Maybe I am too demisexual for this book. I really wanted to like it, and adored the characters and setting and how it all played together. Actual historic research seems to have gone into this and I love that, edinburgh felt alive and real I could imagine its hills and streets stretching out in this novel, familiar but yet different. Very good indeed.
Lindsay was an interesting character, I liked seeing his duality and his pretence to the outer world, and I liked seeing his bonds and approaches with the people around him. I also liked Drew, the stoic silent type can be done quite appealingly: still waters run deep, after all. However, when it came to their interaction, lust on first sight is such a strange concept to me. It does not feel real. I have been told by friends of different sexualities that this actually happens, but this is a personal review after all... this continues with Drews constant hesitation to be intimate, which made me feel rather uncomfortable through most of the sexual encounters. That said, thank you so much for making sure that consent was never in a position to be questioned. This is something many romance books just skip over and I am so glad that this situation is clarified by the characters. Had this not happened, that would probably have been a dealbreaker for me reading the relationship that is sketched out.
I also want to mention that the depiction of a deep platonic bond with one of the side character's relationship was such a wonderful surprise! The idea that a "mate" can be nonsexual/nonromantic is great and something I think is important to be highlighted.

Then...the ending. This was not what I was expecting, and I am not happy with the turn it took. It feels like it largely undoes the story I had been reading up till this point and it was really unsatisfying. It has put me off of wanting to read the next book, because I am none too pleased with the dynamic shift that was suggested in this ending.