ARC Review Portrait of a Scotsman

Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore

Genre: Historical Romance

Series: A League of Extraordinary Women #3

Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥

Release Date: September 7, 2021

Publisher: Berkley

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.

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SYNOPSIS

Going toe-to-toe with a brooding Scotsman is rather bold for a respectable suffragist, but when he happens to be one’s unexpected husband, what else is an unwilling bride to do?

London banking heiress Hattie Greenfield wanted “just” 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.

Why then does this Oxford scholar find herself at the altar with the darkly attractive financier Lucian Blackstone, whose murky past and ruthless business practices strike fear in the hearts of Britain’s peerage? Trust Hattie to take an invigorating little adventure too far. Now she’s stuck with a churlish Scot who just might be the end of her ambitions….

When the daughter of his business rival all but falls into his lap, Lucian sees opportunity. As a self-made man, he has vast wealth but holds little power, and Hattie might be the key to finally setting long-harbored political plans in motion. Driven by an old revenge, he has no room for his new wife’s apprehensions or romantic notions, bewitching as he finds her.

But a sudden journey to Scotland paints everything in a different light. Hattie slowly sees the real Lucian and realizes she could win everything—as long as she is prepared to lose her heart.

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REVIEW

Hattie Greenfield is looking for the perfect husband. He has to be sweet, kind – love reading books and going on romantic trips. She wants a love match and to a man who she chooses. Except that Hattie finds herself tangled with Lucian Blackstone. Blackstone is a bit dark and dangerous and rumor has it he is capable of ruining men financially if he so chooses. Hattie doesn’t want anything to do with him, but her father has other plans and so she finds herself married to the broody Scot. Will their marriage be just a farce, a means to an end or will they end up falling in love and making it a true love marriage?

I have to start of by saying that I love the marriage of convenience trope. Hattie and Lucian have so much chemistry together and I loved every scene that they had together. And although their marriage started off rocky and not on the right foot, I was rooting for them to fall in love the entire time.

Portrait of a Scotsman was such a romantic book, I was often swooning at these two beautiful characters who had so much love to give but often stopped themselves for fear of being hurt. Lucian and Hattie had a lot of obstacles to overcome, including their socioeconomic upbringings. Where Lucian was poor growing up, Hattie was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Evie Dunmore did a wonderful job showcasing the differences between both characters. And I often found myself agreeing with both sides of the story.

I also really enjoyed the various secondary characters in the story. Not only Hattie’s friends who we have seen in pervious books, but also the coal miners and their families while Hattie and Lucian were in Scotland. I could totally see and feel the various experiences/scenes while reading the book.

I will say that the book did start off a little slow for me, but picked up the pace after the first quarter or so. The slow burn between Lucian and Hattie definitely paid off.

If you’re looking for a romantic, but equally feminist book – grab a copy of Portrait of a Scotsman.

Overall I would give Portrait of a Scotsman 4.5 stars, but rounding up because I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely romantic book.