Thanks to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an e-arc of The Portrait of a Duchess.

I finally finished this and while I enjoyed many parts, I just didn’t love it. Something about this series (as a whole) just hasn't grabbed me and kept my attention.

Cornelia married Rafe in secret 20 years ago and is now back looking to make a splash in society as his new Duchess - oh and she is an infamous painter who loves to shock society with her art. Can she trust Rafe? Will they get through the charade or will mistakes from the past come back to haunt them?

There were some awesome things in this book for an English, historical romance - Black female lead, late 30’s, feminism, sex positivity, discussion of ethical non-monogamy, etc - which were awesome and loved seeing it, but I found myself taking some time to get into it and it didn’t have me reaching constantly to pick it up. I struggled at times to read it.

I do love the females in this series so far, but I also find myself frustrated at them for denying their own happiness and pushing feelings aside - but one could argue that the author did a good job for making me feel this way. I understood Cornelia’s feelings, but I was screaming at her to be honest with herself.

If you’re looking for a fresh take on historical romances, I think I would recommend this (and the whole series). They may not be for me, but I think someone is going to love the books. While I’m intrigued by the women, I'm not itching to grab the next one right away.

I love how Scarlett Peckham writes female characters in her historical romance, they are wholly independent and totally badass! I will read every book she writes. She includes diverse perspectives, and her books are noticeably outside of the norm. They stand out in the best ways.

While I enjoyed this sequel, the first of the series was far more memorable and atmospheric. So this one had a little less luster in comparison.

The modern twist on the diverse characters was refreshing. I liked that way the other showed the parallels between the past and the “present”. I’m not sure Rafe and Cornelia should’ve ended up together though. Their relationship seemed rushed in the end. Still an enjoyable read tho, will definitely recommend.

I am loving this trend of historical romances that don't whitewash history, though in this case I was a little uncomfortable with a white woman writing a Black main character. Personally, I think the book would have been more successful if she hadn't because the way she wrote Cornelia felt a little flat to me. I do think the effort was made, but compared to for example Alyssa Cole's An Extraordinary Union or Adriana Herrera's A Caribbean Heiress in Paris, Cornelia's experiences as a biracial woman didn't feel as nuanced.

I also struggled a bit with the central conflict in this story. Cornelia and Rafe are older characters and still communicating worse than teenagers, which in the "Before" chapters makes sense because Cornelia is 18 (also this age difference is a little off-putting?) but when she's 38?

That being said, I think this was an overall fun read. While I didn't necessarily love the conflict between the characters, it was easy to get swept into the plot. I also was not expecting this book to feature a bisexual hero or a threesome, but I was very here for all of that.

I haven't read the first book in this series, but I would be interested in going back to read that and the forthcoming sequel.

I am a huge Scarlett Peckham fan, and book 1 and 3 in this series are all-time favorites of mine, but this one I struggled with. The time lapse storytelling slowed things down and the MCs felt a bit stilted/wooden in their interactions. I love the ambition of the concept here, but it just didn’t work for me.

Did it take me exactly one year after release to finally pick this book up that I received as an ARC?

Maybe.

Regardless of how long it took me to pick this book up, I’m so glad that I did. If it weren’t for the last 100 pages, I would have given this 5 stars.

The Portrait of a Duchess follows one of our Society of Sirens, Cornelia. We met her in The Rakess, but I don’t remember much about her from that one. The goal of the Society of Sirens is to build an institute founded on women’s equality and education. These Sirens are known in society as having very liberal views and scandalous reputations, so they are not noted as being the most upstanding of citizens.

The story begins by Rafe coming back into Cornelia’s life after 20 years of absence. We come to find out that Rafe and Cornelia are actually married and have been for 20 years. Cornelia values her freedom more than anything and her uncle was threatening to marry her off where her freedom would be no more. Cornelia rectifies this by proposing a solution to Rafe, who has made his intentions of not marrying very clear. Cornelia realizes they are both in a conundrum of sorts. Rafe nor Cornelia want to marry for various reasons, so they decide to marry each other. Cornelia is now married, but now she has freedom from her uncle and marriage in the way society defines it.

Rafe comes back into Cornelia’s life to tell her that there was a stipulation in her uncle’s will that says she will receive funds if she marries. This works out perfectly since she’s already married to Rafe.

The story is told in a Before and Now timeline which was unexpected for me. I enjoyed the back and forth, but I will admit that the characterization between the twenty years seemed the exact same. I didn’t feel like there had been any maturity or change in the characters even though it had been 20 years.

The last 100 pages really took this book down for me. I found myself frustrated because Cornelia is so terrified of commitment that she ends up pushing away the person who loves her most. It felt like every step forward led to several steps back. She kept saying she couldn’t risk it, but I never understood what the risk was exactly. She was very affectionate to Rafe and said very suspicious things that would make Rafe think she was alluding to love but then shot him down in the next paragraph.

This went on throughout the whole story, but I could bare it until the last 100 pages which just made me not like Cornelia. It wasn’t fair of her to keep hurting him with zero consequences for her actions. She has the mindset of “Oh, he will come back to me. He always does.” So that makes it okay to keep leading him on and jerking his chain?

One of the most annoying things to me was that she didn’t even grovel for the way she treated him. She just said sorry and he was like “oh, what are you sorry for?” which did not make sense to me. He kept taking the blame when it was clearly her fault.

Overall, I hope the next book has the vibes of book 1 (which I loved) because this one just wasn’t really it for me.

I received this as an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Quick Summary: A twisted love, open romance

My Review: The Portrait of a Duchess by Scarlett Peckham is volume 2 in the Society of Sirens series. It features a multicultural couple.

About the Book: This period piece introduces readers to Cornelia Ludgate and Rafe Goodwood. The couple have been separated for two decades. Upon the death of a family member, the two lovers are reunited. As such, unresolved desires, past frustrations, and overdue discussions are revisited.

My Final Say: This novel is an acquired taste read. I did not care for it at all. The direction it took was not where I thought it would lead, and I confess that I was highly disappointed by that.

Question to Consider: Did this couple really resolve their issues, at the end of the day? (There is more that should be considered where they are concerned.)

Rating: 1/5
Recommend: No
Audience: A
Series: Yes
Other: MMF relations
Status/Level: 👎
Cover: + (The cover of this novel is so gorgeous. It is so visually appealing. It is actually one of the reasons I was drawn to this book.)

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title via the NetGalley program.

A refreshing take on a second chance romance that sees its main characters challenge all notions of aristocracy and marriage.

This was my first book by Scarlett Peckham and I really enjoyed it!!! If you enjoy dukes and duchesses as much as I do then you will love this book!!! Read and enjoy!!!

I am extremely conflicted with this title.

On one hand, I love the angst of not giving into feelings because our MC feels it would be risky, and yet, it becomes repetitive after a while. Cornelia becomes her own obstacle for the majority of the book. This internal conflict confuses me so much. On one hand, I want to applaud the author for internal conflict, it is honest and realistic, but it also makes me wish that the author had created a more complex outer conflict to compliment Cornelia's inner struggle, and that was missing for me.

This is the second book in the Society of Sirens and I was excited to get back to the characters and see what was new. This story focuses on Cornelia Ludgate and Rafe Goodwin. They have a marriage of convenience, have an open marriage and engage in polyamory. So, it’s a bit of a diversion from the conventional historical romance. The women in this series are trailblazers and feminists, fighting against the patriarchy in this time period. My favorite part of this book is the family that has been created by these women. They are open and accepting of each other and their unconventional lifestyles. I think this book breaks the historical romance mold and if you are looking for something new, pick this book up!

I thought this was a unique historical romance novel, that I would recommend to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I like this steamy series a lot and look forward to future installments, appreciate that the other characters continue to show up

I have never read anything from Scarlett Peckman but I really enjoyed her story writing. The characters were fleshed out nicely and the story kept me entertained. I highly recommend!

"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"
This book was pretty good but I wouldn't buy it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I read and reviewed voluntarily.

This book was just bad. I was hoping that I would like this more than the first one because I was so intrigued with the world and the friend group. Sadly this just did not work for me. It felt too forced and I hated the flashback scenes because I simply did not care for the romance. I am probably done with this author.

Heat Factor: Three explicit sex scenes, including one where a third party joins Rafe and Cornelia.

Character Chemistry: Rafe falls hard and fast, Cornelia fights her attraction.

Plot: Cornelia maaaaaay have neglected to tell her friends that she’s been married for twenty years. And that her husband is now a duke.

Overall: This one dragged.

I’ll be honest, I really struggled to get into this book. I was surprised by this fact, for two reasons. First, I loved the first book in this series. In fact, I loved it so much that I couldn’t talk about it coherently enough to review it. Second, the trope set up is promising: middle-aged protagonists in a second-chance marriage of convenience situation. But the first half was a slog.

I think the main piece that didn’t work for me was the friend group banter. I suppose it was supposed to be witty, but I found it tiresome. The Rakess, which features the same group of women, is focused much more tightly on Seraphina, holed up alone in the countryside, drinking heavily, and writing her book. In Portrait of a Duchess, we are in full-on house party mode, so Cornelia and Rafe’s scenes of intimacy are interspersed with secondary courtships and ridiculous party games. The story suffers for it.

It’s a shame that the first half is so slow, because Peckham does some wonderful things with this story. Rafe is the one who falls in love too fast, too soon, too exuberantly, and I liked the way that his overabundant love was handled. Cornelia is an intensely private person, and her reaction to the grand gesture (which was not so very grand, but was very very public) was excellent—and, in fact, led to the third act break up, which, honestly, is how more people should react to unsolicited public grand gestures. And Rafe and Cornelia actively negotiate what their happy marriage will look like for them, which I love to see in a romance.

However, because I never particularly got to care about these characters, I watched these events unfold with academic detachment. “Ah yes,” I said to myself, “I see what Peckham is doing here. This is an interesting way to twist the trope to fit with the larger project of the book.”

That is not exactly what I’m looking for when I’m reading a romance novel.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

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

Thank you for this arc!
As with The Rakess, this is a yummy book about is about two independent people who are married but are not pleased to be married. They begin to work together and the past starts to catch up with them as does passion. Lots of spicy chemistry as these two rekindle what was once something they thought they'd never have.
Good flow and plenty of adventure and fun!

Thank you Avon for an eARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own.

I really wanted to love this book. There were so many amazing elements to this book, too, but there was just something that stopped me from being in love.

I adore romance novels that are marriage (that really never fully existed) in crisis. The emotional build up, the pining, the sheer messiness of it all. And then add that one is a duke that totally never planned to be? Add in some great steamy scenes that were um wow?

Like this had everything I wanted. But there felt to be a lack of emotion between the two characters and idk something just threw me off with it. Probably all on me and since reviews are highly subjective, eh.

Long story short, I do think that I would recommend this book because I want more books like this in historical romance. Will it be a book I return to? No. But I'm not mad that I spent the time reading it!