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Society of Sirens #2
The Portrait of a Duchess
The scandalous women of the SOCIETY OF SIRENS are back with an explosive secret...their ranks include a duchess in disguise
Once upon a time she married in secret...
An activist painter of radicals and harlots, Cornelia Ludgate dismisses love and marriage as threats to freedom. But when an inheritance gives her the chance to fund the cause of women's rights--on the condition she must wed--she is forced to reveal a secret: she's already married. To a man she hasn't seen for twenty years.
Oh...and her husband is a duke.
A horse breeder with a clandestine taste for revolution, Rafe Goodwood never expected to become a duke. But now that the title is his, he is plotting to shock the ruling class with ambitions of reform--and reveal the infamous Cornelia is his duchess. That just presents one problem: he must not fall in love with her--again.
Now they must resist the temptation to rekindle an affair...
Although determined not to sacrifice her principles for passion, Cornelia is still drawn to the man whose very being threatens her independence. Hurt too many times, Rafe can't risk love again--especially with the woman who once shattered his heart. But a conspiracy to upend the inequalities of the aristocracy bring Cornelia and Rafe closer, forcing them to finally decide what--and who--they hold dear.
Once upon a time she married in secret...
An activist painter of radicals and harlots, Cornelia Ludgate dismisses love and marriage as threats to freedom. But when an inheritance gives her the chance to fund the cause of women's rights--on the condition she must wed--she is forced to reveal a secret: she's already married. To a man she hasn't seen for twenty years.
Oh...and her husband is a duke.
A horse breeder with a clandestine taste for revolution, Rafe Goodwood never expected to become a duke. But now that the title is his, he is plotting to shock the ruling class with ambitions of reform--and reveal the infamous Cornelia is his duchess. That just presents one problem: he must not fall in love with her--again.
Now they must resist the temptation to rekindle an affair...
Although determined not to sacrifice her principles for passion, Cornelia is still drawn to the man whose very being threatens her independence. Hurt too many times, Rafe can't risk love again--especially with the woman who once shattered his heart. But a conspiracy to upend the inequalities of the aristocracy bring Cornelia and Rafe closer, forcing them to finally decide what--and who--they hold dear.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 7, 2023
90 people are currently reading
4873 people want to read
About the author
Scarlett Peckham
9 books986 followersScarlett Peckham writes sexy, gothic, feminist historical romances about alpha heroines. She splits her time between Los Angeles and the spooky cliffs of Coastal Oregon.
For a taste at her critically acclaimed Secrets of Charlotte Street series, download her free novelette, The Emerald Widow: https://geni.us/EmeraldWidow
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For a taste at her critically acclaimed Secrets of Charlotte Street series, download her free novelette, The Emerald Widow: https://geni.us/EmeraldWidow
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 202 reviews
April 5, 2023
I just don’t think I’m a fan of Peckham’s prose—I find it dry?? and idk maybe just boring. I didn’t care about anything I read in these two books in the series. This one was frustrating because you once again (like book 1) had a character so terrified of commitment and every step forward led to several steps running away in the other direction.
Below is a quote that basically sums up Cornelia’s frustrating reasoning at the end (of a book that was filled with more of the same reasoning), but it could be seen as a spoiler so proceed with caution.
A risk of what?? And it wasn’t fair of her to keep hurting him with zero consequences. Oh, he “always comes back” so it’s okay to keep jerking his chain? It was like 300 pages of this. His crime at the beginning that caused their initial breakup was him wanting a marriage in truth. Misguided? Yeah. But not something heinous.
She ran again in the present and didn’t even have to grovel. She was like “I’m sorry” and he was like “what are you sorry for?” and then HE was the one taking the blame like god make it stop. He was too puppy dog and she was too indecisive.
The only part I liked was the openness to polyamory because this is the first time I’ve seen it in a trad pub historical romance. There was a lovely (and hot) MMF ménage scene. But even then, Cornelia’s end suggestion for their marriage could’ve happened at like 50% and the book could’ve ended then. But it was a reasonable solution and Cornelia was just avoiding reason for a lot of the book. **Spoiler** The HEA consisted of an open marriage where they can each take lovers or share as long as they’re open and honest.
Overall, I’ve concluded that this is my last book I’ll be reading by the author. I basically read this one for the cover and I doubt another book in the series will have one as good as this, so I’m probably safe. I think both books have tried to subvert tropes (and have very fun premises), but have also lacked nuance and stumbled into other trope pitfalls.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.75*/5
*The scenes we got were hot but there weren’t many of them. One was a ménage (no DP). The characters didn’t come as fast as they did in book one, but overall I’m still not a huge fan of how Peckham writes sex scenes.
Below is a quote that basically sums up Cornelia’s frustrating reasoning at the end (of a book that was filled with more of the same reasoning), but it could be seen as a spoiler so proceed with caution.
“Tell me you don’t feel anything for me,” Rafe said again, raggedly. “Tell me, and I’ll go.”
She could not say that. It was too far from the truth. The truth was that she adored his company. She flourished in his affection. She found few people more amusing. She loved making love to him. She wanted him more than anything she had ever wanted in her life. It was against her principles, and her better judgment, and it was utterly true, and it was so terrifying she nearly couldn’t speak. And so she had to end it. The sex. The tenderness. The marriage.
“Rafe, this was a mistake,” she said as firmly as she could. “We knew it was a mistake from the moment that we kissed in the summerhouse. And it has only become a greater risk the more that we indulged in it.”
***
“That’s probably for the best,” he said quietly.
For the best? Damn her if her heart did not shudder at those words. For some reason, she had expected him to fight. He always fought for her. But his posture was one of surrender. Defeat.
A risk of what?? And it wasn’t fair of her to keep hurting him with zero consequences. Oh, he “always comes back” so it’s okay to keep jerking his chain? It was like 300 pages of this. His crime at the beginning that caused their initial breakup was him wanting a marriage in truth. Misguided? Yeah. But not something heinous.
She ran again in the present and didn’t even have to grovel. She was like “I’m sorry” and he was like “what are you sorry for?” and then HE was the one taking the blame like god make it stop. He was too puppy dog and she was too indecisive.
The only part I liked was the openness to polyamory because this is the first time I’ve seen it in a trad pub historical romance. There was a lovely (and hot) MMF ménage scene. But even then, Cornelia’s end suggestion for their marriage could’ve happened at like 50% and the book could’ve ended then. But it was a reasonable solution and Cornelia was just avoiding reason for a lot of the book. **Spoiler** The HEA consisted of an open marriage where they can each take lovers or share as long as they’re open and honest.
Overall, I’ve concluded that this is my last book I’ll be reading by the author. I basically read this one for the cover and I doubt another book in the series will have one as good as this, so I’m probably safe. I think both books have tried to subvert tropes (and have very fun premises), but have also lacked nuance and stumbled into other trope pitfalls.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.75*/5
*The scenes we got were hot but there weren’t many of them. One was a ménage (no DP). The characters didn’t come as fast as they did in book one, but overall I’m still not a huge fan of how Peckham writes sex scenes.
March 11, 2023
Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (details below but may feel hotter to others)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both hero and heroine
(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from The Ton and Tartans Book Club )
Should I read in order?
It’s not totally necessary but the first book sets up the heroine’s circle of friends. There’s some minor page time with the characters from book 1.
Marking the whole thing as a spoiler because someone brought to my attention the whole review is a spoiler (apologies!)
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (details below but may feel hotter to others)
Humor: A bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both hero and heroine
(These are all personal preference on a scale of 1-5 (yours ratings may vary depending what gives you feels and how you prefer you sex scenes written, etc) except the Steam Scale which follows our chart from The Ton and Tartans Book Club )
Should I read in order?
It’s not totally necessary but the first book sets up the heroine’s circle of friends. There’s some minor page time with the characters from book 1.
Marking the whole thing as a spoiler because someone brought to my attention the whole review is a spoiler (apologies!)
January 20, 2023
The Portrait of a Duchess is the long-anticipated second book in Scarlett Peckham’s Society of Sirens series. I absolutely loved the first book, The Rakess, back in 2020 and have read everything else SP has written since (indie releases and shorts) while waiting for this book.
Cornelia Ludgate is an artist and part of the friend group we were introduced to in the first book. Cornelia and her group of friends, The Society of Sirens, including Seraphina (the heroine of The Rakess), have become infamous women. They are notorious for their liberal politics and wayward reputations and have even used the public’s interest in their “wild lives” to raise money for their cause: founding an institute devoted to women’s equality and education. In the first book we saw them gain enough money to purchase a piece of land, but now they need another round of funds to pay for the actual construction of the building. Cornelia is a talented painter and so the story starts with her wanting to hold an exhibition for her most shocking portraits yet—a series called ‘The Jezebels’. Around the same time Rafe shows up, he and Cornelia haven’t seen one another for 20 years but he’s now a Duke (after inheriting from her late uncle/he was a distant 9th cousin). Rafe has come to tell Cornelia that there was a stipulation in her Uncle’s will that she will receive funds if she marries. Which kind of works out perfectly, since she’s already married…to Rafe!
This book is told through flashbacks when the couple first entered into a marriage of convenience. Cornelia was a ward of her Uncle and when she turned 18 she realized he was going to marry her off. She wanted freedom and independence so she went to Rafe, a commoner who trained, and sometimes bred, horses who lived on the property as well and asked him to marry her. I honestly didn’t feel like there was a difference in the characters between the past and the present, their characters read exactly the same regardless of the 20 year time jump. Most of the story takes place during a house gathering/party of sorts, he’s going to introduce her as his wife/duchess and she’s going to unveil her new art exhibition. The hero is bisexual and has a male lover, who even joins the couple for a fun time at one point. We see Rafe wanting and ready to express his love for Cornelia and wanting their marriage to work, while she’s the one rebelling against the idea of being “tied down” and wanting her freedom still.
I sadly didn’t love this one. It was okay, I do enjoy the author’s writing overall. The plot is pretty simplistic but it did feel a bit try-hard with how much “rebelling against the norms” is added in with the characters and their conversations about making changes, to the point where it didn’t come off as sincere to the story. Like I mentioned, the 20 year time jump really didn’t feel like anyone grew or changed and it read the same as present-day. While I didn’t mind the ending and it makes sense for the characters, it was definitely a different take for this couple’s definition of their HEA.
Thank you to the publisher (Avon Books) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. The Portrait of a Duchess has a publish date of March 7, 2023.
Cornelia Ludgate is an artist and part of the friend group we were introduced to in the first book. Cornelia and her group of friends, The Society of Sirens, including Seraphina (the heroine of The Rakess), have become infamous women. They are notorious for their liberal politics and wayward reputations and have even used the public’s interest in their “wild lives” to raise money for their cause: founding an institute devoted to women’s equality and education. In the first book we saw them gain enough money to purchase a piece of land, but now they need another round of funds to pay for the actual construction of the building. Cornelia is a talented painter and so the story starts with her wanting to hold an exhibition for her most shocking portraits yet—a series called ‘The Jezebels’. Around the same time Rafe shows up, he and Cornelia haven’t seen one another for 20 years but he’s now a Duke (after inheriting from her late uncle/he was a distant 9th cousin). Rafe has come to tell Cornelia that there was a stipulation in her Uncle’s will that she will receive funds if she marries. Which kind of works out perfectly, since she’s already married…to Rafe!
This book is told through flashbacks when the couple first entered into a marriage of convenience. Cornelia was a ward of her Uncle and when she turned 18 she realized he was going to marry her off. She wanted freedom and independence so she went to Rafe, a commoner who trained, and sometimes bred, horses who lived on the property as well and asked him to marry her. I honestly didn’t feel like there was a difference in the characters between the past and the present, their characters read exactly the same regardless of the 20 year time jump. Most of the story takes place during a house gathering/party of sorts, he’s going to introduce her as his wife/duchess and she’s going to unveil her new art exhibition. The hero is bisexual and has a male lover, who even joins the couple for a fun time at one point. We see Rafe wanting and ready to express his love for Cornelia and wanting their marriage to work, while she’s the one rebelling against the idea of being “tied down” and wanting her freedom still.
I sadly didn’t love this one. It was okay, I do enjoy the author’s writing overall. The plot is pretty simplistic but it did feel a bit try-hard with how much “rebelling against the norms” is added in with the characters and their conversations about making changes, to the point where it didn’t come off as sincere to the story. Like I mentioned, the 20 year time jump really didn’t feel like anyone grew or changed and it read the same as present-day. While I didn’t mind the ending and it makes sense for the characters, it was definitely a different take for this couple’s definition of their HEA.
Thank you to the publisher (Avon Books) for an e-ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own. The Portrait of a Duchess has a publish date of March 7, 2023.
March 24, 2023
3.75 stars
Infused with bold new ideas, but slightly overworked, The Portrait of a Duchess is the long-awaited sequel to Scarlett Peckham's Society of Sirens series, and it definitely doesn't disappoint when it comes to pushing the framework of historical romance: age gap (particularly with a hero in his early 50s), interracial relationship, bisexuality, are just a few elements explored in this universe filled with characters rebelling against societal restrictions and accepted norms. While I applaud the effort (and actually do enjoy a lot of its moments), the drastic alteration to the formula does upset the storytelling somewhat, making it an uneven reading experience overall.
The best part of The Portrait of a Duchess is its found family aspect; Scarlett Peckham has created a colorful group of nonconformists, and the story is often at its peak when the ensemble cast is involved. As someone who's in the creative field, I particularly enjoy its central plot revolving around an art exhibit, and the power of art truly shines through in the author's intensely expressive and passionate writing style.
The romance has its shining moments (particularly the past timeline), and a fascinating perspective (a man's grand declaration of love being a forced-on burden and robs the woman partner's agency), but the journey getting there feels drawn-out and aimless. The reliance on lack of communication to draw conflict seems to be in stark contrast to characters who are suppose to be avant-garde, and the closure to their romance is disappointingly limp and not at all convincing.
The Portrait of a Duchess is ambitious, beautifully crafted, if suffocating in the mold of a historical romance. There are moments where it is quite clear the author was struggling to balance between expressing her own creative vision, and giving what the audience want from the genre. The self-critiquing on what is 'romance' is fascinating, if quite bumpy getting to the point. Still, I would always prefer reading something fresh, instead of safe and stale.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
Infused with bold new ideas, but slightly overworked, The Portrait of a Duchess is the long-awaited sequel to Scarlett Peckham's Society of Sirens series, and it definitely doesn't disappoint when it comes to pushing the framework of historical romance: age gap (particularly with a hero in his early 50s), interracial relationship, bisexuality, are just a few elements explored in this universe filled with characters rebelling against societal restrictions and accepted norms. While I applaud the effort (and actually do enjoy a lot of its moments), the drastic alteration to the formula does upset the storytelling somewhat, making it an uneven reading experience overall.
The best part of The Portrait of a Duchess is its found family aspect; Scarlett Peckham has created a colorful group of nonconformists, and the story is often at its peak when the ensemble cast is involved. As someone who's in the creative field, I particularly enjoy its central plot revolving around an art exhibit, and the power of art truly shines through in the author's intensely expressive and passionate writing style.
The romance has its shining moments (particularly the past timeline), and a fascinating perspective (a man's grand declaration of love being a forced-on burden and robs the woman partner's agency), but the journey getting there feels drawn-out and aimless. The reliance on lack of communication to draw conflict seems to be in stark contrast to characters who are suppose to be avant-garde, and the closure to their romance is disappointingly limp and not at all convincing.
The Portrait of a Duchess is ambitious, beautifully crafted, if suffocating in the mold of a historical romance. There are moments where it is quite clear the author was struggling to balance between expressing her own creative vision, and giving what the audience want from the genre. The self-critiquing on what is 'romance' is fascinating, if quite bumpy getting to the point. Still, I would always prefer reading something fresh, instead of safe and stale.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
April 17, 2024
I have a complicated relationship with Scarlett Peckham's novels. On the one hand, I appreciate what she's trying to do with historical romance. Her emphasis on sex positivity, and especially sex positive feminism, is welcome in a genre that can still be focused on a woman's "purity." On the other hand, I'm not sure I think that she can fully delve into all of the different ideas she wants to in a 350-page book. I also find myself absolutely loving some books (The Lord I Left, anyone?) while really not liking some of the others (The Duke I Tempted is not handsome enough to tempt me...).
Which brings me to today's review of The Portrait of a Duchess. What's it about? Cornelia and Rafe were married 20 years ago but have never lived together. Cornelia's uncle died and a codicil of his will requires her to be married to receive her inheritance. Luckily, she's already married. Unluckily, her husband is now a duke (unexpected heirs FTW) - but worse than that, he's a duke who used to be a radical who's now making nice with the conservatives in power. But don't worry, it's all a ruse: he's still a revolutionary at heart, so the idea of presenting a radical feminist artist as his duchess fills him with glee. Rafe falls in love easily, with men and with women. He fell for Cornelia back when they were married (when she was 18 and he was - ahem - 30). This is her biggest issue with their getting back together: she does not want to be in love, nor does she want to be faithful to anyone. She's willing to claim her marriage to get her rightful monies, but not to actually stay married.
There were portions of the book I absolutely adored: I loved that Peckham has an MMF scene included in a mass market historical romance. I love the emphasis on progressive politics. And (slight spoiler!) I loved that the solution to the relationship conflict wasn't married monogamy 5-ever!! the way it is in so many historical romances. But the book can feel more like a writing exercise than a romance. I was never moved by emotions while reading it, and the characters and their concerns felt like stand-ins for political ideals.
It's worth checking out, especially if you're a jaded HistRom reader like me looking for something new in the genre! I just wish I /liked/ it a little more.
Which brings me to today's review of The Portrait of a Duchess. What's it about? Cornelia and Rafe were married 20 years ago but have never lived together. Cornelia's uncle died and a codicil of his will requires her to be married to receive her inheritance. Luckily, she's already married. Unluckily, her husband is now a duke (unexpected heirs FTW) - but worse than that, he's a duke who used to be a radical who's now making nice with the conservatives in power. But don't worry, it's all a ruse: he's still a revolutionary at heart, so the idea of presenting a radical feminist artist as his duchess fills him with glee. Rafe falls in love easily, with men and with women. He fell for Cornelia back when they were married (when she was 18 and he was - ahem - 30). This is her biggest issue with their getting back together: she does not want to be in love, nor does she want to be faithful to anyone. She's willing to claim her marriage to get her rightful monies, but not to actually stay married.
There were portions of the book I absolutely adored: I loved that Peckham has an MMF scene included in a mass market historical romance. I love the emphasis on progressive politics. And (slight spoiler!) I loved that the solution to the relationship conflict wasn't married monogamy 5-ever!! the way it is in so many historical romances. But the book can feel more like a writing exercise than a romance. I was never moved by emotions while reading it, and the characters and their concerns felt like stand-ins for political ideals.
It's worth checking out, especially if you're a jaded HistRom reader like me looking for something new in the genre! I just wish I /liked/ it a little more.
October 10, 2022
2.5 Stars.
Sigh. I really wanted to like this. And I tried to like it. I was so excited to see a Black character become a duchess. Not only that, she was a confident woman who was more sure of herself than a lot of HR heroines. I also liked that the characters didn’t get their happy ending on the 20s, which is all too common in HR. But I had to fight my way through the book. First off, I couldn’t tell the different between the past and the future of the hero and heroine. They were both the same regardless of time, and I would forget I was in a “Before” chapter. Then I would get all confused. Where is the character growth???
Also… I feel bad saying it, but I honestly feel like it needs to be said. When non-Black write Black characters there can sometimes something…off… about how the character presents their Blackness, and I felt that in this book. As a Black person I guess I’m a bit sensitive to it. The way the heroine spoke about racism and the way she felt about her standing in society didn’t feel deep. Like of course she would be upset about slavery and everything, but there wasn’t any nuances to emotions.
This book had good potential and I wish a bit more research was done prior to writing it.
Sigh. I really wanted to like this. And I tried to like it. I was so excited to see a Black character become a duchess. Not only that, she was a confident woman who was more sure of herself than a lot of HR heroines. I also liked that the characters didn’t get their happy ending on the 20s, which is all too common in HR. But I had to fight my way through the book. First off, I couldn’t tell the different between the past and the future of the hero and heroine. They were both the same regardless of time, and I would forget I was in a “Before” chapter. Then I would get all confused. Where is the character growth???
Also… I feel bad saying it, but I honestly feel like it needs to be said. When non-Black write Black characters there can sometimes something…off… about how the character presents their Blackness, and I felt that in this book. As a Black person I guess I’m a bit sensitive to it. The way the heroine spoke about racism and the way she felt about her standing in society didn’t feel deep. Like of course she would be upset about slavery and everything, but there wasn’t any nuances to emotions.
This book had good potential and I wish a bit more research was done prior to writing it.
August 29, 2022
This one sadly didn't work for me.
Peckham's characters are described as being radical, but they all came across very wooden which didn't lend itself to the romance. There were chapters from 20 years ago that explored how Rafe and Cornelia entered a marriage of convenience, and I often forgot which chapters were in the past or present because the main characters read the same. It was only the mention of their ages that helped me differentiate, because other than that, there didn't seem to be any growth over the 20 years.
There also wasn't a conflict to move the plot along which made it hard for me to lose myself in the story. Radical progressives sound very interesting, but not so much when the majority of their conversations were around essays and art exhibits.
While the story and the romance were an unfortunate miss for me, I appreciated that Peckham gave Cornelia and Rafe the space to define what they wanted out of the relationship.
Peckham's characters are described as being radical, but they all came across very wooden which didn't lend itself to the romance. There were chapters from 20 years ago that explored how Rafe and Cornelia entered a marriage of convenience, and I often forgot which chapters were in the past or present because the main characters read the same. It was only the mention of their ages that helped me differentiate, because other than that, there didn't seem to be any growth over the 20 years.
There also wasn't a conflict to move the plot along which made it hard for me to lose myself in the story. Radical progressives sound very interesting, but not so much when the majority of their conversations were around essays and art exhibits.
While the story and the romance were an unfortunate miss for me, I appreciated that Peckham gave Cornelia and Rafe the space to define what they wanted out of the relationship.
Read
January 10, 2025DNF at 53%
I've been reading this for almost 2 weeks and really not feeling it. Nothing particularly wrong with it, the author just failed to invest me in these characters (which is insane because the premise of this book is amazing). Plus, this sent me into a full on book slump.
I've been reading this for almost 2 weeks and really not feeling it. Nothing particularly wrong with it, the author just failed to invest me in these characters (which is insane because the premise of this book is amazing). Plus, this sent me into a full on book slump.
March 14, 2023
Get ready to be SICK OF ME talking about this book
The Portrait of a Duchess is the second book in Scarlett Peckham's Society of Sirens series. I was ambivalent about The Rakess, which was full of Great Smart Thoughts About The Genre packaged in a love story I didn't care for. The Portrait of a Duchess brought it all together for me. I was still chewing on some Big Ideas, but having a ton of fun while exploring those ideas. Learning can be fun, kids!
Cornelia Ludgate is a radical artist trying to scrape together funds for her girl gang's planned Institute for the Equality of Women. Good news--she's got a big inheritance! Bad news-- it comes with a Provision Requiring Marriage. Enter Rafe Goodwood (God I love this genre), duke and secret radical. He can help, because back when he was a lowly horse breeder seventh in line for the title, he helped Cornelia out of a tight spot to avoid a forced marriage. Secretly, the two of them are technically married. They hatch a plan to go public (Faking True Love, of course, because we must really sell it), get Cornelia her money, and scandalize high society while doing it. Time to plan a Masquerade Art Exhibition Wife Reveal Ball! And while we're at it, add a second timeline following teenage Cornelia and horse-breeder Rafe as they race to Gretna Green! Is that a SECOND CHANCE I see on the horizon???
Can you tell I had fun?
The love story is great on its own-- sweet, then sexy, then sexy some more-- but like The Rakess, it gives us a lot to dig into if put in conversation with the rest of the genre.
I was most interested in the book's take on the idea of the "Good Duke." Like many heroes before him, Rafe never expected to inherit the title, which landed in his lap after a series of heirless deaths. Many historical romances that purport to be progressive would use this a free pass to excuse the hero from culpability in the system he benefits so much from. If he feels uncomfy being duke, and we see him being nice to his house staff and refusing to double rent on his tenants, then he's a Good Duke. He's Not Like Other Dukes. And we can rest easy knowing he will allow his hoyden wife to speak her mind at the dinner table.
Rafe, on the other hand, is already actively leveraging his proximity to the aristocracy to further his own politics before he inherits. It does feel like a bit of a cop-out that Rafe being covert in his politics allows him to enjoy the comforts of his extreme wealth, at least for the time being, but the book is clear that this is only temporary. By the end, Rafe and Cornelia have pretty thoroughly burned their bridges with good society, and have a plan to personally divest themselves of their wealth to the extent possible within the system.
And maybe that's still insufficient! But the book cracks open the question-- if we drop 2020s politics straight into the 18th century setting, as so many novels do, what should we actually expect from our Good Dukes? And is that compatible with the fantasy of ball gowns and high teas? I'm not sure, but this is a great starting place.
This book feels like an answer to everything that's been frustrating me in the genre recently. It seems like everybody wants to write a found family of lawless hoydens that thumb their noses at high society, but nobody wants to accept that there might be consequences for their actions. Consequences! What a concept!
And everybody wants to write characters at the cutting-edge of feminism and progressivism, but nobody wants to let them put words to their politics. Cornelia "I don't sleep with Tories" Ludgate is specific about her views and goals in a way that made me realize how rare that is in historicals.
I like to think of The Rakess as a treatise on why there's no such thing as a "Rakess," as either a fictional trope or a historical possibility. Similarly, the ideas in The Portrait of a Duchess really unfolded themselves to me when something wasn't working according to genre expectations.
You want a truly independent heroine that's protective of her agency? Ok, fine! Let's see how she reacts to a Big Public Grand Gesture, then! (Spoiler: not great) You want characters that buck gender roles and disrespect social hierarchies? Sure thing! They are now radioactive to the bon ton and constantly in danger of poverty, displacement, imprisonment, and attack. Is this still fun? You want sexually liberated characters that are (we would term) poly? Great, but you're going to have to accept an HEA that looks a little different than usual.
Before we close, a round of applause for the cover, please. The font. The colors. The pose. The expressions. EVERYONE CLAP
Note: I read this as an arc in November 2022, thinking I could put off actually writing the review until the HC union strike was over. Months later, I found myself having to reread the entire thing the week of release because I couldn't remember anything I wanted to say besides "GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD VERY SMART YUM," so... that'll teach me, I guess.
Thank you to Avon for providing an advance review copy of this title at no cost. No money changed hands for this review and all opinions are my own.
The Portrait of a Duchess is the second book in Scarlett Peckham's Society of Sirens series. I was ambivalent about The Rakess, which was full of Great Smart Thoughts About The Genre packaged in a love story I didn't care for. The Portrait of a Duchess brought it all together for me. I was still chewing on some Big Ideas, but having a ton of fun while exploring those ideas. Learning can be fun, kids!
Cornelia Ludgate is a radical artist trying to scrape together funds for her girl gang's planned Institute for the Equality of Women. Good news--she's got a big inheritance! Bad news-- it comes with a Provision Requiring Marriage. Enter Rafe Goodwood (God I love this genre), duke and secret radical. He can help, because back when he was a lowly horse breeder seventh in line for the title, he helped Cornelia out of a tight spot to avoid a forced marriage. Secretly, the two of them are technically married. They hatch a plan to go public (Faking True Love, of course, because we must really sell it), get Cornelia her money, and scandalize high society while doing it. Time to plan a Masquerade Art Exhibition Wife Reveal Ball! And while we're at it, add a second timeline following teenage Cornelia and horse-breeder Rafe as they race to Gretna Green! Is that a SECOND CHANCE I see on the horizon???
Can you tell I had fun?
The love story is great on its own-- sweet, then sexy, then sexy some more-- but like The Rakess, it gives us a lot to dig into if put in conversation with the rest of the genre.
I was most interested in the book's take on the idea of the "Good Duke." Like many heroes before him, Rafe never expected to inherit the title, which landed in his lap after a series of heirless deaths. Many historical romances that purport to be progressive would use this a free pass to excuse the hero from culpability in the system he benefits so much from. If he feels uncomfy being duke, and we see him being nice to his house staff and refusing to double rent on his tenants, then he's a Good Duke. He's Not Like Other Dukes. And we can rest easy knowing he will allow his hoyden wife to speak her mind at the dinner table.
Rafe, on the other hand, is already actively leveraging his proximity to the aristocracy to further his own politics before he inherits. It does feel like a bit of a cop-out that Rafe being covert in his politics allows him to enjoy the comforts of his extreme wealth, at least for the time being, but the book is clear that this is only temporary. By the end, Rafe and Cornelia have pretty thoroughly burned their bridges with good society, and have a plan to personally divest themselves of their wealth to the extent possible within the system.
And maybe that's still insufficient! But the book cracks open the question-- if we drop 2020s politics straight into the 18th century setting, as so many novels do, what should we actually expect from our Good Dukes? And is that compatible with the fantasy of ball gowns and high teas? I'm not sure, but this is a great starting place.
This book feels like an answer to everything that's been frustrating me in the genre recently. It seems like everybody wants to write a found family of lawless hoydens that thumb their noses at high society, but nobody wants to accept that there might be consequences for their actions. Consequences! What a concept!
And everybody wants to write characters at the cutting-edge of feminism and progressivism, but nobody wants to let them put words to their politics. Cornelia "I don't sleep with Tories" Ludgate is specific about her views and goals in a way that made me realize how rare that is in historicals.
I like to think of The Rakess as a treatise on why there's no such thing as a "Rakess," as either a fictional trope or a historical possibility. Similarly, the ideas in The Portrait of a Duchess really unfolded themselves to me when something wasn't working according to genre expectations.
You want a truly independent heroine that's protective of her agency? Ok, fine! Let's see how she reacts to a Big Public Grand Gesture, then! (Spoiler: not great) You want characters that buck gender roles and disrespect social hierarchies? Sure thing! They are now radioactive to the bon ton and constantly in danger of poverty, displacement, imprisonment, and attack. Is this still fun? You want sexually liberated characters that are (we would term) poly? Great, but you're going to have to accept an HEA that looks a little different than usual.
Before we close, a round of applause for the cover, please. The font. The colors. The pose. The expressions. EVERYONE CLAP
Note: I read this as an arc in November 2022, thinking I could put off actually writing the review until the HC union strike was over. Months later, I found myself having to reread the entire thing the week of release because I couldn't remember anything I wanted to say besides "GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD VERY SMART YUM," so... that'll teach me, I guess.
Thank you to Avon for providing an advance review copy of this title at no cost. No money changed hands for this review and all opinions are my own.
March 6, 2023
Disclaimer: I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
As a self-appointed champion of The Rakess and a fan of Scarlett Peckham's work in general, it pains me to start this review with the "tl;dr" part: This book is mediocre at best compared to everything else Peckham has ever written.
I am giving some grace to the fact that Portrait of a Duchess is Peckham's pandemic book. That's what I call books that were written during and after the height of COVID lockdown, and it has plagued many of my favorite authors. It was a hard time to be a person, and it shows in the books. Here, we have all the hallmarks of this writer: bold and intelligent women, adoring men, progressive politics, and some things that I'm surprised a mainstream histrom publisher was willing to put to print in a mass market. It's so frustrating that this book lacked the thing I usually most appreciate about Peckham: depth of emotion. It took a long time (in romance publishing years) for this book to be written and released, something the author herself has acknowledged. I could just sense while reading it that she may have been feeling unfocused and uninspired. That's certainly the way I felt while reading it.
Here's the super quick synopsis: Cornelia and the Sirens are plotting how to get more money for their Big Project. Rafe shows up, a newly minted accidental Duke of the estate Cornelia is related to and grew up at. We find out that he and Cornelia got married 20 years ago and haven't seen/spoken to each other since. They cook up a plan to shock the aristocracy and raise the funds for the aforementioned Big Project, which involves pretending to be completely in love and revealing a bunch of stuff at a massive party to all the lords, ladies, and radicals they've invited. They plan to dismantle the existing structure of the estate and put the power back in the workers' hands. There's a no-feelings sex pact, which of course fails utterly, and then they have to decide if they're going to stay married or get a divorce so Cornelia can have her freedom. There's also a house party because they've invited all their friends to hang out at the house while they plan this big event.
Yeah, that's what I remember of what happened in this book.
The unfocused feeling is heightened by the dual timeline structure deployed here, to limited effect. I'm not sure I ever got a good sense of who any of the characters are, other than that Cornelia is commitment-phobic and Rafe is very much not. The flashback scenes are exclusively from Rafe's POV, so all we know about Cornelia's experience of that time is what she remembers 20 years later and Rafe's frankly rosy-colored views. Dropping those chapters in between the main timeline ends up confusing who these characters are at their core. Cornelia comes off as two-dimensional because we don't really get to see much of how her experiences have affected her. Which is a major shame, because we're talking about a Black woman in the Georgian era doing her best to upset the power dynamics of the ton and empower the marginalized. (I don't want this to seem like the author didn't show respect to the identity of her character. I just think there was opportunity for Cornelia and every other character to be more fully realized than they were.) What I know about Cornelia is this: she loves sex, she's a great painter, she's a radical, and she has convinced herself that being in love means losing your freedom. Then we have Rafe, who felt like two different characters between the different timelines. "Present day" Rafe is confident, suave, crafty, with a clear vision of who he is and how he can affect the world around him. Flashback Rafe is at least still grounded in his self-image, but because of his waffling about Cornelia's age and their physical chemistry he comes across as cautious, conflicted, and ultimately naive.
Did I mention the age thing? When Cornelia and Rafe initially get together, she is 18 and Rafe is 36. The age difference is a little squick, but honestly I would have been interested to see more of that internal struggle in contrast to what was going on for Cornelia...which we never actually have the opportunity to experience. He spends a lot of time fighting with himself over his attraction to a barely legal girl, until suddenly he decides that her forwardness and confidence means it's okay to pursue that attraction, but we're only ever going off of what Rafe perceives of Cornelia's personality and actions.
Their romance didn't feel fleshed out to me, either. We go from a very intriguing "I haven't seen you in 20 years and what I've heard about you makes me not trust you at all" to a "oh that totally makes sense, I like you and trust you now" to a "we'll bang but without feelings even though there are very much feelings already" to "I was ready to confess my love but then you did something actually kind of innocuous that I blew way out of proportion but there has to be a low moment I guess" to "grand gesture everything's fine now!" Are you dizzy? Cuz I still am, a little. Not to mention right when there seemed to be some build of that emotional connection in the first sex scene, it turns into a menage. Which, awesome! I love that Avon is willing to publish polyamorous rep! (More please, Avon!) But it felt random, if extremely hot, and pulled me out of any emotional investment I may have had in the scene. Peckham always writes super sexy stuff, but the intimate scenes *feel* intimate and have always done something that makes sense for the characters and the plot. Until now.
Peckham is a supremely competent writer--she found a way to work in "perspicacious" unironically--and for readers who are looking for an easy-reading histrom with absolutely-not-vanilla bedroom hijinks and progressive politics, this could be just the ticket. For me, though, all of those things stayed surface-level. Aside from the fact that I am a big-feelings reader, I know that this author is capable of so much more than I got from this book. I hope the next one returns to the heights of her previous work.
Overall rating: 2.5 (rounded to 3 stars because, you know, pandemic book)
Hannah Angst Scale rating: 1.5
Content notes: racism, sexism and misogyny, mild/implied homophobia, references to relatives who owned black slaves, death of parents (past)
As a self-appointed champion of The Rakess and a fan of Scarlett Peckham's work in general, it pains me to start this review with the "tl;dr" part: This book is mediocre at best compared to everything else Peckham has ever written.
I am giving some grace to the fact that Portrait of a Duchess is Peckham's pandemic book. That's what I call books that were written during and after the height of COVID lockdown, and it has plagued many of my favorite authors. It was a hard time to be a person, and it shows in the books. Here, we have all the hallmarks of this writer: bold and intelligent women, adoring men, progressive politics, and some things that I'm surprised a mainstream histrom publisher was willing to put to print in a mass market. It's so frustrating that this book lacked the thing I usually most appreciate about Peckham: depth of emotion. It took a long time (in romance publishing years) for this book to be written and released, something the author herself has acknowledged. I could just sense while reading it that she may have been feeling unfocused and uninspired. That's certainly the way I felt while reading it.
Here's the super quick synopsis: Cornelia and the Sirens are plotting how to get more money for their Big Project. Rafe shows up, a newly minted accidental Duke of the estate Cornelia is related to and grew up at. We find out that he and Cornelia got married 20 years ago and haven't seen/spoken to each other since. They cook up a plan to shock the aristocracy and raise the funds for the aforementioned Big Project, which involves pretending to be completely in love and revealing a bunch of stuff at a massive party to all the lords, ladies, and radicals they've invited. They plan to dismantle the existing structure of the estate and put the power back in the workers' hands. There's a no-feelings sex pact, which of course fails utterly, and then they have to decide if they're going to stay married or get a divorce so Cornelia can have her freedom. There's also a house party because they've invited all their friends to hang out at the house while they plan this big event.
Yeah, that's what I remember of what happened in this book.
The unfocused feeling is heightened by the dual timeline structure deployed here, to limited effect. I'm not sure I ever got a good sense of who any of the characters are, other than that Cornelia is commitment-phobic and Rafe is very much not. The flashback scenes are exclusively from Rafe's POV, so all we know about Cornelia's experience of that time is what she remembers 20 years later and Rafe's frankly rosy-colored views. Dropping those chapters in between the main timeline ends up confusing who these characters are at their core. Cornelia comes off as two-dimensional because we don't really get to see much of how her experiences have affected her. Which is a major shame, because we're talking about a Black woman in the Georgian era doing her best to upset the power dynamics of the ton and empower the marginalized. (I don't want this to seem like the author didn't show respect to the identity of her character. I just think there was opportunity for Cornelia and every other character to be more fully realized than they were.) What I know about Cornelia is this: she loves sex, she's a great painter, she's a radical, and she has convinced herself that being in love means losing your freedom. Then we have Rafe, who felt like two different characters between the different timelines. "Present day" Rafe is confident, suave, crafty, with a clear vision of who he is and how he can affect the world around him. Flashback Rafe is at least still grounded in his self-image, but because of his waffling about Cornelia's age and their physical chemistry he comes across as cautious, conflicted, and ultimately naive.
Did I mention the age thing? When Cornelia and Rafe initially get together, she is 18 and Rafe is 36. The age difference is a little squick, but honestly I would have been interested to see more of that internal struggle in contrast to what was going on for Cornelia...which we never actually have the opportunity to experience. He spends a lot of time fighting with himself over his attraction to a barely legal girl, until suddenly he decides that her forwardness and confidence means it's okay to pursue that attraction, but we're only ever going off of what Rafe perceives of Cornelia's personality and actions.
Their romance didn't feel fleshed out to me, either. We go from a very intriguing "I haven't seen you in 20 years and what I've heard about you makes me not trust you at all" to a "oh that totally makes sense, I like you and trust you now" to a "we'll bang but without feelings even though there are very much feelings already" to "I was ready to confess my love but then you did something actually kind of innocuous that I blew way out of proportion but there has to be a low moment I guess" to "grand gesture everything's fine now!" Are you dizzy? Cuz I still am, a little. Not to mention right when there seemed to be some build of that emotional connection in the first sex scene, it turns into a menage. Which, awesome! I love that Avon is willing to publish polyamorous rep! (More please, Avon!) But it felt random, if extremely hot, and pulled me out of any emotional investment I may have had in the scene. Peckham always writes super sexy stuff, but the intimate scenes *feel* intimate and have always done something that makes sense for the characters and the plot. Until now.
Peckham is a supremely competent writer--she found a way to work in "perspicacious" unironically--and for readers who are looking for an easy-reading histrom with absolutely-not-vanilla bedroom hijinks and progressive politics, this could be just the ticket. For me, though, all of those things stayed surface-level. Aside from the fact that I am a big-feelings reader, I know that this author is capable of so much more than I got from this book. I hope the next one returns to the heights of her previous work.
Overall rating: 2.5 (rounded to 3 stars because, you know, pandemic book)
Hannah Angst Scale rating: 1.5
Content notes: racism, sexism and misogyny, mild/implied homophobia, references to relatives who owned black slaves, death of parents (past)
September 2, 2022
I wanted to love this, but a white author writing about an older white man being in love with an underage Black girl who is hyper sexualized just doesn’t feel right to me.
April 2, 2023
3.5 stars.
July 22, 2024
This is a second chance romance with flashbacks to their original marriage, which takes place when she is 18 years old and he is 34. Unusual choice for a contemporary author.
He was friends with her parents, knew her as a child, they talk about her tricking him into coming over when she was 16 and how pleasantly surprised he was, she was just so clever for a girl her age! But since he’s following along with her plan, saving her through marriage, she’s the one reallyyyy in control, dear reader.
Having the FMC be a hypersexualized, “mature for her age” WOC married to a powerful, white man old enough to be her father was just not for me, personally.
Plus! intimacy feels unsafe to her. eeek.
And there seemed to be no real conflict! At first, she thinks he’s a Tory but discovers he’s actually working for an organization she belongs to. (Not a spoiler, it’s revealed in the beginning.) As a radical activist, she recognizes that being a duchess will give her far more opportunity to make an impact than she could’ve ever imagined. (Oh, but her freedom!) And for activists, very little coverage given to the actual social issues of the time.
It’s cool the hero is bisexual, there’s an MMF love scene.
If this wasn’t an audiobook I would’ve DNFed. I still like this writer, this was just not for me.
He was friends with her parents, knew her as a child, they talk about her tricking him into coming over when she was 16 and how pleasantly surprised he was, she was just so clever for a girl her age! But since he’s following along with her plan, saving her through marriage, she’s the one reallyyyy in control, dear reader.
Having the FMC be a hypersexualized, “mature for her age” WOC married to a powerful, white man old enough to be her father was just not for me, personally.
Plus! intimacy feels unsafe to her. eeek.
And there seemed to be no real conflict! At first, she thinks he’s a Tory but discovers he’s actually working for an organization she belongs to. (Not a spoiler, it’s revealed in the beginning.) As a radical activist, she recognizes that being a duchess will give her far more opportunity to make an impact than she could’ve ever imagined. (Oh, but her freedom!) And for activists, very little coverage given to the actual social issues of the time.
It’s cool the hero is bisexual, there’s an MMF love scene.
If this wasn’t an audiobook I would’ve DNFed. I still like this writer, this was just not for me.
April 18, 2023
I absolutely adored The Rakess and went into this one with high hopes, but unfortunately this one lacked the emotional pull that the first one had for me. The relationship felt a bit stiff at times, with more focus given to the external plot and scandalizing society than developing the romance itself, and I would’ve liked to see some growth between the flashbacks from 20 years ago and the present. That being said, I did appreciate that instead of just being a Good, Progressive Aristocrat because he hadn’t expected to inherit, Rafe actually put his money where his mouth was and was working towards dismantling the system (as opposed to the standard histrom hero who’s just a good landlord). The approach to the HEA was also an interesting shift away from the standard, with the characters taking the time to talk through boundaries and what they wanted from their relationship.
Overall, a mixed bag—some frustration with the MCs and a lack of central conflict to keep my interest, but a distinct and interesting approach to radicals in historical romance.
CW: sexual content, racism, misogyny, toxic relationships
Overall, a mixed bag—some frustration with the MCs and a lack of central conflict to keep my interest, but a distinct and interesting approach to radicals in historical romance.
CW: sexual content, racism, misogyny, toxic relationships
March 22, 2023
This was my first book by Scarlett Peckham, and I had a really hard time getting into it. I struggled with it quite a bit and found myself skimming through parts.
The premise was very appealing and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
It's a second chance romance with an age gap. Cornelia and Rafe have been married but have been living separately for the last twenty years and have kept it a secret. Now Rafe has unexpectedly become a Duke, and Cornelia is in line for an inheritance. Because of this, they have decided to announce their marriage.
The story is told in part through chapters about their back story. I was slightly put off my by the age gap in the earlier years.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
The premise was very appealing and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
It's a second chance romance with an age gap. Cornelia and Rafe have been married but have been living separately for the last twenty years and have kept it a secret. Now Rafe has unexpectedly become a Duke, and Cornelia is in line for an inheritance. Because of this, they have decided to announce their marriage.
The story is told in part through chapters about their back story. I was slightly put off my by the age gap in the earlier years.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.
February 17, 2023
Updated review now that Harper Collins Union has received a contract.
Scarlett Peckham is so excellent at writing couples. The set up of Cornelia and Rafe’s first time falling in love and then falling apart is filled with angst and aching romance. The rekindling of their love and work they put in to both be happy and fulfilled, separately and together, is so fantastic. I especially love how Peckham is dedicated to her heroines being these radical, strong headed and willful women who also deserve to have these sweeping romances. They really can have it all and I love that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Scarlett Peckham is so excellent at writing couples. The set up of Cornelia and Rafe’s first time falling in love and then falling apart is filled with angst and aching romance. The rekindling of their love and work they put in to both be happy and fulfilled, separately and together, is so fantastic. I especially love how Peckham is dedicated to her heroines being these radical, strong headed and willful women who also deserve to have these sweeping romances. They really can have it all and I love that.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 1, 2023
Meh. This was basically two people who really want to have sex with each other BUT WE MUSTN’T, for reasons that are unclear. Then they start having sex with an agreement that they won’t get feelings for each other for reasons that are unclear. Then of course they DO get feelings, and she gets mad at him over this because I don’t know why. Mind you these people are ALREADY MARRIED and also are adults in their 40s. I did not enjoy this neurotic journey.
The first book in this series, The Rakess, was great so I will likely stick around for the next (final?) book because I know this author can do better than this.
The first book in this series, The Rakess, was great so I will likely stick around for the next (final?) book because I know this author can do better than this.
June 1, 2023
Everything I’ve read previously by this author has been very promising. I really liked them. This book.. doesn’t even seem like the same author.
Also, this isn’t historical fiction. Way too much liberty taken like so many others these days trying to rewrite history. By ignoring the past.. and all that. Anyways, if I wanted to listen to a contemporary romance, a book based in the 1700s wouldn’t be it. Just saying…
Also, the narrator was not good. Pretty bad actually. I really don’t understand the good reviews on this one.
Also, this isn’t historical fiction. Way too much liberty taken like so many others these days trying to rewrite history. By ignoring the past.. and all that. Anyways, if I wanted to listen to a contemporary romance, a book based in the 1700s wouldn’t be it. Just saying…
Also, the narrator was not good. Pretty bad actually. I really don’t understand the good reviews on this one.
August 30, 2022
I really tried to enjoy this book more. I struggled a lot with the characters, Rafe specifically. His character felt so immature. The 20 year gap was also really hard to believe.
I was really looking forward to this as I'm always up for an interracial historical romance. However, this one felt a bit flat.
Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I was really looking forward to this as I'm always up for an interracial historical romance. However, this one felt a bit flat.
Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
August 7, 2024
Okay I did end up going back and finishing this after reading book 3…but the reasoning for the third act breakup (both in the past and present) was more absurd than I could have imagined.
———————-
DNF at 66%
After breezily enjoying every book of Scarlett Peckham's that I've read before this one, I'm finding it impossible to get through this book. I've tried for almost a week and it feels like such a chore whenever I pick it up. Truthfully I hadn't heard great things, but since my hold for the new book in this series came through, I thought it was time to give it a go. I'm not really into reading books with this kind of soulless polyamory, or switching timelines, especially when the reason for their separation is withheld, or characters that haven't seemed to grow at all from when they were younger - and it's been 20 years! They are constantly talking about being rebels, but every issue or protest is so vague. Maybe if The Mistress Experience engages me, I'll give this another go, but I'll probably reread this review and remember why that was a bad idea.
———————-
DNF at 66%
After breezily enjoying every book of Scarlett Peckham's that I've read before this one, I'm finding it impossible to get through this book. I've tried for almost a week and it feels like such a chore whenever I pick it up. Truthfully I hadn't heard great things, but since my hold for the new book in this series came through, I thought it was time to give it a go. I'm not really into reading books with this kind of soulless polyamory, or switching timelines, especially when the reason for their separation is withheld, or characters that haven't seemed to grow at all from when they were younger - and it's been 20 years! They are constantly talking about being rebels, but every issue or protest is so vague. Maybe if The Mistress Experience engages me, I'll give this another go, but I'll probably reread this review and remember why that was a bad idea.
January 26, 2025
Married for convenience twenty years ago, Rafe and Cornelia are thrown back together when the potential for monetary, political, and personal triumph necessities their partnership. As they build their moment their memories of their three days together, before he ruined it all by being too in love, resurface.
The premise of this book, rebel leftists subverting the aristocracy during a scandalous house party, speaks to my soul. Peckham's obvious respect for the feminist movement is engrained in all her work and that's very clear in this book too. She also writes a killer sex scene.
Unfortunately the conflict just didn't suck me in. Lots of potential for danger and drama and very little realized. After reading The Rakess this story felt slow.
The premise of this book, rebel leftists subverting the aristocracy during a scandalous house party, speaks to my soul. Peckham's obvious respect for the feminist movement is engrained in all her work and that's very clear in this book too. She also writes a killer sex scene.
Unfortunately the conflict just didn't suck me in. Lots of potential for danger and drama and very little realized. After reading The Rakess this story felt slow.
May 27, 2023
I was a bit skeptical coming into the book, and the prose initially set me off (it's very much a me thing), because I was scared it would be another instance of "heroine is a 21st century woman for no reason at all and her love interest is the only man in England who thinks she deserves basic human rights, yay I guess". The reason why it frustrates me is that you *did* have radical women at the time - yes, they did have some ideas we see as dated today, but look, I may occasionally cringe at some things Mary Wollstonecraft has written but I'm a good little feminist and I know better than to dismiss the Mother of Modern Feminism.
It's not 100% accurate, obviously, but I can tell Scarlett Peckham did her research and I can see the various inspirations for her leading ladies - Seraphina is based on Mary Wollstonecraft but with a decidedly less shitty love interest (nah seriously we do not stan William Godwin here), Thaïs has a bit of Lady Hamilton, a bit of the Convent Garden Ladies, Elinor is Lady Worsley, and Cornelia has a bit of Dido Belle due to being biracial, and also a bit of the famous female portraitists of the 18th century (Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Adélaïde Labille-Girard, although those two were pretty closely linked with royalty and "proper" society).
And it's interesting to see them interact and how they want to advance women's rights, because I'll admit the book did make me think about Jane Austen's takes on society and the Fallen Woman (might finally write a Substack entry on that!), and simply the concept of independence vs. dependence, but specifically the type of dependence that entails responsibility. Which is a theme the book plays with, but I wish it was better... handled.
The whole thing is that Cornelia is scared of commitment - which given her past and childhood trauma, kind of makes sense... until it doesn't. Her gripes with the MMC (Rafe) are as follows - she spends 20 years thinking he's a Tory (oh yeah, and it's never clear what they actually do that's so terrible, not that I doubt that they suck but you'd think you'd hear more about that), but she finds out pretty quickly in the story that he was a double agent all along and a ringleader in the radical cause. Second, she goes on about how he "betrayed" her 30 years ago, and you're expecting something kind of shitty until you find out that he wanted a marriage in truth instead of a marriage of convenience, and that's what made her run away. Which was clumsy and misguided of him, but I'm not sure it really justifies how harsh she is about him. (There's also the fact that she was 18 at the time and he was 34-35, which could definitely be icky but I'm willing to give it a pass given the time period. That being said, I get she had a previous relationship with an art tutor but she felt way too worldly for an 18-year-old who was otherwise pretty sheletered. Aging her up and giving her more life experience wouldn't have hurt.) She also views marriage as harmful in terms of women's rights, which from a legal perspective is definitely true in Georgian England, but there's really no reason for her to think that Rafe is going to force her to play house and spend the day doing... embroidery (LE GASP). It's a lot of things they could have easily resolved with a simple conversation at 50% of the book, because the only thing I can fault Rafe for is him forgetting about how she does not like PDA (and even then, he immediately apologizes when he forgets). But Cornelia is basically the Queen of Mixed Signals so sometimes, it gets really hard to blame him.
(No, seriously, Cornelia, you present your self-portrait at the Masquerade ball WEARING A WEDDING RING PROEMINENTLY, and you're not going to make me believe that you, a proto-feminist and an artist, do not understand what a wedding ring means, and why representing yourself wearing one is important. That's the textbook definition of sending mixed signals. There's also the fact that Cornelia is the world's fastest painter because she paints her self-portrait and Rafe's portrait in less than a week but I digress.)
So yeah, the summary of it is that Cornelia has a Negative Motivation throughout the book, which is frustrating given she realizes herself that her remaining married to Rafe and being a duchess makes all of her projects A LOT EASIER to accomplish. But she doesn't because... something something freedom, and she's somehow convinced that being love equates losing your freedom (even if Serafina is right there and an example to the contrary, but I digress). It ends up with Rafe looking like a kicked puppy more often than not, but her pushing him away constantly, constantly misinterpreting him for no valid reason and being way too harsh about his intentions is okay I guess because he always comes back and there are zero consequences for her for doing this. And it's fine at first, but it gets very tiring when you're at the 80% mark.
So as a consequence, when Sera finally gives her a pep talk (and she was honestly way too nice about it), Cornelia basically does a complete 180 degree turn that had my head spinning (and not in a good way), she does a grand gesture IN PARLIAMENT (when one of her big stinks in regard to her relationship with Rafe was her not liking PDA) and everything is resolved. And on one hand, these are two people who are clearly very compatible with each other, but on the other, they resolve it very neatly very quickly and while they promise to be honest with each other, I still think it's going to be a very volatile relationship, mostly due to Cornelia.
And this is ultimately going to be very subjective because I'm a white person and I probably shouldn't be making a judgement about this, but I could kind of tell that this was a white author writing a BIPOC heroine, because the heroine talking about her experiences as a black woman didn't feel very... tangible. This isn't to throw stones at Peckham because I do think the attempt here was genuine and she mentions her own limits herself in a foreword, but pick up a historical romance by Beverly Jenkins, Alyssa Cole or Adriana Herrera and you'll get what I mean right away.
But I think that's ultimately a problem all the characters kind of have, because their inner lives aren't as well-developed as they could be (mind you, I haven't read The Rakess yet so I don't know if that also stands there). And I'll admit I'm curious to see what Peckham will be going for with Thaïs, but 90% of her dialogue being lewd jokes became old pretty quickly (and no, her being a man would not have made her more enjoyable - I would be even less charitable), so we'll see how she'll develop as a character.
It's not 100% accurate, obviously, but I can tell Scarlett Peckham did her research and I can see the various inspirations for her leading ladies - Seraphina is based on Mary Wollstonecraft but with a decidedly less shitty love interest (nah seriously we do not stan William Godwin here), Thaïs has a bit of Lady Hamilton, a bit of the Convent Garden Ladies, Elinor is Lady Worsley, and Cornelia has a bit of Dido Belle due to being biracial, and also a bit of the famous female portraitists of the 18th century (Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Adélaïde Labille-Girard, although those two were pretty closely linked with royalty and "proper" society).
And it's interesting to see them interact and how they want to advance women's rights, because I'll admit the book did make me think about Jane Austen's takes on society and the Fallen Woman (might finally write a Substack entry on that!), and simply the concept of independence vs. dependence, but specifically the type of dependence that entails responsibility. Which is a theme the book plays with, but I wish it was better... handled.
The whole thing is that Cornelia is scared of commitment - which given her past and childhood trauma, kind of makes sense... until it doesn't. Her gripes with the MMC (Rafe) are as follows - she spends 20 years thinking he's a Tory (oh yeah, and it's never clear what they actually do that's so terrible, not that I doubt that they suck but you'd think you'd hear more about that), but she finds out pretty quickly in the story that he was a double agent all along and a ringleader in the radical cause. Second, she goes on about how he "betrayed" her 30 years ago, and you're expecting something kind of shitty until you find out that he wanted a marriage in truth instead of a marriage of convenience, and that's what made her run away. Which was clumsy and misguided of him, but I'm not sure it really justifies how harsh she is about him. (There's also the fact that she was 18 at the time and he was 34-35, which could definitely be icky but I'm willing to give it a pass given the time period. That being said, I get she had a previous relationship with an art tutor but she felt way too worldly for an 18-year-old who was otherwise pretty sheletered. Aging her up and giving her more life experience wouldn't have hurt.) She also views marriage as harmful in terms of women's rights, which from a legal perspective is definitely true in Georgian England, but there's really no reason for her to think that Rafe is going to force her to play house and spend the day doing... embroidery (LE GASP). It's a lot of things they could have easily resolved with a simple conversation at 50% of the book, because the only thing I can fault Rafe for is him forgetting about how she does not like PDA (and even then, he immediately apologizes when he forgets). But Cornelia is basically the Queen of Mixed Signals so sometimes, it gets really hard to blame him.
(No, seriously, Cornelia, you present your self-portrait at the Masquerade ball WEARING A WEDDING RING PROEMINENTLY, and you're not going to make me believe that you, a proto-feminist and an artist, do not understand what a wedding ring means, and why representing yourself wearing one is important. That's the textbook definition of sending mixed signals. There's also the fact that Cornelia is the world's fastest painter because she paints her self-portrait and Rafe's portrait in less than a week but I digress.)
So yeah, the summary of it is that Cornelia has a Negative Motivation throughout the book, which is frustrating given she realizes herself that her remaining married to Rafe and being a duchess makes all of her projects A LOT EASIER to accomplish. But she doesn't because... something something freedom, and she's somehow convinced that being love equates losing your freedom (even if Serafina is right there and an example to the contrary, but I digress). It ends up with Rafe looking like a kicked puppy more often than not, but her pushing him away constantly, constantly misinterpreting him for no valid reason and being way too harsh about his intentions is okay I guess because he always comes back and there are zero consequences for her for doing this. And it's fine at first, but it gets very tiring when you're at the 80% mark.
So as a consequence, when Sera finally gives her a pep talk (and she was honestly way too nice about it), Cornelia basically does a complete 180 degree turn that had my head spinning (and not in a good way), she does a grand gesture IN PARLIAMENT (when one of her big stinks in regard to her relationship with Rafe was her not liking PDA) and everything is resolved. And on one hand, these are two people who are clearly very compatible with each other, but on the other, they resolve it very neatly very quickly and while they promise to be honest with each other, I still think it's going to be a very volatile relationship, mostly due to Cornelia.
And this is ultimately going to be very subjective because I'm a white person and I probably shouldn't be making a judgement about this, but I could kind of tell that this was a white author writing a BIPOC heroine, because the heroine talking about her experiences as a black woman didn't feel very... tangible. This isn't to throw stones at Peckham because I do think the attempt here was genuine and she mentions her own limits herself in a foreword, but pick up a historical romance by Beverly Jenkins, Alyssa Cole or Adriana Herrera and you'll get what I mean right away.
But I think that's ultimately a problem all the characters kind of have, because their inner lives aren't as well-developed as they could be (mind you, I haven't read The Rakess yet so I don't know if that also stands there). And I'll admit I'm curious to see what Peckham will be going for with Thaïs, but 90% of her dialogue being lewd jokes became old pretty quickly (and no, her being a man would not have made her more enjoyable - I would be even less charitable), so we'll see how she'll develop as a character.
February 2, 2023
I enjoyed this, but it was imperfect. Cornelia frustrated me at times, but I also saw a lot of myself in her, so maybe that’s why. The author essentially acknowledges before the book that as a white woman, she is never going to fully understand some of the nuance behind Cornelia’s character. On one hand, great. (White) writers are moving to make their books more representative and it feels like the lazy (and sort of racist?) way out to exclude writing the book for diverse best friends they’ve written into their novels. I’m glad Cornelia did get her on page love story. On the other, yes, the nuance is likely lacking.
I loved that Rafe (early 50s) and Cornelia (late 30s) are older romantic leads. I didn’t particularly love that this was a second chance romance, with the two initially meeting when Cornelia was a teen and falling in love when she was 18 and he was 34. I don’t necessarily hate age gaps in historical romance especially, but adding on the fact that they met when Cornelia was 16 and that she’s a Black woman and he’s a white man makes things feel a little iffier to me. Nonetheless, I loved so much about this read, namely that Rafe is bi/pan and our couple is poly. (The first on page love scene is a threesome and they have their committed poly happily ever after.) Side characters felt like caricatures at times but interested me nonetheless. I would read more by this author. I stand with HarperCollins workers.
I loved that Rafe (early 50s) and Cornelia (late 30s) are older romantic leads. I didn’t particularly love that this was a second chance romance, with the two initially meeting when Cornelia was a teen and falling in love when she was 18 and he was 34. I don’t necessarily hate age gaps in historical romance especially, but adding on the fact that they met when Cornelia was 16 and that she’s a Black woman and he’s a white man makes things feel a little iffier to me. Nonetheless, I loved so much about this read, namely that Rafe is bi/pan and our couple is poly. (The first on page love scene is a threesome and they have their committed poly happily ever after.) Side characters felt like caricatures at times but interested me nonetheless. I would read more by this author. I stand with HarperCollins workers.
September 30, 2022
Perfect for romance fans who want to read about older heroines getting a second chance at love with the one that got away.
I really liked Cornelia’s stubborn nature and preoccupation with appearing in control at all times. Watching her walls break down during the course of this book and watching her finally accept the love that’s been given to her in spite of any faults imagined or otherwise was a beautiful.
I also loved the found family vibe brought by her ladies in radicalism, Thaïs and Elinor.
I was tickled in parts and delighted in others and greatly moved by the story of women seeking equality in a time when we were merely thought of as broodmares.
Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to review this eARC.
I really liked Cornelia’s stubborn nature and preoccupation with appearing in control at all times. Watching her walls break down during the course of this book and watching her finally accept the love that’s been given to her in spite of any faults imagined or otherwise was a beautiful.
I also loved the found family vibe brought by her ladies in radicalism, Thaïs and Elinor.
I was tickled in parts and delighted in others and greatly moved by the story of women seeking equality in a time when we were merely thought of as broodmares.
Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to review this eARC.
July 6, 2024
I feel like this started strong (or at least with potential) and then... nothing came of that possibility?
November 2, 2024
Bisexual socialist wish fulfillment. I wish every book was like this.
May 11, 2025
This book was good. Not a new favorite for me, but I enjoyed dipping my toe back into some historical romance here. Loved the surprise Poly scene in the middle, as it was unexpected for me.
March 24, 2023
The most charitable reading of The Portrait of a Duchess is that it is playing with tropes (strongest sign: the hero's surname is Goodwood - right?). I'm trying to lean into that reading - but even so, the book lacks heft in a number of areas. The characters' inner lives are minimal (the heroine is an artist, the hero is a horse breeder, they both have "important" political causes - none of this seems more than window dressing, though! Did the hero have parents? Who knows!) and the book constantly restates its premise. I expect a book about a mixed-race aristocrat who fears commitment and is friends with "not Mary Wollstonecraft" would be worth reading, in general. But this one isn't it.
I think the point is supposed to be that Cornelia's bad family life has made her accept a masculinized idea of freedom, including sexual freedom? And so Rafe's over-willingness to commit, albeit polyamorously, is meant as a kind of play on the traditional gender roles? But the book doesn't do the work on this front, frankly. It suggests Cornelia's life is kind of idyllic, that someone asking her to commit is a violation - and just ASKING her, by the way! As soon as she says "no," he says, "okay, I respect that boundary and am sorry I made you feel bad." But it's okay, actually, for two people in a relationship to request things from each other, even if they have different needs. The notion of reciprocity barely enters into things until the end, even though you would thing that reciprocity is . . .idk . . . a necessary condition for a relationship? in a romance novel?? and perhaps a purportedly feminist romance novel would like to spend some serious time with ideas of commitment, care, and reciprocity in non-ideal contexts???
Also, lots of romance novel heroines are wary of monogamy and marriage, so we have had time to pin down some better critiques of both institutions than are on offer here.
As for the intersectional feminist bona fides. It's so 2021. The characters all speak in wellness language. It's like they've all been to therapy - but, in fact, they have spent no time at all processing their experiences in any kind of collaborative or accountable way. Also, by "therapy" I mean Canva slideshows on Instagram (I do not miss that time.) Maybe that is someone's fantasy? Shortcuts do have many appealing qualities! But this is """empathy""" by way of HR, not real appreciation of difference. This book would not understand this joke.
Plus, the prose is boring.
The two stars are for the charitable reading I had to invent, I guess, and also some background schmesbians.
I think the point is supposed to be that Cornelia's bad family life has made her accept a masculinized idea of freedom, including sexual freedom? And so Rafe's over-willingness to commit, albeit polyamorously, is meant as a kind of play on the traditional gender roles? But the book doesn't do the work on this front, frankly. It suggests Cornelia's life is kind of idyllic, that someone asking her to commit is a violation - and just ASKING her, by the way! As soon as she says "no," he says, "okay, I respect that boundary and am sorry I made you feel bad." But it's okay, actually, for two people in a relationship to request things from each other, even if they have different needs. The notion of reciprocity barely enters into things until the end, even though you would thing that reciprocity is . . .idk . . . a necessary condition for a relationship? in a romance novel?? and perhaps a purportedly feminist romance novel would like to spend some serious time with ideas of commitment, care, and reciprocity in non-ideal contexts???
Also, lots of romance novel heroines are wary of monogamy and marriage, so we have had time to pin down some better critiques of both institutions than are on offer here.
As for the intersectional feminist bona fides. It's so 2021. The characters all speak in wellness language. It's like they've all been to therapy - but, in fact, they have spent no time at all processing their experiences in any kind of collaborative or accountable way. Also, by "therapy" I mean Canva slideshows on Instagram (I do not miss that time.) Maybe that is someone's fantasy? Shortcuts do have many appealing qualities! But this is """empathy""" by way of HR, not real appreciation of difference. This book would not understand this joke.
Plus, the prose is boring.
The two stars are for the charitable reading I had to invent, I guess, and also some background schmesbians.
September 20, 2022
When Cornelia Ludgate and Rafe Goodwood reunite 20 years after their secret marriage, much has changed. Cornelia is a painter famous for her radical ideas of rights for women and Rafe has become a duke through a series of unfortunate deaths. Rafe's seemingly changed political beliefs that go against everything Cornelia believes keeps a wedge firmly between the two.
When Rafe learns of an inheritance for Cornelia of 5,000 pounds from her now deceased uncle, he endeavors to show her the truth behind his facade and how he desires to change the dukedom that her uncle possessed into something that fits both of their beliefs.
I absolutely adored The Rakess (the first book in this series) and have been avidly waiting for the next book and here it is!
I love Rafe, that sweet bisexual hero. He is intense in his feelings, especially when it comes to Cordelia. He wants to be allowed to love her and be loved by her that he acts impulsively. And of course, in true romance fashion - Cordelia wants nothing to do with love and displaying affection in public. She strives so hard to keep herself untethered from men that she threatens her own chance at happiness. At a certain point I was a little annoyed with Cordelia - she was expecting Rafe to completely change his personality to fit her needs but wasn't willing to make the same concessions for his needs. As always, everything works itself out for the HEA.
I will always want that Feminist, Women's Rights plot line wrapped up in a steamy, sexy romance. I have little care for historical accuracy so this is not the review for you if that's what you're looking for. But just another great book from Scarlett!
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When Rafe learns of an inheritance for Cornelia of 5,000 pounds from her now deceased uncle, he endeavors to show her the truth behind his facade and how he desires to change the dukedom that her uncle possessed into something that fits both of their beliefs.
I absolutely adored The Rakess (the first book in this series) and have been avidly waiting for the next book and here it is!
I love Rafe, that sweet bisexual hero. He is intense in his feelings, especially when it comes to Cordelia. He wants to be allowed to love her and be loved by her that he acts impulsively. And of course, in true romance fashion - Cordelia wants nothing to do with love and displaying affection in public. She strives so hard to keep herself untethered from men that she threatens her own chance at happiness. At a certain point I was a little annoyed with Cordelia - she was expecting Rafe to completely change his personality to fit her needs but wasn't willing to make the same concessions for his needs. As always, everything works itself out for the HEA.
I will always want that Feminist, Women's Rights plot line wrapped up in a steamy, sexy romance. I have little care for historical accuracy so this is not the review for you if that's what you're looking for. But just another great book from Scarlett!
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 17, 2023
I am a huge fan of this author's writing style/voice, and have enjoyed several of her books so far, but I really struggled with this one. It has bullet points I enjoy: age gap, marriage of convenience, s3x-positivity in historical setting, and I was looking forward to the way this author tends to make those kinds of tropes her own.
I do think she did that again here, but it just took me so long to read - I could not engage with the story or the characters' romance at all. I honestly didn't feel any chemistry, heat or emotion between the two leads, and the steamy scenes were good on their own (one MMF one in particular), but not great, and so few and far between I forgot it was supposed to be a steamy historical romance. I was more interested in Lord Eden, a tertiary character, than either of the leads or secondary characters, and he barely made an appearance.
I was kind of taken aback by how long this book was with almost nothing specific happening in it. There were a few different plot threads that were all relatively minor for how much happened with them, and yet somehow they were stretched into a shockingly long and for lack of a better descriptor, almost boring story.
Despite all of these negatives, I have to reiterate I DO enjoy this author's voice and I AM into the core group of heroines for the series and their fight for equality, so I do plan to read the next book when it comes out.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC.
I do think she did that again here, but it just took me so long to read - I could not engage with the story or the characters' romance at all. I honestly didn't feel any chemistry, heat or emotion between the two leads, and the steamy scenes were good on their own (one MMF one in particular), but not great, and so few and far between I forgot it was supposed to be a steamy historical romance. I was more interested in Lord Eden, a tertiary character, than either of the leads or secondary characters, and he barely made an appearance.
I was kind of taken aback by how long this book was with almost nothing specific happening in it. There were a few different plot threads that were all relatively minor for how much happened with them, and yet somehow they were stretched into a shockingly long and for lack of a better descriptor, almost boring story.
Despite all of these negatives, I have to reiterate I DO enjoy this author's voice and I AM into the core group of heroines for the series and their fight for equality, so I do plan to read the next book when it comes out.
Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC.
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