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A review by vagrantheather
The Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I had zero intent to tell Goodreads I was reading this book. I picked it up on Libby looking for a smutty historic romance. It's not my usual genre but sometimes my brain is ISO serotonin and this gets 'er going. Most romance I've dabbled in has been abominably, intolerably poorly written (Hello, Bridgerton books), so I was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the writing here. It's not simply passable, but actually uses vocabulary a middle schooler would have to look up, and not in a scandalous way (well, not always in a scandalous way).
There is smut here, yes. Too little of it to some reviewers, but well balanced in my eyes. But what really captivated me was the way it toyed with my emotions. The ways they misunderstand each other and it breaks their hearts. The ways they misread cues and self-abuse. In my 30s I'm still an emotional wreck and this book landed so many blows.
> "I am not the kind of man with whom there is a future for you." Her blood ran cold. Suddenly she could see herself the way he saw her . . . Not a goddess. Just a spinster who forgot herself.
> She could still feel that child's fear, that primal urge to burrow into the darkest, smallest nooks. . . Only Bernadette had understood. . . She'd sensed innately what Poppy had really wanted when she had hidden herself away. To be found. For to be found was the only way of knowing you were wanted.
> And today he had been so polite and bloody sweet in letting her down gently that her foolishness was compounded, because he must have seen how she had hoped. It was mortifying, the amount of care he took. She would rather he had simply said 'thats not what I bought you for, cavendish,' and slapped her.
I was not expecting this book to be emotionally devastating. I need a dozen more like it.
PS this is still definitely sappy and definitely vivid in a mature audiences only kind of way.
There is smut here, yes. Too little of it to some reviewers, but well balanced in my eyes. But what really captivated me was the way it toyed with my emotions. The ways they misunderstand each other and it breaks their hearts. The ways they misread cues and self-abuse. In my 30s I'm still an emotional wreck and this book landed so many blows.
> "I am not the kind of man with whom there is a future for you." Her blood ran cold. Suddenly she could see herself the way he saw her . . . Not a goddess. Just a spinster who forgot herself.
> She could still feel that child's fear, that primal urge to burrow into the darkest, smallest nooks. . . Only Bernadette had understood. . . She'd sensed innately what Poppy had really wanted when she had hidden herself away. To be found. For to be found was the only way of knowing you were wanted.
> And today he had been so polite and bloody sweet in letting her down gently that her foolishness was compounded, because he must have seen how she had hoped. It was mortifying, the amount of care he took. She would rather he had simply said 'thats not what I bought you for, cavendish,' and slapped her.
I was not expecting this book to be emotionally devastating. I need a dozen more like it.
PS this is still definitely sappy and definitely vivid in a mature audiences only kind of way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism