What can I say? This man is my favourite actually-a-psycho hero. Usually, I can’t muster a ton of enthusiasm for a novella featuring the couple from a full length novel where they already got their HEA. But I loved this!

❄️ The Portuguese setting of these books is absolutely unmatched in any other series. Portuguese folklore, myths, that hint of Catholicism, this author mentioning the most obscure historical details (do you remember when France had a successful communist revolution and was ruled by the Commune of Paris for a few months in 1871? Well, Giovanna Siniscalchi does)—it just doesn’t get any better than this.
❄️ If we were going to reopen any story, I’m glad it was this one. Because Pedro, the Count of Almoster, was A LOT. And watching this reformed villain struggle to stay Morally Grey instead of relapsing back into Actual Bad Guy was a satisfying way of acknowledging just how tragic of a backstory he was dealt.
❄️ Our heroine had a really satisfying character arc. And there was a Prometheus sex metaphor in here that was… a unique interpretation of that myth 😅
❄️ And honestly, I’m just here for Pedro being an intense, manipulative, broody, and overprotective nut.

Is it a stand-alone? I’m too obsessed with reformed villain stories to say yes. If there’s a reformed villain story, I want to read the book where he’s a villain (book one, The True Purpose of Vines), the book where he’s reformed (book two, The Taste of Light), and of course I want to read this bonus Christmas novella where he’s still being hella evil!

So that’s the order I would suggest for you, too. Because if you like historical romance and you haven’t started this series yet, you’re doing it wrong.