Ok I had such a great time with this. I was side-eyeing the whirlwind romance at the start and then BOOM everything blew up and it became my favorite brand of angsty absurdity and I was in book heaven for all the twists and turns in the second half. A few thoughts, in no particular order and with no particular artfulness:

1) This is a hot-and-cold romance that winks at the reader the entire time it subtly weaves in little subversions. The portioned reveals toward the end reflect back to us what we were missing earlier in the story and it feels so casually done and I love it. 
2) What is wrong with me that I specifically love when a character overhears the love interest saying something horrendous about them. The DRAMA. 
3) A meddling dowager. A know-it-all bestie. So much ill-advised and high-stakes gambling. Dramatic irony in spades (pun intended).
4) JEALOUSY AT EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME. Love seeing a secondary character with shockingly similar interests and a pleasing but ultimately tepid personality casually enter the story to make the possessive but skittish love interest go absolutely feral.
5) A gesture - grand, perhaps - that made me whoop.
6) Hot. This book is hot.

I received a complimentary print copy of this book from the author, but actually purchased an audio copy because I needed a romp to occupy me during a particularly tedious house project. The-full cast audio is so much fun (and it was so unexpected! more of this for historicals, please!).