Almost a Scandal

The world building and realism of Nelson's navy was so good that the romance almost got in the way. I loved the character development and pacing. This was my first E. Essex and I'll come back for more.
Minor quibble: When a headstrong young woman runs away to the sea/circus/gypsies/army/mines and with no planning and pretends to be a dude, I always wonder: what is she doing about menstruation!?! I always wish this logistical difficulty would be addressed in this archetypal plot. I mean: white navy pants plus an era of using rags = lotsa laundry, amirait? I get that sailors can hand-wash laundry in buckets of sea water on deck, but how does our gutsy heroine hide the yards of rags hung to dry on the deck? Are we to suppose that Pinky washes her menstrual rags for her in the one brief explanation of laundry given? Am I alone in wondering this??
Minor quibble 2: the realism of the naval descriptions and character development was so engrossing that the minor tone shift in the text when it went from “naval adventure and coming of age” writing to “I think you're hot” writing was jarring. Suddenly people's voices are like ash and fire or whatever and normally level-headed people are all cray-cray and unable to stop thinking of velvet skin blah blah. Huh. I get that this is a romance first and a coming of age adventure second...but I guess what I loved more was the adventure story. Which is a minor quibble since I came to this title via lists of romance writers. So I should know better.

Some scenes made me uncomfortable and I largely skimmed most of the book but I vaguely liked most of the parts I read. I think I must be in a weird sort of reading slump where I don't hate the books I'm reading, but I just can't get invested in any book. I'm also too tense to read any of my favourites, because I think in the sort of mood that I'm in I'll just end up finding fault with them and I want something to remain sacred.