I loooved this!!

Roman Gaul, specifically Narbo aka Narbonne (I love the Roman history in this series). Childhood friends to lovers, second chance, he thought he didn’t deserve her, she was married to someone else at the opening of the book (!!) and—

The yearning these characters had for each other was so palpable that it was giving me irl goosebumps 🥰🥰

I loved these characters! And I loved how compatible they were. I loved the role they played in each other’s character growth. I loved how sometimes we would do the thing his way and sometimes we’d do it her way—it was just such a clear on-page demonstration of how perfect they are for each other and how happily ever after they’d be. Ugh, my heart 🥰

Our MMC so thoroughly lived in the moment that he was almost an unreliable narrator (shoutout to dual POVs books with different vibes to each narrator). And he maybe had ADHD? He was so chill but then he’d have these ADHD-like “tornado modes” where he would just get everything, even borderline impossible tasks, done in a day. And he loved his horse, like a lot.

Our FMC was very Miss. Prim and Proper (or Mrs. because again, married 👀). And she was a Taurus. I can’t explain it any better than that. Steady, grounded, quietly stubborn, kinda superficial (but also girl, get that bread), and loyal.

And I loved the impact they had on the plot. Our heroine steadily chipped away at the drama, our hero would do almost nothing and then everything all at once… and I genuinely had no idea how this book was going to end. It made this such a page-turner!

Sidenote—I think I’m realizing something. All of this 👆 is my Favourite Thing in a book. Well crafted characters, yes. But specifically: when the story FEELS like the characters. And it definitely did here.