The Silver Devil was published by Jacqui Bianchi, under the pen name of Teresa Denys, in 1978. We’ve talked before about bodice rippers with a cult reputation, and The Silver Devil, set in the “opulence and intrigue” of Renaissance Italy, is perhaps the moodiest, bloodiest, most devilish bodice ripper of them all. Denys only published two books: 1978’s The Silver Devil, and 1980’s The Flesh and the Devil, before her death in the late 1980s. While most out of print books fade into obscurity, both Denys’s books remain cult classics to this day.

We’re finishing our journey through Patricia Gaffney’s Wyckerley trilogy. Published in 1996, the final installment in the trilogy, Forever & Ever, is an enemies-to-lovers class difference romance between Connor Pendarvis, a man who goes undercover in copper and tin mines to expose shoddy working conditions, and Sophie Deene, the young and beautiful owner of Wyckerley’s copper mine. What do you do when the woman of your dreams is also the source of your suffering? Is this a gap that can, or should, be bridged? Forever & Ever takes on the difficult questions but doesn't provide easy answers – there’s no refined neatness to life and love, and labor is at the center of everything.

This is our second episode in our trilogy on Patricia Gaffney’s Wyckerley series, focusing on the second book To Have & To Hold. Published in September 1995, To Have and To Hold is the story of Sebastian Verlaine, the new Viscount D’Aubrey and Rachel Wade, an outsider to Wyckerley. Rachel, until very recently, had been incarcerated for ten years for killing her abusive husband. Sebastian and Rachel meet in strange circumstances for a romance novel: she is being arraigned for vagrancy, having no place to live after her release from prison, and Sebastian, in his new role as viscount is one of the magistrates overlooking this procedure. Sebastian is immediately struck by Rachel’s story and appearance and rather than have her sent back to prison, he offers to employ her as his housekeeper. But do not mistake this act as one of beneficence—he makes it clear that he has less honorable intentions toward Rachel. Join us for our exploration into the second book in the Wyckerley series.

The first of the Wyckerley trilogy, To Love & To Cherish came out on January 1, 1995. To borrow the subtitle from Middlemarch, it’s a study in provincial life. Set in 1854 in the fictional village of Wyckerley is alive with Dickensian characters and glimpses of heroes yet to star in their own books. Patricia Gaffney has said the favorite among her historical romances is To Love & To Cherish and it’s easy to see why. The romance centers on the vicar Christian Morrell and the wife of his childhood best friend Anne Verlaine. Anne’s husband Geoffrey, a man struggling with illness, doesn’t care for his wife and wishes to return to the adventure of soldiering. Anne piques Christy’s interest. Anne finds him equally fascinating and doesn’t think her marriage should be any impediment to a relationship between them. Join us for the first instalment of the Reformed Rakes reading the Wyckerley trilogy.

If you were to ask someone in the 20th century what a romance novelist looked like, they’d likely have visions of pink chiffon, bright blue eyeshadow, false eyelashes, and excessive costume jewelry thanks to one woman: Barbara Cartland, who was dubbed by the Romantic Times as the Queen of Romance. Cartland was larger than life, but like most outsized figures, the “Self-publicizing juggernaut’ was also very controversial. At times, Carltand referred to the women she wrote as Cinderellas, but they were always virginal, typically coupled with a more stern, dark-haired man. From the 1920s until her death in the year 2000 she wrote over 700 novels. Strap in as our resident himbo takes Emma and Beth through the highs and lows of Cartland’s life.

What is an 'unforgivable act'? This week, the rakes explore one heroine's egregious behavior, and the lengths she'll go to to make things right. Peckham's The Earl I Ruined is a Georgian historical romance that's full of surprises: kisses in a wig closet, devastating reveals, and the fresh scent of a pining hero. Join us, sinners! It's bound to be a wild time.

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins follows Hester Wyatt, a conductor on the Michigan Underground Railroad. Hester’s hands are marked by indigo, a remnant from her days as an enslaved person on an indigo plantation. When she hides the notorious Black Daniel as he recovers from injuries, he challenges her. Hester finds the man aggravating and attractive in equal measure. As he pushes for a relationship, Hester’s not sure she can make the jump. Her father sold himself into slavery to be with her mother, so to Hester, love is a dangerous thing. Beverly Jenkins famously leans on the historical part of historical romances. She’s written 18th and 19th century stories set in various cities and states in America.

In Mistress of Mellyn, widower Connan TreMellyn hires Martha Leigh on as the governess to his eight-year-old daughter Alvean. Like many a governess before her, Martha finds mystery and murder at the Mount Mellyn estate. As she comes to know Connan she develops feelings for him, but as the governess occupies the space where she’s not a servant but she’s not his social equal either. In this episode, the Reformed Rakes team up with Andrea Martucci from Shelf Love to discuss gothics of the 1960s, Eleanor Hibbert and her pen names, twin estates, and many references to Jane Eyre and Daphne du Maurier. (Spoilers for Wuthering Heights.)

Gaywyck was published by Avon in 1980. Set on the Long Island estate of the wealthy Gaylord family in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Gaywyck charts an inter-generational terror born of abuse, madness, and unrequited love. We follow the protagonist Robbie as he arrives at the estate as the librarian. Like most gothic romances of the era, Gaywyck is a book that takes a microscope to cruelty. Please join the Rakes as we discuss people’s obsession with “good representation”, the Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde aspect of twins, cyclical violence, war profiteering, and Virga’s many movie references.

The Rakes read The Jade Temptress by Jeannie Lin the second book in The Lotus Palace series. Set during the Tang Dynasty in China in Chang’an, the capital, the series touches back to the Lotus Palace a school and home for courtesans. Mingyu is one of the most sought after courtesans at the Lotus Palace and she crosses paths with the constable Wu Kaifeng. It’s hard to convey through a plot summary how well Jeannie Lin builds sexual tension, but like Emma says in the episode, every scene between Mingyu and Kaifeng is charged.

What exactly do the Reformed Rakes read when they don't read historical romance? Okay, so half these books are historicals, BUT we recommended to each other what we want the other rake to read. Chels and Beth finally got Emma to read contemporary romance. Emma wanted Beth to try Mary Balogh again and Camille from Someone to Hold is important to both of them now. Emma and Beth recommended historicals to Chels lmao because they wanted Chels’ opinion on those books okay. It’s a good time.

A clinch, if you’re unfamiliar, is the type of romance novel cover where the couple is embracing, seemingly in flagrante delicto. Gowns are hiked up, cravats are discarded, and hair billows from some unseen force. For this special episode, I got to interview Sharon Spiak, a former romance cover illustrator who currently costumes and styles photoshoots, and Shirley Green, a photographer who has shot many of your favorite book covers over the past 30 years. Join us to find out what, exactly, goes into the making of a clinch cover.

Cheating is often regarded as the worst thing that a character in romance can do. Here at Reformed Rakes we love the meanies, so we try to get to the bottom of the knee-jerk disdain for cheating in books by dissecting historical romances that contain infidelity. We're joined this week by our first guest, Bayley, who you can find at @bayleyreadsbooks on TikTok, and @bayleyreads on Twitter. She also blogs at bayleyreadsbooks.com.

Stormfire by Christine Monson is a bodice ripper with a reputation for violence. Set during the Irish rebellion of 1798, Sean Culhane kidnaps his political enemy’s daughter, Catherine Enderly, for revenge. Here at Reformed Rakes, we don’t believe romance books are instructional manuals or need to portray relationships to aspire to. With that disclaimer, today we’ll talk about Monson’s powerful story about cyclical violence, grounded in political strife between two enemies.

In the spirit of excess and self-indulgence, the rakes inspect our own characters. What is a historical romance rake, and can they be categorized by type? Join us as we discuss Byronic rakes, malevolent seducers, charming rakes, loquacious weirdos, and so much more. This is a fun one with lots of recommendations, so ignore your gambling debts and hop in your curricle, we're on our way to the Hellfire Club!

Come with us to Cornwall as we discuss A Bride for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath, a working class romance between a former schoolteacher and a prizefighting publican. This episode includes discussion of the gothic POV, stargazy pie, and a desperate plea to for historical romance authors to write more non-aristocratic main characters.

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.

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.

The rakes discuss The Ruin of Evangeline Jones by Julia Bennet, a Victorian romance between the Duke of Hardcastle 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.

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.