ABSOLUTELY LOVED! I’ve always been a Linden fan, and I was so excited to see this was part of her Scandalous series. It completely did not click until 20% in that this is the love story of the aunt from book 1, Love and Other Scandals. I was already enjoying it, and when I realized the books were overlapping, I enjoyed every page. You can still read this as a standalone, but I say this as a person who reads books out of order all the time: I HIGHLY recommend reading book 1 (not the whole series) before reading this if you want the full effect.

We don’t have enough over-40 FMCs with unconventional timelines and HEAs, and that’s a travesty bc when it’s done right like this one, MY GOD is the love truly timeless. You have one night-stand, time jumps, third-act conflicts, epilogue Hail Marys.

And to add, I really enjoyed Linden’s little references to England’s pillaging of art and racism in other countries. For example, she brings up interesting points about the Elgin Marbles, and she uses the word “savages” deliberately in a context to highlight British hypocrisy that was very well done.

This is a very unique, mature, honest love story that I could not put down. It just reaffirmed why Caroline Linden is a heavy hitter classic author when it comes to historical romances.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.