*2.5

content warnings: violence, animal attacks, discussion of war


“Two kisses they’d shared now: one innocent and fresh, one desperate and demanding. Both intoxicating.”


This wasn't incredibly by any means, but for an author's first novella that was published nearly a decade ago, it wasn't too bad. This follows Cecily who has been in love with Luke ever since he kissed her years ago, but war has left him changed and she is expected to marry another man.

The entirety of this novella is drama, which for the most part is good. Towards the middle it got a little repetitive, but overall the 'we can't be together but god we want to' was done pretty well. Tessa Dare also has a writing style I quite enjoy; one that sets it definitively in the past, but also doesn't alienate the reader.

In a full-length novel, the romance would have annoyed me. As I said, the drama got a bit repetitive, and Luke was kind of a dick for a lot of it. But I can't deny that he and Cecily had chemistry and the steamy scenes were really well-written.

I fully intend to read Tessa Dare's full-length novels sometime in the future, but for now I'm going to have to settle with the stuff that's free on amazon.