One day, out of the blue, I decided that I wanted to try listening to a romance on audiobook. I recently got a library card (yippee!) and was able to track down this series in audio, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’ve been spending long hours out on the trails surrounding my apartment with the dogs, and Lily and Alec were the first pair to help me pass the time this year. *swoon*
In A Scot in the Dark, Alec, the Duke of Warnick, is called to London from his Scottish home because of a ward he did not know he had who got in a bit of trouble. A bit might be a slight understatement – she ruined herself in front of all of London by posing for a nude for Derek Hawkins, an artist who thinks a biiiiiiit highly of himself. She expected to marry him, and that the painting was just for him. Instead, he rebuffed her in front of London and intended to display the painting in a show. Lily thinks she is ruined, and Alec comes to London to try to save her image.
He never intended to fall for her, but I guess that’s just the way things go. 😉
3 Things I Loved
- Lily. I didn’t think I was going to like Lily at the beginning of the book. I already knew Derek Hawkins was an ass from the first book in the series, so when she said she was in love with him at the beginning, I didn’t know how I’d feel about her. And then he was an ass, and Lily was my favorite for the rest of the book. She was strong even through her hurt, and she was such a good foil for Alec. I loved her feminism a whole lot too. ❤
- Alec. GRUMPY HERO. WE HAVE A GRUMPY HERO! And not only that, but he’s also SCOTTISH! I spent a semester abroad in Scotland when I was in college and have quite the soft spot for it now. On top of all of this, Alec has a tragic, sad past and is coping with it the best way he knows how, and it made his character even more lovable to me.
- Sesily! Praise the lord for Sesily Talbot. I want her to have her own book more than I can possibly say, and I’m glad she befriended Lily near the beginning of this book. More Sesily, always!
Dislikes/Problematic Content
A lot of the reviews on Goodreads have said that the love story didn’t seem realistic and that they didn’t like this and that. But listen. Aside from the lack of racial diversity that runs rampant in MacLean’s historical romances, I didn’t see anything problematic about this book. The sex was consensual (and was between two non-virgins, which I adored!), there were some real traumatic incidents in the pasts of both of our main characters that they overcame when they fell for each other, and Lily was feminist as hell. Obviously, if you can see problems that aren’t apparent too me, please let me know. I’d be happy to revise this section of my review.
Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:
- Red = DNF, I hated everything
- Orange = Ugh, no thank you
- Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
- Green = This was good!
- Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
- Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
When it comes to historical fiction, I’m finding I like it more and more, and Sarah MacLean was my ticket in. I’m giving A Scot in the Dark a BLUE rating. I loved it! And it made me PUMPED to read the third book in the series, which I’m reviewing later this week!
Happy reading!
-A.
Snark & Squee 