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A review by bookish_notes
The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham
4.0
I have a tendency to read books out of order. I was 15% into the second book before I went, YOU KNOW WHAT. LET’S READ BOOK ONE. I clearly make only the most logical decisions with my reading choices.
Trigger warnings for mentions of a loved one and a young child dying in a fire.
I don’t read much historical romance? I don’t know why, because I have liked all the ones I’ve finished reading, but it does take awhile to get me INTO the story? So, I call it a great day when I find one I like and manage to read it all in one sitting. And this is that book.
I went into this only knowing how they’ve gotten together (because reading the second book first will absolutely spoil the surprise), but I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I loved Poppy and Archer.
The book has a LOT of events happening one after the other and I was wondering when the ending was. At the 40% mark, I was like, is this book already hitting the ~big romantic confrontation scene?!? But there are actually quite a lot of those scenes in this book and never felt like a dull moment.
I really enjoyed reading about Poppy’s love for plants, but I would be remiss to point out that despite the story building her up to be independent and all, we never really find out what happens with her ventures after that one big incident near the end because we’re given a typical romance book ending that made me.
Archer is a bit grumpy but has a secret he keeps close to his chest. Literally. He’s darling and has suffered a heartbreak no one should ever have had to have suffered, but there’s much in this book where SO much could be solved if the characters just TALKED to one another. Instead, there’s a lot of miscommunication and results in weeks of angst.
There are hints of Pride and Prejudice in this in that I could definitely see a bit of Elizabeth in Poppy and Mr. Darcy in Archer. And that one rain scene? *chef’s kiss*
This book has some D/s scenes. Which I wasn’t really expecting. But they were enjoyable? The scenes are mostly not between Poppy and Archer though, but I did liked seeing Archer taking a more submissive role. Although for the circumstances in which the scenes occurred, I couldn’t really say. For Archer to have marks that never healed or for the one crop scene to occur when Poppy knows nothing about what she’s doing? Eh. As someone not familiar with the scene at all, I was left wondering afterwards if the show of BDSM in this book was handled well.
There was one annoying character in this book, Tom. He’s a representation of men who think that they’re the “nice guy” who can have whatever, and whoever, he wants and I wanted to punch him in the face every time he appeared. Hopefully, he’s gone from the series for good.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and all the angst that came with it, since it’s been a long while since I read anything heartbreakingly angsty. Back to reading the second book I go!!
Trigger warnings for mentions of a loved one and a young child dying in a fire.
I don’t read much historical romance? I don’t know why, because I have liked all the ones I’ve finished reading, but it does take awhile to get me INTO the story? So, I call it a great day when I find one I like and manage to read it all in one sitting. And this is that book.
I went into this only knowing how they’ve gotten together (because reading the second book first will absolutely spoil the surprise), but I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I loved Poppy and Archer.
The book has a LOT of events happening one after the other and I was wondering when the ending was. At the 40% mark, I was like, is this book already hitting the ~big romantic confrontation scene?!? But there are actually quite a lot of those scenes in this book and never felt like a dull moment.
I really enjoyed reading about Poppy’s love for plants, but I would be remiss to point out that despite the story building her up to be independent and all, we never really find out what happens with her ventures after that one big incident near the end because we’re given a typical romance book ending that made me.
Archer is a bit grumpy but has a secret he keeps close to his chest. Literally. He’s darling and has suffered a heartbreak no one should ever have had to have suffered, but there’s much in this book where SO much could be solved if the characters just TALKED to one another. Instead, there’s a lot of miscommunication and results in weeks of angst.
There are hints of Pride and Prejudice in this in that I could definitely see a bit of Elizabeth in Poppy and Mr. Darcy in Archer. And that one rain scene? *chef’s kiss*
This book has some D/s scenes. Which I wasn’t really expecting. But they were enjoyable? The scenes are mostly not between Poppy and Archer though, but I did liked seeing Archer taking a more submissive role. Although for the circumstances in which the scenes occurred, I couldn’t really say. For Archer to have marks that never healed or for the one crop scene to occur when Poppy knows nothing about what she’s doing? Eh. As someone not familiar with the scene at all, I was left wondering afterwards if the show of BDSM in this book was handled well.
There was one annoying character in this book, Tom. He’s a representation of men who think that they’re the “nice guy” who can have whatever, and whoever, he wants and I wanted to punch him in the face every time he appeared. Hopefully, he’s gone from the series for good.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and all the angst that came with it, since it’s been a long while since I read anything heartbreakingly angsty. Back to reading the second book I go!!