I appreciate the authors take on the rake trope, and her gender-switching of said trope. It’s an excellent expression of the #metoo movement in the Georgian/Regency era. The heroine is unapologetic about her sexual appetite and alcohol consumption. As with the traditional male rake character, her “outlandish” choices may be an attempt to fill an emotional void left by a previous hurt. I read this book much more quickly than I anticipated, and liked it more than I expected.

What I did not care for was some of the vocabulary choices during the sex scenes. It felt like the author was being crass just to make a statement. Or perhaps that women should reclaim the power of a word or two. To me it was unnecessary, and momentarily took me out of the scene. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Meet the SOCIETY OF SIRENS—three radical, libertine ladies determined to weaponize their scandalous reputations to fight for justice and the love they deserve… 

She's a Rakess on a quest for women's rights… 

Seraphina Arden's passions include equality, amorous affairs, and wild, wine-soaked nights. To raise funds for her cause, she's set to publish explosive memoirs exposing the powerful man who ruined her. Her ideals are her purpose, her friends are her family, and her paramours are forbidden to linger in the morning. 

He's not looking for a summer lover… 

Adam Anderson is a wholesome, handsome, widowed Scottish architect, with two young children, a business to protect, and an aversion to scandal. He could never, ever afford to fall for Seraphina. But her indecent proposal—one month, no strings, no future—proves too tempting for a man who strains to keep his passions buried with the losses of his past. 

But one night changes everything... 

What began as a fling soon forces them to confront painful secrets—and yearnings they thought they'd never have again. But when Seraphina discovers Adam's future depends on the man she's about to destroy, she must decide what to protect…her desire for justice, or her heart.

Reviewers Shannon Dyer and Em Wittmann read The Rakess, the first book in Scarlett Peckham's new Society of Sirens series, and got together to share their thoughts on the novel.

Em:  I confess - I liked this better than I thought I would!  I still don’t like the title, and since I think the author struggles with her characterization of Seraphina (which we’ll talk about), I’m not sure it’s appropriate.  But overall, I found it thoughtful and compelling - and sometimes quite sexy, and I liked a lot of things about it.  What did you think Shannon?

Shannon: It was definitely sexy! The beginning chapters were a little slow for me, but once the story picked up speed, I was pretty hooked.

Em: Alright, let’s talk about the set-up of the story (and why I’m giving it a B grade).  A teenage Seraphina was ruined by a man she deeply loved and trusted.  She managed to make a success of her life anyway, and she’s become a lightning rod for her published opinions about women’s rights in and out of the bedroom.  She enjoys casual sex, and doesn’t mind if the whole wide world knows it.  With the support of her patron and friend, Lady Elinor Bell, and publisher Jack Willow, she and her fellow fallen, ruined women friends, Cornelia and Thaïs, hope to build a philanthropic institute that will work for the advancement and education of the female sex. Together, these women are – you guessed it, The Society of Sirens.

Although I wasn't feeling the girl power vibe at the beginning of the story, I’m glad I persevered.  I ended up liking these women and their love for each other, even if I wasn’t buying their ‘casual sex is the best sex,’ rallying call.  And that segues nicely into a discussion about my thoughts about our heroine.  Look, Shannon, I have no problems with a lusty lady who likes sex.  It’s a bit strange to find her in a Regency, but since the blurb says her passions include equality, amorous affairs, and wild, wine-soaked nights, I knew what to expect.  Unfortunately, mid-way through the book, our heroine is sober and we get this gem:

All at once she felt afraid. His delectation in their intimacy was too much. This was all too fast. She could not remember the last time she’d been with a man without the haze of wine, and she felt her nakedness, she felt his focus, she felt all the ways that she might wrong him, and she wanted to cover up.

Which, I felt, gave the lie to her casual approach to sex.  If she’s always hazy with wine, is it all really so easy, breezy casual?  Honestly, if we’re likening her to a rake, I don’t think alcohol has anything to do with their sexual appetite.  Sex is sex.  Peckham attempts to characterize Seraphina as a sexually liberated and experienced heroine who likes both giving and receiving pleasure (I’m all for this) with a parade of casual lovers, but it felt more like a role she was playing rather than her true self.  She can be sexually liberated and still not be into casual sex – can't she?  Did you feel this way?

Shannon: I see your point, but my interpretation is slightly different from yours. I saw her as someone who wears her supposed liberation like a suit of armor, putting it on when she needs to feel powerful and free, but wishing she didn't need to wear it quite so often. I don't necessarily think she was lying as much as she was trying to convince herself of her own happiness. She pours her heart and soul into fighting for the rights of women without giving a ton of thought to her own deepest desires. When she and Adam meet, all that begins to change, and Seraphina isn't sure she can deal with the changes. After all, she's being forced to examine parts of herself she's ignored for years.

Let's talk about Adam now. Some readers might find him a touch on the boring side, but I fell in love with him right away. I enjoyed watching him take a more passive role in his dealings with Seraphina. He isn't exactly submissive, but neither is he the one constantly in charge, and I found it to be a refreshing change. His love for his sister and his two young children is plain to see, and I found myself wanting all of his dreams to come true almost right away. I was also quite intrigued by his relationship with his own sexuality. He wasn't the kind of brash, cocksure hero I encounter so often in today's historical romances. He likes sex, but it also has some painful associations for him. I'm usually a reader who identifies more with the heroine, so I'm a little surprised by the strength of my feelings for Adam. How did you feel about him?

Em: I liked him, too.  I was surprised by him.  On the surface, he’s a dutiful father and brother who tries to do the best for the people he loves.  He works hard, and still suffers the loss of his wife.  But he also has such a naughty side, and it’s lovely that with Seraphina he can be both.  Good, kind, and gentle, but playful and slightly wicked and lecherous, too!  She helps coax out his truest self, and he does the same for her.  He doesn’t tolerate games - of which Seraphina has become something of a master - and calls her out even though it hurts him to do so.  (She does the same for him, by the way.) He’s an excellent match for her.

Shannon: I completely agree. These two complement each other very well. Things between them aren't always easy and fun, but their deep affection for one another shines through in spite of the difficulties they sometimes had in relating to one another.

Em: I mentioned earlier that I liked the friendship between the women, but I have to confess, I don’t think the secondary characters are as successfully realized as Seraphina and Adam.  The glib references to smelling sex on Seraphina and loving it (wink, wink); the easy, breezy asylum break out; the awareness that Seraphina might have a problem with alcohol - but minimal attempt to curb their own behaviors in the face of it, and Lady Bell’s relationship with her husband and Willow... The lack of nuance to their shared struggle for agency is a bit clunky.   I don’t know that they added much value to this story, aside from illustrating the many facets of the problem.  And sometimes it just felt like the author couldn’t resist gilding the lily.  Even Adam’s sister feels like she’s a check mark on some pre-planned list of people Peckham wanted to include.  What did you think?

Shannon: It's interesting that you bring that up since I had similar thoughts. Their friendship felt more like a concept to me than a fully-realized relationship based on mutual caring. Cornelia and Thais exist to serve a purpose, and this negatively impacted my ability to like and trust them. Hopefully, we'll learn more about them as the series progresses because they did feel rather two-dimensional. Perhaps some fleshing out of their histories will make them feel more authentic, but for now, I wasn't as impressed by them as I wanted to be. The whole scene at the asylum felt more than a little implausible, due in large part to their shoddy planning and the lack of real obstacles they encountered. The author's idea was great, but the execution didn't work nearly as well.

Do you plan to read the next installment in this series when it comes out? I enjoyed The Rakess enough to want to give the next book a try, and I’m giving it a B+. Peckham is an engaging storyteller, and I'm eager to see where she takes this series.

Em: You mentioned you hadn’t read Peckham before.  I loved her first book (The Duke I Tempted), but was so disappointed with the second - and the authors’ abandonment of the darker themes that made the first one so compelling (and perhaps divided her readers), that I didn’t even read her last book.  Honestly, I’m worried about history repeating itself here.  I hope she commits to this potentially divisive story line in the future stories.  I have my doubts, but I’m definitely here for the next one.

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Seraphina Arden is an author, a ruined woman, and a notorious scandal. Adam Anderson is a widower and single father with architectural ambitions that require a path on the morally straight and narrow. When his path detours into that of Seraphina’s, the two become lovers. When Adam wants more than sex, Seraphina must either discard her lover like the many who have come before him or re-evalute the ways of a Rakess.

I liked the premise behind The Rakess, a gender-switching of the notorious rake or duke who leaves his salacious past behind in favor of true love. Yet I had a hard time liking Seraphina, who valued men only as bedsport before coldly discarding them. We’re told by secondary characters that she is a brilliant author who battles for women’s justice, but we don’t necessarily see it on the page. I think if we had, it might have encouraged more active empathy for her character, rather than relying on a painful past and a problematic addiction to do so. As it is, I wasn’t sure why the hero kept crawling back to her after her repeatedly cruel treatment of him.

The author is obviously passionate about the subject matter and the trials of women in this period. It was encouraging to see Seraphina eventually find a balance that embraced love while upholding her values. I just wish she hadn’t needed to revel in acting so coldly insensitive while doing so.

Wow. I only just discovered Scarlet Peckham and her other series blew me away. This first book in her next series was awesome as well. She blends feminist ideas well and realistically into her books, so that it doesn’t seem like a modern story set unrealistically in an historical setting. Her style reminds mea little bit of Christine Milan, in her ability to write realistic feminist historical romance, though Peckham doesn’t quite hit Milan’s skill (yet). I enjoy this author, though I did not especially like either of the main characters in this book the female was sympathetic and interesting but not like able. Which is fine! I prefer well drawn characters even if they are not like able. At least she was not insipid or “too stupid to live” or pointlessly obstinate like so many historical romance heroines tend to be. The male was kind and a good strong beta hero, though I didn’t find him that interesting. I’m not sure there was much about him for the heroine to love other than that he didn’t believe women were inferior to men,which, admittedly, would have been unusual for the time though I’m not sure it’s enough of a reason by itself to fall in love with someone. But the book is well written, characters are well drawn mostly, anduts not simply a repeat of a historical romance that we’ve all r
Already read a hundred times. It was a breathe of fresh air.

Safety warnings attached at end.

Wow this book has been totally different than anything I've read...ever. This is my first Scarlett Peckham and I will be trying her again for sure. I think she's a great writer. Explicit sex, language, borderline offensive in some parts, just the rawness of real life people – the wonderful parts, the loving parts, and sometimes the true ugliness we can show. This was not an easy read. It's not light and fluffy. It's heavy. It's emotional. It's filled with angst and heart break. Parts were wonderful. Parts were horrible. It's definitely a memorable story.

So many stories about the rake. Oh he's so handsome with his flirtations, his sexual conquests, his ability to walk away from those nights emotionally unscathed. But, there is another side to these stories sometimes. The woman that is ruined. The woman who has no options in life anymore except what she scrape by with from the generosity of others. The woman who people run to other side of the street to get away from, laugh at, yell slurs to, threaten...the woman who is utterly broken by the choice made by two people yet only she is held accountable. This story is about such a girl, Seraphina.

I loved and hated Sera. When she was honest about her feelings she was beautiful. Her memoirs broke my heart and were by far my favorite part of this story. So strong. Unflappable in the face of the cruelty of society. I cannot help but admire her. But her full recovery is far from complete. And while she is learning how to heal from all of her past hurts, she can be rather ugly. It's all completely understandable. I do not blame her for her choices even though I do not like them. But that's the draw of this story, its powerful realness. She's a radical, a woman's rights acitvist, fighting to give her sex the tiniest bit of freedom and rights. It definitely made me feel the inequality in this story. It made me fear living in this time as a woman. It brought life to those movements in a way I haven't read before.

Adam is the hero. Born a bastard, a widower with 2 children. He works with his in laws in an architect firm when his true passion is art. I liked Adam, but Sera's story so overshadowed him and their relationship, my feelings could only grow to lukewarm. I loved that he had truly loved his wife. So many books have to make something wrong with the previous spouse, like it always must be a once in a lifetime love and I just don't think that's true. While I prefer first love stories instead of second chance, I believe in loving multiple people and it was refreshing seeing someone recovering from that pain and moving forward. Enough time was spent on his feelings that it was acknowledged and gave him depth but it didn't overshadow Sera and Adam's relationship.

This book is probably a bit more just the story of Sera. Her life. Her choices. Her recovery. Her healing. The relationship of Adam and Sera to me got a bit lost in it all. Took the back seat of the plot of the book. And this might work for some people but it made me like the book a bit less than otherwise probably. There's a lot of sex in the book and it's NAUGHTY. The words...they are all used. So ye who offend easily begone. But the sex happened so fast to me and I kept waiting for more relationship, more friendship, more connection but it was soooo slow going. It made me care about the sex less. I also wish I had more time in Adam's head (from the book in general), or more feelings from the sex. Very explicit, mostly hot, but almost mechanical in some scenes. So all these things, couple with quite a few spots of boredom in the story (I felt like the non sex scenes with the hero and heroine were a very small part of the book) lead me to 3.5 stars.

Safety warnings (avoid if you don't want slight spoilers)
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alcoholism, animal abuse, child bearing death, miscarriage

I received a digital ARC from NetGalley.

I didn't put 2+2 together in that Scarlett is also the author of the "Secrets of Charlotte Street" series, which I also enjoyed. I loved the concept of the Rake turned on its head, but of course, the results are not the same for women as it is for men, something that the Rakess, Seraphina Arden, points out in her philosophical writings, again and again. And so here the concept is not just a simple gender swap; the Moody Nobleman (and the Rake almost always has a noble title) may have a tortuous backstory, but enjoys the freedom that the patriarchy--as well as the genteel nobility--affords him. He may have brought his troubles on himself, but is still catered to--a steady income, servants, even social invitations--when not suffering from society's overall benign neglect.

The Rakess, however, enjoys no such thing--including no noble title (which she probably could've lost, anyway), nor the possibility any noble suitors for redemption (and she wouldn't want that either). Rakes are to be avoided, because of "ruined" women in his wake; the Rakess is to be chased down, harassed, even burned in effigy, even though double standards doesn't allow the concept of Seraphina leaving "ruined men" behind her. (Maybe in reputation, as Adam is continually warned; and yet, we know he'll survive no matter how the story plays out.)

And so it is with that context that pacing and dynamics make sense: an upright widower (but with quite the bit of a naughty streak) tempted in his loneliness by a striking woman who nevertheless uses casual sex and alcohol as a shield. It's slightly amusing to watch Adam Anderson struggle with the thought that she's using him, but nevertheless sees something in her that takes him above simply being a glutton for punishment. They are mature adults who believe arrangements can be made; just Adam knows how to push back when Seraphina is cruel, or sending mixed messages. Seraphina's tortured existence covered up by bravado and pursuit of vices is not the stereotype it would be if she were male. It is the natural reaction of a woman of intellect who was made a fool of, and decides to rail against it, rather than be shamed (although one can see that deep down, she still is), and forced into prescripted exile with any sod who'll have her in an attempt to "repair" her reputation.

There are additional cliches that I appreciated were avoided, but to reveal them would spoil the plot. I'm very looking forward to the rest of the series.

The Rakess - Scarlett Peckham
April 28th https://www.amazon.com/Rakess-Society-Sirens-1-ebook/dp/B07VQ84RY8

A wonderful trope reversal with an alpha heroine who’s also a feminist, philanthropist, liberal, and a Rakess, who despite her fighting the notion at every turn, falls for a widowed father and architect.

The storyline is fascinating, the writing lush, the drama is real and relatable, the support cast is intriguing, and the setting of Cornwall and London a beautiful mix of locations.
The love scenes are hot, creative, and descriptive.

I got a real understanding of the injustices women had to endure in 18th century England, while also struggling with the limits of knowledge and science back then, especially around conception and child birth.

Unfortunately, a lot of things the heroine, and women she fights for, have to deal with then are still very prevalent now, and I cannot keep but wondering which of the many public occasions, especially in the US, in the past few years have influenced certain scenes in the book:
- a woman calmly explaining facts with a crowd of angry man shouting at her that she’s the crazy one
- a woman and man having sex. She’s the one being shamed while he goes on to be in a position of power.

This is an excellent read and I highly recommend it. Already, I can’t wait for the second book in this series.

Please note, that I’d assign this book a content warning #cw for child loss and public bullying/ harassment.

P.S. I was positively surprised by one of the last sections in the book: Readers Guide. It includes questions for self-reflection or discussions in book clubs. While I’ve seen this type of area in other fiction books before, I hadn’t come across it in romance yet. I’d love to see Readers Guides become the norm in romances.

P.P.S. I’ve received a copy of this book before the publishing date. Please know that the opinion in this review are based on my own personal views.

I really liked how this story was so different from other Georgian era romances. This book really goes into the double standards between women and men during this time; how men were able be scot-free with sexual encounters and not be shunned, while women were basically treated like they carried a horrible disease and it would spread like wild fire and corrupt all of society.
Following Seraphina's character development through out this book and how she faces her past is very eye opening and so were Adam's own personal struggles as well.
If you want a more diverse historical England set romance, then I really recommend this one.

I loved this book. Readers should be cautioned that this is NOT a typical romance novel, and Seraphina is not a typical, female hero. In Part One of the book, she is unlikable—an alcoholic who uses drinking and sex to numb her pain. But Part Two fully develops Sera and helps readers more fully understand her pain and her heroism. Adam is an appealing male lead, but Sera is the hero of this story, and I loved it.

I was given an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Rakess begins with a compelling foreward by the author about historical romance novels and the prominent role of the classic rake in so many of them. Honestly, this was almost worth the novel itself, as Ms. Peckham appeared to have this down cold, and I settled in to see this convention turned on its head with a gender switch--writer Seraphina Arden would be a "rakess" and the too-good-to-be-true hero architect Adam Anderson functioning as the catalyst to the story. Seraphina is temporarily staying at her old family home, a home she was thrown out of when young after being a classic romance novel archetype--seduced by a faithless lover of higher "quality." She has the aim, with her friends, a "society of sirens," to build a grand learning institution for women, which will require a significant amount of capital, so she is here to masochistically dredge up the past by writing of her seduction and how she become one of the country's most notorious women, in order to raise funds. Adam is leading a nearby construction project, along with his two children and sister, hoping to build connections that would improve his position.

But...

Seraphina did not transcend the genre, to my great, grave disappointment as Ms. Peckham is an excellent writer. She is not even a classic "rakess:" A rakess would be someone who either did not give a damn about her past behavior, would have a powerful charisma, and be uninterested in change; or she would have committed some unforgivable crime (at least in her mind), and would embark on a self-destructive or self-limited course, certain that's what she deserved (see Helena from Mary Balogh's A Christmas Bride for a character that's more of a rakess). Instead Seraphina is simply a fallen woman: angry, bitter, and understandably hurt, and one who has survived through her sharp writing. She is unpleasant and not particularly charismatic, and--granted, in her mind--not particularly attractive, whereas Adam was all that was good and stalwart. I couldn't wrap my mind besides the instalust he felt why he would put up with her prickliness and constant need to throw out lures and then hastily say that she wanted no affection, no commitments etc. etc. when he picked them up. Lest anyone who might actually read this review (does anyone read my reviews?) think I'm being too hard on Seraphina, one of her closest friends notes in the middle of the novel that "no one works as hard as you to be unlikeable." It was tedious and tiresome, and it was only when I realized that she was no rakess that I understood why I was not enjoying the novel. Instead I concluded that Seraphina was that *other* classic historical archetype: the FAKE RAKE! I was not expecting that at all. Except for her taking lovers, there was nothing really rakish about her. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rating this novel is almost impossible for me because of the fact that it's positioned as something it really is not. The characterizations and story are a 3 for me, but the quality of the writing is a 5, so it gets bumped to a 4.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Rakess takes a common theme in romance novels; the immoral and womanizing rake falls in love with the beautiful heroine of good character and flips it on its head. We have the handsome, good, sexy architect Adam Anderson falling in love with the fallen jezebel Seraphina. While these two characters do have a happy ending, there is quite a lot of angst before we get to that point. And while the author did a good job of explaining the reasons behind Seraphina’s behavior, it was a bit hard to read. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

In the beginning, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. Seraphina isn’t a self proclaimed rakess. She goes through life having casual sex with no attachments. She had written a book about women and their rights to education, jobs, and control over their own lives. She is a champion for women’s rights before her time.
So when she meets Adam Anderson, she is thinking he will be another amusement for the summer. And this is where I began to like the book! Seraphina discovers she does have a heart and can open herself to it!

This book is like romance pantheon for me but it certainly won't be for everyone. It has a Gothic feel, with Sera in a rickety house on Cornish cliffs. It has almost a folk horror feel in the way she is taunted by the people who hate her work (she is based on Mary Wollstonecraft!). It's also got incredibly lush prose, just this side of purple. And a beautiful, triumphant ending. I loved it.

It's proof to me that lots of the things I think I don't want to read about in romance I can enjoy when they are done in a way I like. In this case, children in the mix and lots of the dark themes in the book are topics I would generally shy away from.

The book certainly has side plots but the main characters are together a lot, which is basically the most important thing for me in seeing a romance develop.

So this book should come with lots of content warnings related to pregnancy and childbirth, addiction, mental health. I've also seen criticism of Peckham's earlier work based on her pattern of connecting character's sexual proclivities to their traumas, and that pattern continues here. So, words of warning.

A fabulous, feminist love story with an alpha “ruined” heroine. Loved Seraphina and her friends, and loved our sweet, sensitive Scotsman who cried not once, but twice!

I absolutely loved this book! It took the trope of the reformed rake and turned it on its head in a very educated manner. I loved the inspiration of Wollstonecraft. I adored the characterizations. I can't wait for more of this series.

I adored this book! Peckham was able to strike a wonderful balance between a powerful feminist message and compelling, romantic love story. I loved the main character, Seraphina, and found her story—albeit a historical one—quite relevant to issues women face today. I also like that her story was not one of a reckless, independent woman who gets “tamed”; she holds on to her feminist values while finding a partner who encourages her to be the best version of herself. I am very much looking forward to the next installment in this series!

This book wrung me out emotionally. Seraphina Arden was ruined years ago by a not-so-noble gentleman. Since then she’s publicly embraced her reputation and had adventures and affairs all over. When she returns to her childhood home to write her memoirs, planning to reveal what happened to her and who was responsible, she doesn’t expect to meet anyone interesting.

Adam Anderson is a widower and father of two young children. His ambitions for his architectural career bring him to the same small town where Seraphina is holed up. Sparks fly when they meet, but he can’t afford to be distracted.

There’s a lot of pathos here, and overcoming past trauma. It makes the ending all the more satisfying, but it was a fraught journey to get there. Peckham writes in her introduction that she set out to create a female character who behaved like a male rake. She’s mostly successful, and her protagonists are well-formed.