Just a couple of high society nerds being insecure in 1800s London.

Everyone in this series needs a marriage of convenience, so they're all on the hunt. Up next - devote academic and cool-headed gambler.

Two POVs, 3rd person past tense; both late 20s, marriage of convienence romance, spicy

Finn is a very sweet smart boy with a visual processing/reading related disability who's a smitten kitten from jump. Tabitha is a progressive bluestocking quote nerd who wants to change the think tank system from the inside. We get multiple [~40%]

Beauty and the Beast "I got you a library/books"

moments, which is nice.

I really like Eva Leigh and the way she writes mutual care in her couples, but this one was harder for me. Tabitha has a emotional event in her past that flavors everything going forward and I don't think the prose style gets you on the same page with her until a conflict at the tail end of the story. And that disconnect makes her actions harder to lock in on.

Despite that and a desire by both Finn and Tabitha to inexplicably be baby vulcans, both characters are pretty charming. We get some toxic academia and some ableism they face together, which are unique hurdles in historical romance. The world building and support characters are fun.

Sex scenes - Extremely good sex scenes with emotional impact. When I rec the book, this will be top of mind. Our mild mannered hero goes full

dirty talk expert and we get an amazing "let me feast" moment on a dinning table.

I do love that Leigh reliably lets the nerds be freaks.

Narrator - I usually love Zara Hampton Brown, but her high drama flavor made some of the subtle/low stakes moments (which is a lot of this storu) a little rougher. That being said, her managing the tension of big scenes with multiple moving parts and higher stakes was rock solid and she continues to nail sex scene pacing.

If you like Big Bang Theory, you'll prob like this one.