Cocky August Rake by Annabelle Anders

Cocky August Rake by Annabelle Anders
Series: The Rake Review #8
on August 14, 2026
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency
Pages: 238
Goodreads

She’s a courtesan pretending to be a lady.
He’s a rake who has never been touched.

Rose has survived by learning what gentlemen want—and becoming exactly that. But when she reads in The Rake Review that the Duke of Malum’s younger brother intends to close the Domus Emporium, she slips into a masquerade determined to discover his plans.

Lord Reginald Preston has spent years at sea, far from ballrooms, scandals, and temptation. Now he’s inherited responsibility for London’s most notorious house of pleasure… with one mortifying secret.

For all the wicked whispers attached to his name, Reginald is entirely innocent.

Then he meets her.

And the greatest scandal is not what happens between them… it’s how badly they both want more.

Cocky August Rake by Annabelle Anders is book eight in the Rake Review, a compilation of romances by various authors. In this book, Lord Reginald Preston has “inherited” his brother the Duke of Malum’s brothel or seraglios The Domus Emporium. The Domus actually is more than a brothel; it is an exclusive seraglios or “convent” serving high end clientele and equipped with beautiful furniture, servants and its own carriage. It is considered to be the most prestigious and exclusive club in London. It boasts poetry readings, theatrical productions, gaming but most of all relations with specially trained courtesans. The clientele are extremely wealthy men of the aristocracy and government. Anders portrays the establishment as a step above a common bawdy house. I had initially assumed the term “courtesan” referred to a mistress supported exclusively by a single upper-class nobleman, and so I questioned Anders’ historical accuracy on this point. But Julia Brannan has an article called “18th Century Prostitutes – Courtesans” that explains “Not all courtesans were the paid mistress of a sole nobleman, however. There were a number of West End courtesans who had a number of clients, but who lived in very luxurious apartments, and charged up to £50 a night for their services.”

In this aspect, Anders is correct in her portrayal of The Domus and its residents. When Captain Reginald is given ownership of The Domus, the inhabitants are alarmed because they fear he will shut it down and leave them homeless. Lord Reginald is unknown to them. So, one of the courtesans, Rose Darling, is sent to a masquerade ball to try and meet the Captain, but when she arrives she discovers that he has already left and so she has missed her opportunity to save the only home that she has ever known. But a chance encounter leads to a dance with a handsome dark stranger and her world is turned upside down.

I enjoyed the Cocky August Rake. There are a number of very steamy scenes. The Domus is a brothel where women are still used for money. In my estimation, you can put pearls on a pig, but it’s still a pig. Reginald and Rose’s journey to find true love is an interesting one. Overall, I felt that Anders did a good job portraying the Regency era. A few Cyprians during the Georgian era rose to such acclaim that they were able to live mostly independent lives, and one Lavinia Fenton married the Duke of Bolton and became a duchess. Overall, it was an enjoyable book and I look forward to more by this author.