Holy character development. Richard is the starchiest starch to starch on page for me in a LONG while, and I was set up in books 1 and 2 to really loathe the man (so, naturally, I was rabid for his book and an opportunity to see him fully leveled). This accomplished everything I needed to root for him, and once again, KJC exemplified how class difference is done and done well. Richard and his valet, David Cyprian, face internal and external obstacles in their steep power imbalance and class divide, and I loved seeing how they fumble through it together, tripping over really common and necessary conflicts. This is a HARD power gap to navigate and by the end, I felt confident in their happily ever after. This installment leaned less on the engagement with conservative vs radical politics, but it DID bring our broader series-long conflict to a stressy and satisfying conclusion. This is just such a well-rounded series - my new favorite by KJC.