The Rake: Boston Belles, Book 4

Two attractive, seggsually compatible people with enough issues to fill the Thames. Neither wants to be in a committed relationship, but both would like a child; so why not have it together? What could go wrong, right? Going in, knowing pregnancy was going to be one of the main tropes, I was a little apprehensive, because that’s the one thing that makes me groan out loud every time. But I should’ve known I could trust Ms Shen to deliver the goods yet again. She just knows the way to my heart. Don’t get me wrong, the baby thing is a major part of the book, but it is handled well and fairly unconventionally, and actually made me emotional. It also helps that it is intentional, a choice Belle makes together with Devon rather than an “accident” or a “secret”, even though her reasons and the circumstances for it are heartbreaking.I adored Belle from the first moment we laid eyes on her, and my love has grown ever since, and now I respect and admire her even more. She’s bold and ball-sy, a take no non sense go getter, unapologetically s-xual, and independent almost to a fault. Not only is her resilience a thing of beauty, but that hard, shiny exterior hides a heart of pure gold. Our girl is broken and damaged by the darkness in her past, and was naturally shaped into the adult she’s become by those experiences. She’s built walls upon walls, and her instinct is to lash out at anything she perceives as an attack, and she does it like a boss too. Even when she’s being “difficult”, I couldn’t begrudge her her defense mechanisms. As a result, she’s often the alphahole in her relationship with Devon. Of course he’s no less, both their jagged edges flinging hurt at each other when all they want to do is be with the other.For two extremely hot, successful people who seemingly have their sh-t together, their dynamic is extremely, adorably weird, giving it a very Ross and Rachel in the Emma era vibes. Because they’re both delightfully eccentric, and don’t take themselves super seriously. Their sense of humor is intact, even when things get very dark. In fact, I thought Belle was going to be my love of this book, but then Devon is not far behind. His befuddlement at Belle’s antics, and his wry appreciation for them is so cute. Plus, he’s just so very impeccably British and proper and unexpectedly odd I couldn’t help but be charmed. I could HEAR his little endearments and his nickname for her in that posh accent. Unghhh I just want to go back and listen to the audio now. At one point I was a bit torn on whether he did something truly unforgivable, but did he really? It was moronic but also, not entirely wrong? That suave demeanor hides a dark little soul, but he’s not fooling anyone, he’s a bit of a softie where it counts. His devotion to Belle which he shows in his little ways melted my ovaries right off my body. And his baby mama puts him through the paces, as she should. Their biggest problem is miscommunication and trust issues, but then they both know it, and they eventually learn to work on it.My heart broke and healed and broke for them both and their stories repeatedly, and I just wanted to give these hard headed fools a hug and make them get their act together. But what’s love without a little drama first? The author is not afraid to get messy and angsty and wring your heart out before she takes us to the well deserved HEA. In fact, this might be my favorite BB book? Bun in the oven and all. The sarcastic, aggressive, secretly affectionate little found family of the belles makes an appearance of course, and as much as I love the belles’ sisterhood, the weird reluctant Bromance between these men with their violent little black hearts makes my soul happy as always. After all, friends that bury bodies together (figuratively), stay together.Please do take note of the trigger warnings of sexual abuse and grooming at the start of the book, and I’d add more for mentions/occurrences of pregnancy, miscarriage, fertility issues, physical and emotional child abuse, and cheating.

The Boston belles has been one of my favorite series to read. It was witty, funny and romantic with characters that were so different from my usually romantic books that I’ve read. L.J. Shen is a remarkable author that captures you and bring your into her world of fiction without any flaw. She has your captured and glued to the story lines like no other. I am forever grateful for the types of romances she has introduced me to and I without a doubt will recommend her books to my fellow readers. Not only are her books spicy but they are full of laughter and enlightens you on some serious issues people go thru in their lives. Thankyou for an amazing read can’t wait to explore your other books and series! Love - Monic!

LJ Shen left the best for last. Did I think a book could top The Villain? No, I didn't. The Monster blew me away but The Rake... The Rake ripped my soul out and put it back in.We have 2 characters (and all the others from previous books): Emmabelle and Deavon. From what we know about Emmabelle is that she is a vixen, blonde bombshell, knows what she wants and will break everyone's heart. Deavon is more of a mystery. He popped up in Cillian's (swoon) story and Sam's but it still wasn't enough to really know him. Buddy has a lot of secrets and Buddy needed to let them out. This book is amazing, it wasn't what I thought the ending of the Belle's would be like. I'll be honest, I thought these two characters would fall in love and boom that's it. OH NO LJ HAD TO THROW IN THE BABY. But not the usual baby trope, oh no OH NO we have a girl who literally wants a baby because she might not be able to.. this is where I cried (literally page like.. 10) because it's something that is so real and so many women do experience it. I DON'T WANT TO SPOIL IT SO I'M BEING SKETCHY. Throughout the book, we get the spice, we get humor - these two together are HILARIOUS, and we get so much back story and understanding, I devoured it. We learned about Emmabelle, and I was enraged and cried, we learned about Deavon and the weight he has on his shoulders (and his annoying mother). There are parts of the book that I actually got enraged, yes Deavon is a Rake (all I thought about was in Bridgerton when our man Simon tells Daphne that he's a Rake) and NO EMMABELLE AND DEAVON ARE NOT TOGETHER, so there are moments where he is with other women. Again, yes I know.. but I got sick thinking about this and Emameblle trying to be strong was like mm I don't care. MM girl, we know you care. There is an aspect of another woman, we knew there as an aspect of an arranged marriage from the blurb. I WANTED TO STRANGLE THAT WOMAN. She needed to go, I know why she was there but OH MY GOD she was so freaking annoying. If I was Emmabelle I would have honestly.... left Deavon HAHA when all that was happening, it was that annoying to me. There are triggers in this book: grooming (which I will say, made me sick to my stomach, it's needed for the story line but it was written so realistically.. good job LJ but gasp), and child abuse.Minus the annoying other woman (again, needed for the story), this was an amazing ending to the Boston Belle series. I love how LJ took everything we thought we knew about a character, and showed us that yeah we really know nothing about Emmabelle.Emmabelle may have taken top place in my heart and Deavon might have marginally taken over Cillian's spot. I can't wait to see what the next series is, we got some nice moments with the Belle's kids so fingers crossed!  (But I would also love to bring back Vicious, I'm just saying).

From all the series, definitely this one is my favorite. I feel Belle and her demons with all my heart, and the banter between her and Devon is just perfectL.J. Shen didn't disappoint.

Four stars for multiple reasons, Dr Bjorn should be a woman since this book and Belle are all about feminism and myself included, Devon could have been more loyal to her, and I feel like the other characters like Sam, Cillian and Hunter should treat Belle with more respect. She is an incredible woman, I loved getting to know every inch of her but in the end I just expected more and less of this book if you get what I mean. More couple, more about the baby, more little moments and less heartache, less bad people, less wickedness in general.If you are looking for a book to glue you to the kindle and feel all kinds of heavy emotions this is it.

Die letzte der Boston Belles ist an der Reihe, Emmabelle, oder wie Devon sie liebevoll nennt Sweven.Es ist wie als ob man im Rausch ist wenn man in die Bücher von L.J.Shen eintaucht, man will immer mehr und kann einfach nicht aufhören.Die Boston Belles sind für mich ein absolutes Highlight, ich habe alle geliebt und Weine weil ich mich verabschieden muss.

Adorei a série toda, o terceiro livro é beeem pesado, neste - apesar do passado complexo dos personagens - os protagonistas conseguem mostrar o alto astral de quem deu a volta por cima (ou quase) rsrsrs

Me gusto mucho la historia, creo que Devon y Belle, fueron de los personajes que menos me intrigaban en esta serie Boston Belles, nunca les tome mucha importancia y sus historias si que ocultaban unos cuantos secretos.Creo que los dos personajes tienen historias muy fuertes y en cierto punto compiten por atención en este libro, de todas las chicas de esta serie Emmabelle se ha colocado en mis favoritas, sin duda fue una sorpresa conocer más de ella.Debo decir que nunca esperé que belle fuera a ser mamá, aunque la forma en que decidió serlo fue muy a su estilo, pero sin duda puedo decir que si conociera a las belles, Emmabelle sería la mejor mamá.Devon, dios este hombre es increíble, enserio que nunca le puse mucha atención en sus apariciones en los demás libros, pero ame mucho sus momentos con Hunter, Cillian ySam, lo protectivo que se volvió con belle, y cuando se dio cuenta de que él quería todo lo que sus amigos tenían, nunca esperé que fuera tan lindo.En fin, disfruté mucho la lectura, entendí el porqué de muchas acciones de estos personajes, pero sí debo decir que no es un libro fácil, tal vez el romance nos nubla la mente, pero las situaciones descritas son bastante fuertes, y deben checar todos los trigger warnings.