Don't let how long it took me to read this book lead you to think I didn't enjoy it because I did. I just have a bad habit of getting sidetracked by work, life, motherhood, and other books, usually about this time of the year. It's something I working on though.

That being said this book had a rough start for me and that is likely why it took so long to dive into. It wasn't that it was second in the series but more that I felt that starting from the wedding and then moving back to set up the opening before moving on the 'present' was awkward. I don't feel it came across well and ended starting the story off on a disjointed foot. However once we got to the present and the friendship and eventually romance between Adrian and Camilla, it picked back up.

I agree that that inclusive characters, such as the biracial hero and bisexual heroine were a nice tough but I don't think it was in any way too much. It's actually something that has always been in most romance as I distinctly remember reading an Amanda Quick novel at a young age only to re-read it later and realize what 'companion' meant. Actually I felt that there was just the right amount of commentary on Adrian's race because that is something that happens now with biracial people let alone back in the 1860's when it really wasn't the cultural norm it is now. Having to have that thick skin from the constant comments of "people like you" or not getting acknowledged because of it is likely something that was harsher than anything we saw Adrian experience and for me if anything there could have been more of that. And honestly the fact that Adrian wasn't more jaded was surprising. Same with Camilla. I know other reviews mentioned not liking the consistent internal monologue she had about not being worthy of love and felt it got old but honestly if someone is passed off like Camilla was from the age of twelve that is how someone is treated their whole life, passed on from one person to another from the time they were they would feel that way especially if they had someone like the decidedly un-Christian like Rector Miles berating them regularly.

The fact that both of them were so hopeful about anything was inspiring in a way. That and the guilt they carried around from their older siblings, whether it was from angry words shouted in the heat of the moment or self-imposed guilt is what helped to bond them. It wasn't just their forced marriage but that they were optimistic and they they helped each other to recognize the things they deserved in life from the people who professed to care about them and just for being human beings. And their moments with their older siblings were very emotional; the one between Grayson and Adrian actually made me tear up when I was reading it.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would re-read it. Now that I know that the (what I still feel) awkward and rocky start didn't set the pace for the entire novel. I've never really been disappointed with a Courtney Milan novel and this helped to keep that trend up.