This book I did not love at all. I was looking for a fun, flirty and victorian regency story and thats not what this book was. I honestly had so many thing I hated about this story that by the time I reached 30% of th story I pretty much gave up.

#1 objection: I hated the whole whole mistress scene where he pays her off and says its not you but me and gives her a tea house but first he must have goodbye sex with her.

#2 obection: Stephan is our hero and he is bisexual. He doesn't admit that but he has sex with both males and females. And in the book Abigail questions him about it and he tells her about his liasons with males, who are even still his friends in current time.

#3 objection: Abigail lost her virginity many years before and she ended up pregnant, She also is a woman in business who from I gather is sorta a PI and is hired to find out info for her clients. The story is centered on her and love letters she has that she thinks put her life in danger.

I really did not like either character and the whole plot of the stoory was so not what I was looking forward to in this romance. I wanted balls and innocence and flirtation and thats not what this story was about.

This whole series is so delightful. Stephen is such a great hero: kind, generous, smart, loyal...the list goes on. Romance as a genre tends to have heroes and heroines who are all pretty homogenous. They mostly meet certain Eurocentric beauty standards. The men are mostly fit and athletic and able-bodied, so I was thrilled to read a story with a disabled hero. I thought it was really well done, and Stephen was very much a well-rounded character. I love the family dynamics, but I'm not sure how much I would've cared if I hadn't read previous books. The predictions I made at the beginning of the book were all accurate, but I assume most of us don't read romance novels for the mystery aspect anyway. I would've liked maybe a hint more steam, but really, Stephen's character development totally sold this book for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

Total romantic fun! This filled the Bridgerton shaped hole in my heart, loved it! The characters were very believable and easy to relate to, I also enjoyed the pacing and plot. I need more from this series ASAP!