Series: Scandal & Scoundrel #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: June 27th 2017
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Hardcover • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
The one woman he will never forget…
Malcolm Bevingstoke, Duke of Haven, has lived the last three years in self-imposed solitude, paying the price for a mistake he can never reverse and a love he lost forever. The dukedom does not wait, however, and Haven requires an heir, which means he must find himself a wife by summer’s end. There is only one problem—he already has one.
The one man she will never forgive…
After years in exile, Seraphina, Duchess of Haven, returns to London with a single goal—to reclaim the life she left and find happiness, unencumbered by the man who broke her heart. Haven offers her a deal; Sera can have her freedom, just as soon as she finds her replacement…which requires her to spend the summer in close quarters with the husband she does not want, but somehow cannot resist.
A love that neither can deny…
The duke has a single summer to woo his wife and convince her that, despite their broken past, he can give her forever, making every day
THE DAY OF THE DUCHESS
AAHHHHH I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!!!!! This might honestly be my new all-time favorite book of Sarah MacLean’s (and if you know me, you know how much I loved One Good Earl Deserves a Lover). The angst had me in TEARS. I LOVED it. THIS is exactly the kind of book I want when I read a second chance romance (aka has a groveling hero who is unrelenting in his pursuit to win back the one and only love of his life). As soon as I finished The Day of the Duchess, I knew it would be one of the best books I’d read all year. I wholeheartedly loved every bit of this wonderful book, and I encourage all historical romance lovers and second chance romance lovers to read this book!
Home required more than river and rolling hills. Home required her. And so he would do this summer what he had done every moment he’d been away from London for the past two years and seven months, exactly. He would search for her.
For the past three years, Malcolm Bevingstoke, Duke of Haven, has been searching endlessly for his runaway wife. We experience the pain and agony he’s been going through the past few years missing his wife – the woman he loves and hates. Sarah MacLean writes his anguish so well – I could FEEL exactly how he was feeling, and it was literally hurting my heart. I love some good angst, and the author gives it to us in huge doses. Then, finally, Malcolm’s wife reappears back in London, demanding a divorce… and all he can think about is having her back in his life forever.
The only woman he’d ever loved. The only woman he’d ever hated.
The same, and somehow entirely different.
Here, Sarah MacLean intertwines Sera and Malcolm’s love stories that take place both in the past and the present. We get the background of how they met and fell in love… before everything fell apart, before Malcolm hated Sera, before Sera ran away. Their past is heartbreaking and full of pain – I nearly had tears in my eyes because I felt like I was experiencing every bit of their pain alongside them.
Love is not enough.
There had been a time when it would have been. When he had been all she’d ever wished for. All she’d ever needed. But he’d been too blind to see that everything she’d done had been for him. For their family. For their future. And by the time he’d understood, she’d already been fixed to the firmament.
And then, I ACTUALLY cried as Malcolm was trying to win back his wife and love of his life. His desperation to earn Sera’s forgiveness and love again had my heart hurting, but I loved every second of the hurt. His path toward redemption is a bit wonky – having Sera find a replacement wife for him, all the while trying to get her to love him again – but he is definitely not letting her go again, because he never stopped loving her. I love a good grovel, and Sarah MacLean gave me everything I never knew I wanted in a groveling hero. I honestly didn’t think Malcolm would be redeemable after what happened in The Rogue Not Taken, but all I can say after having read this is that Malcolm is 100% redeemed in my eyes and I absolutely loved him and Sera together.
“I shall have you. I shall love you. And I shall grow old in your arms.”
This is probably my all-time favorite redeeming love story. I’m such a sucker for second chance romances but they’re never done quite the way I want them to. Luckily, Sarah MacLean surpassed all my expectations in a second chance romance with this beautiful, powerful love story. Everyone needs to experience the wonder that is this book!
Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.
Reading Order: Scandal & Scoundrel series
#1 ~ The Rogue Not Taken: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ A Scot in the Dark: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Hardcover • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ The Day of the Duchess: Ebook • Paperback • Hardcover • Audible • Goodreads (June 27, 2017)
The Scandal & Scoundrel series is a spinoff of The Rules of Scoundrels series. You don’t have to read The Rules of Scoundrels prior to Scandal & Scoundrel, but I highly recommend the series! Here is the reading order if you’d like to start it:
Reading Order: The Rules of Scoundrels series
#1 ~ A Rogue by Any Other Name: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ One Good Earl Deserves a Lover: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ No Good Duke Goes Unpunished: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
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Oh! I so love Sarah’s books. Can’t wait to read this one.