A review by rienne
Sins of a Wicked Duke by Sophie Jordan

3.0

The exact book I needed to purge That Book from my mind. It was fine—very Sophie Jordan in its great sexual tension and vaguely dissatisfying character and relationship development and world consistency. I think, with my 300th (?) romance novel read and in the midst of grading and online dating, what often feels undeveloped (plot, characters, relationship, world) is due to a lack of consistency. For a lot of romance novels, a certain experience (often times, for the men, a bad childhood) becomes a stand-in for their personality, rather than something that shapes and guides them in their actions and behaviors and is confronted. It is like men on dating apps: somehow, enjoying traveling is a stand-in for having a personality and interests! It is like the average writing of a high school student: all the things are there, but it doesn’t actually say or do anything interesting!

My only other comment is that if anything that involves gender misrepresentation doesn’t also tap into potential for bisexuality, it is A Waste.