I personally give this book 3.75🌟 rounded to 4.

It has so many familiar things I love that I associate with Macleans writing. Those feels, the real emotions of the characters played out. The dialogue is always lovely. The emotional pull of the love scenes that are wonderfully descriptive in a way that makes you feel so much behind the characters actions.

However this book is definitely for me not a favorite of hers. It’s very slow moving. Verrrrrry. I did like it better than the first rule of Scoundrels, which I thought was super boring. But it takes a good 200 pages to get moving. You’ll wait over 250 pages for a kiss. I wish there were a few more scenes with even just a kiss. However I will say the first scene with them, they don’t even touch and it’s so unique and sexy.

I do understand the waiting is an integral part of our hero, Cross, background battle with himself and his past. We do not have a Virgin here but a celibate period that makes the fall to our heroine, Pippa, that much sweeter.

Cross, I did lightly love, but perhaps not as much as Pippa. I find I usually am all about the hero but he did not have quite as deep of a pull for me I would have liked. Pippa character was wonderful to me. She’s considered odd and is a unique character to read.

I’m not sure if it’s just because the last Sarah Maclean I read was Wicked and the Wallflower, but I felt these two books had very similar feels.

Still a wonderful love story. And I loved the little twist on the end where our heroine rescues our hero.