to be set for life. That was a bit of a stretch. After a few more twists and turns, Gladys and Rueben find their HEA. While this book wasn't one of my favorites, I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.

We always buy Erica Ridley for our library. Our patrons love her. She always writes a compelling romance.

Gladys is a timid young woman whose parents haven’t allowed her or her sister to read newspapers or books, have companions, or do much of anything. At 21, her parents take her and her younger sister to the Marrywell Festival (a festival that is exactly as it sounds - one to find a spouse at), Gladys’s mother is manipulative and insists that Gladys not be a wallflower, but to smile and dance, and find a husband this year. Gladys tries. She dances, goes outside for a breath of fresh air after regretfully accepting a proposal that is all business) is kissed by Rueben Medford, a notorious rake who hides his serious insecurity behind the facade) in a case of mistaken identity. Having no understanding of social events or young people, she tells him where and how to find her for a proposal. He isn’t paying attention and doesn’t hear her. She returns to the festival where she is seen with outdoor greenery in her hair, gets the side eye from a lot of pearl-clutchers, and the next day the business proposal shows up, wanting to get his hands on Gladys’s dowry - a parcel of land, and she refuses him, certain that Medford will show up.

He doesn’t, and that’s that - Gladys is ruined. Her dreadful parents throw her out to fend for herself, so as to not to damage their younger daughter’s chances for a “good” husband.

With no prospects, no education, no references, no friends, or place to go, she turns to the only thing that will allow her to eke out a living - sex work. Some years later - Gladys is successfully retired, and she returns to the Marrywell Festival again, to seek revenge on Medford who isn’t what she imagined him to be.


I despised Gladys’s parents throughout the story and while I have no issue with sex work, the thought of anyone being forced into it is very upsetting. I really didn’t like Rueben’s behavior, and felt like Gladys’s endured trauma was not addressed after the second festival began.

Ms. Ridley is a terrific writer, and I tend to enjoy her stories a lot, but this one, though very well written and a page turner, left me more unsettled than anything else; it wasn’t for me.

I am looking forward to the next titles in the series.



Thank you to WebMotion and NetGalley for the DRC.

I really enjoyed this book and I read it in a day. The story started off with the incredibly naive Gladys Bell encountering the rakish Reuben Medford in a garden. Thanks to her overprotective parents, Gladys was more clueless than the average young lady. She therefore tragically misread Reuben's interest in her. What happened to Gladys afterwards was a nightmarish black comedy. I was actually shocked to see what had become of her. Motivated by revenge, Gladys eventually maneuvered herself back into Reuben's orbit. Reuben, who was not as shallow as society perceived him to be, enjoyed getting to know her as a person. Unfortunately for Gladys, the feelings were becoming mutual.
I went through a range of emotions while I read this book. I was horrified during the beginning of the story, captivated in the middle and happily crying at the end.
Thanks to Erica Ridley for providing me with a free ARC. This is my honest review.

Unfortunately this didn’t work for me all that much. The hero was grossly immature and I honestly couldn’t buy into their romance. The heroine was wronged and forced into prostitution and everything just felt shoved under the rug.

Another great read by Erica Ridley! I have always enjoyed her writing and “Taming the Rake” was no exception! She did a great job capturing your attention and drawing you into the lives of her characters. Gladys’ was so naive but at no fault of her own. Reuben was the worst kind of fake I couldn’t get enough of. This was a super fun read. I had been in a reading slump and I finished this book in record time!

I am not sure about this book. It is not completely boring as many historic romance novels just talk about physical attraction and sexual encounters from the beginning to the end. This one had a bit more substance. But at the same time it is hard to believe that a member of a ton would be disowned like this on a spot. Maybe sent with a distant relative to a far away country side, but I have never come across one becoming a courtesan.

She is described as becoming mature, suave, alluring but she is just a courtesan and the man still remains with a title. How does he end up marrying a courtesan is unclear to me. Also, does she ever get reunited with her family since now she is back with her peers? Overall, it is not a bad historic romance novel but neither a very good one.

3.5 stars for me. But I am curious about the author and would read more.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book was mostly a miss for me. I like the premise of having a man and the woman he unknowingly ruined as the two main characters, but the execution fell flat for me. I wanted more character development throughout, and found the time jump extremely jarring, and honestly the whole premise seemed pretty extreme given what we knew of her situation. Gladys's almost-fiance was hell-bent on getting the land from her dowry, and her sister ended up marrying him anyway, so I can't really wrap my head around why they needed to disown her to save her sister's prospects. They could have just...given the dowry to her sister? I know it's fiction, which requires some suspension of disbelief, but that was too much for me. And then I'm supposed to believe that in just 5 years she now has enough money to have her own household? Others may love this book, but it wasn't for me.

I enjoyed this story, with very likeable characters, and a nice redemption arc. The romance was lovely and although there was a sex scene, it was only 1 and you could easily skip it if you wanted. This was a heart swooning story which you won’t want to put down

I am still unsure how I feel about this novella from Erica Ridley. I enjoyed the read, and Ridley was able to touch my emotions, at least at the beginning of the book. But as other reviewers have said, this book seems to treat the storyline of a debutante forced to become a sex worker a little too lightly.

FMC Gladys is so painfully naive at the start of the story. I almost felt embarassed for her as she convinced herself that known rake Reuben would marry her following their interrupted garden hookup. I was not expecting the dark turn the story took after his failure to appear, as Gladys' parents cast her out, seemingly without a single qualm, in order to save their and her sister's reputations.

MMC Reuben was not my favorite. He starts the story incredibly self-absorbed and ends it only slightly less so. Probably the best thing he had going for him was his easy acceptance of Gladys' past. I just never came to care for him. Instead I wished Gladys could stay strong and take her revenge without falling for him again.

Erica Ridley is a talented writer even with the small annoyances noted above. Three stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

Gladys meets Reuben, a self-proclaimed rake at a matchmaking event and this encounter turns her life upside down causing her separation from her entire family! Now Gladys 2.0 is back to get her revenge and a seductive cat and mouse dance between them kicks off and neither can step away courtesy their instant chemistry! Reuben was annoying at the beginning but as long we have a happy ending, it all works out fine. It was a quick read and mostly stays true to the genre except for a heroine who gains some real world experience before courting her hero!

Shy Gladys has despaired of finding true love—until a magical night at a matchmaking festival when a handsome rake sweeps her off her feet. But she soon discovers that it's a case of mistaken identity, and now her reputation is ruined. What happens when she plots her revenge?

As usual, Ridley has crafted fascinating characters and an engaging plot infused with emotion. The story is bittersweet, but the happy ending is so, so satisfying.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I loved this book! It was the perfect romance and I devoured ! I wanna read more of this author if this author has more books . The style was Amazing

The 2nd book in the Lords in Love series, Taming the Rake is not your typical historical romance. Glayds is a very unique heroine and I liked her from the get-go. Reuben, not so much. He was pretty self-centered until right to the end and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him jump through her hoops! The story of revenge-turned courting is very entertaining, with a proper HEA.