Overall: 4.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑 (3-4 I find it hard to tell on audio)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 
Humor: Just a touch

(I marked this one as diverse characters due to the non traditional HEA)

Should I read in order?
Book 1 of this series happens kind of concurrently with this book (book 2). I have read this series backwards, I read book 3 awhile ago and found it all right as a starting point. There are some mentions of prior characters. I think this book would also be okay to pick up first if you didn’t want to read in order.

Basic plot:
Florence is determined to own her own casino for women. She goes to Clayton for lessons to learn all she can for her plans. Clayton, however, has plans of his own against her family.

Give this a try if you want:
- 1891 time period in New York (Gilded Age NY)
- Instructor/student trope – heroine wants lessons on running a casino
- Mid to high steam – 4 full scenes and some additional kisses
- A touch of age gap feel, hero is ten years older and it’s commented on a few times
- Original HEA
- Hero wants revenge on heroine’s family

Ages:
- Hero is 31, heroine is 21


He stopped on the stairs and maneuvered d her until her back was against the wall. Placing his forehead to hers, he cupped her jaw with both hands. “I’ll not risk your safety. Not today. Not ever. Don’t ask it because I cannot allow anyone to hurt you. It would destroy me.”


My thoughts:
I listened to the audiobook of this one and sadly Justine Eyre just doesn’t really work for me as a narrator. I tried one by her she did for Sabrina Jeffries and I had to stop and read the physical book instead. And I think overall I would have enjoyed this one a bit more if I read the book. BUT the story still shined through for me here!

While I’m usually really into a ‘hero wants revenge on heroine’s family’ plot, this one felt kind of meh to me. But the romance really made up for everything. I adored their draw to each other and “lessons” is a plot device I usually gobble up. It usually guarantees they are spending quite a bit of time together, which I always appreciate in a romance.

I adored their slow draw to each other. The layers that come into play as they get to know each other and an attraction grows stronger. The intimate scenes were perfection to me – romantic, steamy, and intense. There were a few scenes that gutted me 
emotionally.

I guess I should read the first book now and finish the series backwards haha!

A side note about her father – I hated him. It almost seemed like he was villain material at first. I am still not convinced he really cares about her.

The Ending:

This ending is non-traditional – they do not get married and they have no plans to have children. I didn’t mind this as an ending at all, especially the childless ending. The pregnant in the epilogue/flash forward to 2.5 kids in the future does get redundant after hundreds of hundreds of them. And we know it wasn’t always a desire of couples so I think it should be a possibility as a HEA. I was surprised at the not getting married aspect to it – I just didn’t get that feeling in the story that it’s the direction it would go so I was a bit surprised. But I still think it overall worked here – the time period and direction Clay and Florence were going in, I think it works here. Sure, I would have preferred a marriage but not enough to affect my rating.

Content Warnings:

Remembered death of family members (death of a child, sickness/illness, cholera), abandonment of child by parent, neglectful parents
Cigar use and gambling

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

29% - 🔥 voyeurism scene while escaping a raid at the casino – mutual masturbation with their backs turned to each other
35% - kisses
41% - 🔥 neck bites, missionary, he goes fast and it hurts for her (not a virgin but inexperienced), oral for her
59% - kisses
60% - 🔥 kisses, cock touches, blow job (incomplete), her on top
65% - bath tub scene that fades to black
70% - kisses, neck grabs
75% - 🔥 brief birthday kiss, neck bites, touches, fingering orgasm for her, licking his fingers after