Review + Giveaway - To Tempt a Rake by Cara Elliott

TITLE:    To Tempt A Rake
AUTHOR:    Cara Elliott
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 350 pages
PUBLISHED:   Forever Romance, 2011
ISBN#:   978-0-446-54130-5

HOW I GOT IT:   Received from Publisher for Review and Blog Tour

FROM GOODREADS:    Kate Woodbridge has spent most of her life sailing to exotic ports around the globe, acquiring an expertise in botany, along with a few less ladylike skills. So when a deathbed promise to her parents brings her to London to seek reconciliation with her grandfather, the imperious Duke of Cluyne, she feels like a fish out of water. Her outspoken views and fiery temper tend to set off sparks in Society-especially with the rakish Conte of Como.

A devil-may-care rogue, Marco finds the alluring and mysterious Kate a tempting target for his flirtations. But when murder strikes at the duke's country house party he begins to suspect that she's hiding a dark secret. He has his own clandestine reasons for offering to help her prove her innocence . . . And so begins a journey of dangerous deception that leads from England to the glittering ballrooms of Vienna, where Marco and Kate must duel with a deadly villain . . . and their own explosive attraction.

MY TAKE:    Cate Elliott has yet another hit on her hands with this third installment of her "Circle of Sin" series.  To Tempt A Rake reads very well as a stand alone novel, but fits quite well in the progression of the series.  You definitely do not have to read the first two to delve into this book, but for your own enjoyment ~ you should..

Kate and Marco are quite the pair.  She's an extremely well educated young woman who was raised by free-thinking, globe-trotting parents.  On her deathbed, Kate's mother made Kate promise to reconcile with her estranged grandfather, the Duke of Cluyne.  Their relationship is strained to say the least, as he is a very strict, very proper duke who has no idea what to do with the free-spirited granddaughter he's getting to know.

Marco is also known as the Comte of Como; an Italian who uses his charm and outstanding good lucks to breeze his way through life.  Kate sets him on his toes as she doesn't fall under his spell immediately and spurns him ~ in the beginning.  Their relationship is a lot of fun to follow along with and fall into with them.  They set sparks off each other and seem to find mystery and danger at every turn.

This is a fun book to spend an afternoon with.  That is exactly what you will do as it is another one that keeps you turning the pages until you're done.  Cara Elliott knows how to write characters that you will care about and have fun on their adventures with.

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

Cara Elliott and Hachette Books are generously offering THREE of you a chance to win a copy of To Tempt a Rake for your very own!  The simple rules are below:

• Read Cara Elliott's Guest Post and tell us ON THAT POST your response to the question I posed to her
• Then, leave a comment on THIS POST with your email address
• Drawing closes 2/18/11 midnight California time.
• Winners will be notified by email and have 72 hours to respond
• Open to residents of the US and Canada, NO PO BOXES
• One prize (this title) per household, no matter how many times you win here or on other blogs/sites

Good luck and if you can't wait to see if you've won, you can find it at the stores below:
Amazon, The Book Depository, IndieBound, Powell's Books

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.