Oh my, this novella was just so SWEET. This is a friends to lovers story that felt more gradual than the other stories (I mean, they're novellas. You can only be so gradual in 80 pages.)

I adore that Ashley is hearing-impaired (and actually learned from the author's note, that Ruby Dixon herself is hearing-impaired). 

Ashley loses her hearing aids when she is abducted and is very untrusting of her situation and those around her. And rather than letting people know she's, in her own words, "flawed", she plays dumb - things like, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention" and "I forgot". She isolates herself and she struggles with adjusting to the farming lifestyle. 

Khex, one of the Mesakkah custodians on Risda, is originally annoyed with Ashley. He, along with everyone else, thinks she's dumb and intentionally obtuse. Until he realizes her secret. Then he makes it his mission to actually get to know Ashley and in doing so, slowly starts to fall in love. 

What comes after is the sweetest gradual friendship and a boat-load of mutual pining.