The Vicar and the Rake by Annabelle Greene
Society of Beasts #1

Lovely, lusty, loving story that allows Gabriel and Edward a second chance at their HEA. Really enjoyed this book! From the first page I was intrigued, and my interest was held throughout.

What I liked:
* Gabriel: a good man doing good while fighting his inclinations. He wonders why his best friend from childhood left without a word and never responded to his letters.
* Edward: a man running from personal demons. His childhood was not a gentle one and he suffers what amounts to PTSD as a result. He is usually caught up in scandal.
* Bryce: Edward’s valet but so much more than that. He is a good friend, good man, and an ex-pugilist. Intrigued me and do hope he ends up with a HEA of his own.
* Maurice: Edward’s younger brother, a sly manipulator, and blackmailer of sorts. He defends Edward as Edward once protected him.
* Caroline: Gabriel’s sister, a widow, helpful in the village, a good woman, and much stronger and wiser than some might think.
* Ginger: a young boy that has suffered much with a backstory that will impact many
* The writing, setting, story, accord with the history of the times
* The idea of the men’s club and meeting some of its members
* All of it really except…

What I did not like:
* Sussex: a man out for blood – wicked and evil he deserves whatever happens to him
* The laws of the times related to love between men
* Having to say goodbye to the characters and having to wait till book two is ready to read.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

I so wanted to love this book as the general idea of the story itself intrigued me. There’s a bunch of potential in the characters of both main and secondary ones. But GAH for all the rake the leading man described to be, this had got to be the most useless Duke I’ve ever read in a book!!!

Personally what transcribed on the blurb felt entirely different in the story for me. This is the account of two sad and anxious men who - at one time - said as close mates before Edward inherited his dukedom and leaving his estate and, to Gabriel’s heartbreak, never came back nor responded to his communication. And for most of the pages (readers) wasn’t really given hints what had happened which had caused the separation. Even the alternate POVs between the characters were vague on their own issues that - between the arguing and mooning over the pair of them got going - it didn’t really gave me favorable view of both Edward and Gabriel.

On the issue of handling the puzzle and subsequently the bad guy(s), there wasn’t much room other than fluky crumbs it seemed. Now I get that these bunch weren’t actually sleuth; I just thought the portion given for what could’ve been interesting part of the story was way behind the unclear angst, mooning over and such.

As the opening entry to a new series, THE VICAR AND THE RAKE isn’t particularly inciting nor the characters endear me to them. All in all it was a cracking idea of a general plot but one sad, floppy delivery to me. Of course, the resulting disaster worked out to open a path for (what I expected) the following installment would be. But would it be interesting enough to move me to (want to) read it - we shall see.


Copy of this book is kindly given by the author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a debut novel from Annabelle Green and she really started strong! The steam in this book! Wow! You could feel the sparking energy coming from Gabriel and Edward as soon as they started to reconnect. Were there a few scenes that we've seen in other books over the years? Yes. But she found a way to make them feel fresh and interesting. And don't get me started on Buttons the Cat!

Gabriel is our Vicar and has been working himself to the bone in honor of his chosen path, so much so that he finds himself deathly ill on the estate of his childhood crush. And that would be Edward, our notorious Rake. Edward has been living it up in London without concern to the consequences. But when his rakish ways send him into hiding after his latest scandal, he finds an injured Gabriel and can't help but take him in to help him.

These two men both have their own issues when it comes to connections and love, so it was nice to see them dig into their hurts and past before diving into a relationship. Gabriel can't fix everything on his own, and Edward needs to determine for himself that he's worth saving. When they finally come together, the fire, the passion, the love is palpable.

There's also a lovely layer of intrigue and murder too! A lot of great thought went into this book, I appreciated the look ahead with the Society of Beasts and will be waiting for this author's next book as she grows as a writer. I decided on four stars because of that growth, there were some sections that just didn't flow as well, despite getting the points across, still a great read!

These opinions are my own and freely given.

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. The Vicar and the Rake by Annabelle Greene is the first book in her intriguing new series Society of Beasts. Believing that his secret desires will damn him, Sir Gabriel Winters has taken a vow of celibacy and dedicated his life to good works becoming a Vicar. When he hears a rumour that there are to be visitors at the home of a childhood friend, he attempts to ensure that all is in readiness as the house sat empty for many years, and he succumbed to a virulent fever, falling unconscious in the garden. Edward Stanhope, Duke of Caddonfell, a rake famous for debauchery and hedonism, has reluctantly fled to Hardcote House, a place in which only holds dark memories for him, the place that he’s spent his adult life pretending doesn’t exist. With a price on his head, and as it's unlikely that his enemies will think to look for him there, he returns to find Gabriel deathly ill, an abandoned kitten, and a young boy, none of whom he wishes to be responsible for, nor whom he can turn away. Mystery, blackmail, passion, angst and lots of steam make this second chance at love story one I enjoyed immensely. Steam Level: Quite Steamy. Publishing Date: October 12, 2020. #TheVicarAndTheRake #AnnabelleGreene #HarlequinRomance #CarinaPress #HarperCollinsCanada #HistoricalRomance #HistoricalFiction #LGBTQUIARomance #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #HappilyEverAfterBooks #BooksOfHCC

I'm not sure I'm the best player in the ARC early review game. The Vicar & the Rake was a good enough read, just took me a while to be convinced. That said, I have wishlisted #2 in the Society of Beasts series. 3 1/2 STARS
(my star ratings go like this: 3* read it; 3 1/2* read it and enjoyed it; 4* read it, and added to a re-read pile; 5* re-read multiple times)
#netgalley #thevicarandtherake

3* If you like Lisa Kleypas, you'll enjoy this (if you can ignore the inaccurate historical dialogue).

This is a pretty decent read, but from the outset it was clear that historical dialogue wasn't the author's (and/or editor's) forte, but it didn't detract much from the story. It wasn't quite as lovers reunited as I'd expected from the blurb, but that isn't a complaint. Unfortunately, that there was not a glimmer of vicar'ing in the tale was a bit of a cop out and there wasn't really much of an explanation why a titled member of the gentry would forsake his birthright to be a vicar - yes, there was brief mention of him following round the old vicar as a child, but the tale was rather skimpy on the detail.

The storyline and the names/terms that peppered the tale reminded me of the Lisa Kleypas novel, Dreaming of You, and there was a decent enough mystery. It wasn't heavy on the sex at the expense of the story, but there never felt as if there was much danger at any time, despite the reason for 'Scandal' (Edward) being cloistered at the family pile.

It could easily have been a MF novel as a MM one, and that's not a criticism, either; the tale just could have been equally well done with either pairing. I'm not sure I could have seen a FF couple as the leads, due to the time period, but it wouldn't offend readers of traditional MF romance. Towards the end, I had glimpses of Kleypas's The Wallflowers, with Scandal's fellow 'Beasts' potentially going on to each have a tale of their own. Book 2 in the series features one of the Beasts, and from the glimpse at the end of the book, that'll also be worth a read.

There was a female side character here, whose tale I'd like to read - it was pretty apparent that Edward's brother had a thing for her, but that had to take a back seat due to the plot here. She was clever and cunning, strong without having to flex a muscle and didn't resort to any feminine wiles, but used her quiet strength and logic, and was as strong a character as the guy she will likely end up with. MF isn't my preferred genre these days, but I think there'd be a battle of wills if she and the guy who likes her get their way.

The tale lost credibility for me with its ending. To keep things real, in the historical setting, the last chapter, IMHO, should have been left out. Less would have been more here, as it would have kept things real. Still, for a debut read, it was a decent one, but would have benefitted from a strong editor.

ARC courtesy of Carina Press and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

Gabriel and Edward were childhood friends, but then Edward went to London as the heir to the Caddonfell dukedom, and Gabriel (who has some sort of minor title) became a vicar.

They have not seen each other for over a decade, so it comes as a surprise when Edward returns to the ducal manor to find Gabriel passed out in the flowerbeds. Edward—scandal personified—is on the run from the vengeful Duke of Sussex, and Gabriel—who has always avoided scandal—quickly becomes entwined with Edward, both metaphorically and physically.

There’s so much to like about this book: the writing is absolutely gorgeous, and Greene does such a good job of drawing the reader into the gloomy atmosphere of a long-abandoned house. There’s so much history between the two protagonists and the unresolved sexual tension is evident right from the start.

Gabriel and Edward are supported by a strong cast of secondary characters, all of whom have well-rounded personalities and serve as excellent foils for the two leads. The most notable of these is Buttons the kitten, who stole the show at every opportunity.

I would recommend The Vicar and the Rake. It’s so wonderful to see more queer historical romance being published, and this is a solid debut. I am already looking forward to reading more from Greene in the future.




I received a copy of this book from Carina Press/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a young man, Sir Gabriel Winters left behind his status as a gentleman, turning his back on his secret desires and taking a self-imposed vow of celibacy. Now he’s a chaste, hardworking vicar, and his reputation is beyond reproach. Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Caddonfell, is a notorious rake, delighting in scandal no matter the consequence. With a price on his head, he flees to the countryside, forced to keep his presence a secret or risk assassination. When Edward finds Gabriel on his estate, burning with fever, he cannot leave him to die, but taking him in puts them both in jeopardy.
A very accomplished debut novel, it flowed well & the characters were well portrayed. I really liked both Gabriel & Edward & the chemistry between them & how they moved on from previous hurt. A roller coaster of a read with, intrigue, murder, forbidden love, past hurt. There were quite a few threads in the story, which were nicely brought together & they made for an entertaining read. I look forward to more books by the author
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

- One could not refuse the work of love -- the work of loving.

Writing-wise? This is straight up like, 9.5/10. It was really really good. I've gotten into the habit of putting little quotes at the start of my reviews, but there are SO many good ones in this book that I'm having the hardest time choosing what I want to highlight! Not just in terms of the style of the writing (which was really good, striking, immersed me in the time period, sometimes really witty) but also some of the things it said about life and love and being yourself. A couple times I had to like, stop and just... appreciate certain passages. The author managed profundity without it being like, preachy or fake? I really liked it.

- “But... love, as I have seen it practised, does not require one to be an expert practitioner when one begins. One learns as one goes. It... it’s one of the only states where the broken can function as well as the whole.”

The romance was good! Soooooooort of a second chance romance, but not really. I do wish we'd seen or been told more about the characters when they knew each other 10 years ago. It would have gone a long way towards making their feelings in the present day feel realer? But it was a really cute romance; I like how different they were, and how their personalities complemented each other's. The little mystery around the plot was good (not great, but serviceable), and I really liked all of the secondary characters. (Especially Maurice and Ginger; their little exchange, and the class commentary that came out of it, was super short, but really meaningful.) This is one of the few romance novels where I don't MIND that the author introduces POVs other than the main couple, because it's done for a reason, and not in a distracting way.

Also this book has a really freaking cute kitten.

Where the book sorta lost me, as so many books unfortunately lose me, was in the pacing and structure. The way things come together isn't very believable, especially as it happens so quickly. As the book moved along, I feel like a great deal of time was spent just waiting for things to happen. Structure-wise, the chapters were too short, and often ended in weird places; sometimes mid-scene.

And the romance! It was good, but it could have been great! How to explain... The characters have history together, but as I said, we don't really SEE much of that history on page. When they meet again at the start of the book, it feels like their relationship is already at 90. So instead of a slow build up, it felt like we quickly jumped to Very Intense Feelings, and things remained at that plateau for most of the book. The love confessions in this book are honestly beautiful, but I don't think we got enough development leading up to them. I also wanted to delve a bit deeper into their characters. We got a good amount of backstory for Edward; not enough for Gabriel imo! At times I sorta forgot he was a vicar, tbh.

All told, I think this is a really good debut, and I look forward to reading more from Greene in the future. Would definitely rec this to people who are looking for queer historical romance. I just wish the plotting and pacing had been a bit tighter.

3.5 stars.

When Gabriel Winters, vicar of a small village, falls gravely ill, he is found by his childhood friend, Edward, Duke of Caddonfell. The two are thrown into close proximity both due to Gabriel recovering from illness and Edward hiding out at his estate following a scandal. The two begin to develop feelings, feelings that began in childhood and truly never went away. But when the danger surrounding Edward’s scandal grows, will they survive it?

So, this was super angsty and dark. I liked the idea that it was both a romance and a mystery, as we tried to unravel the motive behind Sussex, Edward’s enemy, his devotion to trying to have Edward killed.

However, I found the pacing to be terribly slow. While most of the chapters were quite short, the story did not move along fast enough to hold my interest for long, especially in the beginning. It seemed like we spent so long focused on some rather monotonous details in the beginning that the conclusion was quite rushed.

Gabriel Winters is a gentleman who gave up his station to become a vicar. Edward Stanhope, Duke of Caddonfell, was his boyhood friend but is now literally nicknamed Scandal for all the shenanigans he gets up to in London. Edward flees to his childhood home to escape a sticky situation and finds Gabriel passed out and delirious with fever in his driveway.

This book didn't work for me. It's fine, but it failed to thoroughly keep my interest (though, admittedly, the news environment when I read this was extremely distracting).

- The blurb mentions Gabriel's fever. I thought this was going to start out with a prolonged sickbed and recovery section. Gabriel recovers from apparent near death overnight. I love a sickbed scene, so this was disappointing to me.
- I don't get who Gabriel is. His character feels inconsistent to me and his backstory seems patchy. Edward I get - dissolute rake with a tragic childhood. Fine.
- I got lost. I frequently had to re-read to check who was talking or thinking. Though please see my note about very distracting news environment here and take with whatever grain of salt you need.
- Edward and Gabriel's shared backstory was a little murky to me. I didn't have enough of it to really buy into their reunion. A flashback chapter or two showing some adolescent bonding would have gone a long way.
- Sudden unexpected plot twists. The action really picks up at 75-80%, but it's all a surprise. I want a few more breadcrumbs to follow before random stuff starts happening.
- Secondary characters steal the show. Edward's brother and Gabriel's sister were way more interesting to me than the MCs. Maybe because Gabriel's sister talks/engages in banter? She's got a whole story/backstory going on that I wanted to know more about.

Despite all that, I think this will work for a lot of readers. It's fine. It just didn't work for me now, but all my issues are things that be fixed in future books. I would absolutely check in with this author a few books down the road and see what she's writing.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
The Vicar and the Rake is the first in a new series, the Society of Beasts. I felt this an excellent debut of a new-to-me author, one where I am intrigued to read the next in the series.

As a man of the cloth, Gabriel is looking after the parish of his long-lost childhood friend, who abandoned not only their friendship but the townsfolk. Dutiful, kind, with a true server's soul, Gabriel finds worth through helping those who need it, even if they hadn't asked for the help, wearing himself thin.

Edward is your classic rake, one with a dark backstory, but seems spoiled with no ambition, forever finding himself in impossible situations that he himself placed himself in. With a supportive cast of fellows who pick up the messes after him. From his valet, to his baby brother, and the other three in the Society of Beasts. The duke has another out for his blood, running back to the countyseat he abandoned at eighteen.

In a second-chance, slow-burn romance, with an undeniable connection, Edward and Gabriel perform a mating dance, set to the backdrop of awaiting what to do next to protect Edward's neck, quite literally. Add in helpful siblings, fellow hedonists, a scrawny kitten, and a young boy, you've got the recipe for an entertaining reading escape.

However, there were times when my attention waned, read over the period of a week. I would be both interested, but then the pacing would slow, where I would then become disinterested. I can't quite put my finger on what was missing, just that I wasn't as invested in the story as I believed I ought to be. The Vicar and the Rake had all the elements I adore, but I wasn't quite gripped.

Overall, it was just a bit too slow in the pacing, slightly meandering, with repetition and redundancy that slowed the pacing even further. While I was curious as to what would happen next, entertained as to the characters and their outcomes, something kept pulling me out of the story but I'm honestly not sure what it was.

Recommended to fans of historical romance within the MM Romance genre. I am highly anticipating the stories for the rest of the members of the Society of Beasts, as well as hoping to get more glimpses into Edward and Gabriel's future, along with their siblings' budding romance.

This was a new-to-me author whose debut book I picked because I love historical novels and the blurb roped me in. I'm glad I did because I absolutely enjoyed it.

To start with, I especially liked the way the story began because I certainly was not expecting it. It told me that this author meant business and how the rest of the story unfolded backed it up. It was very well written, with the characters well fleshed out and the pacing just right.

All the characters added something to the overarching story and even when issues were dealt with "too conveniently"(in my opinion) at the end, there wasn't a boring moment from start to finish; which is just how I like my books.

As you may infer from the blurb, this was sort of a "second chance-ish" romance mixed into the intrigue that inadvertently followed a rake such as Edward Stanhope who I adored. His sense of humor was impeccable and his banter with everyone around him had me laughing most times. He however had a lot of personal demons which meant that he had a lot of internal battles to wage.

This brings me to another thing I loved about this story; which was that Edward wasn't miraculously saved from his personal demons just because the generous, sometimes judgy but infinitely good hearted Gariel Winters made him feel loved and cherished. Edward still had to go on a journey of self discovery to heal himself; albeit in extreme settings. Gabriel also had a lot of soul searching to do on himself.

As I said earlier, I enjoyed every bit of this book and as I was reading, I kept thinking how great it would be to have more books to shed light on the other "Beasts". So, you can imagine my joy when I discovered that more books were in the offing. I will definitely be reading those books.

A very enjoyable M/M romance story from a debut author.
Annabelle Greene has put together a splendid love story that, while not lacking in depth or severity of stakes, is peppered with good humor throughout. (Just read the first line about Gabriel, you'll know what I mean.) And while there are some elements that I wish had been dealt with a bit more seriousness (for example, being a vicar during that time should come with more guilt about acting upon your carnal desires — no?) both the characters and the plot are intriguing enough to make up for it. I'm certainly intrigued to read the next story in the series!
I think fans of K J Charles (and I count myself among them) should keep Annabelle Greene on their radar.

P.S. Thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I WANTED TO LOVE THIS BOOK - IT JUST DIDN'T HAPPEN

Actual rating: 2.5 ⭐

I don't dislike this book at all. But it didn't really impress me in any way either. There were certain things that I couldn't overlook, that dragged down the overall experience.

👍 What I Liked 👍

Secondary characters: Gabriel and Edward are our two main protagonists and they are the ones that are supposed to carry this story. But sadly, I didn't connect with them. I couldn't get into them at all. Luckily, they were flanked by two great supporting characters, their siblings! Maurice, Edward's brother, was surly and blunt. Caroline, Gabriel's sister, was clever and protective. And when the two of them were together, there were definite sparks, that I felt deserved a book of their own.

👎 What I Disliked 👎

Push and pull: Gabriel and Edward's relationship was actually quite annoying. For the first 2/3 of the book they took turns pulling each other closer only to push them away moments later. Honestly, it got boring really fast.

Romance?: Yeah, I didn't really see any romance between these two. Lots and lots of lust - and MANY smutty encounters (I think this book was more smut than anything else) - but romance? No, I didn't really see anything like that.

After finishing this book I cam to the conclusion that I can see myself reading future books by this author but probably not her very next one. Because while there were things that worked - her prose is beautiful and she came up with intriguing characters/character constellations - a lot of stuff just...didn't. While I liked Edward and Gabriel as characters, I couldn't really buy their relationship. It felt less like a progress and more like...a constant back and forth. One moment they are yelling at each other and the next are all over each other but barely seem to address the issues that led to the yelling. (Barely...they do sometimes and those scenes - again - are good but a lot just conveniently seems to vanish into thin air). As a result I was honestly more invested in the relationship their long-suffering siblings were developing and wished they had ended up as actual 'beta-couple' instead of just getting some vague mention of 'yeah they're into each other'.

Well and the mystery was just far too rushed. It was only solved by so much fortunate coincidences that you'd think this was set in the country of Plotconveniencia...only to then be halted by a massive dose of plot-induced stupidity and in the end everything got tied up very neatly

A little dissapointed.
For the longest point the leads are stuck in a house with minimal action.
Gabriel and Edward have loved each other for the longest time but both had suppressed their feelings due to different circumstances.
While Gabriel becomes a vicar and takes s vow of celibacy, Edward on the other hand became out of control creating scandals one after the other.
Finally how they come to terms with each other and their love forms the story

Pleasant beach or airplane read. Not much in the way of substance. It reads like a traditional bodice ripper novel, except the main characters are male. The story is light and the plot formulaic. The reader knows the core of what will happen from the beginning. I have read this story multiple times. If you changed one of the main characters to female and removed tne internalized internalized homophobia aspects it would read like any other light romance story written for a female audience. It lacks a masculine undertone that a male hand would likely have had. I missed that. It was my error in expecting something different that when I requested this book.

I think I'm about ready to call it. DNF at 64%. I did not come to the decision to quit this book lightly because it has such potential, but in the end it was too much of a slog. It was riddled with little holes that were really distracting, to the point that I was unable to just suspend my disbelief and just go along for the ride (and I usually go along with some really questionable reads lol). It was especially annoying because these were things that would've been easily fixed with the help of a good editor or beta reader. I was excited about getting to know these characters but sadly there wasn't enough for me to connect to. The premise for the series is a good one and I wish this debut had shown more promise.

A lovely story, in the style of Regency romances but with a dark twist of mystery and a few unforgettable characters, this reminded me of many of the romances I devoured in my twenties and thirties, though with men falling in love with men this time.

I enjoyed the variety of characters, especially Gabriel, the vicar with a gentleman status who yearns for his lost love, Edward Stanhope, the Duke of Caddonfell. Edward is the rogue of rogues among the ton and Gabriel’s wishes come true when Edward returns home, until he learns Edward is in hiding due to his latest seduction—the soon-to-be-married son of the infamous Duke of Sussex—witnessed in a stable during a society ball.

The author brought Edward’s character to life over time and the prickly rascal soon became someone to root for. Gabriel, with his good deeds and untiring work, was an easy character to like right from the beginning. His sister, Caroline, was a strong female character, not a harpy but still a bit too sharp for my taste, though overall, a good catalyst character. Edward’s brother, Marcus, was highly intelligent, intense, and interesting, and one would hope by the end of the story that he and Caroline can find their way to one another. They certainly were cut from the same cloth, so to speak.

The Society of Beasts, a club of men who like men, was structured in a similar fashion to male/female historical romances I’ve read in the past, and a few male/male I’ve read in the present. One of the members has betrayed the others and that affects all, especially Edward who feels personally betrayed.

Overall, this story had an interesting plot among well-drawn characters and a sweet, slow-burn romance, but to be honest, I became bored around one-third of the way in when events—including the attraction between Edward and Gabriel—didn’t advance at more than a tortoise pace. Toward the end, when all of the people, the settings, the background, and mystery pieces were finally set up, the pace picked up and the story held my attention for longer periods. Edward’s and Gabriel’s dance of attraction/dissention/attraction/self-destruction, dragged on too long. I enjoyed the last chapters, when all the threads (and there were many!) wove together to not only make sense but to see the “bad guy” overpowered and the “good guys” get a lovely HEA.