When a Rake Falls by Sally Orr

When a Rake Falls by Sally Orr

Having hired a balloon to get him to Paris in a daring race, Lord Boyce Parker is simultaneously exhilarated and unnerved by the wonders and dangers of flight, and most of all by the beautiful, stubborn, intelligent lady operating the balloon.

Eve Mountfloy is in the process of conducting weather experiments when she finds herself spirited away to France by a notorious rake.  She's only slightly dismayed--the rake seems to respect her work--but she is frequently distracted by his windblown physical magnificence and buoyant spirits.

As risky as aeronautics may be, once their feet touch the ground, Eve and Boyce learn the real danger of a very different type of falling...

I finished this book with a huge smile on my face.  Boyce Parker may be one of the best male leads I have read this year...there was something so earnest and so honest about him.  From the very first line of this book, I knew it, and he, were going to be great and I was right.  All Parker wants is his father's approval and he is willing to go to great lengths to get it.  One such attempt leads to his needing to get to France.  He decides a hot air balloon will do the trick and the lovely lady piloting it is icing on his cake.  

Eve Mountfloy is used to gentleman wanting to get down to the ground almost as soon as they leave it and is surprised when Parker insists on staying in the air.  She is determined to carry out some scientific experiments for her father and Parker offers to help on their way to France.  Ideas of being the first female to successfully cross the channel in a balloon lead Eve to make the attempt and one of the sweetest and funniest hero-heroine get-to-know-you scenes commences.  Eve and Parker are just so right for each other and everything is going swimmingly until: a balloon crash, a flirtatious "other" woman, a belittling father, and a  pernicious fiance among other things.  

There were times when I was reading when I got so frustrated with some of the characters who were standing in the way of the HEA...I know they were necessary for there to be a story but Sally Orr did such a great job of making them so ugh!!-inducing that there were times I was tempted to skip ahead in the book--but I couldn't because I didn't want to miss a second with Parker and Eve.  There were other times when I was sure the story was heading towards a predicable cliche but instead it would veer into an original avenue every time.  I liked how she turned my expectations on their head and it only made me enjoy the story more.  This is the second book in a series and I am looking forward to checking out the first.  I can only hope that it is as delightful as this one!

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