Overall: 3.5 rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Just a bit
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine

Should I read in order?
This is the first book in Moore’s Flower Sisters series, but there is a prequel novella about the parents that is a freebie newsletter grab (And I really enjoyed it!)

Basic plot:
After a love at first meet encounter, Alex can’t get Rose out of his mind. But it’s Fern that he is spending all the time with when they come to a bargain agreement.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian time period (1899)
- Oxfordshire setting
- masquerade
- twins switching places
- secret identity
- hero is not a virgin, but not very experienced either
- bargain – heroine will help the hero secure an engagement to her sister if he helps with with mathematics
- lower steam – slow burn with 2 full scenes but they are very close together so I counted as 1 flame
- bluestocking heroine that loves mathematics
- neurodiverse rep
- working class hero and daughter of a viscount

Ages:
- Hero is 27, heroine is 20

My thoughts:
This is Moore’s full length debut and I am really happy to see a new voice in the historical romance world. I read the prequel novella of the parents first and really loved her writing style, humor, and how some of the plot devices didn’t go quite like I thought they would.

In this one, I did have a bit of a character disconnect though. It was purely personal – I just never came to love either the hero or the heroine so I struggled a bit. Secret keeping is always hard for me to love in romance and that is a decent part of the plot in this one. So if you don’t have those hang ups, I think this one will work a lot better for you!

I enjoyed how different this one felt from my recent HR reads. I haven’t read too many where the heroine is interested in studying a ‘forbidden’ subject and really appreciated the history and author notes and the time spent integrating those aspects into the novel. I liked how real the family felt. I appreciated Fern’s struggles and perspective with how she views the world. There were some really sweet scenes in this one I appreciated and I do think I will like some of the later books in the series with the sister’s stories and Alex’s friend, Henry.


Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:

Something we can all relate to

Fern huffed out a breath, wishing for a third arm so she could cover her ears without putting down her book.

---

Risks were not a part of Alex’s vision and could only disrupt his plans. But what would happen if he did not take a risk now? He could miss out on love, or at least the opportunity to find it.
Alex stared out the window at the retreating Boar’s Hill. She is in there, he thought. My future is in that house. And tomorrow I will find her.


A few last thoughts about what didn’t work for me the best in this story – Rose and Fern seemed to have a fairly strong relationship in the beginning. It seemed like they would be able to share those things and uncertainties with each other. And I thought there would be more forgiveness. So the fact that Fern doesn’t believe she can be honest with, well, anyone, was really sad. And honestly Rose’s reaction was really distasteful to me. Not that it was unwarranted...but it was pretty aggressive and it leaves me dissatisfied that it wasn’t resolved by the end of the story. (Isn’t that what we get in romance? Everything wrapped up in a nice package with a bow by the end of the story??? lol) I was also disappointed that Alex goes and mopes for a month before anything progressed forward for them at the end of the story. Overall I wasn’t happy with anything at the end of the story. BUT I think it will come together well in later books and I am definitely eager to try those.

Oh, I also wasn’t happy with the sex scene in that we go into the scene thinking Alex will still go through with marrying Rose but wants them to have a night together for themselves first. It just felt pretty icky and I ended up being anxious about it the whole time.

Content warnings:

Brief mention of hero losing his father and the hero supporting his mother
Brief scene of terror for the heroine in an exuberant crowd where she begins to get overstimulated and panic
Some brief mentions of society’s antisemitism

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

21% - kiss shared when Alex thinks the heroine is Rose instead of Fern
49% - Rose presses a brief kiss to Alex’s mouth
54% - kiss between Alex and Fern
60% - breast touches, kisses (Alex and Fern)
62% - kisses
72% - 🔥 kisses, breast play, light/vague fingering/oral for her, missionary (in a rotunda on a blanket outside)
76% - her on top