The Rake cover art

The Rake

Boston Belles, Book 4

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The Rake

By: L.J. Shen
Narrated by: Maxine Mitchell, Joe Arden
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About this listen

Boston’s most infamous femme fatale meets her match in a dangerously mild Englishman who has vowed to never marry in this romantic stand-alone from Washington Post best-selling author L.J. Shen

Emmabelle Penrose has cruised through life never needing a man, a plan that has worked stunningly well until about five minutes ago, when she decided she must have a baby.

Devon Whitehall is 6’2” of premium DNA, financial security, and British royal titles. Best of all, he fears the one thing she dreads the most: getting hitched.

Emmabelle figures it’s a no-brainer when Devon offers his services - sperm and involvement in her future child’s life.

What begins as an innocent modern-family arrangement quickly erodes into a web of lies, dark pasts, and unfurled secrets.

Inside this chaos, Emmabelle and Devon are forced to face the awful truth - they are capable of love.

Even worse, they might feel it toward each other.

©2022 L.J. Shen (P)2022 Audible, Inc.
Romance Romantic
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What listeners say about The Rake

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not as good as other books

I was so looking forward to the last book but I am a bit disappointed. I listen to lots of books by the author and a lot of them I listen twice but I won’t be coming back to listen this one again . I understand the psychological issues due to previous experience but it was just too much . Bella was just so irritating as character so childish . However Devon was brilliant and so so sexy :) . It great to finally learn more about his mysterious past back in uk .

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  • Overall
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amazing

what a story, a true love story a mystery teaser I didn't stop listening for the whole definitely 5 stars and worth the wait

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Sad that it's over.

L.J.Shen knows how to really tackle sensitive subjects. They developed wonderful character arcs without the characters losing their identities and makes sure every chapter matters. Love the Boston Belles series. Sad to see it end

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Disappointed

Not as good as the other books love Joe Arden but his English accent was poor I would have preferred a proper English actor. Maxine Michell was brilliant as Bell. There were lots of issues I didn't understand how they tried to kill him as a child but he was suppose to marry Louisa and he was the only male heir this didn't make sense. Both Bell and Devon had terrible things done as children and both vowed never to marry because of the trauma they suffered. Love this authors books but this one I won't listen to again. Glad there was a happy ending to this novel.

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  • Overall
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A charmingly spicy end to the Belle's series.

The rake is book four in the Boston Belles series and is the story of Emmabelle Penrose and Devon Whitehall, and sweet baby Jesus what a conclusion to the Belles this is.
L.J. is the most amazing storyteller and writes romances full of raw, hot, sensual, sexual, real, and emotional moments that have you captivated from the very first word to the last. She writes in a way that allows the narrators to strip away layers of your soul, leaving it exposed to the emotional impact that she portrays through her storytelling.
Emmabelle has glided through her adult life never needing a man for more than a quick f**k. A plan that has served her well as she focussed on her career and is now the sole owner of a successful burlesque club and master of her own destiny. That is until she’s told her biological clock is ticking so needs to get to baby making sooner rather than later.
Devon is a British aristocrat. His father is a Marquess and promises his son in marriage to Louisa Butchart, however, after being abused by his father he defies him and leaves and leaves for the United States never speaking to him again. Now aged 41, Devon plans never to marry instead choosing to live out his days with one-night stands and short-term relationships.
Joe and Maxine are the ultimate dream team pairing and honestly, are the perfect Devon and Emmabelle.
Joe’s British accent is simply swoony worthy. I couldn’t have asked for a better Devon than Joe, he knows how to not only play your body and mind in the most delicious ways, but he also knows how to draw out the emotion and make you feel everything.
For the life of me I cannot understand why Maxine is still underrated when she is the most amazingly talented woman with the most impressive male voice and the ability to take you through the whole spectrum of emotions and raw feelings. She was the perfect choice for Emmabelle and Maxine portrayed the ball busting, man hating, broken boss babe impeccably.
This was a breath-taking conclusion to a phenomenal series. If you haven’t jumped into the Boston Belles series, take the leap. You won’t be disappointed!

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Loved the Rake!

Loved this book, the last of the Boston Belles I believe. Lots of ups and downs, passion, emotions and serious issues too. Glad how it all worked out in the end. Couldn't stop listening and will miss the characters, thank you to all involved x.

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Absolutely Awful British Accent

YAY…. completely honest review to follow😀

had previously left a review that was not all 5 ⭐️ and it did not appear. (Not the first time) Go figure 🤔

The premise of the story had legs and I usually really like LJ Shen’s work, but who on God’s earth ok’d this frankly ridiculous attempt at upper class Brit 🤷‍♀️ it couldn’t have been more ridiculous if you tried! All the over used supposedly British words and slang, most used out of context, gave me complete secondhand embarrassment. It was totally cringe worthy. It was as though all your normally great authors skills had left the building. It can’t have been someone having an ‘off day’ because the process of producing a book is much longer than that.

It’s such a shame because Emmabelle is a great character. By far the worst of Shen’s books I’ve listened to so far.

Hugely disappointing and wouldn’t recommend. 2⭐️ at most due to the terrible accent and use of supposed British isms.
Let’s see if this gets displayed or censored 🤔

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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The best book in the series

I absolutely loved this book, it was the best book in the series. Devon was perfect and having a British husband but not being British I totally agree their accent is hot 🥵. The performances were also spot on.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant

What a great final chapter to the Boston Bells series. Worth a credit, I'm now going to listen to all four books again. I will also re listen to Sinners snd Saints series and then their children's stories.. LJ Shen is brilliant

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4 people found this helpful

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A good read

Loved it. Loves all her books. .Great when they are on Audible. Can not wait for the next Boston Bells.

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