Taming Rafe starts with a bang, and ends with a fizzle. The opening scenes promise intriguing characters, witty dialogue, and sizzling sexual tension. By the end I still liked the characters, but the witty banter had become more like bickering, and the sexual tension had taken a nose-dive. When these problems are added to a historical setting that is definitely of the “wallpaper” variety, the reader is left feeling disappointed.

Rafe Bancroft is the second son of a Duke. He has spent his adult life in the army, and loved exploring the wilds of Africa. Now he’s home in London, but not for long – there is too much of the world left to explore. When he wins Forton Hall in a card game, he plans to sell it immediately and take off for the Orient. Unfortunately, Nigel Harrington, who lost the estate to Rafe, neglected to mention that his two sisters were still living there.

When Rafe enters Forton Hall, Felicity Harrington and her young sister May hit him on the head with a tea kettle because they think he’s a burglar. When he comes to and tells them who he is the new owner of the place, Felicity doesn’t believe him. Although she thinks he’s crazy, she agrees to let him stay on until she hears from her brother. Meanwhile, Forton Hall is literally falling down, so Rafe begins making repairs.

Rafe and Felicity are very attracted to each other, but they each have decisions to make regarding their future. Rafe knows nothing about running an estate, but he knows the repairs will be expensive. He is still committed to the idea of selling Forton Hall and traveling. Felicity must decide whether to leave Forton and accept a job as a governess, or accept her over-bearing neighbor’s marriage proposal. Felicity doubts Rafe will ever give up his carefree existence, and Rafe thinks Felicity wants the estate more than she wants him.

The best parts of this book occur early on. At first, Rafe is dashing and Felicity has spunk. Felicity’s sister May (who is probably my favorite character), provides a lot of humor. She’s an eight year old who actually acts like one. There is a running gag throughout the book that Rafe knows seventy-three ways to kill a man, and Rafe and May have several amusing exchanges with this as a theme.

Then the book gradually goes downhill, so slowly that it’s hard to notice at first. Once Felicity figures out that Rafe really does own the house, the conflict is reduced to a static tug-of-war. Will Rafe stay, or will Rafe go? We all know the answer to that, so it seems pretty pointless. While the characters remain likable throughout the story, the conflict becomes increasingly inane and takes the edge off the reader’s enjoyment.

The sexual tension sizzles at first, and an early, quick love scene tantalizes the reader with the promise of a more thorough one later. A hundred or so pages later, there is another quick roll in the hay. I kept waiting for the “real” love scene to show up, but it never does.

Perhaps the most troubling flaw is the lack of historical accuracy. This is not a book that gives you a real sense of time and place. The very idea of Rafe staying in Felicity’s home with only a child as a “chaperone” is completely at odds with the conventions of the time. Felicity has no moral qualms about sleeping with Rafe, even when she is sure he’ll leave. She seems blithely unconcerned with either her reputation or the possibility of pregnancy. There are also a few anachronistic gaffes. Felicity bakes a sweet potato pie – highly unlikely in Regency England. And Rafe slips and says “oops,” which is twentieth-century American slang. Oops.

This book is a sequel to By Love Undone, which features Rafe’s older brother. If you really loved that one, then you might like this one also. Otherwise, the great beginning and subsequent decline are likely to leave you disappointed.