The Rakess: Society of Sirens, Volume I (Society of Sirens, #1)

by Scarlett Peckham

Named one of the Best Romance of 2020 by EW, Washington Post, NPR, and Bookpage!

Meet the SOCIETY OF SIRENS—three radical, libertine ladies determined to weaponize their scandalous reputations to fight for justice and the love they deserve…

She’s a Rakess on a quest for women’s rights…

Seraphina Arden’s passions include equality, amorous affairs, and wild, wine-soaked nights. To raise funds for her cause, she’s set to publish explosive memoirs exposing the powerful man who ruined her. Her ideals are her purpose, her friends are her family, and her paramours are forbidden to linger in the morning.

He’s not looking for a summer lover…

Adam Anderson is a wholesome, handsome, widowed Scottish architect, with two young children, a business to protect, and an aversion to scandal. He could never, ever afford to fall for Seraphina. But her indecent proposal—one month, no strings, no future—proves too tempting for a man who strains to keep his passions buried with the losses of his past.

But one night changes everything...

What began as a fling soon forces them to confront painful secrets—and yearnings they thought they’d never have again. But when Seraphina discovers Adam’s future depends on the man she’s about to destroy, she must decide what to protect… her desire for justice, or her heart.

• ISBN10: 0062935615
• ISBN13: 9780062935618
• Publish Date: 11 June 2020 (first published 28 April 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 6 July 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[FranJessca @ A Book Lovin' Mama's Blog]

I’m reading more Historical Romance, which was one of my goals for myself this year. I’m proud of myself for reading more of this genre. I came across the first book to Scarlett Peckham’s new series Society of Sirens from the publisher, and the synopsis sounded intriguing. It’s about three ladies that are about living their life the way they want as radical, libertine ladies. The society around them, especially men, do not like these ladies. The first book in Scarlett Peckham’s new series follows Seraphina Arden, who is one of the Society of Sirens in the story.

Female Protagonist: Seraphina Arden was one heroine I was not used to reading in a historical romance. She’s a Rakess, which like a Rake. She’s on a quest to change women’s rights. She’s also trying to raise funds for her cause, and the memoirs she is working on at home will eventually be published. Those memoirs are going to tell her side of how a powerful and rich man ruined her. The townspeople that hate her so much will realize that she lives her life the way she does due to how she was treated. The person who ruined her needs to be dealt with in the story, and believe me, it finally happens when the truth is revealed. She shouldn’t be hated on like they keep doing to her. I felt for her what she went through in the past and what continues to be done to her. 

Male Protagonist: Adam Anderson was the character I enjoyed most in the story since he was a sweet, nice guy. He’s not a Rake, which is what I’ve come across in Historical Romance books. He’s a widower who has two children that he is trying to raise with the help of his sister. He’s not out trying to find women. He’s making a living as an architect. He ends up coming across Seraphina Arden in the story, and that is when he’s world turns upside down. He’s not used to women like Seraphina. I felt for Adam in the story when it came to dealing with Seraphina. He still loves his wife that passed away and loves his children. 

Storyline: The storyline is introducing the Society of Sirens, in which Scarlett Peckham did a remarkable job on the introduction part. Readers will be introduced to the other Society of Sirens in the story since they play a role in helping Seraphina deal with some troubles that she encounters. Most of those troubles don’t come until about 60% into the story. The beginning of the story focuses on Seraphina and Adam’s fling with each other during the summer. It was not as intriguing to read their constant back and forth about their fling. There was the drama that Seraphina was dealing with the story, especially when it came to certain men in the town trying to drive her away. Adam was determined to find out who was behind hurting Seraphina. I don’t want to go into much detail of the storyline. Be prepared to not only deal with Seraphina and Adam’s drama. There is another person that Seraphina cares deeply for in the story that has her troubles. I will say this I enjoyed the ending of the book when everything came together finally. 

Steaminess: The story was steamy when Seraphina and Adam did hook up. 

Cliffhanger: There is somewhat of a cliffhanger at the end. Although, the next book dives into another Society of Siren’s story. I wonder if the author will touch base on what happened to a specific character at the ending. 

Standalone or Series: Series. I would recommend reading in order. This book has other drama in it, dealing with another female character and her family drama. 

Do I recommend this book? I would recommend it to other Historical Romance readers and fans of Scarlett Peckham. The book only gets three stars from me, but that’s due to the story, not grabbing my attention until almost towards the end. There was also the issue of the main characters having communication issues. That’s one of my biggest concerns in stories. I don’t like it when characters can’t communicate with each other. One of the most significant issues came toward the end of the book where Seraphina wanted to keep something from Adam, instead of telling him. It drove me bonkers. Just tell him, Seraphina!!!!

[whisperingchapters]

I was the kind of girl who's offered money, not redemption.

Seraphina is a radical, a complete liberal and feminist woman. You can just imagine all the scandal Sera's life just by being how she is and standing firm on her beliefs, especially the scandal that comes with having lots of lovers at every turn. I loved Sera's determination to bring equality, and show that woman can do the same thing as men. Not only that, her passion for helping women in need also spoke volumes for me.

She goes back to her childhood home, to write her book that will surely bring down the man ruin her. What she wasn't expecting was meeting the nice and gentle Scottish single-father down the road, and ultimately growing feelings for his family.

The loss of you reduces me.

I personally enjoyed this story a lot. I think it's because I really wasn't expecting much, except for the feminism, which I'm glad was shown greatly. I also loved the slow-burn romance! It was so seductive, sweet, and tender. Adam is a wonderful and patient man, whom I think put up with a lot of Sera's attitude, so props to the guy! Him being so forgiving was exactly what Sera needed, to show her he's not giving up, to show her he's seen her worst and is still there for her.

My dilemma was with Sera's character and her way of drinking her way to blacking out. I just didn't feel like that's how Sera should have been. I expected a strong character, with a good head on her shoulders when I read the title, The Rakess. Another dilemma I had was with the pace of the novel. I felt it was slow and a bit dragging. Every single time I had already reached the halfway point, I'd look at the percentage and realized I still wasn't even close.

Sirens, you see, are not born thirsting for justice. Sirens are made.

I adored Sera's friends:, Thais, Elinor, and Cornelia! The fierceness, the fire, the determination they all had brought so much humor to the story! Plus, their friendship was an amazing bonus, with so much care for one another.

Overall, The Rakess is a great start to this series, one I'm so looking forward to reading more of.
--
Follow Me
Blog ❃ Instagram ❃ Twitter ❃ Bloglovin ❃ Goodreads ❃ Pinterest

[llamareads]

Content warnings: Grief (hero’s wife died in childbirth plus heroine lost a child), stillbirth, alcoholism (in the past and on page), unplanned pregnancy, animal cruelty (including heroine having to kill a dying bird), side character involuntarily committed to an asylum, threats of violence against heroine, sexual grooming and abuse of a teen that leads to heroine being shunned for having loose morals, plus the usual sort of misogyny typical for that period

I’m sorry, but reading that blurb always gets “summer lovin’, had me a bla-a-a-st” stuck in my head. Which is a bit off-key, as this isn’t a breezy summer romance as the Grease comparison would suggest, but rather an absolutely stunning angst-ridden upending of the rake trope, complete with an “unlikeable” heroine and a saintly hero. I adored it, but I want to highlight that there’s a lot of content warnings for this book.

“Sirens, you see, are not born thirsting for justice.
Sirens are made.”

Also, how have I not read anything by Scarlett Peckham before? I’ve heard her recommended a million times, so when I saw the absolutely astonishing cover I couldn’t resist asking for a review copy. And, yes, the cover is *exactly* everything you’d expect from this book. It’s full of feels and angst, and it has that certain something that reminds me of Courtney Milan’s historicals. And if you’ve somehow missed my rabid fangirling, that’s pretty high praise.

Sera’s never told anyone, not even her very best friends, anything of what happened that led to her being kicked out of her home when she was a teen. It’s been years, though, so surely writing her memoirs will be a quick and easy way to raise money to found an institute to teach trades to women. And where better to go than the house she inherited from her parents in Kestral Bay, the scene of it all? But between problems for her friends in London and a chance encounter with a handsome architect, things aren’t shaping up quite how she expected.

“You mean you do corrupt impressionable girls and tempt them to a life of sin, like they claim in the papers?”
“No. But I could be called guilty of inviting nice architects to advise me on building costs when advice is not the only thing I’m after.”

Sera is as messy and unlikeable as every rake hero you’ve ever read. Her paramours are good for distraction or conversation, but not emotions – she’s quick and efficient at turning out one who has the bad taste to be – horrors! – a cuddler. She dulls her own emotions with copious alcohol, and is absolutely flummoxed as to why she’s failing at writing her memoirs. Adam’s a widower with two young children who still works with his brother-in-law at their family firm. He is, in a word, adorable, and I loved him. He’s principled (he considers reputation important, but decency even more so), but not perfect, and he initially struggles to reconcile the rakess who propositions him with the woman who is kind and gentle with his children. Their relationship evolves into everything I’m looking for in a romance novel – supportive, but not overbearing, and the sort where they bring out the best in each other.

“Perhaps this was a trait one needed to become a creature like Seraphina Arden: the ability to feast on threats and turn them into strength.”

There’s a lot to unpack in terms of how the rake trope is gender-swapped while still keeping it “historically accurate” – or, at least, as historically accurate as you can get with a historical romance, and while initially it was quite fun matching up the beats in this book with the traditional rake trope beats, eventually I became so enthralled that I was just sucked in. That’s not to say that there aren’t things I disliked about this book. It is fierce, and while I understand where the author was going and can’t remotely begin to suggest how she would have given an equivalent emotional punch, there was some content I truly wish had been left out, specifically the animal cruelty. Which, I suppose, is a weird line to draw, considering this book also involves the sexual grooming and exploitation of a teenager, and I’m not sure if that’s an indictment of our culture or speaks more to what I feel can or should be worked through in books.. I loved how both Sera’s and Adam’s attempts at working through their respective traumas are raw and ugly – there’s no lightbulb moment where suddenly either recognizes what’s wrong and then effortlessly fixes it – and they both make mistakes and assumptions that they have to apologize for and forgive. There’s a good supporting cast of characters, including the Sirens – Elinor, who starts the book after being committed to an asylum by her husband, Thaïs, a courtesan, and Cornelia, a scandalous painter. They didn’t get as much page time together as I would’ve wanted, but I’m hoping that’ll be reconciled in the next books, since it looks like the series will be structured around them. I’m also hoping for an HEA for the hero’s sister, though!

“What if I go, and it’s terrible?”
“Then you will come back to me and say, Thaïs, you jackal, you tricked me with your feeble logic of the slums. And we will gather together, the Society of Sirens, and curse the wicked men and this cruel life. And then we will dry our tears and find our next adventure.”

Overall, this was a wild, angsty, thought-provoking ride. I am very much looking forward to the next adventure in the series!

I received this book from Edelweiss. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.