I absolutely adored this book! A runaway heir, fake identities and a slow burn romance? What’s not to love?! 

Penn and Ash are thrown together in the woods one night and their stories become entangled from there as they search for freedom from their respective roles and expectations. They traverse the forest side by side as their feelings for each other secretly grow until they’re forced to reckon with the burdens they’re running from. 

I fell in love with these characters! They took me on such a rollercoaster of emotions! And the LONGING in this book is tangible and almost painfully real. I couldn’t get enough of this story and tore through it! This book is perfect for fans  of Cat Sebastian and/or Alexis Hall, I promise!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360, Mills Boon for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this queer folktale retelling! The story follows Jean, the town midwife, after a strange encounter with a pregnant woman in the night. She is drawn to this mysterious woman, Muirin, especially after seeing how she shrinks from her new husband, Tobias. Sensing something is wrong, she stops at nothing to help Muirin, and discovers something otherworldly in the process. 

The word that comes to mind when I think of this book is “quaint”, in the best way possible. We follow Jean during her day to day life, tending to her patients, working on her farm and walking around her bucolic town. The setting really comes alive in this story and it’s a beautiful world to spend time in. 

While the pace of this book is slow to medium, the tense action scenes were really gripping and I couldn’t stop reading. I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until certain parts were over and I couldn’t put it down until I knew what happened. 

Also queer representation! Some passages were brimming with queer joy and queer people just living their lives. Thankful for it in this book.