This was my first time reading Julie Anne Long, and she didn’t disappoint! May not recommend starting with the sixth book the series 🙈, but it was still a fun read and pretty easy to follow! There were obviously a few references to character and situations from previous books, but Long did a good job filling in the necessary details to new readers or people returning to the series that may need a refresher. I listened to the audiobook, and I finished it really quickly.

I personally love a good fake dating/forced proximity trope, and this one delivers. Two strangers who meet in an ally have to fake a marriage to share the last room available in the boarding house during a storm. No notes. Top notch. 

I was nervous Lorcan would be a real alpha, tough, no nonsense, “I know what’s best” kinda guy, but Long put my worries to rest in the first chapter when Lorcan sees the FMC, Daphne, escaping from a window and thinks:

 “The wildness in his soul could not help but admire the wily people of the world, the ones who tried and got away with audacious things. He was disinclined to judge. No one knew better than he did what desperation could inspire even a saintly person to do. He possessed a moral code, after a fashion, but his first instinct was always to help. At least the first time.”

And he just gets better from there. We love a MCC with healthy boundaries, active listening skills, a budget, and a willingness to compromise. 

I liked that Daphnes was 30 years old (sometimes it’s difficult reading romances about teenagers, so this was refreshing).