I did a live-tweet of my first time reading this heart wrencher enemies-to-lovers angst fest: https://twitter.com/bandherbooks/status/1295154502337732608

Hastings secretly pines for Helena and has since their first meeting when she turned up her nose at him. He hides his ardor by being MEAN and awful, and these two have sniping battles for the ages. He is also aghast to find out she is meeting secretly with a married man. He doesn't want her to be ruined but he also kind of wants to lock her down for himself. He prevents the married man's family member from busting them (she never actually sleeps with Mr. Martin, just some heavy petting and kissing) and claims they secretly eloped. And then she gets clippity clopped in the face by a horse hoof when she runs after Mr. Martin instead of accepting she's now to wed Hastings.

After a coma, it turns out Helena has lost all memory from ten years back, meaning she hasn't yet "met" Hastings (but remembers her siblings). She begins to fall in love with him and he's breathlessly happy yet terrified because he no longer has to pretend to hate her and can just love her.

Whew, with me still? There's also an erotic fanfic novel he penned about their relationship they end up reenacting, a tortoise named Mr. Hardshell, Hasting's daughter who he is extremely caring for and who is possibly autistic (not named, but has qualities that gave me this impression I could be very wrong), and glorious language.

I loved reading this, I kind of hated both Hastings and Helena at different times, but I'm also so happy I read this book.

CW: kind of cheating? Not sure. Amnesia, scary medical stuff, consent issues RE: should Hastings have sex with an amnesiac woman, racial slurs.