Overall: 4.5 rounded ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔 (Maybe a bit more for the heroine if you read the prior books)
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Not much
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast
When mains are first on page together: almost immediately
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: No
Format: listened to audiobook from the library (Hoopla) – it was an add on ending to one of the audiobooks earlier in the series

Should I read in order?
I think so yes – if you think you will read this series in entirety it’s better in order for sure. If you are just looking for a novella and won’t return, you could grab this one alone without confusion. (To explain: This story’s heroine, Eve, is Rhodas mother (who is the heroine from the prior book Hell of a Lady (book 4) and there is references to what happens in that story. And Rhoda’s story happens kind of concurrently with book 3, Hell’s Belle and is probably best to read that one first. But then you’ll want to read book 2, Hell in a Hand Basket before book 3 because book 3 gives away a lot of the plot points of that book...Overall there’s not a ton of character cross over though, it’s more the order of events and how they are referenced in future stories)

Basic plot:
When Eve’s husband passes, she finds she can rely on her man of business for so much more than she thought...

Give this a try if you want:
- this is historical but I couldn’t place a time period – maybe Regency?
- widow and mother heroine
- working class hero – he is the family’s man of business
- some unrequited longing from the hero
- novella
- light road trip feels
- celibate heroine 
- celibate hero 
- average novella steam (one scene)

Ages:
- Didn’t catch but they are older – I would guess the youngest would be late 30s but maybe early to mid 40s (heroine has a grown daughter that is featured in book 4)

First line:
“Ma’am, please sit down.”

My thoughts:
I loved this novella!!! I didn’t realize at first how these characters related into the story, but once I realized she was Rhoda’s mother I loved it even more. She has some page time in Rhoda’s story and we know her marriage was not a happy one, so I am loving seeing her get her own HEA.

This is a novella and has some decent road trip vibes – the heroine’s husband has passed and she brings her man of business for the viewing and making sure everything is in order, legally. I ate up the unrequited love the hero felt for the heroine and how protective and gentle he was with her.

Overall, this was a lovely and quick read! I think I would have loved one more steamy scene between them after everything was kind of ‘sorted out’ but that’s okay.

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

- mention of abuse and almost death from husband
- death of spouse (it was not a happy marriage)
- mention of opium usage
- carriage accident on page
- forced drugging of the heroine

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

Just a fingering scene 

 
Hows the consent? 

It’s good! 

 
My percentages would be way off because I listened to an audio of the novella at the end of another full book in the series so I’m just going to note the acts
- kiss
- 🔥 kisses, fingering for her
- start of a scene, but the hero was injured and his ribs hurt so they end it