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A review by carriepond
An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
In An Island Princess Starts a Scandal, we meet Manuela del Carmen Caceres Galvan, a Venezuelan heiress who has convinced her parents to let her spend the summer with her two best friends in Paris during the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Manuela sees it as her last summer of freedom before she returns home to marry a man she barely knows in exchange for her family's financial security, and she intends to use that freedom to meet like-minded women, i.e. women who love women. She soon meets Cora Kempf Bristol, Duchess of Sundridge, a powerful businesswoman interested in buying a parcel of land Manuela's grandmother left her when she died. The pair strike an unusual deal-- in addition to paying a much higher price for the land, Cora also will show Manuela the side of Paris she longs to experience before she enters her loveless marriage. Of course, business quickly mixes with pleasure, and then love.
Okay-- I really loved this. It was so fun and interesting to read a story set in late 19th-century Paris from this perspective, where queer people and brown people could find a supportive and loving community in one another. I really enjoyed that the obstacles placed in front of our lovers felt very authentic (no contrived and unrealistic miscommunication here!) and I also like that Herrera both addressed the very real oppression and societal strictures that women, especially queer women, faced but also had them find ways to find agency and power within those strictures. And the female friendships and community-- chef's kiss. Also, there were a lot of sexy scenes in here- wowza.
I had a lot of fun reading this, so I guess I should read more historical romance (and definitely more books by Adriana Herrera!)
Okay-- I really loved this. It was so fun and interesting to read a story set in late 19th-century Paris from this perspective, where queer people and brown people could find a supportive and loving community in one another. I really enjoyed that the obstacles placed in front of our lovers felt very authentic (no contrived and unrealistic miscommunication here!) and I also like that Herrera both addressed the very real oppression and societal strictures that women, especially queer women, faced but also had them find ways to find agency and power within those strictures. And the female friendships and community-- chef's kiss. Also, there were a lot of sexy scenes in here- wowza.
I had a lot of fun reading this, so I guess I should read more historical romance (and definitely more books by Adriana Herrera!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexism and Lesbophobia