Julia Prentiss is witness to her uncle negotiating her marriage and the fact that he will be paid more if she is a virgin, she dislikes her prospective husband and decides to take matters in her own hands, not realising that she's playing into the hands of said prospective husband. She propositions the notorious rake Paine Ramsden for the loss of her virginity, never expecting that things would get more involved.

I liked the characters, even if they did flip-flop between being quite young and being older, but I suppose in some ways he was stuck in the life-patterns of when he left London years later.

Enjoyable, not too deep. ( )

I found Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady to be a quick, easy and surprisingly enjoyable read. I had never heard of Bronwyn Scott before, and from visiting her website it appears that she is a relatively new author with this being only her second book published by Harlequin and her fifth overall. Nevertheless, in my opinion, she has talent that could definitely take her places in the future. She managed to take a tired romance plot, that of the lecherous, old man pursuing an innocent young woman, who is rescued by the dissolute rake, and breathe new life into it by adding a few unexpected twists. While most of the love scenes end in a cut-away without any explicit details, there were a couple at the beginning which I thought were a little more sensual than what readers will usually find in a Harlequin, owing mostly to the hero's extensive knowledge of the Kama Sutra and a scene involving some fun and lively love play. I also thought that the evil villain and his complex schemes added a bit of Gothic-style flair to the story.

Paine and Julia were both very likable characters. Paine was the rakish third son of a nobleman with a rather sordid past, but underneath it all he was an honorable man who had made something of himself in spite of the bad hand that life had dealt him. Julia was an admirably spirited heroine who wasn't afraid to take matters into her own hands to ensure her future happiness, but neither was she rash in her decision making. In difficult or dangerous circumstances she took the time to consider her options carefully and didn't idly wait for someone else to save the day. The only time that I thought she had made the wrong choice, it turned into a humorous situation in which the hero was already several steps ahead of her. They occasionally shared some good-natured but sharp-witted banter which I really enjoyed. The only thing which could have been better is their relationship development. I didn't feel that the author gave me enough reasons for their falling in love, and so I didn't entirely buy it, though I did find them to be an appealing and well-matched couple.

As it turns out, Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady is the first in a new series. Since Paine has two older and very eligible brothers, I thought this might be the case. Also, after an abrupt and vague ending for Julia's cousin, Gray, I discovered that his story can be read as an exclusive Harlequin Online Read titled Grayson Prentiss's Seduction. Overall, I liked Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady enough that I am interested in reading the next book in the series when it is released, and would be open to reading Bronwynn Scott's other books including her three non-Harlequin titles written as Nikki Poppen. ( )

I truly enjoyed this Harlequin Historical by Bronwyn Scott. Although the plot line was familiar (beautiful young woman about to be sold into marriage to a wicked old man so decides to get rid of her virginity to try and stop the marriage), the author did a good job of adding her own spin.

Julia must lose her virginity to avoid marriage to a repulsive, wicked old man. As a beautiful debutante, she's only heard of one 'rake', Paine Ramsden. Luckily for her, she gets WAY more than she bargained for.

Paine is a student of eastern philosophy, specifically their sexual rites. He's first intrigued and then surprised by how right things feel with Julia after he agrees to help her by 'ridding' her of her virginity. He soon finds out her lecherous intended is his old enemy. Now he can vanquish his old foe and get the girl too.

Lots of GREAT sex (for a Harlequin) and I really did like what Ms Scott did with this well-used plot line. ( )