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I really enjoyed this story. It was definitely on the light side, and the romance was sweet. I loved watching Miles and Tristan's interactions, and their developing relationship from allies to friends to more. *le sigh*

And while I would, personally, say that non-fans of romance stories probably wouldn't like this story, that's far from all it is. There's a mystery aspect involving both magic and medicine, there's a mixture of science and fantasy, there's war and dealing with "shell shock" and the various horrors suffered in the course and war, and there's the usual classism issues between the wealthy and the working classes (though we don't see too much of folks in actual poverty). There's also political and familial dynamics to navigate - generally within the same family.

I also enjoyed the alt-history aspect of the story. It had a sort of Victorian or Edwardian vibe to it, but set in an AU where everyone rides bicycles and people always knew opium was bad, and the various ways in which is felt both similar and also different from what we might expect.

I was a bit iffy with the Amaranthine as substitutes for faerie thing, but it works in the AU world that the author builds.

The various aspects of the story are almost are strong, and weave together well... though, ultimately, I just really liked the characters and watching them together.

I'm really looking forward to the next in the series - even though the focus seems to switch from Miles as MC to his sister, who was not my favorite character for much of the book, though she certainly steps up when it's needed.