The Regency shelf of my Desert Island Keeper book case was inhabited totally by Mary Balogh and Carla Kelly books until now. Allison Lane's book The Rake's Rainbow is a simply superb study of obsession on the part of a gentleman toward a lady who is a vicious and amoral slut. The entire ton knows her for what she is but he, blinded by love, remains obsessed and almost loses the wonderful young woman whom he married.

Thomas Mannering is the second son of an Earl. He is intelligent, honorable and accomplished but he is not the heir. Thomas is obsessed with Alicia, beautiful Alicia with her golden hair and blue eyes - he wants her to point of physical pain. But one day Alicia tells him that her parents are forcing her to marry the Viscount Darnley, who is old but wealthy and titled. Thomas goes on a debauch of scandalous proportions until his father the Earl pulls him up and gives him an ultimatum. The Earl will pay his debts, but Thomas must marry and go to his estate of Crowley and make it profitiable - no more allowance after one year's time.

Thomas takes a mail coach to the estate and shares it with Caroline Cummings, a vicar's daughter off to a position as a governess. The coach is in an accident and the unconscious Thomas and Caroline are placed in the same inn room by a rescuer who assumes they are married. Caroline is compromised, Thomas marries her and they go to his estate of Crowley.

Crowley is in sad shape. Thomas and Caroline spend time and effort to work on it and he discovers that his wife is intelligent, capable and very efficient - he also discovers that she is loving and very passionate in bed, but quickly tamps down tender feelings - Caroine is not the sublime Alicia. When Thomas goes to a neighboring estate to buy some horses, Alicia is there and seduces him. Thomas is wracked by guilt and covers it by being brusque and rude to Caroline. He then orders her to go to town to meet his family alone - he has business and will not accompany her.

Caroline is at first shy and unsure of herself, but in a short time she has charmed Thomas's family and become a toast of Society. She is like a butterfly out of its cocoon and with her beauty, intelligence and kindness, she has become an example of how a young married woman should be. When Thomas comes to London, he is surprised and shocked and angered that his wife should be a belle - she is not the sublime Alicia! It takes a family tragedy and a final shocking revelation of just how evil Alicia is before the scales fall from Thomas's eyes.

If Allison Lane had not done such a good job at depicting how totally obsessed Thomas was with Alicia, I would have despised him. Instead, I found myself waiting and hoping for the moment when he realized her true nature and gave her what was coming to her - and it was a wonderful moment indeed.

Caroline is at the top of my list of favorite Regency heroines. Her intelligence, kindness and loving nature came through in all her actions. There were times when I wanted to shake Thomas for his treatment of her, and to her credit, she never meekly submitted to his ill-treatment, but endured his moods with dignity and pride.

The Rake's Rainbow is filled with wonderful secondary characters and gives the reader a good picture of life in London during the Season - but Society's activities are not presented just to be cute. The parties, musicales, and balls serve to illuminate the characters of Alicia, Caroline and Thomas, allowing us to see them through other's eyes.

I was engrossed in this book from the beginning and was torn between reading it at one sitting or savouring it over several days. I finally read it in one wonderful session and placed it on my shelf to be taken down and savoured again and again.