romancereadinglist's profile picture

romancereadinglist 's review for:

A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera
4.5
emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This was a really satisfying conclusion to the excellent Las Leonas trilogy. I'm so happy these books exist - I think they are really helping to change the paradigm for what historical romance can be.

Aurora was one of the best female main characters I've read in a while - a Black doctor who dedicates herself to women's reproductive health, including abortion care. She navigates prejudice (based on her race and gender) and tries to balance her internal feelings of rage, low self-worth and passion for her cause. She's prickly and serious and self-sufficient because she needs to be. In general, the topic of women's reproductive rights in the Americas and in Europe during this time period were portrayed so compellingly - we hear about the prevailing (nonsensical, sexist) views of the medical establishment, and get an insight into the work of pioneers like Aurora who do what's right at great personal risk.

I also loved that we got plenty of scenes with the MCs of the previous books - these were a delight. The intimate scenes were super hot and well-written; the MCs have great chemistry and Apollo learns a totally different side of Aurora in the bedroom.

It was not quite a 5-star read for me, for two main reasons. 
1. The male main character (Apollo) was a bit two-dimensional to me; all we really understood about him was his desire for revenge against his father, and his passion for Aurora (which was pretty much there from the get-go). Character-wise, he seemed to have two modes: seductive and charming; or fiercely protective. I felt his character could have had more nuance and depth.
2. The pacing in the last 20% didn't really work for me - it felt a bit all over the place and I found myself wishing for another round of edits there. So that slightly took the book down in my estimation. 

Still, there was a lot I loved about this book and I will definitely be recommending it (and the whole series) far and wide!

Thank you Harlequin/NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.