don’t get me wrong, i’m hella excited about the day of the duchess but a scot in the dark was even more magnificent the second time around!!
things i loved about a scot in the dark
1. mo chridhe. I don’t feel like I need to say more. it was one of the most powerful phrases in the book i s2g.
2. GEORGIANA GODDAMN PEARSON WEST. my queen, my everything only behind callie tbh. I just get super excited about her in any book ever and the fact that she was still a queen and helped lily just made it better.
3. Sesily Talbot, It’s rare that i care about secondary characters more than the mains but Sesily really brought it this book. Her strength and crassness were enlightening and I love her so so much, I hope she gets her own book. It’s only fair.
4. Lillian Hargrove, Lonely Lily. ( sidenote: karen gillian or KAREN GILLIAN??? ) boy, this lady brought out some Too Real abandonment issues and the way she’d latched onto Derek even if he was faking broke my heart just as much as it broke Alec’s. I wanted her so bad the entire book to be able to have everything she wanted. A family, children, love. It was imperative to me that she find that and be at peace with herself knowing that she was loved ( if i could send all of it that I had for her I would’ve ) I know this is no spoiler but spoiler alert, no one deserved her more than alec.
5. Alec Stuart, not a whore and not a brute. Again with these Too Real issues, this time: self worth. I think I might adopt all the heroes in this series, instead of trying to husband them. the pain both of them were in -- the different but similar experiences that made their love so much stronger. my angsty scottish son deserved so much more than a mother and father who hated him who hated him and women who used him and made him feel worthless. sometimes even heroes need to be reminded how good they are and just how very much they’re needed and lily brought that out in alec. no one deserved him more than lilly.
6. the fact that the entire plot didn’t hinge on lily’s virginity. it was barely even mentioned and for that i am eternally grateful. there was no snide remarks from alec about it when he was angry at her, even when there were bickering their worst. even when he was trying to push her away and mentioned the painting, sure it was somewhat implied but he never threw it in her face and if that doesn’t make it a winner idk what does ( sigh. such low standards. )
things I didn’t love so much
1. Cate was not in the entire book. I would have LOVED to see Lily and Alec’s sister take on his self criticisms because even though we barely meet her ( a crime ) you have to know that she loves her brother and wouldn’t just let him run from Lily. ( Maybe it was just wishful thinking? )
2. Derek Hawkins. Like -- just swerve boy. I don’t you to ruin another life with your misogynist bullshit. i actually hate this man. I might need to take hot sauce out of beyonce’s bag and beat him with it. Even if he does get a few ‘warnings’ from Alec.
3. Sesily Talbot does not have her own book. 👏👏👏
4. while i loved my angsty son, there was a lot of repetition of JUST HOW ANGSTY AND SAD HE WAS. and yes, i love reading the angst and would do anything for my son but maybe it just dragged out the plot a little more than necessary with his back and forth and back and forth and back and forth and..i think you get it.
at first, I was a little worried i wouldn’t like this book as much as the rest of ms. maclean’s because the ward/guardian plot has scarred me in the Olden Days of romance before. So, i was a little wary but the love that alec and lily have honestly kind of makes you forget that it’s even that case because they’re kind of each other’s home and it’s kind of obvious from the beginning. ( also alec will bring it up 2394292489287328732 times but even then you just kind of side eye because -- you know what’s going on here.
finally -- THE DAY OF THE DUCHESS.
a scot in the dark by sarah maclean 8/10
