A bit messier pacing-and-plot wise than I would have liked but I can’t help but be charmed by Alexis Hall’s writing so sue me. Yes, about 30% of the page count is regency banter that’s just there to be silly goofy, but I loved it. Yes, there really isn’t that much plot, but who cares? I love how Alexis Hall is genuinely willing to push the boundaries of romance as a genre (because as much as this follows the structure of a romance novel, I feel like it Is actually kind of insane the degree to which Rufus & Belle’s platonic love for each other IS the love story — not “they’re married but find One True Love with other people outside of that and then kind of function like a polycule and they’re “just” besties. I love that there’s no “just” about any their feelings for each other even if they’re strictly platonic in a genre where Romantic And Sexual Love Is King and those two things come hand in hand and even the most love-aversive hero/ine eventually gives in and falls.) Now *I* want to be in a lavender marriage with my platonic soulmate and live in a huge house we’re renovating and raise a pig and have freaky sex on the side (with other people never with each other). Who’s getting friend-married with me????? What are WE naming our pig????