I give a rounded 4 stars to this story. I think with a few tweaks I would have really loved it. As it is, I found it overall a sweet love story with a slightly different plot than I usually read.

Iris is betrothed to Finn. A Marquess and one of the desired “catches” of the season. Yet, she’s struggling to feel like it’s the right thing to do. He doesn’t seem to really see her, or know her, or take an interest in her. She’s desperate for a kiss, something to make it seem like it’s all going right. Instead of a kiss, Iris gets to know her betrothed while eavesdropping through the bushes and what she hears is enough to make her jilt him.

Him, a Marquess no less, jilted? Finn is shocked to discover he is no longer betrothed and it’s enough to make him notice what he’s been ignoring - a stubborn yet extraordinary woman that he was wrong about all along.

I felt like this book was fun. These two people seem to do some work finding themselves, and each other. After the broken betrothal, they end up together at a house party where most of the story takes place.

Yet I also felt this story was a little slow. And while he’s not involved with his mistress during the book (he breaks it with her at their engagement), she is talked about A LOT and I didn’t love that. One of the issues going on with them too was Finns “dark desires”, involving being in control/tying with cravats but it comes to almost nothing, at least nothing you get to see. Very briefly introduced. There’s also another competing love interest, which was fine in the story but I felt it would have been better to eliminate that and spend more time on the two main characters. Their development and tension wasn’t the best in my opinion, at least compared to previous books I’ve read of hers.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite scenes I can give spoiler free