This was just a classic case of why Felicity Niven is my favourite historical romance author—utterly unique characters, a plot so unexpected that I don’t even try to guess where we’re going anymore, and So. Many. Feelings.

There was Phineas, this hero 😂
💚 part golden retriever
💚 part Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice
💚 part Austin Powers

Why did I love him so much?? He was so irresistible. The nervous word-vomiting, the complete stupidity, THE DIRTY TALK IN THIRD PERSON—I can’t 🤣💀 I wasn’t just laughing out loud, I was laughing so hard I was crying.

And Caro! She was the heroine version of your swooniest dark and broody hero. She was so enigmatic? Also hot?? She was literally the Strong Silent type—a lisp, a stutter, and an overbearing parent had turned her into someone who hardly spoke at all. She was such a fascinating POV—I loved being inside the mind of a heroine who was paying even closer attention to people’s words than I was.

But I’m mostly obsessed with how slowly our two MCs realized how perfect they were for each other. Not because this was some enemies to lovers kind of thing—Because they were so multifaceted-ly, so complicated-ly compatible that it just took time.

Also, Caro is one of the very few heroines I’ve read who believably had a praise kink. No shoehorning Good Girl where it doesn’t belong—I will only accept praise kinks written like this.

Oh yeah, and she was taller than him. Such a unique detail—and it wasn’t even in the top 10 most unique things about this book. That’s how on another level this writing was.

I received this as an arc and these reflections are all my own.