I love Emily Rath. Everything she writes is a wonder and from following her on social media, she seems like an absolute gem of a human. So imagine my joy when I realize there is a series from her backlist that I hadn’t read yet.
The Second Sons series is a polyamorous Regency-era romance that has all the delicious historical drama of Bridgerton with all the deliciousness of a why choose novel. It’s a slow burn filled with yearning and stolen touches, and so much devious scheming.
Rosalie Harrow is a lady, but a penniless one with no interest in marriage. When the Dowager Duchess of Norland invites her to Alcott Hall, Rosalie is baffled as to what the purpose of this visit might be, but she has no choice but to accept.
After a rather unfortunate journey, Rosalie is unexpectedly thrust into a house party in which several high society ladies are trying to win the attention of the eligible, unmarried duke. While the other girls battle it out on the marriage market, Rosalie is just trying to figure out what she’s doing there.
That’s not to say that she hasn’t caught certain gentlemen’s eyes. There’s Lord James, the duke’s younger brother; Lieutenant Tom Renley, a man reluctantly searching for a wife of his own; and Mr. Burke, the man who first brought Rosalie to Alcott.
While Rosalie has no intention of submitting to the cage of marriage, that doesn’t mean she can’t appreciate the attentions of a man…or three.
The Michaelmas ball, where the duke is set to announce his choice for a bride, approaches, and Rosalie is caught up in forbidden attractions, and even more dangerously, the Dowager Duchess’ schemes.
The Second Sons series is very character driven, with layers upon layers of interpersonal drama and deep personal growth from not only the main characters, but the supporting characters as well. All of our main characters start this series with so many walls, and it’s wonderful to see them slowly crumble.
To any lady, the most dangerous animal in England was not the wolf or the boar. It was the entitled English gentleman with an excess of charm and nothing to lose.
The dynamics between the members of this household and their guests are absolutely riveting. They rarely leave their insular homes, but they hardly need to, for there’s an entire court of drama right there in these estates.
These two books are so easy to get sucked into, with it’s high society schemes. There are moving pieces all over the game board that is Alcott Hall and it blends beautifully with playful and clever banter that keeps perfectly with the era and setting.
Second Sons is a very, very slow burn for these Regency-era lovers, bound by the chains of propriety. There is forbidden attraction all over the place that builds in a tantalizing fashion. When the time comes and the tension snaps, the passion between Rosalie and these three men is an explosive delight. The second book is significantly spicer than the first and it builds in such a perfect way that it is worth every second of the wait.
This is an MMMF series, which I didn’t realize until I was deep in the series, but absolutely should have seen coming. The second half of the series reveals all kinds of long-buried wants that result in all kinds of glorious bisexuality and I’m obsessed, sold, and wholly enamored. Turns out, I really fucking love a Regency-era bisexual. Who would have guessed? (Everyone who’s ever read The Nora Theory, but whatever.)
It all came down to choices. We choose who we love. We choose who we fight for…who we die for…who we burn the world to ash for.
The last portion of the first book truly shocked me in the best way. All the scheming and emotion comes to a peak and I simply couldn’t put it down. It ended on an almighty cliffhanger, and I picked up the next book with haste and devoured it in hours.
If you are a romance reader who loves a great why choose or any sort of character driven historical romance, you will just adore the Second Sons series. I can’t possibly recommend these books enough.
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