The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean is the last in Scandal & Scoundrel series. It is the story of the Duke of Haven, Malcolm Bevingstoke and the Duchess of Haven, Seraphina or Sera. You may remember the Duke of Haven from his sister-in-law Sophie Talbot pushing him in a pond for cheating on her sister – let the fun begin!
This is the eleventh book in the Summer of Sarah MacLean event. The event hosts are Kelly Gallucci (bookish.kelly, Instagram) and Dana Cuadrado (To All the Nerdy Girls, Instagram).
Check out the Fangirlish website for my reviews of the previous nine books! Below is where I stand on my Summer of Sarah MacLean bingo card:
This book also comes with a glorious matching cover and stepback that I would be remiss in not showing you! So so lovely!!!
In some ways, this book very much reminded me of MacLean’s No Duke Goes Unpunished in that both heroes begin the novel in pretty damning situations. Temple believed he killed the woman who later becomes his wife. Malcolm was shown as a cheating husband – both men had a lot to prove. Luckily, for Temple Mara was alive. Malcolm had a bit more of an uphill battle.
But spoiler, he SUCCEEDS! If you had told me at the beginning of the book that I would learn to love Malcolm, I may not have believed you. I had many FEELINGS, most of them not so good.
BUT he did it! With MacLean showing us Malcolm and Sera’s whole love story, you can see how and why things went very wrong between them. I’m not saying I condone adultery, just sometimes….things aren’t what they appear, or not entirely.
We know our heroine, Sera, has been very hurt by her husband. We also find out the baby was stillborn and the doctor tells her she can have no more children. Simply heartbreaking. Believing her husband does not love her she flees England.
What she does not know is he searches for her. EVERYWHERE. It’s so freaking romantic! Yes, my sympathies are much more with the hero in this book.
Sera is the eldest of the Dangerous Daughter or the Soiled Ss. And we get to see all her sisters again when they travel to Malcolm’s country estate to find him a new wife! Yes, there is a little bachelorette situation going on – but I have to admit this was not my cup of tea. I did enjoy seeing Sera’s sisters and their interaction with Malcolm. Particularly Sophie’s hatred. SO MUCH FUN.
The reconciliation of Sera and Malcolm seems impossible but we know it’s not, they love each other so so much.
I ADORE Sera’s sister Sesily in this book! MacLean’s yet to be released series Hells Belles begins with her story! Squee! Sesily was also in the previous two books in this series and she just shone. Her interactions with Caleb Calhoun were a DELIGHT!
MANY of my fellow MacLeaners loved this book, so I would be remiss not to recommend. I enjoyed aspects a great deal – particularly Malcolm’s love for his wife. But I have to say the epilogue, yes, the very last bit, upset me. You might be fine with it but I can’t lie, I was not. And it kind of colored the whole book for me. Maybe, you’ll read the epilogue and love it or not care – anything is possible. If you have no issues with the epilogue, I’m sure you will enjoy this book.
You can purchase this book on the Kobo or Amazon websites.
