Review: Ravish Me with Rubies (The London Jewels Trilogy #3) by Jane Feather

    

Print Length: 304 pages

Publisher: Zebra (January 26, 2021)

From Goodreads.com:  From the spark of revenge...

Petra Rutherford is certain she isn't the first dreamy-eyed girl that devilishly handsome Baron Granville of Ashton has loved and left behind. But when her brother's political ambitions place her before him once more, she's determined to give Guy Granville his own taste of torment. What better way to best a scoundrel than by luring his interest—before bringing things to an abrupt, embarrassing end? The only flaw in her gem of a plan is her still powerful attraction to the dazzling nemesis...

To a love more precious than rubies...

Guy Granville is disarmed by Petra's bold pursuit of him, so much so that he forgets he never intended to fall in love—much less entertain thoughts of marriage. Now, if only the fiery Petra would stop sparring with him long enough to surrender to him completely—and allow him to convince her that his riches, his rubies, and his heart belong with her...

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My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Right off the bat, I was more than a little weirded out by this novel. Or more specifically the fact that when these two first met Petra was 14 to Guy's 24. Even if it was nothing more than a flirtation, this is still a grown man flirting with a child. The fact that he admits she responded well to his "gentle lovemaking" is even more concerning. 

To make matters worse, while Petra seems to have grown somewhat in the intervening 10 years, it would appear that Guy is still the same overbearing arse he always was. He never takes into consideration how his words and actions may be perceived by others around him (case in point when Petra's sister invites her and her friends to join him and Guy for lunch and then Guy dominates everything about the outing, including paying for everything). 

Time and again, we watch as Guy takes liberties with Petra being told how she's "unable to resist" him even though she is the one who sets out to "use" him. Even though he makes no promises to her, nor does he declare any deep feelings for her, he still lures her into his bed over and over (and can we talk about the fact that somehow even though she ends up in his bed in the middle of the afternoon not one servant ever sees her, nor one nosy neighbor ever notice a single woman of marriageable age visiting a single man daily without a chaperone? 

One thing that should have been a huge element to this story was Petra's involvement in the women's suffrage movement, but even that is pushed to the side and used really no more as a conflict (seeing as how Guy could never support her in the one thing she claims to be most passionate about). I also wish that the author would have gone forward with Petra's plan of "revenge" against Guy. I think it would have been more interesting to watch them fall for each other whilst she was engaging in said plot than to have her just fall into his arms again. 

All things considered, this is an author I would read more from down the road as they do have a strong writing style even when I'm not enamored with the way they go about telling their stories.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

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                                                        Ravish Me with Rubies  is available from Amazon.com