Ooo this book was GOOD. I see why it’s most people’s favourite in the series 👀

Our impoverished marquess hero (his dad gambled everything away, even though our hero begged the gaming hell owner not to let him) needed an heiress. And who better than the legitimate half-sister of said gaming hell owner? Because the only thing better than money is when it comes with a side of revenge.

I was obsessed with these characters. Our heroine was a painter and described things in terms of pigment names (my pigment nerd heart was fluttering). And I loved how she made some major mistakes in the beginning.

And this hero! A strong character motif can really go either way, imo. And this “tomcat” hero was so so good. From his True Neutral alignment, to his unnerving gaze, his prickly yet calculating aloofness, he was such a vibe.

That said, this contained a (very random) pet peeve of mine—the ‘he originally pursued her for a bad reason but fell in love with her instead, now she'll find out and doubt everything’ romance plot. Yet the reason this didn’t drop down to a 3 star reading experience (like it did to the book I reviewed yesterday) is because the plot delivered so much angsty desperation that I was still having a darn good time.