I only dabbled in reading romance before and I am not sure why. The first of Alyssa Cole’s Reluctant Royals series knocked me over with its sweeping storyline, encompassing two continents, false identities & betrayal, a burgeoning epidemic, a Black female scientist lead, and an incredible sexual tension and intimacy between the couple at the center of it. I saw mild criticism of this novel being a little too long, and while it is long it is also complex.