Reformed Rakes

Tom Severin! He sucks, we love him. In this week's episode, Beth and Emma try to figure out just how Lisa Kleypas pulls off making us love a book with a landlord hero. The answer involves extended set-pieces, deft pacing and a third act kidnapping, all Kleypas hallmarks.

Mock up of a fake newspaper reading "Reformed Rakes Presents" Headline: Dickens Weeps, subhead: "please sir no more!" lithograph of Charles Dickens. Article text: Author Charles Dickens endorses podcasters’ rant about the misuse of his characters and the lack of chemistry in Lorraine Heath’s The Scoundrels of St. James series. “They should have gone for another half hour,” the iconic London resident was heard saying after one of his famed lectures.

In a Patreon poll, our patrons voted for us to read a book by Lorraine Heath. We went in with good faith, but In Bed with the Devil runs counter to much of what the Rakes love about romance. This week’s episode explores the many reasons why this book just did not hit for us.

this book features a Jewish doctor reeling from what he could and couldn't do during a plague, so yes, Beth and Emma talk about Dr. Robby and The Pitt.

Cover of The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel superimposed on a painting of the Great Fire of London. Text reads Reformed Rakes Presents:

New episode! The Phoenix Bride is an achingly romantic book set in London, 1666 and unlike anything we've ever read. Siegel managed to make an under explored setting feel very lived and pulls off the kind of happily-ever-after we wish we saw more of in the genre.

Back with a new episode! Honeytrap is unlike any genre romance we’ve ever read—asking what can new settings, structures and even endings can look like in the genre, all while being romantic and delightful!

Joan Wolf is the final boss of horse girls

I got to be a guest on the Reformed Rake's Podcast!

new episode! this week we’re talking about sex work, mistresses, theater, jewelry, estates and more with @scarr.bsky.social! His Lordship’s Mistress is a charming Signet Regency that explores many topics that newer readers might assume a stuffy Regency would shy a way from.

it’s wild, right! I think the distinction is almost totally lost now, but if you do any backlist reading, it becomes really meaningful.

I really enjoyed this as someone who also often wants to throw Balogh at the wall while also loving her work and repeatedly reaching for it!!

forgiveness doesn't come with a debt Mary Balogh's Romantic and Abolitionist Imagination

If you listened to the Reformed Rakes episode and want more in depth Balogh, I wrote this about how I see her vision of justice and forgiveness (a major condition for her version of an HEA) relating to the abolitionist imagination.

open.substack.com/pub/restorat...

“reformed rakes presents: Mary Balogh and Category Romance. Pictured a white woman with short grey hair super imposed on a picture of the Royal Crescent in Bath, England”

We’re going to Bath! This week, Emma talks to Beth and Chels about her favorite author, Mary Balogh, and the history of “category” and “Regency” romances.

The Love Train Sex, sales, and romance in 1983

did you know that in 1983 there was an Amtrak "Love Train" that took a large group of romance authors/fans to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention? NYT was not a fan of the documentary about them, saying the women featured had "barren lives"

theloosecravat.substack.com/p/the-love-t...

ahhh @bayleyreads.bsky.social is my favorite WWI dad

Me!! I was literally buzzing with excitement. This was such a fun conversation. The Rakes are the smartest and funniest and it is very lovely that they let me come back!!

reformedrakes - Historical Romance Novel Podcast Reformed Rakes is a historical romance podcast hosted by three romance readers: Emma, Chels, and Beth. We discuss our favorite romance novels, themes, duels, and so much more. We update every other Tu...

Show notes, including a transcript, on reformedrakes.com.

New episode! This week @bayleyreads.bsky.social joins us to talk about Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts! A WWI magical mystery romance, this book is incredibly special and Bayley helps us figure how Arden pulls off this magic trick. Available on all podcast platforms!

THE COUNTESS CONSPIRACY is particularly notable for how it talks about labor and gender distinct from HGH books because there is NO babylogue, and actually the plot makes it clear that will not be one!

he's a rake, she has a HOBBY Novels and Children by Roland Barthes

For more discussion of the concept of a “hot girl hobby” in historical romance, here’s Emma on the term she coined to describe a frustration with lots of histroms!

yes! how much she respects her mom’s “rules” even as she has been torn asunder by them. she just wants a system!

I love this book so much and the grand gesture in it so much, I made this face when I first read it to sell it to my best friend as Singular in its romance.

Episode announcement with book cover of The Countess Conspiracy by Courtney Milan. Text reads: Reformed Rakes feat. haleystewfart The Countess Conspiracy

The Rakes are back for Season 3 with THE COUNTESS CONSPIRACY by Courtney Milan. Featuring friend of the pod @haleystew.bsky.social, we discuss labor, hot girl hobbies and kissing in this long time favorite book.

It's kind of shocking we haven't done a Courtney Milan book standalone episode yet

The Rakes are here. Season 3 starts Tuesday!!