Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 (I was left wanting a bit more from the steamy scenes – they were fine but maybe some more explicitness and emotional pull overall? The first scene was pretty short)
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥 (I listened to audio, so it’s harder to tell scene length, but the first scene was quite short, not sure if I’d usually count it)
Humor: Yes! She’s delightfully witty
Perspective: Third person POV from both hero and heroine
More character focused or plot focused? character
How did the speed of the story feel? medium to fast (on audio to me at least)
When mains are first on page together: Not too far in, I think about 3%
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after for the romance. There is a bit of a continuation of the family story that leaves off on a suspenseful note at the very end (like a teaser for the next book)
Epilogue: Yes, 14 months later
Format: listened to the audiobook from the library (Hoopla)

Should I read in order?
This is the first in Milan’s Worth Saga.

Basic plot:
Judith is working to keep her family afloat after their father’s fall from society, when the catalyst of her problems, Christian, comes back into her life.

Give this a try if you want:
- Victorian – 1866
- childhood friends
- second chance-ish – 8 years since seeing each other
- bit of animosity between the mains – the hero proved the heroine’s family were traitors to the crown and ruined them socially and financially
- class difference
- brother’s best friend
- heroine makes geared trinkets (clockwork devices)
- lower steam – 1-2 full scenes towards the end

Ages:
- didn’t catch them...maybe late 20s, early 30s?

First line:
If it could have spoken, the tea table would have groaned.

My thoughts:
It has been forever since I have read Milan! The last I’ve read from her was her first two books and I wasn’t in love with them – but this one had so much more that I enjoyed!

The writing in this one was really delightful. Milan covers plots and unique characters that I don’t see anywhere else. Her dialogue was so fun and witty. The humor was amazing and the character depth was amazing. I loved a lot about this one!

But, I felt like the romance was lacking here :( This is second chance, which I generally dislike so that was a downer for me. I always feel like I’m missing all the feels with second chance and I’m just left reading about the mess. It wasn’t too bad in this one because they never had a full relationship, and there was a lot of background coverage.

I just felt like the actual romance started pretty late in this one and was quite light when we got there. Overall it was a really good story and I’m definitely curious about the rest of the series and have moved it up a bit on my TBR!

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

- grief over death of a friend
- ruined family – the heroine is trying to raise and take care of her siblings
- suicide of heroine’s father
- opium addiction

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

 
Safe sex: 

  I don’t believe so 

 
Hows the consent? 

  It’s good 

 
52% - kiss
72% - kiss
81% - fingering for her (I felt like this was brief on audio)
92% - oral for her, missionary