This review was written by Phyllis L. . This story was nominated in the Best Regency Historical Romance category.

The summary: Miss Julianne Gatewick is in a pickle. It started when her brother's best friend-for whom she's long nursed a secret tendre-agreed to act as her guardian for the Season, only to seduce her with a risqué waltz. But when the music stopped and the expectant ton waited for Marc Darcett, Earl of Hawkfield, to claim her as his own, he made his disinterest clear.

Rather than succumb to humiliation, Julianne does what any self-respecting, recently discarded young miss with a wicked sense of humor would do. She secretly pens a lady's guide to enticing unrepentant rakes . . . and it becomes the hottest scandal sheet in London. Every honorable rake knows that friends' sisters are forbidden.

But suddenly Julienne has a spark of mischief in her eyes that Hawk can't resist. Try as he might to push her away, he spends his days listening for her laughter and his nights dreaming of kissing her senseless. He's always avoided innocents and their marriage-minded mothers, but has the man least likely to wed finally met his match?

And here is Phyllis L's review:

A rake is made the unofficial guardian of his best friend's sister for a Season in Regency England. He's hot for the sister and she's been in love with him since she was eight. What could possibly go wrong?

I liked the attraction between the main characters, but it felt episodic – they would be attracted, then the hero would forget about it and the heroine wouldn't change her attitude from the adolescent infatuation. The brother appointed him unofficial guardian, not really her guardian, so for the hero to get all crazy and punish her at the slightest perceived impropriety or minor flirting (without listening to her) bugged me a LOT. Yes, he was so strict because he was falling in love with her, but I found him obnoxious.

I didn't think the heroine had gotten through his thick skull by the end. The subplot with the youthful indiscretion was too vague for most of the book, then too easily resolved at the end. The subplot with the pamphlet about seducing a rake provided levity, but no real consequences.

I didn't like it as well Dreiling's first book with the duke who played “The Bachelor”. I ended up grading them about equally, though, because I didn't really like the anachronistic set-up in the Duke book.

Not to say I won't keep reading, because I feel Dreiling shows a lot of promise. The humorous parts were great and the characters believable, but I felt that the tension (sexual and otherwise) should have built better and the stakes should have been higher.

I give it a B-.

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