"The Portrait of a Duchess" by Scarlett Peckham is everything you want in a bodice-ripper historical romance. This story beautifully blends activism, politics, and romance a la Evie Dunmore and definitely brings the heat.

I love Scarlett Peckham’s romance novels. She has an incredible talent for taking the old school historical romance vibe and updating it by giving it a really fresh polish! Constance from The Earl I Ruined and Seraphina from The Rakess are two of my favorite heroines. Which is why it’s so sad that this is the first Scarlett Peckham novel that I just didn’t click with. It took me so long to get through this and don’t even think it has to do with the characters who I really enjoyed. The premise had a lot of promise but the execution really didn’t work for me. Cornelia and Rafe are great and I love a second chance romance and secret spouses is also my catnip as well. This seems like it was more of a me problem than a problem with the novel. Still think Peckham die hard should read but if you’re just starting with her, definitely start elsewhere.

A really strong follow-up to THE RAKESS -- delighted to see the return of THE SOCIETY OF SIRENS in a book embracing older protagonists, bi and poly choices, and, of course, marriage of convenience.

It’s pretty much impossible for me to not love Scarlett Peckham. Her original plots and strong characters are my catnip, my raison d'être as a romance reader. Thus, The Portrait of a Duchess pleased me to no end. There are a few hinky spots here, but it’s still a great read.

Cornelia Ludgate is an artist whose work reaches levels of infamy after she paints her friends, the self-named The Society of Sirens – Seraphina Arden (radical libertine writer and heroine of The Rakess), Lady Elinor Bell (thinker and society matron) and Thaïs Magdalene (courtesan) in the nude. Her entire exhibit is a challenge to society’s misogynistic castigation of the fallen woman, and the show turns her into a scandal. Cornelia is fine with this and satisfied to spend the rest of her life éparter la bourgoisie as a single woman. Then she learns about a codicil in her uncle’s will that requires her to be married to inherit a five thousand pound bequest.

Cornelia has an answer for that, She is in fact married, and has been for the past twenty years, to the wonderfully named Rafe Goodwood. She and Rafe knew each when they were younger, back when he was a horse trainer member of the Equalist Society, one of her uncle’s beloved cronies and she was a young maiden trying to emerge into society. The marriage was a hasty Gretna Green union sealed to keep her uncle from interfering in her plans to travel abroad, but Rafe caught feelings and tried to make their union acceptable by writing to her uncle to inform him of it, which caused a rift between them. Cornelia and Rafe have not seen each other for twenty years. But bad luck and multiple dead cousins have resulted in Rafe inheriting her uncle’s dukedom, and Rafe is now the Duke of Rosemere.

It turns out Rafe is just as interested in helping the poor now as he was years ago. He definitely wants to dive back into politics with Cornelia at his side, but he’s determined not to allow himself to fall in love with her, and Cornelia is interested in her freedom. Clearly their marriage can be made one of convenience to them both… right?

It's a Peckham, it’s rated Hot, you know where this is going. A Portrait of a Duchess hits all of my favorite buttons: artists and activists finding love and romance featuring older characters.

Probably the hinkiest spot is the age gap. Rafe is fifty when we pick up the narrative, and Cornelia was eighteen when they first met. Do the math and you realize that Rafe was thirty when they began their relationship, which may discomfort some readers.

Cornelia is your typical stiff-necked Peckham heroine who’s very invested in her independence and very invested in her principles. In Cornelia’s case, this means overthrowing the bourgeoisie. Since she’s biracial Black woman living in late eighteenth century England, her position is all the more tenuous, but life, art, fairness and the truth are all things she thinks are worth dying for. Peckham does decently with this material, but there are a couple of frustrating gaps where she doesn’t quite manage to get across how dangerous a prospect this is for Cornelia.

Rafe is tender, roguish and intriguing - a great hero. His bisexuality is well-handled and he has to work hard to convince Cornelia that he actually does love her, and she has to bend as well by seeing that commitment doesn’t mean death to her ideals. The union they strike is a fair one and I love it.

The friendship between the Sirens, naturally, is incredibly memorable and the setting is divine and well-captured, too.

The Portrait of a Duchess isn’t entirely perfect but it’s easy to love.

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I didnt enjoy this as much as I wanted to and have enjoyed her previous books, it was hard to keep track of the timeline shifting, and the heroine comes across as wooden, not groundbreaking.

Scarlett Peckham's SOCIETY OF SIRENS series is simply brilliant, and worth the long wait following THE RAKESS. In THE PORTRAIT OF A DUCHESS, radical feminist artist Cornelia is reunited with long-estranged husband Rafe, who, by a series of coincidences, has risen in social status from horse breeder to duke. Peckham's novel deals with the tension between power and politics--what does it mean to be a Black woman duchess while endorsing politics that oppose the values of the aristocracy? The central romance between Cornelia and Rafe is mature, and centered on people who know who they are, who know who the other is, and love each other regardless; she paints a vision of love that is not possessive, that fights for liberation, and that is fiercely feminist. Peckham is a voice to watch in historical romance--she takes the genre and asks what it's capable of without rejecting what makes historical romance already great. Don't miss this or any of Peckham's novels.

The second book in Scarlett Peckham’s sirens series introduces us to Cornelia the black, feminist, sex positive niece of a duke in the late Georgian era. Ms Peckham has a wonderful way of reimagining historical eras to include heroines with very modern sensibilities regarding gender roles and sexuality. Cornelia and her husband of 20 years Rafe are a little bit age gap romance and a little bit second chance at love. Rafe is a bisexual emotional lead who you can’t help but love. Cornelia is just trying to pursue her feminist goals and maintain her independence.

This one was a slow start for me compared to the author’s previous books but I enjoyed how she resolved Cornelia and Rafe’s relationship issues. This was a little lighter on the steam scale than most of her previous offerings but did include mfm action. This one is not for romance traditionalists but for those who want to venture into alternative history where a feminism and inclusion has some real teeth. I will definitely be on board for Thais’s story.

The Society of Sirens is back! This time following radical painter, Cornelia. She has used her talent and painting career to advance the cause of women's rights, but a lack of funds has halted the society's progress. Until Cornelia discovers that her estranged uncle has left her a small fortune in his will on the condition that she is respectably married. But Cornelia has a secret...she has been secretly married for almost 20 years. To the man who has inherited her uncle's dukedom.

Rafe is a horse breeder who inherited a dukedom from a far distant cousin with a secret penchant for liberalism and revolution. He wants to turn the estate back over t0 the tenants and really stick it to the aristocracy, but he knows he can't do it without help from Cornelia...his secret wife who he's never been able to forget.

Scarlett Peckham has become one of my instant buy authors, I love the sex positivity and diversity of her work. She does such an amazing job of weaving historical details and research into her books in a way that is engaging but still feels very grounded. While I did really enjoy this book, it's definitely not my favorite of her titles. The primary conflict between the hero and heroine centered around how differently they feel and express emotion, which is totally valid, but I felt like Cornelia's reactions to Rafe being effusive were very over the top. I also felt like I didn't get to experience them really falling in love. This is a second chance romance that jumps back and forth in time, but I didn't feel like the jumps back into the past gave us a robust enough groundwork to justify their attraction/love once they reunite. Overall, I enjoyed the atmosphere and historical details of this book more than the romance itself. I am still looking forward to future books in the series!

This was not my favorite Scarlett Peckham novel. While the sex scenes were steamy and adventurous, I found the story itself a bit pointless. I didn't enjoy the flashback device, the dialogue felt stilted, and the characters just didn't pull me in. Not a total miss, but not one of her best.

DNF. really tried getting through this one but only made it to 50%.. the chemistry was lacking for me and i was just overall bored with the storyline.. wasn't engaged or looking forward to picking it back up so :/

This book started off with a note from the author stating that they are a writer writing about people whom they might not be in community with. As such, blind spots might be appear, but are acknowledged and apologized for in advance. On one hand, it was good to know that the author was aware that this book might not resonate with marginalized readers; on the other hand, it almost felt like a cop-out: I wavered on how I felt about it from chapter to chapter.

Having said that, this book features a couple having steamy, not strictly heteronormative encounters after the age of forty (40). Further, because this is regency and with the advanced ages of the couple, children were not front of mind: sexual exploration was.

And that is where we find ourselves: this is not a romance in the most traditional sense of the main characters live happily ever after or happily for now. If you are looking for a Bridgerton-esque book where Marina from season 1 is receives the proper "Bridgerton" experience, this is not it. Instead, this is a book of sensuality explored. If the reader goes in with that in mind and suspends disbelief about, well everything else (especially race), I think a good time can be had.

What I love about this series and this book in particular is that the women are so supportive of each other--their friendships are just as important as their relationships with their love interests, and they're all goal-oriented too! And I definitely wasn't expecting the bi-representation, love that journey for Rafe, without any shame from Cornelia. I really liked the solution they came up with. I hope we get more of this series, I could keep reading them all.

I adored everything about this book. Cornelia and Rafe have such excellent chemistry and accept everything about each other. While they have their ups and downs they don't drag on forever and leave you frustrated. They tend to fix things pretty quickly. This book was so steamy both with actual encounters and thoughts each character has. Another brilliant success for Peckham!

This is my first book by Scarlett Peckham, and I'm sad to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. I had a hard time staying engaged and found myself skimming several times so I could get to the end. I will say that this historical romance was very different from any historical romance that I have read so far. I did like that the heroine was more open and confident with her sexuality and that of her friends, but I didn't feel connected to anyone. I was also excited for the interracial romance plot, but the story dragged on for so long and the conflict felt overworked and forced that I stopped caring. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC.

This book felt long. There were some fresh ideas, some interesting characters, but somehow it didn't ring as sincere. A lot of the book felt like it was just there for the shock or idea of something and not motivated by a deeper theme or character trait. Overall, I wouldn't recommend it and I probably wont seek out more from this author right away.

Star Rating: 2/5
Tropes: Second chance, fiery bluestocking

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I always love Scarlett’s books! Once you start reading you can’t put down. She has an engaging style of writing where you feel like you’re inside the book with the characters and part of the story. Rafe and Cornelia are quite the pair! I adore them and their chemistry. Second chance romances are a favorite of mine and I loved this book! Will definitely be doing a full review on Instagram closer to the release date.

I AM HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE

This took the histrom genre and made it it’s own by taking known archetypes and tropes and doing something new with it. The authors pushed the boundaries of conventional and fhe normal histrom, with characters that broke the mold and were MORE than the usual that we find. Not just in a “oh they have jobs the horror” but “yes we have moral and political views and are not afraid to be active in them” way. And not just the normal handwavey one or two paragraphs that most would have, but actual scenes and tying in the character’s goals and motivations throughout. And I absolutely loved it.

Hmmm. I enjoyed reading this book. However, I am not a strong feminist, and disagreed with Cornelia’s arguments- maybe because I live in a different time. I also believe in faithfulness and struggled with some of the sexuality. Overlooking those two things, it was entertaining to see how Cornelia came to realize she truly did love Rafe.

2.5 Stars.

Sigh. I really wanted to like this. And I tried to like it. I was so excited to see a Black character become a duchess. Not only that, she was a confident woman who was more sure of herself than a lot of HR heroines. I also liked that the characters didn’t get their happy ending on the 20s, which is all too common in HR. But I had to fight my way through the book. First off, I couldn’t tell the different between the past and the future of the hero and heroine. They were both the same regardless of time, and I would forget I was in a “Before” chapter. Then I would get all confused. Where is the character growth???

Also… I feel bad saying it, but I honestly feel like it needs to be said. When non-Black write Black characters there can sometimes something…off… about how the character presents their Blackness, and I felt that in this book. As a Black person I guess I’m a bit sensitive to it. The way the heroine spoke about racism and the way she felt about her standing in society didn’t feel deep. Like of course she would be upset about slavery and everything, but there wasn’t any nuances to emotions.

This book had good potential and I wish a bit more research was done prior to writing it.

My favorite thing about SP's writing is her willingness to subvert gender roles in historical romances. I absolutely loved Rafe. I loved how much he loved being in love. I really enjoyed reading about a male character grappling with being "too much," the way women characters often do. I thought the dual timeline was well executed. I was rooting for them at the end. The only thing that didn't work for me was the heavy reliance on internal conflict and the general lack of a propulsive plot. This isn't one of my favorite books by this author, but it was still very enjoyable.