Reformed Rakes
@reformedrakes.bsky.social
A historical romance podcast steeped in dissipation.
Tom Severin! He sucks, we love him. In this week's episode, Beth and Emma try to figure out just how Lisa Kleypas pulls off making us love a book with a landlord hero. The answer involves extended set-pieces, deft pacing and a third act kidnapping, all Kleypas hallmarks.
August 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Tom Severin! He sucks, we love him. In this week's episode, Beth and Emma try to figure out just how Lisa Kleypas pulls off making us love a book with a landlord hero. The answer involves extended set-pieces, deft pacing and a third act kidnapping, all Kleypas hallmarks.
In a Patreon poll, our patrons voted for us to read a book by Lorraine Heath. We went in with good faith, but In Bed with the Devil runs counter to much of what the Rakes love about romance. This week’s episode explores the many reasons why this book just did not hit for us.
July 8, 2025 at 1:19 PM
In a Patreon poll, our patrons voted for us to read a book by Lorraine Heath. We went in with good faith, but In Bed with the Devil runs counter to much of what the Rakes love about romance. This week’s episode explores the many reasons why this book just did not hit for us.
New episode! The Phoenix Bride is an achingly romantic book set in London, 1666 and unlike anything we've ever read. Siegel managed to make an under explored setting feel very lived and pulls off the kind of happily-ever-after we wish we saw more of in the genre.
April 15, 2025 at 1:42 PM
New episode! The Phoenix Bride is an achingly romantic book set in London, 1666 and unlike anything we've ever read. Siegel managed to make an under explored setting feel very lived and pulls off the kind of happily-ever-after we wish we saw more of in the genre.
Back with a new episode! Honeytrap is unlike any genre romance we’ve ever read—asking what can new settings, structures and even endings can look like in the genre, all while being romantic and delightful!
April 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Back with a new episode! Honeytrap is unlike any genre romance we’ve ever read—asking what can new settings, structures and even endings can look like in the genre, all while being romantic and delightful!
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
Joan Wolf is the final boss of horse girls
new episode! this week we’re talking about sex work, mistresses, theater, jewelry, estates and more with @scarr.bsky.social! His Lordship’s Mistress is a charming Signet Regency that explores many topics that newer readers might assume a stuffy Regency would shy a way from.
March 18, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Joan Wolf is the final boss of horse girls
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
I got to be a guest on the Reformed Rake's Podcast!
new episode! this week we’re talking about sex work, mistresses, theater, jewelry, estates and more with @scarr.bsky.social! His Lordship’s Mistress is a charming Signet Regency that explores many topics that newer readers might assume a stuffy Regency would shy a way from.
March 18, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I got to be a guest on the Reformed Rake's Podcast!
new episode! this week we’re talking about sex work, mistresses, theater, jewelry, estates and more with @scarr.bsky.social! His Lordship’s Mistress is a charming Signet Regency that explores many topics that newer readers might assume a stuffy Regency would shy a way from.
March 18, 2025 at 3:32 PM
new episode! this week we’re talking about sex work, mistresses, theater, jewelry, estates and more with @scarr.bsky.social! His Lordship’s Mistress is a charming Signet Regency that explores many topics that newer readers might assume a stuffy Regency would shy a way from.
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
I really enjoyed this as someone who also often wants to throw Balogh at the wall while also loving her work and repeatedly reaching for it!!
We’re going to Bath! This week, Emma talks to Beth and Chels about her favorite author, Mary Balogh, and the history of “category” and “Regency” romances.
March 8, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I really enjoyed this as someone who also often wants to throw Balogh at the wall while also loving her work and repeatedly reaching for it!!
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
If you listened to the Reformed Rakes episode and want more in depth Balogh, I wrote this about how I see her vision of justice and forgiveness (a major condition for her version of an HEA) relating to the abolitionist imagination.
open.substack.com/pub/restorat...
open.substack.com/pub/restorat...
forgiveness doesn't come with a debt
Mary Balogh's Romantic and Abolitionist Imagination
open.substack.com
March 4, 2025 at 9:02 PM
If you listened to the Reformed Rakes episode and want more in depth Balogh, I wrote this about how I see her vision of justice and forgiveness (a major condition for her version of an HEA) relating to the abolitionist imagination.
open.substack.com/pub/restorat...
open.substack.com/pub/restorat...
We’re going to Bath! This week, Emma talks to Beth and Chels about her favorite author, Mary Balogh, and the history of “category” and “Regency” romances.
March 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
We’re going to Bath! This week, Emma talks to Beth and Chels about her favorite author, Mary Balogh, and the history of “category” and “Regency” romances.
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
did you know that in 1983 there was an Amtrak "Love Train" that took a large group of romance authors/fans to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention? NYT was not a fan of the documentary about them, saying the women featured had "barren lives"
theloosecravat.substack.com/p/the-love-t...
theloosecravat.substack.com/p/the-love-t...
The Love Train
Sex, sales, and romance in 1983
theloosecravat.substack.com
February 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
did you know that in 1983 there was an Amtrak "Love Train" that took a large group of romance authors/fans to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention? NYT was not a fan of the documentary about them, saying the women featured had "barren lives"
theloosecravat.substack.com/p/the-love-t...
theloosecravat.substack.com/p/the-love-t...
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
ahhh @bayleyreads.bsky.social is my favorite WWI dad
New episode! This week @bayleyreads.bsky.social joins us to talk about Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts! A WWI magical mystery romance, this book is incredibly special and Bayley helps us figure how Arden pulls off this magic trick. Available on all podcast platforms!
February 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
ahhh @bayleyreads.bsky.social is my favorite WWI dad
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
Me!! I was literally buzzing with excitement. This was such a fun conversation. The Rakes are the smartest and funniest and it is very lovely that they let me come back!!
New episode! This week @bayleyreads.bsky.social joins us to talk about Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts! A WWI magical mystery romance, this book is incredibly special and Bayley helps us figure how Arden pulls off this magic trick. Available on all podcast platforms!
February 18, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Me!! I was literally buzzing with excitement. This was such a fun conversation. The Rakes are the smartest and funniest and it is very lovely that they let me come back!!
New episode! This week @bayleyreads.bsky.social joins us to talk about Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts! A WWI magical mystery romance, this book is incredibly special and Bayley helps us figure how Arden pulls off this magic trick. Available on all podcast platforms!
February 18, 2025 at 2:45 PM
New episode! This week @bayleyreads.bsky.social joins us to talk about Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts! A WWI magical mystery romance, this book is incredibly special and Bayley helps us figure how Arden pulls off this magic trick. Available on all podcast platforms!
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
THE COUNTESS CONSPIRACY is particularly notable for how it talks about labor and gender distinct from HGH books because there is NO babylogue, and actually the plot makes it clear that will not be one!
For more discussion of the concept of a “hot girl hobby” in historical romance, here’s Emma on the term she coined to describe a frustration with lots of histroms!
he's a rake, she has a HOBBY
Novels and Children by Roland Barthes
open.substack.com
February 4, 2025 at 5:12 PM
THE COUNTESS CONSPIRACY is particularly notable for how it talks about labor and gender distinct from HGH books because there is NO babylogue, and actually the plot makes it clear that will not be one!
For more discussion of the concept of a “hot girl hobby” in historical romance, here’s Emma on the term she coined to describe a frustration with lots of histroms!
he's a rake, she has a HOBBY
Novels and Children by Roland Barthes
open.substack.com
February 4, 2025 at 5:03 PM
For more discussion of the concept of a “hot girl hobby” in historical romance, here’s Emma on the term she coined to describe a frustration with lots of histroms!
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
I love this book so much and the grand gesture in it so much, I made this face when I first read it to sell it to my best friend as Singular in its romance.
February 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I love this book so much and the grand gesture in it so much, I made this face when I first read it to sell it to my best friend as Singular in its romance.
The Rakes are back for Season 3 with THE COUNTESS CONSPIRACY by Courtney Milan. Featuring friend of the pod @haleystew.bsky.social, we discuss labor, hot girl hobbies and kissing in this long time favorite book.
February 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The Rakes are back for Season 3 with THE COUNTESS CONSPIRACY by Courtney Milan. Featuring friend of the pod @haleystew.bsky.social, we discuss labor, hot girl hobbies and kissing in this long time favorite book.
Reposted by Reformed Rakes
It's kind of shocking we haven't done a Courtney Milan book standalone episode yet
The Rakes are here. Season 3 starts Tuesday!!
February 1, 2025 at 11:01 PM
It's kind of shocking we haven't done a Courtney Milan book standalone episode yet
The Rakes are here. Season 3 starts Tuesday!!
February 1, 2025 at 10:14 PM
The Rakes are here. Season 3 starts Tuesday!!