This was a great, super sex-positive holiday novella.

These character arcs! What the heck, how were they so good? There was even a moment in here where I shed a little tear for the MMC’s character arc (which never happens). And the moment wasn’t gratuitously sad or anything? It was all just incredibly moving. And in a little novella, no less. Am I rambling? Courtney Milan makes me ramble.

Truly delicious historical details about 1860s medicine and reproductive health. And was he neuro-spicy? It was very ‘I’ve been watching you from a distance for a year’—which always slaps. And she had such a compelling secret backstory that he knew about but no one else did. The whole premise of this book was fantastic.

I just wanted it to be longer. This story was centered around a temporary forced proximity bargain—which was fun—but it grandfathered in a lot of tension from previous interactions that I would have rather seen on-page. But that’s just me.