Thank you to Avon and Netgalley for this advanced copy!

I think I made the mistake of taking too long to read this book because once I got into it, the characters fell more into place and I could really feel the stress Cornelia feels at being confined and what a loving heart-first guy Rafe is. At times the pacing felt a little all over the place and the steaminess (and boy is there some steam) also felt inconsistent. That being said, I loved the inclusion of characters from the first book and I love how Cornelia and Rafe found a way to balance themselves to move forward. I'm looking forward to future books.

I was honestly a little nervous about The Portrait of a Duchess after my sort of lackluster feelings about The Rakess, but I'm thrilled to report that this installment in the series gave me the feelings I imagined The Rakess would. By that I mean, a woman who wants to have sex often and is free with her affections in the UK at this time, is going to have to deal with unfortunate consequences. However, I don't wish to read about those consequences. And this book, though still firmly grounded in that reality and adding in the further complexity of our heroine being mixed race (Black), this book felt lighter and happier for me than The Rakess. Ultimately, though your milage may vary, I felt like it was significantly easier to fall in love with Rafe and Cornelia and to get swept up in reading their story, than I did in book one.

Ah, and let me tell you what this book is actually about, shall I? Essentially, Rafe just found himself the Duke of Rosemere or something because the eight people in line ahead of him all died one after another. Weird. Anyway, he pops up at Cornelia's place of business and is like, "Hello, wife, time to come be the Duchess." Okay, not exactly like that, but pretty close. Turns out, Cornelia and Rafe had been married nearly 20 years ago to preserve Cornelia's freedom, which is actually a theme that so much of this book hinges upon.

I really did love getting glimpses of Sera and Adam though, for all I talked about how much I preferred The Portrait of a Duchess. But I enjoyed the artistic descriptions throughout this book and the way the ultimate house party became such a fun and engaging time. Oh, and this book winds up showcasing a very healthy seeming polyamorous relationship, which was such an unexpected treat. Overall, I would definitely recommend this one if you haven't picked it up yet!

The Portrait of a Duchess is the sequel to Scarlett Peckham's Society of Sirens series. I haven't read the first book in the series, so I did not what to expect when I began this book. I loved how the book pushed the framework of a typically historical romance by featuring an interracial relationship, bisexuality, and rebellion against societal restrictions on women's agency and accepted cultural norms. I enjoyed most of the book, but there were moments in the book that were a bit uneven. Cornelia's hyper-independence got a bit annoying at times because she waffled a lot, and it took a majority of the book for her to finally come to terms that she could depend on Rafe. I did enjoy the aspect of found family within the book, which was at its peak when the ensemble cast was together. I liked the flashback moments the most because the history between Cornelia and Rafe is touching. The use of miscommunication as the main conflict in the book was disappointing and is in stark contrast to the characterization of the FMC and MMC. They were able to communicate just fine with the other characters, but together, they were totally inept. Overall I rated the book 4 stars because I enjoyed most of the romantic elements of the book.

*This ARC was provided by Avon Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

There was something about this book that drove me crazy. While a strong character, I didn't love the fmc, Cornelia. I get wanting to stand on your own two feet but man...she drove me crazy with the hoops she made him jump through.

This was my first book by Scarlett Peckham, and I had a really hard time getting into it. I struggled with it quite a bit and found myself skimming through parts.
The premise was very appealing and the cover is absolutely gorgeous.
It's a second chance romance with an age gap. Cornelia and Rafe have been married but have been living separately for the last twenty years and have kept it a secret. Now Rafe has unexpectedly become a Duke, and Cornelia is in line for an inheritance. Because of this, they have decided to announce their marriage.
The story is told in part through chapters about their back story. I was slightly put off my by the age gap in the earlier years.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Honestly, I had quite a good time reading this book. I quite liked the cast of characters, even if it did take quite a bit to straighten them all out. Truly, the cast of characters is so incredibly large, and when introduced they were kind of glossed over (but I guess, that's also my fault for not reading the first book) but as the story continued and the personalities came more to the forefront it became quite easy to sort them all out and I thouroughly enjoyed the cast of characters. They were so out there and fun. Each having such a destinct personality. It was a blast to read. I genuinely have hopes for future books and who I want it to follow. Anyway, even though I adored the cast of characters, I wasn't the biggest fan of our female lead. I just thought she got in her own way A LOT and her stubborness got irrating to read about. I did also quite liked the politics included in this book as well. I thought it was interestingly done but it wasn't too much off the story. It was really well balanced with the romance, in my opinion. Now that I've brought up the romance, let's discuss that because this is where my problem lies. I just wasn't the biggest fan of this romance. It wasn't horrible, there definitely was really good sexual tension between the two characters. I feel like so much of the romance is build on the amazing chemistry they had 20 years ago when they formed such a deep connection that even now after not seeing each other for 20 years they still feel like they can't resist each other. However, in the flashbacks we get I felt like none of that deep connection was there for me. It was all sexual attraction and no real romantic connection. In the present timeline the author definitely does a better job at showing me the romantic and emotional connection as well. I just simply feel like they didn't really fit togehter. Even though there's a lot they agree upon and are on the same page about, I feel like the way they both experience love and relationships is so extremely different that I just don't believe that would actually work in the long run without either one of them changing themselves. We even see this demonstrated in the book as the characters continuesly end up hurting each other while trying to express their love for each other and desire to be in a relationship. It just kept me from fully being invested in this and root for the romance. Therefore I didn't end up liking this book very much. I am intrigued however to read more by this author, and definitely more from this series though. This particular story just didn't end up working for me.

Get ready to be SICK OF ME talking about this book

The Portrait of a Duchess is the second book in Scarlett Peckham's Society of Sirens series. I was ambivalent about The Rakess, which was full of Great Smart Thoughts About The Genre packaged in a love story I didn't care for. The Portrait of a Duchess brought it all together for me. I was still chewing on some Big Ideas, but having a ton of fun while exploring those ideas. Learning can be fun, kids!

Cornelia Ludgate is a radical artist trying to scrape together funds for her girl gang's planned Institute for the Equality of Women. Good news--she's got a big inheritance! Bad news-- it comes with a Provision Requiring Marriage. Enter Rafe Goodwood (God I love this genre), duke and secret radical. He can help, because back when he was a lowly horse breeder seventh in line for the title, he helped Cornelia out of a tight spot to avoid a forced marriage. Secretly, the two of them are technically married. They hatch a plan to go public (Faking True Love, of course, because we must really sell it), get Cornelia her money, and scandalize high society while doing it. Time to plan a Masquerade Art Exhibition Wife Reveal Ball! And while we're at it, add a second timeline following teenage Cornelia and horse-breeder Rafe as they race to Gretna Green! Is that a SECOND CHANCE I see on the horizon???

Can you tell I had fun?

The love story is great on its own-- sweet, then sexy, then sexy some more-- but like The Rakess, it gives us a lot to dig into if put in conversation with the rest of the genre.

I was most interested in the book's take on the idea of the "Good Duke." Like many heroes before him, Rafe never expected to inherit the title, which landed in his lap after a series of heirless deaths. Many historical romances that purport to be progressive would use this a free pass to excuse the hero from culpability in the system he benefits so much from. If he feels uncomfy being duke, and we see him being nice to his house staff and refusing to double rent on his tenants, then he's a Good Duke. He's Not Like Other Dukes. And we can rest easy knowing he will allow his hoyden wife to speak her mind at the dinner table.

Rafe, on the other hand, is already actively leveraging his proximity to the aristocracy to further his own politics before he inherits. It does feel like a bit of a cop-out that Rafe being covert in his politics allows him to enjoy the comforts of his extreme wealth, at least for the time being, but the book is clear that this is only temporary. By the end, Rafe and Cornelia have pretty thoroughly burned their bridges with good society, and have a plan to personally divest themselves of their wealth to the extent possible within the system.

And maybe that's still insufficient! But the book cracks open the question-- if we drop 2020s politics straight into the 18th century setting, as so many novels do, what should we actually expect from our Good Dukes? And is that compatible with the fantasy of ball gowns and high teas? I'm not sure, but this is a great starting place.

This book feels like an answer to everything that's been frustrating me in the genre recently. It seems like everybody wants to write a found family of lawless hoydens that thumb their noses at high society, but nobody wants to accept that there might be consequences for their actions. Consequences! What a concept!

What a concept

And everybody wants to write characters at the cutting-edge of feminism and progressivism, but nobody wants to let them put words to their politics. Cornelia "I don't sleep with Tories" Ludgate is specific about her views and goals in a way that made me realize how rare that is in historicals.

I like to think of The Rakess as a treatise on why there's no such thing as a "Rakess," as either a fictional trope or a historical possibility. Similarly, the ideas in The Portrait of a Duchess really unfolded themselves to me when something wasn't working according to genre expectations.

You want a truly independent heroine that's protective of her agency? Ok, fine! Let's see how she reacts to a Big Public Grand Gesture, then! (Spoiler: not great) You want characters that buck gender roles and disrespect social hierarchies? Sure thing! They are now radioactive to the bon ton and constantly in danger of poverty, displacement, imprisonment, and attack. Is this still fun? You want sexually liberated characters that are (we would term) poly? Great, but you're going to have to accept an HEA that looks a little different than usual.

Before we close, a round of applause for the cover, please. The font. The colors. The pose. The expressions. EVERYONE CLAP

Note: I read this as an arc in November 2022, thinking I could put off actually writing the review until the HC union strike was over. Months later, I found myself having to reread the entire thing the week of release because I couldn't remember anything I wanted to say besides "GOOD GOOD VERY GOOD VERY SMART YUM," so... that'll teach me, I guess.

Thank you to Avon for providing an advance review copy of this title at no cost. No money changed hands for this review and all opinions are my own.

Scarlett Peckham writes historical romance with such depth that she is one of my auto read romance authors. This is not your grandmother's bodice ripping historical.

Cornelia Hart is a black heroine, a ward of a ducal estate, who was scorned by her terrible uncle solely due to her position in life. She's an artist looking for a place to display her art that isn't "fit" for society's views. Rafe is now the duke, and proposes a public marriage to Cornelia to flaunt the ducal estate and bring it all down. In turn, he'll allow Cornelia an opportunity for an art exhibition. This book is extremely spicy, has bisexual representation, and is so unlike your typical historical romance. I really enjoyed this and wholeheartedly recommend. It does flip between now and then but it wasn't too distracting and was very easy to follow.

The Society of Sirens series are women who go against the grain of society and this series is set up for so many couples to explore and women to vindicate.

I gasped out loud when I saw this cover! The covers for this series have been simply amazing! To be honest, it feels like I’ve been waiting forever for this next entry in the Sirens series (it’s only been three years lol but they were COVID years) so I was absolutely overjoyed to see this book pop up. And even better, it’s a second chance romance! While it’s the second book in a series, you don’t need to have read the first book to understand this one.

The Society of Sirens have used the money from Sera’s memoirs to buy land for the Institute for the Equality of Women. Now, they need money to actually build it. It’s Cornelia’s turn to step up, auctioning a series of portraits called The Jezebels depicting prostitutes and other lower class women as religious icons – if she can find a gallery willing to exhibit the scandalous series. Enter Rafe, a man Cornelia hasn’t seen in twenty years. He’s newly inherited her uncle’s dukedom (after being something like eighth in line) and he’s come to inform of her the terms of her uncle’s will. For her to inherit, she needs to be married and settled. Funnily enough, she’s already married…. to Rafe.

He took her hand in his and gave her that old, seductive, sidelong grin.
“One last marriage of convenience, darling? For old time’s sake?”


Rafe knows his actions twenty years ago – and since – will make getting Cornelia to trust him hard. But his plans to reform Gardencourt and the rest of his newly inherited estate rely on having someone knowledgeable about how it works, and Cornelia managed it for her uncle for years. Cornelia agrees, on one condition – they’ll hold the exhibition of her new portrait series at Gardencourt as part of a masquerade sure to be the most talked about party of the year.

I was expecting Cornelia’s story, who’s definitely anti-marriage and pro-women’s independence, to be a different romance than the first, and oh boy was I pleasantly surprised by some of the turns it took! For Cornelia, ever since the death of her parents, being loved has come at a cost. Her uncle loved her as long as she was a dutiful ward – and the second she erred, he was prepared to toss her away. To her, love is a stifling cage of expectations that she has to fit inside or else she’ll lose it entirely. It’s no surprise that she’s not interested in marriage, and how she ended up married in the first place is told through multiple flashbacks to the events leading up to her and Rafe’s marriage of convenience twenty years ago.

If Cornelia’s fault is that she’s too afraid to open herself up to emotion, Rafe worries about being, well, too much. He knows he has a tendency to fall in love quickly and thoroughly, something that usually startles and drives off the object of his affections. He understands Cornelia’s rejection of marriage – women are after all basically men’s possessions after marriage – but the ability to reject the associated feelings is alien to him.

It goes without saying that there’s still quite a bit of chemistry between the two of them, and while Rafe is ready to fall in love with her (again? or is still in love with her?) Cornelia tries to navigate a path between being completely cold with him and falling back into bed with him. Forced together by the need to overhaul the estate and the house party to plan the masquerade, and by needing to playact as a happy couple in order to get Cornelia’s inheritance, things between them soon come to a head. But has anything really changed between them in twenty years or are they still carrying the same baggage?

“To make art was to wield a kind of power. Even kings must have a glimmer of fear, sitting before their portraitists. A painting could be thrown out if the canvas was unflattering. But one could not ever unsee the artist’s view of oneself. One could not erase what the artist had discovered.”


One of the things I liked was Cornelia’s love of art and her obvious enjoyment of it, especially when using it in subversive ways. It’s something that young Cornelia is just discovering and something that grown-up Cornelia is very well-versed in. It’s through painting Rafe that’s she’s forced to come to terms with her true feelings for him. It was an interesting bit in a story that often felt like it was missing a lot of the political and cultural action of the prior book.

So while most of the book worked for me – the setup, the differences, the inevitable bleak moment – what didn’t work was the grovel and resolution. After all the setup of this very untraditional couple, what we get is a very traditional grovel and a very traditional ending. Suddenly one character decides they can’t live without the other, and what was previously a relationship-ending dealbreaker is now… not? The frustrating part is that there were definite steps towards growth for the supposedly changed character but nothing that built up into anything more than a step stool let alone the ladder you’d expect.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, even tough it didn’t fully stick the landing for me. Nevertheless, I’m interested to see what comes next. Seraphina has her story – and child – with Adam, Cornelia’s aunt Elinor seems to have something going with Jack, leaving the lovely Thaïs without a partner – and next on the line to secure funds. There’s some interesting byplay into who hers may be and I can’t wait to see whether my suspicions come true!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The second book in the series this can be enjoyed entirely as a standalone.

This was such an interesting twist of tropes, second chance marriage of convenience with a dash of fake marriage.

Older romantic couple who have a secret marriage of convenience. The Duke finds Cornelia and persuades her to reveal hat she is his duchess to gain her inheritance. She agrees in most part to help fund her Society of Sirens and heir next moves in their plans for women’s education.

Cordelia is a portraitist whose subject are outside the bounds of society as are her friends in he Society of Sirens. The duke must convince Cordelia that he is still he man he was 20 years ago.

(ARC from NetGalley) A second-chance historical romance that's interracial, queer, polyamorous and has an age gap... I think these are all fantastic ideas but way too much going on. I felt like we didn't spend enough time in the heads of the characters and their feelings, it was more like ticking off another label. Not bad, just too much going on at once with the flashbacks as well.

I usually really like regency era romance but this was a little over the top for me. There was zero subtly here in any way, shape or form. This book seemed overly political and while I understand the desire to have equal rights for women at the time I have seen quite a few other novels which have gotten the message across without being as controversial and ostentatious. Overall this one just wasn't for me.

Fantastic book! Mild spoilers below.

Loved this new book in the Society of Sirens series by Scarlett Peckham. The chemistry and relationship between the two mains are excellent, and I think the author deftly navigates critquing aristrocracy in a believable way, if a little utopian. The MMC is also bi, which is quite rare in historicals, and I appreciate!

Scarlett Peckham is definitely an author to explore if you are looking for a bit more uniqueness and nuance to your historical romances. The Portrait of a Duchess is the second in her Society of Sirens series, which features a strong group of independent women during the Georgian period (late 1790s). Overall, this is a very well written novel, Peckham explores this second chance romance by weaving together the past and present. Peckham keeps this novel fresh and diverse with her multifaceted characters. And this character driven novel will explore the different meanings and expressions of love.

This novel has a lot of wonderful things going for it, the hero and heroine are both more mature, the is some excited around the fact that the heroine is a secret duchess amongst her friends, and the hero has male and female lovers (his sexuality is not specifically called out by a term). Peckham has a way of weaving together these items to breathe a freshness into the genre in a really lovely way. This is a second chance romance, which is not always my favorite and I am not always the biggest fan of a romance told mostly in flashback, I understand the want and need to utilize this tactic, but it is never my preference and tends to pull me a bit more out of the story. Overall, this novel is good, I found it interesting, the characters feel unique, there are moments of real beauty in the relationship but something overall felt a little laking which made me not feel quite as emotionally connected to our hero and heroine as I would have like to be. I do think this probably comes down to my preference of tropes and my preference for no flashbacks. Peckham still does a wonderful job crafting character who have a real rawness to them which makes them believable.

If you adore Scarlet Peckham then definitely pick up this novel. I think if this are tropes and interesting factors for you, then you are sure to enjoy this novel. I adore this group of women that Peckham has crafted and I am so excited to see where this series goes!

This new to me author was a great surprise. With great attention to detail and a powerful story. This story is complete with strong characters who know what they want and go for it. When Cornelia finds herself as the unexpected Duchess her wild nature only makes things more interesting. Rafe has unexpectedly become the Duke and wants to change how the estate has been sadly run. Together they want to find a way to help the people and eventually each other. However the closeness of working together rekindles long ago forgotten passions.
This was a fun story with so many fun twists. It was full of energy and passion.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy and the chance to discover this wonderful author.

This book and I are not a match. I am all for independent women, but when that independence-or "freedom"-comes at the cost of being kind, compassionate, and willing to compromise in a loving way, then I am going to struggle to understand the character unless I see growth and change. While Cornelia did make an about face, there really was no growth; her and Rafe both seemed to not have evolved much-as shown in the present day and flashback scenes from decades before.

I will not spoil some of the relationship aspects of the novel, but I wish I had had a heads up. There was an element to the story that bordered more on something I would find in erotica, and it didn't fit the tone that was being set up for this book and subgenre. I just want to know what I am getting into before it pops up since it makes a big difference in how I view the romantic arc-which felt non-existent in this book.

I don't like to give a book such a low rating because I can appreciate that someone created this from their own heart and labored to bring it into the world. When giving such a rating I do so not out of a lack of appreciation for the author but as an honest communication of how I experienced this book from my unique perspective. This book may be highly enjoyable for another person, and I always recommend that you take a low-or high-rating with a grain of salt.

1.5 ✨'s

I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this eARC thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I’m not sure I enjoyed this one as much as The Rakess overall, but it was still interesting! I will say the dual timeline strategy ultimately worked for me as a way to bounce back and forth between past and present, letting the dynamic between these two characters spool out slowly rather than the plot showing its true hand in the first half. It lent a little more mystery to their previous dealings and what really happened to lead to their initial estrangement. I also really enjoyed that Rafe was the one who found himself become besotted so easily, almost to his detriment, and Cornelia had to be the one to let her walls down more — it was a nice change of pace from how these relationship are usually depicted in a lot of histroms. And the two of them choosing to remain in an open marriage and letting each other have the occasional fun was a nice surprise too! For the most part, I think Peckham is doing some bold things in the genre and while they may not always pay off for everyone, it’s great to discover the risks she’s willing to take in each book of this series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Cornelia must wed to claim her inheritance. The twist? She secretly married twenty years ago. Seeing her husband again brings back old feelings. Can she learn to trust again?

This is a steamy, character-driven, feminist novel with likable characters. The romance is a slow burn and includes an FMM scene.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

The author essentially acknowledges before the book that as a white woman, she is never going to fully understand some of the nuance behind Cornelia’s character. On one hand, great. I’m glad Cornelia did get her on page love story. On the other, yes, the nuance is likely lacking.

I loved that Rafe (early 50s) and Cornelia (late 30s) are older romantic leads. I didn’t particularly love that this was a second chance romance, with the two initially meeting when Cornelia was a teen and falling in love when she was 18 and he was 34. I don’t necessarily hate age gaps in historical romance especially, but adding on the fact that they met when Cornelia was 16 and that she’s a Black woman and he’s a white man makes things feel a little iffier to me. Nonetheless, I loved so much about this read, namely that Rafe is bi/pan and our couple is poly. (The first on page love scene is a threesome and they have their committed ethically non-monogamous happily ever after.) Side characters felt like caricatures at times but interested me.