The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham
I wanted to love this book so much more than I did. You can hear/read us wax poetic about Scarlett’s first two books, The Duke I Tempted and The Earl I Ruined, and I wanted to love this book that much.
Unfortunately, it just didn’t fully click for me.
Title: The Rakess
Author: Scarlett Peckham
Part of a Series: Society of Sirens Book #1
Genre: Historical Romance
Plot: Seraphina is a rakess - passionate about equality of the sexes, pursuing her sexual urges, and drinking way too much. She goes back to her childhood home to write an explosive memoir that will name a peer of the realm in the scandal of her youth and while there she meets her hot, Scottish, widowed neighbor.
What begins as a convenient summer romance quickly deepens into something more as they learn more about each other. The yearning to be more are in direct conflict with outside influences.
Thoughts: I really like the premise of the Rakess. Having a female character who is the rake, who loves sex and has it, who takes pleasure in what life has to offer despite and perhaps in spite of society’s expectations. The beginning of the book caught me. I loved the scene where they met on the bluffs, I liked the friendship between the society of Sirens femmes and their badass bravery, and I definitely liked the exploration of the ways that society shames women in a scandal but not the men involved.
What I didn’t like feels like it falls in the spoiler category so I’ll give you an opaque view of it. I didn’t love that her being a “Rakess” did not present itself the way I thought I was being promised in the opening chapters of the book. Which really lowered the rating and overall enjoyment for me.
Side note: I am so glad that contraception is a thing in modern life and that childbirth is not as dangerous as it used to be. Those hurdles really help with equality.
McDreamy to McSteamy: McDreamy with a brogue
Classy to Nasty: Classy - but I thought it was gonna be rougher based on her initial excitement over him grabbing her arm.
Hero rating: 🍆🍆🍆
Heroine rating: 🍑🍑🍑
Overall rating: ⭐⭐⭐
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