What to read after “The Perfect Rake” by Anne Gracie: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.
Anthony Bridgerton has decided to marry, but only a woman he cannot fall in love with, and Kate Sheffield's sister looks ideal. Kate is set on protecting her sister from the charming rake, and the more the two argue, the harder it becomes to ignore what they feel.
Shy Evie Jenner needs a husband to escape her greedy relatives and secure her inheritance. She proposes a marriage of convenience to Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent, a penniless rake with a scandalous reputation. They flee to Gretna Green, and the practical arrangement slowly turns into something neither of them expected.
Governess Honoria Anstruther-Wetherby finds a dying man and spends the night in a cottage with the stranger who helps her. He is Sylvester Cynster, Duke of St. Ives, known as Devil, and the compromising situation forces an engagement. Honoria resists marriage while Devil courts her and hunts the killer.
Minerva Highwood, a bluestocking, needs to reach Scotland to present her geological discovery. The rake Lord Payne agrees to escort her, and they pose as eloping lovers to travel unnoticed. Four hundred miles of mishaps in a cramped carriage, and each night there is only one bed, turn their bickering into something neither expected.
Daphne Bridgerton is tired of the marriage market, and Simon Basset, the new Duke of Hastings, has no wish to wed. They agree to pretend to court so that other suitors leave her alone and mothers leave him alone, and the arrangement proves harder to keep up than they expected.
Lady Felicity Faircloth was once the toast of London; now gossips have left her a spinster wallflower. A chance encounter with Devil, a powerful Covent Garden criminal, leads to a bargain: he will help her catch a duke if she helps him settle an old score. Neither expects the attraction that follows.
Lady Penelope Campion would rather stay home with her rescued animals than face London society. When her new neighbour, the ruthless businessman Gabriel Duke, demands she clear out the animals so he can sell his house, Penny strikes a bargain: she will rehome them if he can find each one a loving home. As he struggles to place a two-legged dog, a foul-mouthed parrot and a menagerie of other strays, the cold businessman and the shy spinster are thrown together, and both must reckon with old wounds.
Daisy Bowman must find a husband this season or her father will send her to America. The suitor he has chosen is Matthew Swift, a cool businessman she has disliked for years, and as the two are thrown together in London, their old quarrel turns into something else.
Reginald Davenport, a notorious gambler and heavy drinker, has spent years waiting to inherit an earldom, only to see the title go to another man. He is offered Strickland, the Dorset estate where he grew up, and there finds Alys Weston running the property as its steward - a woman who has let the absentee owner assume she is a man in order to keep the post. As Reggie confronts his addiction, their working partnership deepens into friendship and then love.
Alexander Moncrieffe, Duke of Falconbridge, finds his fiancée with another man and plans a cold revenge: seduce and abandon his rival's sister, Genevieve Eversea. At a country house party, the intelligent and overlooked Genevieve proves far more than he bargained for, and his scheme gives way to genuine feeling.
Venetia Lanyon has spent her life dutifully running her family's estate. Her scandalous neighbour, the rake Lord Damerel, becomes an unexpected friend and ally. As gossip spreads and society disapproves, Venetia must weigh propriety against her own heart.
Melisande Fleming has loved Lord Vale from a distance for years. When he is jilted at the altar, she offers to marry him, expecting a practical union and nothing more. Vale accepts, but his guarded bride proves more complicated than he imagined, and the secrets they both keep threaten the marriage.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has spent her life being proper and unremarkable. She draws up a list of scandalous things she longs to try and asks Gabriel St. John, the notorious Marquess of Ralston, to help her. As he escorts her through each escapade, an old acquaintance deepens into love.
Jessica Trent comes to Paris to drag her foolish brother away from Sebastian Ballister, the Marquess of Dain, a notorious rake. Their battle of wills ends in a scandal, a duel and a marriage neither wanted, and two proud, guarded people slowly learn to trust each other.
Valentine Layton, Duke of Malvern, bungles his proposal and his bride-to-be flees into the night. Her twin brother Bonny insists Valentine chase her to Dover, so the two set off together. On the road, Valentine begins to question everything he assumed about love, especially once an inn leaves them sharing a single bed.
Colonel Aidan Bedwyn promises a dying soldier that he will protect the man's sister. To honour that vow he marries Eve Morris in name only, keeping her home safe. What begins as a cold bargain between two strangers slowly softens into affection and love.
Valentine Napier, Duke of Montgomery, returns from exile to his London house, where his housekeeper Bridget Crumb is secretly searching for letters he uses to blackmail her mother. Valentine is vain, amoral and dangerous, yet Bridget refuses to be cowed. Their contest of wills becomes a slow, intense attraction.
Heartsick and desperate to return home to America, Georgina Anderson disguises herself as a cabin boy to board the Maiden Anne. The ship belongs to James Malory, a wealthy former pirate and unrepentant rake who sees through her disguise. Aboard his vessel, their sparring gives way to an attraction neither can easily dismiss.
After losing his sight in the Napoleonic Wars, Vincent Hunt, a wealthy viscount, wants a wife who will not pity him. Sophia Fry, a poor relation with no prospects, needs a way out of her aunt and uncle's household. Their practical marriage begins as a quiet arrangement, then slowly becomes a partnership neither expected.
A stroke leaves the powerful Duke of Jerveaux unable to speak, and his family shuts him away in a grim asylum. Maddy Timms, a young Quaker nurse, is the only one who sees the man inside. Her care revives him, but their growing bond offends both his world and her strict community.
Lady Theodora Saxby weds her childhood friend James, Duke of Ashbrook, in a marriage meant to save their families. When his secret betrayal comes to light he flees abroad, and years later returns a changed man, forcing them to decide what their convenient marriage is really worth.
Viola Astley is so painfully shy that her first London season feels like a trial. She dreams of a quiet vicar, but a compromising moment with the reclusive Duke of Wynter leaves her engaged to a man she barely knows. As Viola finds her voice, she discovers the duke is not the cold stranger society believes.
Hockey captain Garrett needs a passing grade, and quiet music student Hannah needs the courage to approach her crush. They strike a deal: she tutors him, he pretends to date her. Studying late into the night, the fake arrangement deepens into trust and a real attraction neither of them expected.
When Sophy Stanton-Lacy comes to stay with her cousins in London, she finds the household tangled in debts, broken engagements and bad tempers. Cheerful and managing, she sets out to arrange everyone's happiness, clashing with her proud cousin Charles along the way.
Start with “The Viscount Who Loved Me”, “Devil in Winter”, “Devil's Bride”: they are the closest to “The Perfect Rake” in tropes and mood. Under each book in the list you will see what exactly it has in common.
How are similar books chosen?
We compare tropes (for “The Perfect Rake” these are Rake, Fake Dating, Wallflower Heroine), genre, plot, era and tone. It is not “readers also bought”; it is similarity in the content itself.
Are there recent books in this list?
Yes. Among the newer ones are “The Viscount Who Loved Me”, “Devil in Winter”, “A Week to Be Wicked”. Switch the “Modern” filter to keep only books from 2000 onward.
