A review by cepbreed
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

First read of 2024! I read 90% of this on the plane to London but have been so busy I only had time to read the last couple pages 5 days later. I was right when I thought that reading a good histrom would put me in the perfect mood for the beginning of my study abroad experience. It’s so lovely to know exactly where the areas of London they mention are in real life. Obviously everything looks so different but it’s still fun. Though this book had a really weak start and end the middle was quite good. If it weren’t for being stuck on a plane with no service and only this book downloaded I probably would’ve stopped reading and picked up something else. Both characters annoyed me a lot and though I appreciate the sentiment this book managed to lean too heavily into the social justice aspect. Like be self aware this is a histrom. A lot of the social justice parts were actually what made Harriet so annoying. Like she was so naive and so shy-washy, yet felt so much better than everyone for being a suffragette? Condescension at its finest. Lucien was no better. His whole character was an over exaggerated caricature of the dark-and-brooding male lead trope. His whole thing is aggression and violence and I’m meant to find that compelling? Though I’m venting my complaints I seriously did enjoy this but that’s because I read histroms for the steamy romance not the literally technicalities. 
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