Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖 - the writing was fine but it was more the tropes/plot that I wasn’t interested in
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 at least, may have missed some
Humor: A touch
Perspective: third person from both the hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? slow to medium
When mains are first on page together: not too far in – chapter 2 of 34
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes, maybe a year or so in the future
Format: listened to an audiobook from my library (Hoopla)
Why I chose this book: I was curious about her steam level because she’s coming to do a takeover in Upturned Petticoats
Mains: This is a M/F relationship between a cishet hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
I think this one is a stand alone?

Basic plot:
Hetty is being blackmailed into marriage – but thankfully her childhood friend steps in to rescue her.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian – 1838
- African / English heroine
- Scottish hero
- hero wants to marry
- childhood friends to lovers
- marriage of convenience
- protective hero
- Duke hero
- blackmail
- mid to higher steam – at least 4 scenes, I might have missed some

Ages:
- didn’t catch them! But I want to say heroine is maybe early to mid 20s? And hero is maybe 5-6 years older than her? I think it’s mentioned but forgot to note it and I can’t search in audio

First line: taken from audio, may have butchered
Hettie clutched her reticule, feeling the crumpled letter inside against her fist.

My thoughts:
Sadly I struggled with this one – but it was purely a me thing. I really struggle with tempestuous maternal relationships and blackmail plots so this one started to drag for me.

I didn’t like that the heroine refused to be open about anything. Watching a character struggle while support is right next to her is immensely frustrating to me. I also just cannot stand blackmail plots. And I wanted the mains together more – their actual relationship was pretty easy in the beginning and I was left reading about the heroine moping around the house with the hero’s mom and maids being mean to her and her dog peeing on things. I was just bored, sadly! But it did get rather angsty towards the end and I loved that aspect but I also thought the hero was a bit of a jerk and not even attempting to understand the heroine’s POV.

So this did have aspects I liked but this particular one didn’t work for me – I am really, really eager to try this author’s Dragonblade Flame romances though!

Few random reading stats for this author
# of books read: This is my first!
Average rating from me: 3 stars
Favorite book: This one by default

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- the heroine has some feelings of abandonment from her parents – they left her to go to India when she was two and died before seeing her again
- some elements the heroine experiencing racism
- parental death at sea
- heroine experiences blackmail and threats
Author content warnings? Didn’t hear any on audio

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes, safe sex aspects, consent, pregnancy/child in the story:

 
Safe sex: 

  No 

 
How’s the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
Pregnancy/children in story? 

  epilogue baby 

 
Chapter 3 – kisses
Chapter 5 – kisses in the carriage
Chapter 6 – 🔥 fingering for her, missionary
Chapter 9 – 🔥 kisses, oral for her, sex
Chapter 13 – 🔥 sex
Chapter 30 - 🔥 sex
Total chapters – 32 and an epilogue