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A review by fringebookreviews
The Portrait of a Duchess by Scarlett Peckham
2.5
I just don’t think I’m a fan of Peckham’s prose—I find it dry?? and idk maybe just boring. I didn’t care about anything I read in these two books in the series. This one was frustrating because you once again (like book 1) had a character so terrified of commitment and every step forward led to several steps running away in the other direction.
Below is a quote that basically sums up Cornelia’s frustrating reasoning at the end (of a book that was filled with more of the same reasoning), but it could be seen as a spoiler so proceed with caution. <blockquote>“Tell me you don’t feel anything for me,” Rafe said again, raggedly. “Tell me, and I’ll go.”
She could not say that. It was too far from the truth. The truth was that she adored his company. She flourished in his affection. She found few people more amusing. She loved making love to him. She wanted him more than anything she had ever wanted in her life. It was against her principles, and her better judgment, and it was utterly true, and it was so terrifying she nearly couldn’t speak. And so she had to end it. The sex. The tenderness. The marriage.
“Rafe, this was a mistake,” she said as firmly as she could. “We knew it was a mistake from the moment that we kissed in the summerhouse. And it has only become a greater risk the more that we indulged in it.”
***
“That’s probably for the best,” he said quietly.
For the best? Damn her if her heart did not shudder at those words. For some reason, she had expected him to fight. He always fought for her. But his posture was one of surrender. Defeat.</blockquote>
A risk of what?? And it wasn’t fair of her to keep hurting him with zero consequences. Oh, he “always comes back” so it’s okay to keep jerking his chain? It was like 300 pages of this. His crime at the beginning that caused their initial breakup was him wanting a marriage in truth. Misguided? Yeah. But not something heinous.
She ran again in the present and didn’t even have to grovel. She was like “I’m sorry” and he was like “what are you sorry for?” and then HE was the one taking the blame like god make it stop. He was too puppy dog and she was too indecisive.
The only part I liked was the openness to polyamory because this is the first time I’ve seen it in a trad pub historical romance. There was a lovely (and hot) MMF ménage scene. But even then, Cornelia’s end suggestion for their marriage could’ve happened at like 50% and the book could’ve ended then. But it was a reasonable solution and Cornelia was just avoiding reason for a lot of the book. **Spoiler** The HEA consisted of an open marriage where they can each take lovers or share as long as they’re open and honest.
Overall, I’ve concluded that this is my last book I’ll be reading by the author. I basically read this one for the cover and I doubt another book in the series will have one as good as this, so I’m probably safe. I think both books have tried to subvert tropes (and have very fun premises), but have also lacked nuance and stumbled into other trope pitfalls.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.75*/5
*The scenes we got were hot but there weren’t many of them. One was a ménage (no DP). The characters didn’t come as fast as they did in book one, but overall I’m still not a huge fan of how Peckham writes sex scenes.
Below is a quote that basically sums up Cornelia’s frustrating reasoning at the end (of a book that was filled with more of the same reasoning), but it could be seen as a spoiler so proceed with caution. <blockquote>“Tell me you don’t feel anything for me,” Rafe said again, raggedly. “Tell me, and I’ll go.”
She could not say that. It was too far from the truth. The truth was that she adored his company. She flourished in his affection. She found few people more amusing. She loved making love to him. She wanted him more than anything she had ever wanted in her life. It was against her principles, and her better judgment, and it was utterly true, and it was so terrifying she nearly couldn’t speak. And so she had to end it. The sex. The tenderness. The marriage.
“Rafe, this was a mistake,” she said as firmly as she could. “We knew it was a mistake from the moment that we kissed in the summerhouse. And it has only become a greater risk the more that we indulged in it.”
***
“That’s probably for the best,” he said quietly.
For the best? Damn her if her heart did not shudder at those words. For some reason, she had expected him to fight. He always fought for her. But his posture was one of surrender. Defeat.</blockquote>
A risk of what?? And it wasn’t fair of her to keep hurting him with zero consequences. Oh, he “always comes back” so it’s okay to keep jerking his chain? It was like 300 pages of this. His crime at the beginning that caused their initial breakup was him wanting a marriage in truth. Misguided? Yeah. But not something heinous.
She ran again in the present and didn’t even have to grovel. She was like “I’m sorry” and he was like “what are you sorry for?” and then HE was the one taking the blame like god make it stop. He was too puppy dog and she was too indecisive.
The only part I liked was the openness to polyamory because this is the first time I’ve seen it in a trad pub historical romance. There was a lovely (and hot) MMF ménage scene. But even then, Cornelia’s end suggestion for their marriage could’ve happened at like 50% and the book could’ve ended then. But it was a reasonable solution and Cornelia was just avoiding reason for a lot of the book. **Spoiler** The HEA consisted of an open marriage where they can each take lovers or share as long as they’re open and honest.
Overall, I’ve concluded that this is my last book I’ll be reading by the author. I basically read this one for the cover and I doubt another book in the series will have one as good as this, so I’m probably safe. I think both books have tried to subvert tropes (and have very fun premises), but have also lacked nuance and stumbled into other trope pitfalls.
⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.75*/5
*The scenes we got were hot but there weren’t many of them. One was a ménage (no DP). The characters didn’t come as fast as they did in book one, but overall I’m still not a huge fan of how Peckham writes sex scenes.