TWICE A DUCHESS

A new plot of espionage and corruption plagues the Roxburys in Sterling’s sequel.

Anne Roxbury, the biracial American widow of the Duke of Westmoure, has settled into her life in the English aristocracy. Her son, named Sterling but called “Sar,” is the family’s heir, entrusted with the lucrative Westmoure Shipping Company, and she has close connections to the King of England, who is also biracial. She’s even found love again with the Duke of Hampton, Thomas Berkley, the King’s cousin. But other vying members of the upper class, including Viscountess Sylvia Meacham and a woman known as “Boss,” have eyes on the company. Unbeknownst to the Roxburys, a plot has emerged to traffic opium and women across Europe and the Middle East, frame the Westmoures, and steal the organization. Multiple attempts are made on Anne and her family’s lives, including a poisoning, and the bodies begin piling up. The local paper’s gossip section, much like Lady Whistledown’s newsletter in the Bridgerton novels, launches a racist smear campaign against the family, blaming their “less than pure blood” for the recent deaths and corruption in the company. In Sterling’s sequel to The American Duke: A Regency-Era Novel (2023), detailed sex scenes punctuate dramatic moments, though they’re made more arresting by Anne’s and Thomas’ middle age and mutual affection. But unlike in the Bridgerton books and others like it, Sterling makes a point to include the reality of racism’s burden on Anne and her family in 19th-century England. Referring to the treatment of Black people, Anne tells Thomas, “They’re accused of stealing, doing things they’ve never done, and then tried and convicted on the spot. Punishment could be anything from chopping off a hand to lynching, just to enforce that the white man is superior to the Negro. This is what we live with, this is what we must do to survive.” The plot and pacing lag in the middle, particularly with so many supporting characters milling about. But revelations toward the end about secret marriages and family connections, as well as the identity of one of the takeover plotters, set this series up well for a third installment and the new challenges Anne will have to face within her family and her social class.

A charming, steamy, and intersectional, if a bit uneven, Victorian yarn.