I would probably give this 4 stars on a Mary Balogh scale, but 4.5 from anyone else, so I'm gonna stick with that here. It's a bit slower than some of her other books, the age gap gets a bit squick at times— although thankfully they haven't seen each other in years, so any real grooming is avoided— and there are some very stupid choices made leading to the resolution of the mystery.

Ashley connects his wife's death to that of her brother at first, but never thinks to question when his friend from India happens to show up? And it coincides EXACTLY with Emily's fear and he just... brushes that off? Besides, if someone is after her, it strikes me that just moving somewhere else wouldn't fix that? The house didn't shoot her!

But having just read an age gap romance that didn't do it for me at all, this one works it out. Not one of Balogh's sexier books, but their love is epic and lovely and the understanding between them is everything. Plus Luke wins the older brother prize here, especially when

he allows Emily to decline Ashley's initial marriage offer.

Too much punishment, not enough sexytimes.