One of the reasons I enjoy K.J. Charles's historicals so much is that they're so well-researched. There were plenty of times I learned some extremely interesting tidbits from her books, and that prompted me to go do some of my own digging on the same subjects, which lead to more learning. That's always a fun thing, for me. This novella deals heavily with the subject I previously knew rather little about, beyond a few cursory things here and there: the world of Victorian pornography. It turned out to be more than a little fascinating, even if offputting at times.

To make it clear, I have nothing against sex work of any sort, provided it is a conscious choice the person made when presented with a number of alternatives that didn't come down to "...or you can always die hungry in the gutter." I feel the same way about any other sort of work. Choices are good and need to be respected. Exploitation is bad and needs to be abolished one day.

This story dug into the places where the "no real other options" situations and the freedom of choice intersect, and the two main characters starting off with polarizing opinions on the subject made this a compelling journey. I suppose I resonated with Vik and his points more, not least because he's overall the sort of character I fall for easily: duty-driven, determined to make the world a better place, fearless when it comes to fighting other people's battles, and yet just this side of a coward when it comes to recognizing his own needs and doing something about it. But also because his arguments made a lot of sense, until he got into the territory where they kind of didn't. Just as Gil's initial points of view felt off to me at the beginning: like, yeah, dude, I get making the best out of a shitty situation, but you're seriously downplaying the "shitty" part and I get why you're doing it, but that doesn't make it right. But then he went on to make points that were really hard to disagree with and even pushed me to interrogate some of my own beliefs, and honestly, this is the kind of stories I enjoy the most: when the narrative clearly shows there's more than one way of looking at the central theme, and the same people can be both right and wrong.

That's what I especially love about "opposites attract" romances, too: those situations when both protagonists very much have a point, fueled by their individual histories and experiences, and instead of one of them inadvertently "changing the other for the better," you can see them both expand each other's horizons. You can see them dig their heels in when it comes to some of their differences, but also take steps to meet each other halfway when it comes to other aspects. That's pretty much exactly what happened here, and it was delightful to read. I also enjoyed the "second chance" aspect of it, and how on one hand, Gil and Vik found it easy to slip into their old dynamic when they allowed themselves to go there, but on the other hand, every step of the way they needed to confront the fact that they've built very separate lives for themselves, and it will take effort and compromise to make those lives compatible.

I also enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, even though I feel this plotline could have been paced better. There was a point around the middle when it seemed all but forgotten, while in the last chapter and a half a lot of the things just resolved at once (even though every part of that resolution flowed more than naturally out of what happened before, and the small twist made complete sense! It just felt a bit rushed). I also felt like there was one small thread there left unresolved.

Nevertheless, small flaws aside, this was a really good story. I should also mention the narrator of the audiobook: Vikas Adam did a stellar job with this book. I'm especially impressed at how he gave absolutely every character a distinct and recognizable voice; at times, it was hard to believe it was still only one person reading the entire story. He's now definitely on my list of audiobook narrators to look out for!