I really came to care deeply for our couple. Cora has been making her way in business in a man's world and it's cost her. Manuela has always sacrificed herself for her family. These two coming together, learning that their happiness is more important than their previous priorities, was beautiful. The author never made it easy for them but the book still has a lightness that ties in with the light Manuela shines when she becomes herself.

And like the first book in this series (which I promptly re-read), I learned a lot about the artists who were part of the 1889 World's Fair and the lesbian community in Belle Époque Paris. Really looking forward to the next book, where we'll see Aurora and the road to becoming a doctor while being a woman. ( )

4.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

In six weeks she would have to return to Venezuela to be married.

Second in the Las Léonas series, An Island Princess Starts a Scandal, gives us Manuela’s story. Manuela has traveled to Paris with her friends, telling her parents it’s to compile her trousseau for the marriage she is being forced into; it’s to save her parents from financial and social ruin. Really though, Manuela plans on living her best scandalous life. Happening concurrently with book one (A Caribbean Heiress in Paris) you could start here to get Manuela’s romance but you’d miss out on the emotional connection between the Las Léonas, Manuela, Luz (book 1), and Aurora. Luz is mostly absent in this one while Aurora shows up more and provides the link to that friendship. Their chaperone is mostly absent and while the first had readers traveling, this stays, for the vast majority, in Paris.

“What if I told you that my price isn’t just money?” Manuela heard herself ask. The duchess arched a manicured eyebrow.

Close to her grandmother, Manuela inherited a parcel of land after her death, a parcel that they discussed being used for an art school or collective for women as Manuela is an artist. This parcel turns out to be highly valuable as it’s the missing piece for a railroad company to complete their track. The company is led by Cora Kemp-Bristol, Duchess of Sundridge. Cora has been in Paris for years with her stepson and tía, after leaving London in scandal. Missing her husband, who while not her lover, was her bestfriend, Cora fell prey to a woman using her for her own gain. Determined to never be used again and build an empire that will never have anyone daring to snub her stepson when he returns to London to take his place as Duke, Cora just needs this parcel of land to complete the railroad and show her male business partners that she deserves a seat at the table. When Manuela accepts Cora’s business invitation, they are both shocked to realize they’ve already met. If you’ve read book one, you’ll know all about the Le Bureau (a brothel) and here, readers learn what Manuela got up to there.

That was the precise moment it dawned on Cora with unequivocal certainty that Manuela Caceres Galvan could wreak absolute havoc on her life.

Realizing that Cora has the connections to get into the spaces and introduce her to the women she wants to be around, not to mention the sizzling attraction between them, Manuela makes a deal that Cora must chaperone her on a certain number of outings, along with purchasing the land for a large sum of money. Cora agrees because she needs the land but plans on showing Manuela a boring time as she can’t risk her reputation. What followed was a character driven story that was passionate and sensual, delivered on the historical feel, and delved into the heart of feminism.

“You deserve more than what you’ve been told you can have.”

Manuela started off willing to sacrifice for her spendthrift parents, as it was the only kind of life she could imagine but as she spends time in Paris, her world view opens up and with the help of Aurora and then Cora, because she sees a different option, she begins to believe in one and develops the strength to reach for it. I liked how the author showed this evolution of Manuela and had her deliver this: “I don’t need protection from the opinions of morally bankrupt people. Not from the men willing to ravage anything in their path to feed their greed, and not from the women who turn a blind eye to it to protect themselves.” Suddenly everything that had always felt so nebulous for Manuela, about her life, her purpose, seemed to come into perfect clarity. “I was going to be one of those women. My mother has been one for so long she can’t see she’s bartered herself away in the process. But that is not what I want. We don’t have to be pawns in this game anymore, Cora.”.
Cora’s struggle was more about letting go of indoctrinated desires and anger, hurt payback wants. Cora has been punished for who she is and who she wants to love, making her want to succeed in a structure that wants and works to keep her out. I enjoyed Cora’s journey even more as the twisted emotions of wanting to succeed in the world but also doing it on your own terms, had to be battled out by her. Her speech was shorter but just as sweet with delivering this line: “I am done measuring my success with a ruler that was made to strike me down.”

Cora Kemp-Bristol, the unflappable Duchess of Sundridge, the woman who had challenged every convention and won, was coming apart at the seams.

The sensuality between the two was from the beginning and around halfway the bedroom door got opened. The latter second half rushes the timeline a bit with some time jumps, we get our third act break-up moment with Manuela’s parents and fiancé making an appearance, and Cora taking a misstep before taking a stand on what she won’t compromise anymore and will stand for. The hero from book one half-brother, Apollo, shows up and gets some screen time as he looks poised to be paired with our last Léonas, Aurora. While I missed the Las Léonas being together more, Aurora had a sweet friendship moment with Manuela: “This place is for pleasure, that is true, but mostly it’s for women who don’t have a place to be themselves to do so. It’s their haven, their safe place. Above all things, I want the world to be safe for us. These women can nurture a part of you that Luz Alana and I never could, and I am glad that you’ve found a community that can. I want that for you, Leona. A place where you can be your wildest, most Manuela self.”

Dios, but she loved this woman.

The first had more travel and setting up the friend group while this stayed in Paris and focused on the sensuality and emotional toll and gain of what it would mean for Manuela and Cora to be together. The historical contexts and setting additives (Exposition Universelle and, I just knew Flora Tristan was going to get a shout-out in this series!) added to the real struggle of falling in love and what living their lives on their own terms would look like for Manuela and Cora. Sensual, fierce, living life on your terms, An Island Princess Starts a Scandal was a marvelous story. ( )