Ruined by a Rake by Erin Knightley: Book Review

I loved this little story! Eleanor and Nicholas are introduced when they are children and Eleanor's uncle is marrying Nicholas's mother. Nicholas stole a kiss from her and embarrassed her in front of everyone, and from that day forward he was a thorn in her side. Fast-forward 15 years when Eleanor is about to be forced into a marriage she doesn't want and Nicholas comes home from the army after two years away. You can imagine what happens. Yes, it's somewhat predictable, but it's very sweet.

I loved Eleanor and Nicholas. My favorite type of heroine is one who is tough, spunky, and witty without being mean, and Eleanor was great...especially considering how short this novella is and how tough it must be to properly develop characters in very few words. I love that Nicholas has loved Eleanor since they were children, and I loved his reason for pestering her. I also love that he loves Eleanor's fire and that he pushes her to stand up to her uncle.

The main reason I stopped short of five stars for this review is the grammatical errors and obvious editing issues. It started out as just a dropped letter here and there (i.e., you instead of your) or a misplaced comma, but by the end there were really big errors that made it seem like the author really didn't understand the usage of certain words. For example, she used wane instead of wan, thing instead of think, and breath instead of breathe. It got sloppier as the story progressed. But this was a great price of free on Kindle from Amazon, so I'm not really complaining.

The story was full of great quotes and one-liners, especially the banter between Nicholas and Eleanor, and Nicholas and the mean uncle. I have to mention two of my favorite lines from the story. Eleanor says, "I am not scandalous, thank you very much...But stubborn and willful? A woman never argues with a compliment." And later, "If you are mad enough to marry me, my love, then I am likewise inclined."

I very much recommend this novella as a quick, sweet story, and plan to find more to read by Erin Knightley. Four and a half stars from me.

At the time of this review, the novella was available for Kindle on Amazon for FREE! Get it now! Click here. Find out more about the author, Erin Knightley, on Goodreads.