Asia

Thank you, Stephanie and her team, for providing this ARC.

5/5

Enemies to lovers? Check. Contemporary marriage of convenience? Check. Yearning in hostility? Check. The hottest, smuttiest interaction that will leave you breathless? Check and check.

Alexei and Georgia were intriguing to me since they appeared together for the first time in the previous book. (Actually they first appear in that little bonus scene from Hazel and ROry's wedding scene but it just said Alexei and his wife so I'm glad we know it's Georgia now) Their chemistry just jumped off the page and it was even better in their story.

I love them. They know how to push each other's buttons, how to taunt the other person, and also, how to work together.

I loved the chaarcter growth they both went through, how Georgia learned to be open to love and companionship, and how Alexei realized that the image he had of Georgia was completely wrong and how he learned the real her and even when he fucked up, he owned up to it and fixed him mistakes.

I also love how they learned from and about each other, started trusting each other, and became a team. Even if it wasn't real for them at first, they accepted it. And I'm so thankful that Stephanie didn't force them to have a third-act breakup! I think this is what I love the most about her books, you just know that the characters will work through the issues without the unnecessary drama for drama's sake.

Alexei knowing the langauge of the flowers was so unexpected, but I loved it. And I loved how he teased her through the flowers, but she still found out what they meant and was in on the joke almost from the beginning. And I loved that little game they played to get the other mad with desire and anger, it started out so mean, but they turned it playful and respectful.

The smut was smutting, and I love that. Props to Stephanie for always writing her men desperate for the taste of the women they're in love with, it's so valid. literally my favourite trait of a man lmao. And while Alexei was an asshole at first for not making Georgia come, he made it up to her the next time over and over again. I love how he understood her and what she needed even before she did, and how respectful he was throughout. Even when he was mean, he knew she was in on the joke, and he knew she liked it. He wasn't mean because he was an asshole, he was mean because he cared and he knew she wanted that.

I also love that basically every man Stephanie writes about buys their woman sexy lingerie. Hell yes, they deserve it! And Alexei, having a high heel kink, was so good and so in character. And shout out for Georgia for knowing about since and using to torture him with her shoes. Queen behavior.

The gift-giving was so incredible (THE SHOES??????? THE TATTOO?? THE DESIGNER DRESS?? I want a rich husband now and I'm not ashamed lol) and I'm glad that for once a female character wasn't like "I can't take it, it cost too much, blah blah blah", no, she was like "thanks I love them" and I'm glad she accepted them with no issues.

I loved the writing, the banter, the characters, and their relationship, and I loved Rory and Hazel's wedding! I love them so much, so shout out for the timeline to finally catch up to their wedding!

This book also finally answer the question I was waiting to be answered with a baited breath: how many fucking teeth does Volkov actually have? Thanks, Stephanie, I can sleep peacefully now.

I loved this book so much, it was incredible, so well written, and I devoured it in 7 hours. I loved this book. Absolutely incredible.

CW/TW: SURPRISE PREGNANCY (ON PAGE), GROOMING AND A SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A STEP-BROTHER (OFF-PAGE)

1.5/5

First of all, the cover is misleading. The main male character has a light BROWN skin and has dark, curly hair as we see in the second chapter. He's was born in the West Indies (Saint Kitts) and his mother was from Gambia. It's all revealed in chapter 8. And who does the cover present? A BLOND, WHITE guy. Blonde. White. All the things that Finn is not. It's explicitly said in the text that his half-brother, WHO DIED 10 MONTHS EARLIER, was a "blue-eyed golden-cherub, the counter to Finn.". Did the artist somehow confuse A DEAD MAN WITH A MAIN MALE CHARACTER?

The female character is from India, and somehow, whoever created the cover included that. But they completely ignored MC's race and looks and made him to look like a generic white guy. Are you serious? How come nobody caught that?

I was wondering why the author didn't catch it or demand the cover to be changed, but tbh I gave up on the idea. The way she wrote the books and characters was just strange, and she clearly didn't care enough.

Anyway, onto the plot. t's giving soap opera, not of a good kind. The sex scene was completely out of nowhere at 22% of the book, it was way too early with no build up whatsoever - which is basically a theme throughout the book. I get it, you almost died together, but you barely had a conversation TWICE, and MMC doesn't know that FMC is the reason everyone thinks he's the murderer! Come on, this is historical romance, I needed more buildup than that which was absolutely nothing.

FMC bemoaning that MMC hates her circular was so over the top and I didn't like that whining. 1) he didn't know you were behind it, and 2), YOU MADE PEOPLE THINK HE MURDERED HIS OWN BROTHER, what is wrong with you! FMC really annoyed me. She was constantly whining about Finn not having the freedom to love anyone (her) while SHE WAS THE REASON. If she hadn't published that article, nobody would think he was guilty!

And then she had a few opportunities to tell hi the truth, and all she said was that she only worked for Aurelius and that he's there and her friend. You are Aurelius you idiot! Just tell MMC that! But noooooo, why would she.

The accidental pregnancy happens at 60% of the book. There was nothing in the book desription, nothing at the beginning of the book, no warning whatsoever.

At 65% FMC is talking about pregnancy and her condition and her nausea and how her body will change constantly every 2-3 sentences and I am hating every single second of it. Nowhere in the description was there even a hint of a surprise pregnancy and I avoid those books. I hate being tricked like that by the author.

It got worse. Apparently, FMC had been groomed by and had a sexual relationship with her step-brother (half-brother?) when she was still living in her stepmother's house. Was this even hinted at before? No, we find out at 89%! 89! The book's almost done when the author decides to hit us in a head with trauma again! And then, because of course, FMC and MMC are almost killed! Again!

If I had known this would turn into a traumatic soap opera, I wouldn't have request it. Which is a shame because I enjoyed some parts of the book. But the author just dumps trauma for trauma's sake with no hints in the book description or at the beginning of the book at all and it's annoying. I hate it.

The female character was like a more miserable and unlikable version of Penelope Featherington, always bemoaming about her misfotune - which she brought onto herself. She whines about not having any relationship with her sisters, and she pushed them away and went no-contact for absolutely no reason. She complains about MMC not being able to be with her - but she was the reason he was a wanted man. And so on and so on.

And MMC? Well, he's either arrogantly cheeky or a coward. Axts like a rake and at the very sound of trouble abandons FMC. Ugh.

The other characters were all so over the top and were walking stereotypes. Most of them was suddenly gay for representation sake but they weren't even well-written, it was just bunch of stereotypes and tropes.

The male gay friend was just that: a male gay friend. A "dandy" as called in Regency: only caring about his looks and how fashionable he was, overly feminine for some reason, you know, the every gay best friend from a sitcom you can imagine.

The best friend was a bluestocking who only cared about the plants who suddenly realized she's gay and decided to move in with her new girlfriend after a month of meeting her. Aka every bookish lesbian from sitcoms.

The very feminine and badass lesbian who took no shit and always said what she wanted, aka every girlboss ever in existence.

The widow who was silly, liked parties and wanted a rich husband and a bunch of lovers. That was her whole personality.

I hated how they were written, it seemed like the author only included them for points, not because it made sense. They were all badly written with no personality.

The writing was horrible too. I'm not sure if the author ever learned about pronunciations or synonyms or SUBTLETY because there were none. The author doesn't use the words like "him/her/his etc, she mostly uses full names every single time. She is constantly repetitive, using the same phrases or descriptiosn every time. She lacks subtlety - when FMC started duspecting she might be pregnant, she brought it up in every other sentence. About the fact that she was pregnant. About "growing a new life". About changes in her body. About being pregnant. About the baby in her making her tired all the time. About being nauseous. Did I mention she was pregnant yet?

And the ending was so abrupt I wondered if I got the whole book - but yeah, the acknowledgments were on the next page. It felt like it was not just an open ending, but a sudden one too. She was almost killed again, reunited with him and they both almost died again, were saved by one of their captors and confessed their love - all in last chapter. And that's it.

What about all the things that were supposed to happen in this book, like, you know, the main point of the book which was proving MMC's innocence? Was the circular published? What was the reaction? Did the Bow Runner drop the case? What about the Antigua case? Or the triplets? WE GOT NO RESOLUTION WHATSOEVER.

I was surprised that FMC told MMC about her pregnancy tbh.

This was the first and last book I have and will ever read from this author. It was so convoluted and badly written with a trauma dump after trauma dump for just trauma's and drama's sake. Nothing was resolved, nothing was fixed, everything was just there, mostly hanging there by a thread and nothing was really resolved.

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books for sending me this ARC.

1.5/5

I disliked this book. It was boring, nothing interesting really happened, and the characters were dull. MMC was hung up on his crush and never saw FMC and only when she decided to move on he was suddenly in love with her? And when she explicitly told him she doesn't want to see him, he made their mutual friend to trick her into meeting him?: Fuck that shit.

And FMC caving in after he manipulated her was so stupid, I hated that behaviour. Just stand your ground and move on, girl!

The dialogue was cringe and unnatural and very very awkward throughout the book. The inner dialogue was too.

Thank you, Boldwood Books and Netgalley for providing me this ARC for an honest opinion.