Review: Sins of a Rakehell (The Rakehells of Mayfair #3) by April Moran

                                                                       

Print Length: 282 pages

Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing (August 11, 2026)

From Goodreads.com:  The last Mayfair Rakehell has met his downfall.

Simon Alexander Blackthorne, Earl of Camden, swore he would never be trapped in marriage. But when a shy, stubborn miss with wide green eyes is found hiding inside his home, everything changes. Scandal forces them into marriage but the obsessive need to protect his new bride might be the single thing that unfreezes this rakehell’s heart.

Penelope Jane True has dared to escape the future her parents have planned—a fortune for them, a loveless marriage for her. Hiding in the very house where the ton’s most dangerous rakehell sleeps off his sins is foolhardy. Although she shouldn’t trust him, the earl offers Penelope an unexpected refuge. Either she must accept his reluctant hand in marriage or face certain ruin from the gossips of London.

Theirs is a marriage forged in scandal and fueled with desire. But as Simon’s icy resolve to resist his wife crumbles and Penelope unravels her guarded heart with her new husband, danger threatens their fragile truce.

Will secrets and a savage enemy tear them apart, or can true love save them both?

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 2 stars out of 5

What worked for me about this story was the fact that, despite it being the third book in the series, I had no trouble jumping right in. I understood who the characters from the prior novels were, as well as their relationships both to each other and to the main characters of this current novel. That is not always easy to pull off in an ongoing series, so I do want to give credit where it is due.

What didn’t work for me? Basically everything else, I’m sorry to say.

To begin with, none of these characters felt particularly fleshed out. I can overlook that when it comes to the supporting cast because I assume many of them were developed more thoroughly in their respective books. But the main characters? That's a little harder to excuse.

Poor Penelope's entire personality seems to be that she had a terrible childhood, parents who didn't care about her, and was nearly forced into marrying a man she despised. Meanwhile, Simon is apparently a sex-obsessed rake who has sworn off marriage and considers himself a "Dominant," despite demonstrating throughout the book that he clearly has no idea what being a Dominant actually means. And then there's the villain, who felt less like an actual character and more like a caricature who wandered into the story with a half-baked plan that made absolutely no sense.

A big reason the plot didn’t work for me comes back to what I mentioned about Simon. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good spicy novel just as much as the next person. And yes, even those including BDSM, when they are done correctly. And this one just wasn’t. Simon’s sexual preferences and so-called "dark tendencies" overwhelm a huge portion of the story, and instead of adding anything meaningful to the plot or characters, they mostly served to highlight just how little this author seems to understand about the BDSM lifestyle.

When Simon tells his new wife things like, “I do not doubt that you will cry and plead for mercy, but you will not tell me no,” that is a clear indication that Simon is not a Dominant. Consent and safety are fundamental parts of a healthy BDSM relationship, and a Dominant should never make their submissive feel as though they have no choice but to comply. Another instance of this is when he tells her; "I do not care what you want or don't want," and threatens further punishment because she refuses to give him the names of men who have upset her so that he can challenge them. 

Added to that, Simon doesn't even bother introducing the concept of safe words until much later. I'm sorry, but this isn't a Dominant. This is an asshole pretending to be one.

Simon also doesn't win any points for being so spectacularly oblivious to what is happening around him. Rather than considering the people who actually have obvious motives for wanting to see him dead (like Penelope's parents or, you know, the man she was supposed to marry before she and Simon became embroiled in a scandal), he decides his new wife might somehow be behind the apparent attempts on his life.

Because in his mind, I guess that made more sense.

As you can probably tell, this story didn't work for me for the reasons detailed above. That said, if you're looking for a book that's heavy on the spice and light on the actual plot, then this might be right up your alley.

It just wasn't up mine.

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.