Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Spoiler

I have a love/hate relationship with sapphic historical fiction. The idea is always lovely, but usually the central characters end up facing TOO MUCH and don't even end up together. BLESS ROSIE SUTHERLAND FOR NOT DOING THIS! Yes, our central characters face a LOT, but thankfully, there is a beautiful happily ever after in the end that makes it all worth it.

I loved the sweet slow burn between Muirin and Jean. The chemistry was SO GOOD and I was cheering them on the entire way! There was also some incredible side characters (looking at you, Anneke and Laurie) that I grew to love almost as much as Muirin and Jean themselves.

Not only were the characters and their relationships fantastic, the writing was lovely too! I was able to very clearly visualize the setting, and the little historical tidbits helped me do this wonderfully. I hope Rosie Sutherland continues her writing career because this debut novel was fantastic and I would 100% read more from her.

Publication date: April 9, 2024