A Rake of His Own

Stariel, Book 5

De: AJ Lancaster

Narrado por: Nicholas Boulton

Marius Valstar doesn’t know which is worse: the dead body in his greenhouse or the naked fae prince on his desk.

The only rakes of interest to Marius are garden tools, not fae princes. Certainly not the arrogant, selfish fae prince he has the misfortune to have a history with.

But when Prince Rakken turns up naked and bleeding in Marius’s college the same day a body appears in his greenhouse, scruples must take second place to solving a murder that could unravel the delicate balance between humans and fae.

Marius’s own developing magical powers are more hindrance than help, as is Rakken’s bloodied past. Forced to work together, they must forge an uneasy alliance if they are to track down the killer. But how can Marius trust the man who represents everything he’s trying to avoid?

A Rake of His Own is a steamy m/m gaslamp fantasy featuring a melodramatic fae prince, a beleaguered botanist, and a second-chance enemies-to-lovers romance. It occurs chronologically after the events of The Stariel Quartet, but can be listened to as a standalone.

©2022 AJ Lancaster (P)2023 Podium Audio

As fun as I was hoping and yet not what I expected

I really enjoyed this book. I still love the title and the foresight that went into it.

Hetta and Win were running from crisis to crisis for four books. Most of their relationship obstacles were external.

In this book, the crises are external and the obstacles are internal. I was not expecting a murder mystery! It worked, though. And it was cool to see some more of the wider issues involved in integration.

This book doesn't take itself quite as seriously as the other Stariel books, as evidenced by the snarky chapter names. It's slightly more graphic. Not so much in what's shown as in the words used.

The narrator did a good job. I wish the various narrators had a cheat sheet to keep them from pronouncing things differently from each other, but that's a minor quibble and not his fault.

The perfect MM s’more

“We’re not enemies, Prince Melodramatic, we’re just, I dunno, antagonistic acquaintances.”
Now this is grumpy sunshine romance! Just enough growly bits to give the majority-marshmallow story the perfect crispy bite. Note that this isn’t a cozy, however; the sex scenes were the most detailed so far in the series, and yet still tastefully, and sexily, written.

“Farewell, moral high ground.”
Yes, there’s a murder mystery. Yes, the MCs from the series appear. But, this was my favorite book in the series in part because it functions as a standalone romance. Indeed, if you’re looking for magic battles, conspiracies, and series-spanning arcs, you will be disappointed.

“His heartbeat thundered in his ears to the rhythm of naked, naked, naked.”
I, for one, minded the lack of other plots not a bit: I loved that the sole focus was Prince Rakken Tempestren and Marius Rufus Valstar’s love story. New listeners can absolutely start here with the series.

“He looked dreadful; he looked glorious.”
The narrator was phenomenal. Due to Marius’s telepathy and Rakken’s ability to compel, there are a lot of lines that happen as internal links between two people- and it was sometimes hard to discern who was talking, and whether he was talking out loud or telepathically. Still, I’m not sure another narrator would have done any better- it’s just one of those areas where the printed page works better to signal inner monologues.

“Ch17 The Seductive Power of Water Lilies
Ch18 Rakken Abandons Subtlety”
And can I just say how much I adored the chapter headings? Those, and the low-fae cat-thing Thistledown, were almost as adorable as the MCs. Not only was this my favorite of the series, but I hope for more books, each as a standalone for another one of the characters (mayhap an HEA for another Tempestren sibling?).

Love this!

A mystery and an endearing (and spicy!) fulfillment of meaningful attraction. Excellent new narrator - I’ve so enjoyed every book in this series, but the book 4 narrator was a bit off in some of the make voices (jarringly so). This narrator’s interpretation is perfect. I truly hope there are more books coming. :)

Great story!

Wonderful story. I love how the past stories are woven onto this one to enrich the narrative. The performance by Nicholas Boulton added extra dimensions to all of the characters, but especially Rake. Can’t wait for boom six if there is to be a book six.

Takin and Marius

Way too much time on their sexual relations. Storyline suffered. I was disappointed after listening to the previous books which were much better