finally, finally a 2024 debut historical romance i am legit excited for! and with a clinch cover i'm obsessed with.

big persuasion meets poldark vibes!!

if you enjoyed the "oh shit he's back from the dead and his former affianced is married to someone else now" and "i'm so mad he picked her over me i'll never forgive him" angst & ennui, let me tell you this is delicious. Lieutenant Eli Williams has his ~reasons~ and he'll grovel for each and every one of them, because Jane Bishop is ✨worth it✨. Even if Jane has calculated the odds, and they are BAD for our buttoned up sea-man.

also, i super duper appreciated discussions of money in this book. Eli's family spends all of his inheritance (because he's dead! at sea!) and Jane is a woman being supported (luckily) by an uncle who loves her, but has no guaranteed future and a brother I'd like to punch in the throat a bit. Jane's attempts to start a gambling ring amongst the richer ladies of the ton felt a bit florence coded (hell yeah) but with more ~stakes~ because Jane has not much to fall back on if it fails.

there's also some unpacking of the horrors of war // military service.

Snap this up, histrom readers! You'll absolutely want it ASAP.

Cannot wait for more from this author.

SPOILERS

neither main character has had sex (just kisses); there is on page sex in the book
heroine's uncle is queer (is not explicitly stated, but he has a relationship with another character that the heroine is aware of; the uncle is closeted but does allude to the relationship to the heroine)