The Day of the Duchess (Scandal & Scoundrel #3)

I want to like this author’s books…but sometimes its hard. I have a hard time with her writing style – I understand not everyone will think it a big deal, obviously or she wouldnt be so successful. For this book, I think the story itself is good but the way we get there is a challenge.

Her style is very contemporary for a historical romance so if you are a stickler for the proper use of a word for the time period, you will be frustrated. I dont consider myself a complete purist, but I do notice, the more historicals I read, when ass is used instead of arse but it doesnt deter me from reading. In this book there is more than that. Macleans use of the term full stop had me rolling my eyes each time I read it as its pervasively used throughout all her books, and really, overused. I believe I counted it used six times in this book. Granted, it wouldnt be a bad thing if it were used once to emphasize with great feeling how strongly someone felt, but to be used so much, just got annoying.

Also, while this might be fine to another reader, I found the sisters to be distracting and obstructive to the story. I did not find them likeable. I loved the Rogue Not Taken, Sophie and Kings story, so she was fine, but the other sisters are just crass and rude. I love sarcasm, but they were rude, full stop. (see what I did there)

I loved how Haven redeemed himself and finally came to realize the error of his ways. Sera was all over the map and when she doubted Haven again and again, even though he provided her with more than enough opportunities for her to believe in him, I was again frustrated.

The last frustration I had with the book was the back and forth through time periods. It was confusing as I couldnt read the book all in one sitting. It took me several days to read where I needed to stop and start and Id have to recall where it was we were in the story because there was no clear pattern.

There was something I liked – I loved the debutantes who were a part of Havens plot to win Sera back. They were awesome and I loved when they went against their mommas censure. Itd be great to see stories developed from these characters.

Bottom line, this one was a miss for me. I feel like thats the thing with Macleans books these days – they are either hit or miss. I say this in all my reviews of Macleans books that Ive read and reviewed, I loved Nine Rules to Break When Seducing a Rake. This was her debut and her best. I wish all of her books mimicked the style she used in that book and didnt slide into contemporary-isms like her other books. I would probably enjoy them if that were the case.

Perhaps the author went a bit too far when painting a hero in need of redemption – Haven’s behavior, his words, his actions, aren’t just bad… they’re heinous and abusive AF. He cheats on her, is emotionally and verbally abusive, he dumps her, kicks her out while she’s pregnant, and still treats her abominably after the baby dies. The heroine has to be a moronic halfwit completely lacking in self esteem to take him back. And she does, under the dumbest pretense of picking out her replacement.

Neither character is likable, both are halfwits, so perhaps they do deserve each other.

This book was really only ok. I understand what the author was trying to do, redeeming lost love can be so beautiful and romantic. Unfortunately, this book didn’t come anywhere close.

So before reading this book I knew that Malcolm cheated on seraphina…. like big time cheated. Like she walked in on them and he really didn’t care-cheated. So i hoped that this book would resolve that – explain his infidelity in a satisfying way….. but nope. He just got pissed and had sex with some random woman.
Seraphina isn’t an awesome character either. She’s just this pitiful, wishy washy wannabe. She says she loves him, but can’t be with him…… only to spend a whole lot of time being with him. And the indecision between these characters is numbing. My interest waned…. and by the end of the book I really didn’t care if they ended up together or not.

Sarah MacLean has outdone herself again. Every book is her best one, and this one is the most absolutely lovely, heartbreaking, devastating, reedeming, hopefull, and joy full love story of them all. I did not think that the Duke of Heaven was in any way redeemable. I could not forgive that he broke Sera’s heart, that he dismissed her love with such callousness, and his unfaithfulness was horrible, it was monstrous. I could not fantom how a 30 year old man could have such a tantrum, that he would have destroyed so much beauty. Thank you Mrs. McLean for helping me see not only through Sera’s heart, but also through Mal’s. What makes this book so beautiful is that you feel each moment like it was yours. From the beginning you feel his pain at the loss of his love, and the weight of his mistakes, you also feel the rush of hope and joy he feels at her return. As the story progress you learn how they fell in love with each other, how they hurt each other, and how not in spite, but because of their mistakes their love is made real, stronger and perfect in their own flawed way. Thank you for making Sera such a strong woman, ohh how I enjoyed each and one of their dialogs, how she not only puts him in his place, but also recognizes her self with all her rights and wrongs. I’m thrilled that they both get to open up not only with words that were missing since the beginning of their relationship, but also with actions. They get to show each other how they’ve struggle, and how they’ve grown and matured, this makes the reedeming, and the forgiving of each other so much real. Thanks for touching such painful topics, so much loss, with compassion, and for having them find solace, and a promise of a future happiness within each other . Thanks for the breaks in between the chapters, some so emotional intense you squeezed my heart in angst, and then some filled with laughter, hope, love, and passion that you made me smiled lighthearted with joy. I’m happy that after all the tears, some from sorrow, and even anger, you’ve managed to give me a beautiful happy ever after.

I am a huge fan of Sarah MacLean’s work (and always will be) – I love her characters and her ability to transport you into these wonderfully romantic dramas that make you wish you lived in a bygone era (only as an aristocrat or beautiful woman though haha!)
The Day of the Duchess focussed on another of the fabulous ‘Dangerous Daughters’, and as always, there was epic romance, a dashing hero, an enjoyable story, and some great lines!

There are only three points of criticism from me:
1) Sometimes the speech was convoluted – it wasn’t clear who was speaking, or the wrong person’s name was given as the speaker (especially when the five sisters were involved). There were also some definite typos in general.
2) Unlike previous SM works, this story felt like it got tangled up in itself a little, re-hashing the same scenes/words which hindered the plot.
3) SM works are epic, but sometimes I wish she would push her characters and stories a bit further – make it a little more dramatic, hold the tense moments or elements of danger a little bit longer and make us (or the characters) fear for a few pages more, instead of resolving those elements so quickly.

My favourite part was the ‘grand gesture’… *swoons*

I would just like to reiterate that I love Sarah’s works, and can’t wait to see what she does next. In my opinion she is the absolute best writer of this genre, with maybe only Lisa Kleypas coming close!

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