Una storia piacevole e intrigante, con bei personaggi che ritroveremo anche nei prossimi libri della serie. ( )

very nice. The writing was well done and drew me right in. A bit of pathos and plenty of passion but not gratuitous. I enjoyed that the hero was an ordinary man not a duke. I liked the heroine and how she just decided to pick herself up and move on. I hope the maid Dot gets her own book. ( )

better than average Regency, enjoyed boarding house setting ( )

I especially adored this. It's unique, and quite funny, and clever, and sweet. And had some good steam. I was interested and engaged and chuckling through most of it. It has a wonderful cast of characters, and a nice romance. This is my first by this author and I'm really quite hopeful and excited to read more. ( )

Quite simply, a delight. JAL is a little bit of a witch in these scenes you can feel, at least they work deliciously well for me.

I was immediately impressed with the heroine, and then that Long didn't fall into her regular trap with other women, and instead made a bond between them. And that is what carried the first 40%. Delilah's development, fortitude, and the friendship/her treatment of people were truly lovely.

The mystery was fine, sure. But the standout, for me, was what I think separates Long's books from so many others. That moment that you can feel the heartbeat of the characters. In this, you can practically feel Tristan opening like a flower in the sun-and his purpose-and his vulnerability all tying so beautifully together with Delilah's journey.

Even around 80% I was thinking, nice, solid 3.5. But it's not. Because in the end, looking back, it has that little something that tips the scales for me emotionally, and this time she did it with the thing I complain about. It could've been even better, I just wanted a bit more of them. 4.5 rounded up b/c why not (less) ( )