Reformed Rakes

Mar 31 2025 47 ep. 87 mins 65
Reformed Rakes Podcast artwork

Reformed Rakes is a historical romance novel podcast steeped in dissipation. Hosted by Beth, Emma, and Chels, this podcast is perfect for every pirate, second son, bluestocking, and viking who wants to hear more about the kissing books we love. We update every other Tuesday.

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Honeytrap

Mar 31 2025 105 mins  
Honeytrap is a Soviet/American spy romance set in 1959 between Daniel Hawthorne and Gennady Matskevich. Daniel and Gennady are charged with finding who is behind the attempted assassination of Nikita Khrushchev during his 12-day trip to America. As the bullet only hits the side of a train, the attempt is not well-known. What then ensues is basically an American roadtrip as Daniel a

His Lordship’s Mistress

Mar 17 2025 105 mins  
Jessica Andover needs money to pay off the mortgage on her estate. Instead of capitulating to her blackmailing neighbor who holds the mortgage and marrying him, Jessica decides to go to London and act on the stage, under an assumed name. In Regency England, this is her way of soliciting a protector. Philp Romney, Earl of Linton is the clear choice for Jessica, though many men vie f

Mary Balogh

Mar 04 2025 87 mins  
Today, we’re discussing the career of Mary Balogh. Balogh is a Welsh author who now lives in Canada and we’re recording this near the fortieth anniversary of the publication of her first Regency romance, A Masked Deception. A Masked Deception was a Signet Regency Romance published by New American Library in February 1985. Balogh’s most recent publication was Remember When, al

The Warm Hands of Ghosts

Feb 17 2025 98 mins  
The Warm Hands of Ghosts opens on Laura receiving her brother’s clothes in the mail in January 1918. Her brother Freddie fights for the Canadian army in Belgium. Something doesn’t add up about his supposed death so Laura, a discharged combat nurse, decides to go to Belgium herself to find Freddie. From there, the book alternates point of view chapters between the Iven siblings

The Countess Conspiracy

Feb 03 2025 84 mins  
We would characterize Milan’s works as the best possible combination of historical research and alternative realities that serve her characters’ stories. She doesn’t fudge history out of laziness or received wisdom, but in order to tell a better romance and backs up her creative license with research into aspects of history that might go underdeveloped in a weaker author’s

An Extraordinary Union

Nov 11 2024 94 mins  
In An Extraordinary Union, published in 2017, is the first in Cole’s The Loyal League series, both main characters are attempting to shape the politics of their time through espionage. Elle Burns is a freedwoman who has been living in New England with her parents after their enslaver died and his son freed them. She has an eidetic memory that has been treated somewhat as a party

Fabio: Part Two

Oct 28 2024 117 mins  
Last episode, we covered Fabio’s not-so-humble upbringing, his journey to America, his early romance career, and his rise to fame. In this episode, we’ll start at the height of Fabio Mania in 1994 and end in present day, thirty years later. We’ll be taking you through viking battles, chivalry lessons, an A-list celebrity beef, and, unfortunately, a right wing rabbit hole. As

Fabio: Part One

Oct 14 2024 130 mins  
In the 90s the face of romance was the Italian cover model Fabio Lanzoni, who broke out of the insular romance fandom into mainstream superstardom. Known briefly as “The Fabulous Fabio,” he and his managers parlayed his success in romance modeling into an internationally recognized brand. Fabio was no longer just a model, but a spokesman for romantic, courtly love. But what s

Hold Fast

Sep 30 2024 95 mins  
Hold Fast is a medieval Scottish romance and MacArthur invites and garners a lot of comparisons to perhaps the most famous romance novelist who wrote this subgenre: Julie Garwood. Hold Fast is the story of a woman who was handfasted to an abusive laird and once free of that arrangement, assumes she will never be in a relationship with a man again. Her love interest Ewan is laird of

Rake Recommends 2

Sep 16 2024 151 mins  
Maybe a yearly tradition? Where we recommend books to each other. Chels recommended the first in the Psy-Changeling series to Beth because of their shared love of Heather Guerre. Emma recommended a Carla Kelly because she’s quickly becoming a pod favorite. Keeping with last episode, Beth recommended two contemporaries. Emma and Chels did like an uno reverse to each other and reco