May 2023 addendum: skip this book and read Sherry Thomas's Not Quite a Husband instead which is superior to (and clearly inspired) The Day of the Duchess.

March 2023 original review:
2.5 stars

My first Sarah MacLean! lol and likely my last. I gave her a good shot, but I kind of knew going in that her writing likely wouldn't be for me. Sorry but her dialogue is a cringe-fest to me. So much, "Hello Husband!" "Yes, WIFE!" get me out of here!

There is a lot of white feminism moments in this book that feels oppressive in its heavy-handedness. Like HEY DID YOU KNOW THIS IS A FEMINIST BOOK ABOUT FEMINISTS DOING FEMINISM IN A FEMINIST GIRL GANG??? This is THE book where I realized I don't like girl gangs in histrom - they are tedious. The whole old wife pick me a new wife at our country estate didn't really work well. It was lazy. I also wanted more for Sera during her time traveling, like maybe a relationship with other people? (there was ample opportunity with the American she met and traveled back to England with, for instance - I don't care that he ends up with another member of the girl gang in a different book. It would have been so fucking brave for Sera to have taken a lover and brought him back with her, even if they were just friends by that point. give me THAT book.) Anyway, Sera supposedly comes back a new person, completely unlike her previous self. But I did not feel this in the pages I read. And I don't find MacLean's sex scenes sexy at all.

I liked that the author wrote a cheating story; I'd like to see more, actually! I enjoy reading about infidelity in my romance books because it is still such a taboo and also because I think cheating provides so much potential for character work. It's sad that it is undervalued by readers. This book about infidelity just fell terribly short for me.
( )

Loved it. ( )

lmao this is terrible

The Day of the Duchess
2 Stars

Unfortunately, the final installment in Sarah MacLean's Scandal & Scoundrel series is disappointing. Although it has potential, the book simply contains too many annoying tropes. However, readers who do not have the same issues will probably enjoy the story.

So what are the offending tropes?
To begin with, this is a second chances romance, and suffice it to say that the hero behaved so abominably in the first book of the series that it is extremely difficult to get past his transgressions.

Second, the hero and heroine are incapable of communication. The number of misunderstandings stemming from the fact that they cannot have an honest discussion and admit to their feelings is completely excessive and turns the book into one big angst-fest.

Finally, the linear progression of the narrative is interspersed with a series of flashbacks that move backwards in time, which is not only disorienting, but distracts from the romance as the reader knows in advance what happened prior to the presentation of the actual events.

In sum, not up to Sarah MacLean's standards. ( )

This book is more bittersweet than most romance novels. The time slip storytelling beautifully weaves together the rise and fall of Sera and Malcolm's marriage. Watching the characters grow through love, loss, grief, and pain is worth the read. Sera's sisters are a hilarious bunch that wonderfully counterpoint the heartache of Sera and Mal. ( )