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A review by yazthebookish
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore
5.0
FIVE STUNNING STARS⭐️
“I shall now forever live with the knowledge that without you in it, the world would be a strange place, and I should never be at home in it again.”
I can't even find the words to describe how much I adored Portrait of a Scotsman! It's probably my favorite book of the series thus far.
This book is BRILLIANT. I doubt my review will do it justice but I will try.
Although this book is not advertised as a retelling, but I can sense a tinge of inspiration by Beauty and the Beast.
This book has so many facets, it is by no means a light book due to the social issues it picks up on, nonetheless it gave me what I wanted it in a historical romance and more.
I must applaud Evie Dunmore for walking away from London's dazzling ballrooms to create a rich and complex tapestry on feminism and workers' rights that is intricately woven into fiction.
We are not told of these social issues, we are transported to settings where women's lack of rights and the workers poor conditions felt tangible.
It also highlighted the power imbalance between a husband and a wife and we explore this through the main couple. By no means does Lucian excercise these rights on Hattie but it is still an advantage he has over her simply for being a woman and seen as a property by society.
I won't get into details about their arranged marriage, but I liked how the book makes a note of how if a woman made a teeny tiny mistake of being seen in close proximity with a stranger, they'll thrust her into an arranged marriage for carnal indecencies because a fleeting kiss is such a terrible sin that must be repent through wedlock.
But before we pick up on that, let's introduce the main couple:
Lady Hattie Greenfield is the daughter of Julien Greenfield, patriarch of Britain's largest family-owned bank. Impressively enough for a woman of a high social standing, she is an Oxford scholar and a reputable blue-stocking. Hattie desired three things in life:
1. Acclaim as an artist
2. A noble cause.
3. Marriage to a young lord who puts the gentle in gentleman.
Although it is not further explored, but also Hattie has difficulty reading written words which points to Dyslexia, so I appreciate the disability representation in this book.
A fleeting kiss pulls Hattie to an altar where she must make her vows to Lucian Blackstone of all people.
Lucian is one of the wealthiest businessmen in England with a reputable ruthlessness that casts fear in the hearts of London's peerage. He is what one would call a lowly born self-made man who is also a Scot to the teeth.
Lucian's corrupting influence draws Hattie closer to unholy pleasures and to the scarred man underneath.
“She had introduced a hitherto unknown complexity to his life: he found he was holding multiple contradictory thoughts—or worse, feelings—at the same time. Her mistrust, her sniping, the sullen, petulant curve of her mouth, bedeviled him very effectively, and yet he still wanted to lean across the narrow table and kiss that mouth.”
I must remind you that romance is still the central element of this book and to my delight, it combines many popular tropes that I must list each:
• Arranged marriage.
• A tender but strong heroine and a dark tortured hero.
• One bed.
• Forced proximity.
• Beauty and the Beast.
• A hero that lacks experience in romance and wooing.
• A heroine that does not falls head over heels for love at first.
• A high-born heroine and a low-born hero.
The sexual tension and passion between Hattie and Lucian was swoonworthy and sizzling! There was this delicious push-and-pull between them until both of them surrendered to the passion they ignited.
I also liked that there were issues and complications in their relationship. They were polar opposites and had to work around their differences though it wasn't a smooth process. It was all perfectly executed, for the culmination of their feelings felt rewarding.
The writing was superb and I was easily immersed into the book. I actually devoured this book and dreaded the ending because I did not want to let these characters go.
I absolutely love it! Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2021!!
“I shall now forever live with the knowledge that without you in it, the world would be a strange place, and I should never be at home in it again.”
I can't even find the words to describe how much I adored Portrait of a Scotsman! It's probably my favorite book of the series thus far.
This book is BRILLIANT. I doubt my review will do it justice but I will try.
Although this book is not advertised as a retelling, but I can sense a tinge of inspiration by Beauty and the Beast.
This book has so many facets, it is by no means a light book due to the social issues it picks up on, nonetheless it gave me what I wanted it in a historical romance and more.
I must applaud Evie Dunmore for walking away from London's dazzling ballrooms to create a rich and complex tapestry on feminism and workers' rights that is intricately woven into fiction.
We are not told of these social issues, we are transported to settings where women's lack of rights and the workers poor conditions felt tangible.
It also highlighted the power imbalance between a husband and a wife and we explore this through the main couple. By no means does Lucian excercise these rights on Hattie but it is still an advantage he has over her simply for being a woman and seen as a property by society.
I won't get into details about their arranged marriage, but I liked how the book makes a note of how if a woman made a teeny tiny mistake of being seen in close proximity with a stranger, they'll thrust her into an arranged marriage for carnal indecencies because a fleeting kiss is such a terrible sin that must be repent through wedlock.
But before we pick up on that, let's introduce the main couple:
Lady Hattie Greenfield is the daughter of Julien Greenfield, patriarch of Britain's largest family-owned bank. Impressively enough for a woman of a high social standing, she is an Oxford scholar and a reputable blue-stocking. Hattie desired three things in life:
1. Acclaim as an artist
2. A noble cause.
3. Marriage to a young lord who puts the gentle in gentleman.
Although it is not further explored, but also Hattie has difficulty reading written words which points to Dyslexia, so I appreciate the disability representation in this book.
A fleeting kiss pulls Hattie to an altar where she must make her vows to Lucian Blackstone of all people.
Lucian is one of the wealthiest businessmen in England with a reputable ruthlessness that casts fear in the hearts of London's peerage. He is what one would call a lowly born self-made man who is also a Scot to the teeth.
Lucian's corrupting influence draws Hattie closer to unholy pleasures and to the scarred man underneath.
“She had introduced a hitherto unknown complexity to his life: he found he was holding multiple contradictory thoughts—or worse, feelings—at the same time. Her mistrust, her sniping, the sullen, petulant curve of her mouth, bedeviled him very effectively, and yet he still wanted to lean across the narrow table and kiss that mouth.”
I must remind you that romance is still the central element of this book and to my delight, it combines many popular tropes that I must list each:
• Arranged marriage.
• A tender but strong heroine and a dark tortured hero.
• One bed.
• Forced proximity.
• Beauty and the Beast.
• A hero that lacks experience in romance and wooing.
• A heroine that does not falls head over heels for love at first.
• A high-born heroine and a low-born hero.
The sexual tension and passion between Hattie and Lucian was swoonworthy and sizzling! There was this delicious push-and-pull between them until both of them surrendered to the passion they ignited.
I also liked that there were issues and complications in their relationship. They were polar opposites and had to work around their differences though it wasn't a smooth process. It was all perfectly executed, for the culmination of their feelings felt rewarding.
The writing was superb and I was easily immersed into the book. I actually devoured this book and dreaded the ending because I did not want to let these characters go.
I absolutely love it! Definitely one of my favorite reads of 2021!!