The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian

Narrated by Gary Furlong

I have had Cat Sebastian’s male/male historical romance series on my wishlist for a while now but this is the first one I’ve actually read/listened to. After my experience with The Ruin of a Rake, I definitely plan to read the first two books – but I’ll stick to print and skip the audio in future.

Because I hadn’t read the previous two books in the series, I wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything important and tapped fellow AudioGals reviewer, Caz, on the shoulder to give me a quick rundown. As it happens, my concerns about not having read the prior novels (yet) were for naught as The Ruin of a Rake stands alone quite well. I expect there are some things which make a little more sense if one has read the previous books but they’re inconsequential to the main story.

Lord Courtenay has a terrible reputation among the ton. He wishes to see his nephew, Simon, but Lord Radnor, Simon’s father (but not biologically because reasons) is refusing to let Courtenay anywhere near his nephew. Courtenay therefore needs a reputation repair, stat.

Julian Medlock’s sister is Eleanor Standish, a good friend of Courtenay’s. Eleanor prevails upon Julian, who has a sterling reputation and a wickedly smart and calculating brain, to embark upon project “make Courtenay respectable again”.

Julian is a stickler for propriety. He grew up in India and his family comes from trade. Since coming to England, he has made it his mission to be accepted by all the best hostesses in London. He has learned to be proper, inoffensive and fairly bland – the perfect bachelor guest to make up numbers at a dinner party.

Courtenay is almost his polar opposite. Julian is good with numbers and money. Courtenay is hopeless with both. Courtenay wears his heart on his sleeve; Julian doubts he has the ability to feel sentimental love and besides, wearing his heart on his sleeve would ruin the very precise drape of his expertly tailored coat. But they have things in common too. They are both dedicatedly loyal to those they care about and they both wear a mask to society. In Courtenay’s case, his mask is of the dissolute rake – while he has certainly done some scandalous things, he is by no means as black as his reputation suggests – and Julian has hidden his personality behind the veneer of propriety, always believing that one wrong step would have him banished from the ton. And, they’re both queer: Courtenay is bisexual; Julian is gay.

Courtenay is described as ridiculously handsome. Julian is almost nondescript in his appearance – until he lets some passion out; then he becomes very good looking and far more interesting. Julian can barely resist the appeal of Courtenay and as they begin to spend time together in order to restore Courtenay’s reputation, he finds he is completely unable to do so.

Unfortunately for their blossoming love, Julian had anonymously authored a book the year before. While the villain of the story was not modelled on Courtenay, Julian did borrow Courtenay’s looks and some of his mannerisms in the final manuscript. The result of all of this is that Courtenay’s reputation is even worse than it should be because polite society believes the work of fiction is based on more than a grain of truth. And Courtenay doesn’t know Julian is the author.

While restoring Courtenay’s reputation, falling into love with one another and then dealing with the fallout when, inevitably, the information about the scandalous novel comes out, there is also a smidgeon of romance for Eleanor and her estranged husband, Ned.

I found it difficult to get into the book because I didn’t enjoy the narration. That I ended up liking the story as much as I did, speaks very well of the text. I liked the way the familiar tropes of historical romance were utilised in The Ruin of a Rake – there is even a scene when Julian swoons (because he is ill) and Courtenay carries him to safety. It is all done very well. There is no gender flip. That is; Julian could not have been Julianna. (In fact, both characters have some characteristics which might traditionally be coded male and others which might traditionally be coded female – pretty much like everyone actually.) The challenges Courtenay and Julian have in order to live happily ever after are not glossed over. They obviously cannot have the traditional marriage and family. But the one they do manage to attain is very satisfying.

As I mentioned above, I didn’t enjoy the narration. There were however, things to like; Mr. Furlong differentiated between Courtenay and Julian very well. Courtenay had a lazy, languorous drawl in keeping with his character and Julian was much more stiff and proper. I could have wished for a little more expression in the dialogue but the characterisation was consistent with the text and I was fairly happy with it.

However, in the narrative sections, there was almost no expression at all and the speed at which Mr. Furlong read those sections was far too fast for my liking. There were insufficient pauses between sentences, paragraphs and chapters and the whole narrative felt rushed. The story lost any emotional tension or impetus. I wondered whether Mr. Furlong was bored.

There were other bits where the audible full stop was present – but in the wrong place – and/or when words ran together. Here is an example from the text:

“and recognition at Eleanor’s feet as a cat might bestow mice upon his owner.”

However, what I heard was:

“… and recognition at Eleanor’s feet as a catmight. Bestow mice upon his owner.”

(I admit I spent a little bit of time wondering what a “catmight” was.)

I even read a few chapters in print to test my theory that I would have enjoyed the book more in that medium than on audio. I was right. It was very tempting to not return to the audio at all in fact.

However, I do appear to be an outlier and certainly, our own Caz rates Mr. Furlong’s narration skills very highly. It is impossible for me to say whether The Ruin of a Rake is not the best example of his work or whether, with this narrator, Caz’s and my tastes do not align. But I’d suggest listeners try a sample before clicking on the buy button, just in case.

Kaetrin