Reformed Rakes

The first in the regency imposter series by Cat Sebastian, the book centers on a romance between Alistair de Lacey and Mr. Robert Selby. As their relationship progresses, we learn Mr. Robert Selby was born Charity Church. For her own reasons she’s put on the Robert Selby persona but she’s not a woman dressing as a man, only. In this episode, the rakes discuss historical accuracy, the importance of names, the most romantic crime (property fraud obviously), acknowledging family, and why we love starchy characters becoming unstarched.

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Newgate prison served as the main punitive facility in London for six centuries until it closed in 1902. If you expect this genre to be limited to country houses and The Ton, you might be surprised at how often authors invoke Newgate in their stories. Newgate as a recurring thematic space becomes shorthand for terror, grime, and pain. What’s the effect then when it’s invoked in a romance novel? In this episode, the rakes cover Newgate itself and several books that fictionalize Newgate. Much of what we talk about stems from Emma’s current research on Newgate.

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The rakes discuss The Ruin of Evangeline Jones by Julia Bennet, a Victorian romance between the Duke of Harcastle and a medium. The Duke, Alex, occupies himself by exposing mediums. His latest target, Evie, challenges his reasons for doing so and, they fall for each other. The rakes talk about mediums in Victorian England, the choices characters have to make when there really isn’t a choice, the history of photography, and garbage fathers.

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Beth’s TikTok

Chels’ TikTok

Emma’s TikTok

Chels’ Substack

Emma’s Substack

Visit our website for transcripts and show notes: reformedrakes.com

Thank you for listening!

Why can't we just talk to each other? The Reformed Rakes have an honest conversation about why miscommunication is so reviled in romance, and argue that miscommunication is necessary for a genre that is so character driven. In this episode, we go over miscommunication vs miscommunication trope, outline different types of miscommunication, and talk about some of our favorite historical romance books where signals are missed, words are misinterpreted, and assumptions are made.

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Beth’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethhaymondreads

Chels’ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chels_ebooks

Emma’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emmkick

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The Reformed Rakes tackle booktok. Often touted as the savior of Barnes & Noble (questionable), and a driver of romance book sales (unclear). We review several articles making those claims, including from NPR and The Guardian, and make our Citation Needed loud and clear. These articles often reference authors who say romance readers feel less shame about sex and that happily ever after has “come back in fashion.” What stats these articles do offer mostly comes from NPD BookScan: a subscription service accessible only to publishers.

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReformedRakes

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Beth’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethhaymondreads

Chels’ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chels_ebooks

Emma’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emmkick

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The Reformed Rakes talk about Cecilia Grant’s Blackshear series. Cecilia Grant published the first Blackshear, A Lady Awakened, on January 1, 2011. She published a book a year until 2014. The Blackshears series deals with themes of family reconciliation, labor, and the economics of sex. The Rakes heartily recommend all three books as singular examples of the high angst, high reward relationships in historical romance.

Support us on our PATREON: http://patreon.com/reformedrakes

Follow us on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ReformedRakes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformedrakes/

Beth’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bethhaymondreads

Chels’ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chels_ebooks

Emma’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@emmkick

Visit our website: reformedrakes.com

Thank you for listening!