Lady Christina Barclay is incredibly shy and hates being the center of attention, but her parents have forced her into the social circles of New York City in the hopes of catching a rich American to pay off their familial debts.

To find calm amidst the chaos and frightening prospect she will soon be married off to whomever her parents choose, Christina sneaks into the gardens of her cousin's reclusive neighbor for morning strolls. No one is the wiser until Christina is inadvertently knocked out by the neighbor's large dog.

Oliver Hawkes is aghast that this lovely woman has been brought into his domain. Having lost his hearing as a teenager, Oliver has taken himself out of society and prefers to focus his life's work on patenting a hearing device to help those who still have partial hearing. Oliver protects himself with his large fortune and by keeping everyone in his life at arm's length.

But, Lady Christina turns out to be a warm, kind, and interesting person. Someone who Oliver finds himself wanting to talk to, to teach sign language, and to share his work with. And, when he finds her weeping in his garden, about to be married to an octogenarian with suspiciously many dead wives, he agrees to marry her for one year, in name only.

Christina agrees, but is sad that the marriage will be in name only, as she too finds herself falling for the hard-working, gentle, and beautiful man who lets her make her own choices and is her friend, a man who sticks up to her verbally abusive parents.

While these two fall in love, outside forces threaten Oliver's livelihood and freedom, as society in the 1890s did not take kindly to those who were differently-abled.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

A very sweet, sensual slow-burn of a romance that made me hold my breath in a bit of fear, not for worry of the couple's love for each other, but for SPOILER ALERT Oliver's fate after being thrown into a terrible insane asylum. Content warning for physical abuse, historical accurate psychological torture, and historically accurate bigotry towards the deaf.

Shupe does a marvelous job with the historical details of the period, Oliver's invention, and the conditions of "insane asylums" of the time period, referencing her research on Nellie Bly's account.

I also adored how Shupe handled Oliver and Christina communication. They used a variety of methods, including verbal speech, signing, lipreading, and pen on paper. Oliver often expresses his discomfort with how other perceive his voice and his frustration when people refuse or forget to make sure he can see their faces when they speak to him, as he can read lips.

Excellent to see a main character with a disability that isn't magically cured by love or some other means. Oliver is deaf, his hearing aid project is not meant to cure his deafness but to help others.

I also appreciated the time Oliver took to become friends, then lovers, with Christina. He doesn't insist on consummating their marriage. When he does feel more for Christina, he moves slowly, he constantly checks in that she is on the same page as he is, and he tells her how to get him to immediately stop if she doesn't want to go further, especially since he cannot hear her if he's not looking at her face. Swoon. Oliver also uses the "pull-out" method when they do make love, and it isn't seen as a