Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: A touch
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine, alternating chapters
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? Medium
When mains are first on page together: Very soon in (8% of the short story)
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happy for now
Epilogue: No
Format: bought e-book

Should I read in order?
This is a stand alone short story.

Basic plot:
Clarke is relieved to have one last portrait sitting – money he desperately needs – but he finds his client to be anything but what he was expecting.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian
- photographer hero with a broken heart
- rags to riches
- naughty photos
- hero has a mustache!
- widow heroine
- child free HFN
- medium to higher steam – 2 full scenes (or could be 1 very long scene) in a very short page count

Ages:
- I don’t think they are specifically mentioned, but the heroine ‘looked about his own age, perhaps even a few years younger.’. The heroine was 16 when she married and they were together for 9 years before he went missing (so she was 25) and then he was missing for 3 years before his remains were found. So I’m guessing she’s around 28 and he is around 30.

First line:
The silver plate reflected a pathetic man.

My thoughts:
Another lovely short from Fleur! I really adored this one. The character development was impressive to me in such a short amount of pages and I found both Clarke and Francine endearing and lovable.

Clarke is a photographer and I really enjoyed learning about the vintage Victorian style photographer and how it began to change. Francine is widowed, and left feeling the need to prove to her husband she was more desirable than he ever made her feel. She requests a naughty photoshoot and it leads to some lovely vulnerability between our mains and some steamy perfection.

This does end on an implied happy for now with the heroine asking the hero if he needs employment – though they may not get much work done. 😉

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- death of spouse
- hero has suffered from a bad relationship
- mention of infertility

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex:

Heroine mentions she’s infertile (no ‘french letters’) 

Hows the consent? 

I’d say it’s implied for the first scene – they discuss helping the heroine pose in a sexy way and she begins to self stimulate – this leads to the hero masturbating, which she enjoys. The second scene they definitely verbally agree. 

43% - heroine begins to self pleasure to get the sexy photo vibe and keeps going – this leads to a mutual masturbation scene

“How would it feel to be so wanted and desired?
Francine stroked the inside of her thighs. She trailed her fingertips almost to her centre, then lightly dragged her nails across her skin toward her knees.
“That’s better.” Mr. Metcalfe’s voice flowed thick as syrup. “Continue doing that. Keep your eyes closed. I’ll tell you when to open them and hold the pose.”

69% - fingering for her, missionary, her on top

Clarke reached for the lens cap. “Now turn and look at me like the only thing in all the world you want is for me to fuck you.”