Me: Okay, I think I've read enough feminist historical romance for now and I have a million other books to read.

Me: *immediately picks up entire book about subverting rigid patriarchal norms around institutions of romance*

Scarlett Peckham's goal with this book is an honorable one: Take one of historical romance's most time-honored tropes, the rake, and give it a gender flip to show that we don't necessarily see the role in the same way. She had an incredibly thorough and thoughtful author's note at the start, and that really did center the whole story. I'm intrigued to check out her other work and keep reading the Society of Sirens series.

That said, something never quite worked for me with Sera and Adam's love story, but I didn't dislike it either. I just didn't find myself hurling my iPad across the room when I read the moments where they were fighting, or yelling "YESSSS LEGENDS!!!" when they were back together. I'm not exactly sure if I like on-and-off couples in books, but again, I didn't hate it here. And I really enjoyed the utter drama in the last third of the novel.

know that there have been women throughout the ages who flaunt society standards to make a point but this woman, Serafina, played out like a modern 21st century woman, not an enlightened Regency woman. She seemed more interested in her raunchy matings then her suffrage movement. She seduced Adam until the intelligent man could do nothing but succumb to her . All that being said Scarlett Peckham can create characters that also seduce the reader into their problems and love-life. I found the writing superbly constructed. The side characters, many who will be featured in the series, were well drawn. This is a good start to the series and I hope future books will feel more Regency and less Contemporary.

I really like how Scarlett Peckham writes. She has a great flair for character development and I found the feminist take on traditional masculine role of a "rake" a delightful read. A lot of fun for romance lovers. Sounds like a great start to a new feminist romance series!

Although the author has historical credit and the idea of Rakish women instead of shrinking violets was the thrust of this, I felt it was missing something for me. I think it may have been more me than the author and the story.
This author has a wonderful catalog and the book had its moments.

Unique historical romance with the tables turned - our leading female is "The Rakess" and the main male character is a good-hearted, honest, hard-working widower. Loved the change of pace with The Rakess Serafina being the one engaging in debauchery and wicked living while good-hearted Adam has to decide if his attraction to and association with Sera is what he wants in his life. And if it is, can he convince her?

I am a huge fan of this author’s work and I have so far given everything I’ve ever read from her 5 stars because her use of language, her stories, her understanding of human nature and love and her balance of humour with emotion and pain and her ability to make you feel are beyond stellar. Which is why it’s so hard for me that I didn’t love this even though it had ALL the amazing elements that Scarlett Peckham’s books should be recognized for. It’s not that I disliked this. It’s a good book. I just don’t think it was the best fit for me personally and in this review, I’m going to say why.

This book is about a “radical” feminist (for her time) fighting for an end to discrimination and gender equality especially in terms of sexual liberation and consequences and in terms of equal rights and ability to earn an income. Just basic fairness. The heroine, Sera, is a strong woman who was let down by society and has made it her mission to hold up other women society wants to suppress by telling her truth through a memoir. She is facing her painful past in her Cornish hometown which holds many bad memories when she meets, Adam, an all-round nice and kind guy and an architect trying to make his mark in the architectural world. He knows of her past but doesn’t care but Sera has been broken in the past and doesn’t have time for the softer emotions which can break her again.

Even writing the premise in terms of the story rather than the theme is quite difficult and that to me, exemplifies why this book wasn’t for me. This is very much a book about an issue (feminism) or a series of issues (gender equality-related issues) rather than a book about people and characters. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not that it’s at all bad because SP can’t write anything bad, in my opinion. It’s actually very, VERY good AND extremely well-researched and relevant, if it is to your taste. But it felt very much about the theme and about the message rather than about the characters and the story. I can say it’s a romance about feminism and how women were treated and how a group of women were working to overcome that ill-treatment, rather than that it’s a book about love or about Sera and Adam. And I believe THAT is the intention of the author. From the Author’s Note at the beginning to the Reader’s Guide at the end, this is a book that wants you to think about feminism on every page, to recognize injustice, to ask questions, to see the wrongful way women’s rights activists and women are treated. It’s a romance with a clear agenda and in that sense, this book is an absolute 5-star success. I think there’s an audience for that and it’s a book to make you think and consider. But not really one to entertain, because the first half of the book, where a lot of the philosophy around the central themes is concentrated, drags quite a bit. It feels part treatise and the story angle is very light. There are lots of unutilized opportunities to show characters and their relationships rather than tell that aren’t taken. Perhaps we could have seen Sera in the role of a mentor, a vision of her work for women- something to show us who she was. The same with Adam, he didn’t feel whole to me. And the relationship wasn’t 3-D for me, it was too secondary for at least half the story. And that’s why this is not to my taste. I love a story with character and plot development and growth, a proper story with the issues and themes and agenda, woven in subtly. The themes in this romance are more an assault with a stick than a wave of a wand. There’s nothing subtle here. And that is brilliant and necessary, but I don’t really see this as a book to sit and enjoy. It’s a book to make you sit up. A book that you could read for a women’s studies class but not necessarily a romance you casually pick up for casual entertainment. Unless of course that is your taste. And in fairness there is a considerable amount of heat to this!!!! Definitely a 5-🚨heat level! So it’s not like it’s dry. It’s just the first half is a bit slow and light on plot and heavy on message and theme.

I would certainly have loved more about Sera’s growth- about how she began to face her pain and her issues and her relationship with her friends and with Adam outside her philosophy, which consumed so much of her and seemed of anything to make her afraid of vulnerability. I wanted more of Sera and Adam together not about to be intimate or to say something to break each other. I wanted them to heal together actually together and to learn each other and engage and know each other. Those are the more nuanced themes and elements I would have liked to see explored. The times where the author explored the themes (also explored in her previous book The Lord I Left) of being unjustly isolated or excluded from society and also of self-denial, Power, selling your soul and the struggle to conform, those were the strongest parts of the book. Those were the parts that felt the most human and the most diversity of emotion. I loved the exploration of blame and regret and of difficult complex family relationships and would have LOVED to see more of that because I feel like those human bits are where this book felt like it was “about people” rather than issues. And to me, because I’m passionate about the issues this book is about but also passionate about storytelling, I don’t know what to make of this book and all my rambling thoughts or really how to rate this. Because it’s soooo good but also not really so much my taste. I don’t know- 3.5 Stars???

I received an advanced copy of this book from Avon (Harper Collins) through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. Yes, it had the classic historical romance feel, but it had something more: the viewpoint of a scandalous women. One thing that most historical romances have is a virginal heroine. While this may be somewhat historically accurate in many of the settings historical romances are set, it also hides under the rug that women in historical times could have sex before marriage and DID have sex before marriage. We get a "good old days" feel from a lot of historical romance. Which isn't bad. But it was refreshing to read a novel where the heroine wasn't married, did take lovers, and while her life wasn't all sunshine and rose petals due in large part to her scandalous lovers, she was still a good person. Also! Our hero was not a lord or gentry. He was a widower with two children who, unlike in many historical romances, was not looking for a governess/new mother for them. Instead, he's a working man (well paid as an architect, yes; rich as Croesus or nobility, no). And not only that, he is in favor of women's rights! All together, this was a fun, sexy, read about characters that you don't see as the protagonists all that often in historical romance. It was a refreshing read and one I will be suggesting to many people in the future.

The Rakess is a historical romance that features a woman battling for women’s equality in England in the early 1800’s, while also trying to live her life to her desires. This is a wonderful first book in a new series by Scarlett Peckham called the Society of Sirens. Seraphina Arden is a woman trying to write her memoirs in her childhood home in Cornwall, to help raise funds for her and her friends goal of creating a women’s school to further equality between the sexes. While reliving her painful memories and reconciling them with who she is now, she meets a man Adam Anderson and begins to want more than bedroom play as well as fall in love. This book really focuses on the inequality men and women had in the 19th century and the injustice it created. It did a good job of showing that a “Rake” can be any person, regardless of gender. Seraphina’s friends were a lovely bunch that supported each other and I cannot wait to read their stories in the next additions of the series. I liked the juxtaposition of Seraphina’s memoirs with her real life romance with Adam; it added depth and made the reader connect with the heroine and her journey. The author Scarlett Peckham has been on my radar for a while and I am glad I got to read this and want to read her previous works. If you are looking for an erotic historical romance with more to come, check out The Rakess. This book was provided by the publisher from Netgalley in April 2020 for an honest review

Content warnings: Alcoholism, stillbirth and pregnancy loss.

This book ripped my guts out. It does exactly what I need a historical romance to do while simultaneously burning down some (unofficially) established historical romance boundaries.

The Rakess is raw and it’s scathing. I’m still sorting out my feelings but what I found so compelling was the way SP speaks to trauma and it’s impact on sexuality and beyond. And how human beings cope with trauma and the fear of reinjury or subsequent loss. Adam, the hero, denies himself. He tries to make it life as safe an orderly as possible. Seraphina drinks and engages in emotionally empty sex. (Hence, she’s a rakess.)

What’s so brilliant to me is how SP walks this line. Seraphina’s sexual appetites are celebrated. It’s a clear No Slut-Shaming Zone. But the fact that Seraphina is using sex and alcohol to numb herself and wallow in her unhealed trauma is not ignored either. It’s complex and visceral. It’s truth telling.

There is an HEA. A great one. But it’s an unconventional HEA for a HR and it unsettled me at first as a prolific HR reader. BUT (BUT! BUT! BUT!) I’m also compelled to probe at why I feel that way which is a very good thing.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was excited to read the Rakess by Scarlett Peckham. If it isn’t obvious from the title and other reviews, this novel takes the idea of a rake and gender flips it. Seraphina is a rakess and has no issues with going against the societal ideals of her time. Despite what I felt was a slow beginning, I felt this was a great read from Ms. Peckham that readers of Joanna Shupe, Maya Rodale, or contemporary authors like Alisha Rai might enjoy. The romance picks up as the book moves on, and the hero (Adam) is an actual nice guy single father that is a delight to read about. It is also a great accounting of friendships between Seraphina and the other ladies that sets the scene for the other books in the series.

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham is really good. I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride when I was reading it. Seraphina and her friends make a group called a society of sirens where they use there talents to fight equality for woman. Sera also drinks and has many many affairs and does not let them get close to her. She pushes men away after she is done with them including Adam her next door neighbor. In every book I have read of Scarlett Peckhams there is a moment where I think there is no way this can end happy. There is so much despair how can they get through this. Every time!! I think that truly is remarkable she can pull me in her stories where I see no way out. It’s a great talent she possesses. Her style is quite unique for historical romances and I love how she shakes it up And pushes boundaries

Reviewers Shannon Dyer and Em Wittmann read The Rakess, the first book in Scarlett Peckham’s new Society of Sirens series, and got together to share their thoughts on the novel.

Em: I confess – I liked this better than I thought I would! I still don’t like the title, and since I think the author struggles with her characterization of Seraphina (which we’ll talk about), I’m not sure it’s appropriate. But overall, I found it thoughtful and compelling – and sometimes quite sexy, and I liked a lot of things about it. What did you think Shannon?

Shannon: It was definitely sexy! The beginning chapters were a little slow for me, but once the story picked up speed, I was pretty hooked.

Em: Alright, let’s talk about the set-up of the story (and why I’m giving it a B grade). A teenage Seraphina was ruined by a man she deeply loved and trusted. She managed to make a success of her life anyway, and she’s become a lightning rod for her published opinions about women’s rights in and out of the bedroom. She enjoys casual sex, and doesn’t mind if the whole wide world knows it. With the support of her patron and friend, Lady Elinor Bell, and publisher Jack Willow, she and her fellow fallen, ruined women friends, Cornelia and Thaïs, hope to build a philanthropic institute that will work for the advancement and education of the female sex. Together, these women are – you guessed it, The Society of Sirens.

Although I wasn’t feeling the girl power vibe at the beginning of the story, I’m glad I persevered. I ended up liking these women and their love for each other, even if I wasn’t buying their ‘casual sex is the best sex,’ rallying call. And that segues nicely into a discussion about my thoughts about our heroine. Look, Shannon, I have no problems with a lusty lady who likes sex. It’s a bit strange to find her in a Regency, but since the blurb says her passions include equality, amorous affairs, and wild, wine-soaked nights, I knew what to expect. Unfortunately, mid-way through the book, our heroine is sober and we get this gem:

All at once she felt afraid. His delectation in their intimacy was too much. This was all too fast. She could not remember the last time she’d been with a man without the haze of wine, and she felt her nakedness, she felt his focus, she felt all the ways that she might wrong him, and she wanted to cover up.

Which, I felt, gave the lie to her casual approach to sex. If she’s always hazy with wine, is it all really so easy, breezy casual? Honestly, if we’re likening her to a rake, I don’t think alcohol has anything to do with their sexual appetite. Sex is sex. Peckham attempts to characterize Seraphina as a sexually liberated and experienced heroine who likes both giving and receiving pleasure (I’m all for this) with a parade of casual lovers, but it felt more like a role she was playing rather than her true self. She can be sexually liberated and still not be into casual sex – can’t she? Did you feel this way?

Shannon: I see your point, but my interpretation is slightly different from yours. I saw her as someone who wears her supposed liberation like a suit of armor, putting it on when she needs to feel powerful and free, but wishing she didn’t need to wear it quite so often. I don’t necessarily think she was lying as much as she was trying to convince herself of her own happiness. She pours her heart and soul into fighting for the rights of women without giving a ton of thought to her own deepest desires. When she and Adam meet, all that begins to change, and Seraphina isn’t sure she can deal with the changes. After all, she’s being forced to examine parts of herself she’s ignored for years.

Let’s talk about Adam now. Some readers might find him a touch on the boring side, but I fell in love with him right away. I enjoyed watching him take a more passive role in his dealings with Seraphina. He isn’t exactly submissive, but neither is he the one constantly in charge, and I found it to be a refreshing change. His love for his sister and his two young children is plain to see, and I found myself wanting all of his dreams to come true almost right away. I was also quite intrigued by his relationship with his own sexuality. He wasn’t the kind of brash, cocksure hero I encounter so often in today’s historical romances. He likes sex, but it also has some painful associations for him. I’m usually a reader who identifies more with the heroine, so I’m a little surprised by the strength of my feelings for Adam. How did you feel about him?

Em: I liked him, too. I was surprised by him. On the surface, he’s a dutiful father and brother who tries to do the best for the people he loves. He works hard, and still suffers the loss of his wife. But he also has such a naughty side, and it’s lovely that with Seraphina he can be both. Good, kind, and gentle, but playful and slightly wicked and lecherous, too! She helps coax out his truest self, and he does the same for her. He doesn’t tolerate games – of which Seraphina has become something of a master – and calls her out even though it hurts him to do so. (She does the same for him, by the way.) He’s an excellent match for her.

Shannon: I completely agree. These two complement each other very well. Things between them aren’t always easy and fun, but their deep affection for one another shines through in spite of the difficulties they sometimes had in relating to one another.

Em: I mentioned earlier that I liked the friendship between the women, but I have to confess, I don’t think the secondary characters are as successfully realized as Seraphina and Adam. The glib references to smelling sex on Seraphina and loving it (wink, wink); the easy, breezy asylum break out; the awareness that Seraphina might have a problem with alcohol – but minimal attempt to curb their own behaviors in the face of it, and Lady Bell’s relationship with her husband and Willow… The lack of nuance to their shared struggle for agency is a bit clunky. I don’t know that they added much value to this story, aside from illustrating the many facets of the problem. And sometimes it just felt like the author couldn’t resist gilding the lily. Even Adam’s sister feels like she’s a check mark on some pre-planned list of people Peckham wanted to include. What did you think?

Shannon: It’s interesting that you bring that up since I had similar thoughts. Their friendship felt more like a concept to me than a fully-realized relationship based on mutual caring. Cornelia and Thais exist to serve a purpose, and this negatively impacted my ability to like and trust them. Hopefully, we’ll learn more about them as the series progresses because they did feel rather two-dimensional. Perhaps some fleshing out of their histories will make them feel more authentic, but for now, I wasn’t as impressed by them as I wanted to be. The whole scene at the asylum felt more than a little implausible, due in large part to their shoddy planning and the lack of real obstacles they encountered. The author’s idea was great, but the execution didn’t work nearly as well.

Do you plan to read the next installment in this series when it comes out? I enjoyed The Rakess enough to want to give the next book a try, and I’m giving it a B+. Peckham is an engaging storyteller, and I’m eager to see where she takes this series.

Em: You mentioned you hadn’t read Peckham before. I loved her first book (The Duke I Tempted), but was so disappointed with the second – and the authors’ abandonment of the darker themes that made the first one so compelling (and perhaps divided her readers), that I didn’t even read her last book. Honestly, I’m worried about history repeating itself here. I hope she commits to this potentially divisive story line in the future stories. I have my doubts, but I’m definitely here for the next one.

Scarlett Peckham writes incredibly well-crafted and angsty books and her Avon debut is no exception to that. She takes "The Rake" and gender flips it and really does the work to dig in to what that would look like. We've lived in a society for ages, and still do, where men who have sex often are applauded and women who have sex often are denigrated. So in The Rakess Peckham gives us a woman who likes to keep sex casual and whom society treats most often with scorn and intense repudiation. Meanwhile the man who ruined her? He's cruising along totally fine in life because for him, sex was permitted to not be a big deal.

When I say this book is angsty, what I mean is that Seraphina didn't stumble into the rakess lifestyle without a few bumps and bruises along the way and she's back in the town she grew up in to exorcise those demons to pour her heart out into writing her memoir. She feels it is best to do this with plenty of alcohol on her side. And then we have Adam, our widowed hero whose wife died in childbirth for their third child. Adam is an architect and is discovering there's an expectation that he will play politics, which makes Seraphina not really a safe choice for a companion.

I don't want to spoil anything for you, so I'm going to stop describing the plot even though the plot is such a twisty, windy tale in this book. It's fascinating because the book is intensely character driven and yet, it feels like a lot happens. It is, of course, beautifully written as always, but I think I need to revisit this book when there is not such a disaster happening in the outside world because it was so much. I also want to straight up have a book club discussing this book because Scarlett Peckham truly did so much. There is just a ton of stuff to unpack and it's impossible to do without spoilers.

So to explain why I gave this a four star: I really loved what this book was doing. To quote Fated Mates, Peckham is hunting big game here. And yet, the angst was much too much for me at this particular point in the world. But I will undoubtedly revisit this at some point when I want an angst ridden book and can better grapple with the subject matter.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for the opportunity to read this book early!

Ok so I thought the blurb sounded very interesting because I thought it would be different for me to read something that's not your average historical romance book. Think of it as a gender swap instead of a "Male Rake" you have a "Female Rakess."

Sadly for me, the book in the beginning dragged big time just to get the momentum of the story going. 2nd half is way better than the first. Overall, I couldn't see the connection of the main couple. It just wasn't for me and it seemed very flat. I applaud Scarlett for writing something different. Although I will be debating about continuing this series.

Scarlett writes well and I will say I did enjoy "The Duke I Tempted", I have added her other Indie titles to my TBR.

I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Discussed on twitter thread: https://twitter.com/aarya_marsden/status/1254440939050930176?s=21

Discussed in SBTB’s bimonthly Whatcha Reading post: https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2020/04/whatcha-reading-april-2020-edition-part-two/

“I’m also on chapter three of Scarlett Peckham’s The Rakess (out April 28). I haven’t read enough to form an opinion, but the writing is exceptional so far. I’m really excited because early reviews/reactions from my friends have been polarizing (anywhere from 2 to 5 stars). Even if I end up disliking it, I enjoy reading books that generate discussion. I like knowing what side of the argument I fall on! Fingers crossed that I’ll like it (and if I don’t, hopefully there’ll be interesting conversations about the book).”

***

Post-reading reactions:

4.5 stars

My friend b.andherbooks graciously allowed me to copy/paste her thorough list of content warnings. Thanks, B! Her review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2990217810

CW: [Past miscarriage described on page, past death from pregnancy and a bad delivery, grief, alcoholism, addiction, gas lighting (not by hero or heroine), animal cruelty (birds killed and maimed and left for heroine to find to scare her), forced kidnapping and imprisonment of a secondary female character in an asylum, described torture in said asylum (hide spoiler)]

“Sirens, you see, are not born thirsting for justice. Sirens are made.”

Wow. Okay. So the content warnings are a lot. I would not recommend this book to folks if they dislike any mentions of those CWs. I honestly did not think I’d love THE RAKESS as it utilizes certain tropes/plot decisions that I normally dislike. That plus early polarizing reviews made me wary. So I wasn’t expecting to love it and was on the fence for most of the book.

In the end, when I took a step back and analyzed the experience.... yeah, I loved it. I think there are some aspects that are deeply flawed or not interrogated enough for my liking, but my overall experience was deeply enjoyable. Despite certain qualms, it’s going to stick with me for a while. I love those kind of books. I look forward to discussing THE RAKESS with folks who both love and loathe it.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I had been hearing good things about Scarlett’s books and bought one. I saw this one on NetGalley and the premise sounded so good I decided to read it. Unfortunately, it really fell flat for me. I love the idea of the society of independent women, basically women rakes, but that was about it. The writing was nice, a little too flowery for me with several five dollar words (which is not bad as it does improve vocabulary but I thought they were there for shock value). Adam was boring and Sera was really a drunk, and the story just went on and on. Unfortunately, I skimmed the last half of the book and some passages were intriguing.

I've been using the word "achy" to describe some of my favorite romances lately — ones that definitely include some angst but are ultimately very satisfying even in spite of those heartbreaking moments. I've been a fan of Peckham since her Charlotte Street series and The Rakess built on so much of what I loved from her earlier books while managing to do something completely different, with a rich sense of place and gorgeous prose. Sera is a heroine unlike any other, independent but also vulnerable, with lots of inner demons that she has to combat. As a hero, Adam is a widower, a loving family man and quietly supportive. Their relationship was refreshing and fulfilling, and I also loved Sera's inner circle of friends (who presumably will be getting their own romances in future books)!

content warnings for: miscarriage described on page, alcoholism, addiction, animal cruelty, imprisonment of female character (not the heroine), gaslighting

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

DNF 21%

I kept seeing a lot of people excited about this book and what’s not to be excited about? A feminist woman owning her sexuality and attraction and refusing to let herself be “ruined” for her history? A single dad who dotes on his children? Sounds like it’s going to be amazing!

Instead I am left wanting.

I don’t think the writing style works for me, so I was already off to a rocky start, but what actually pushed me to DNF is when the heroine found a dying bird on her windowsill as a warning and she had to kill it. This wouldn’t have necessarily been so bad, but the explicitness of the bird’s cut breast and Seraphina having to break the bird’s neck was just…too much… I also got quickly tired of the hero’s shame and guilt around his sexual attraction towards Sera. Even if you flip the genders, a lot of guilt around sex still doesn’t make for an enjoyable romance, or at least not how Adam’s feelings were being portrayed. There’s hints that his wife died as a “result” of them having sex and presumably getting pregnant against doctor’s orders/recommendations, and so Adam is just mired in guilt for being cause of his wife’s death. I imagine those guilty feelings and trauma and stuff will be resolved during course of story, but I’m not willing to suffer through this to get there. Plus it seems Sera had a miscarriage or otherwise lost a child and she has her own trauma being processed. She thinks she may be barren because since That Time she hasn’t gotten pregnant again, but I did a search through book and Adam has “magic penis” trope I guess cuz Sera does get pregnant. Which is its own problem, but I don’t feel able to discuss why that trope/story element is harmful because not something I’ve experienced myself. Anyway, I was excited when I got an arc because I thought this story sounded so promising, but unfortunately all I got was disappointment…

ok I read the blurb and said yup I like this, however I started reading and did not agree with that. why well it bored me, and it is supposed to be a romance book and I didn't feel we got that til way later, more than half a book later. Seraphina, I was wishing she was the type of heroine I liked, but she wasn't she was drunk and it seemed that is what she was always gonna do, I tried to remember that the tables were turned which it would be something that a Rake would do but I dont know it didn't sell it well to me. She meets Adam who is actually a really nice guy and has 2 kids, but would he really want Seraphina around..

This is my first book by Scarlet Peckham but I won’t be my last. Her characters were so well developed it blew me away. Seraphina is the ruined alpha female and Adam is the soft hearted Scot who is a widowed father with small children to raise. Their road to love is fraught with much angst. This was unlike the romance books I usually read but I loved it. I highly recommend this book. I was gifted this book by NetGalley and the publisher. My review is voluntarily given and my opinions are my own.