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I cannot believe I waited this long to read Grace Callaway! I loved this book so much. I cannot wait to start reading more from her.

Tropes:
- rake/wallflower
- murder subplot
- hero persuading the heroine to marry him
- dom hero, sub heroine
- headstrong, detective heroine

This book gave me a wonderfully developed plot and romance at the same time. The balance between the gritty plot and slow-burning romance was great. The whole investigation did end up being quite confusing, but I was still having fun.

I loved how the story focused on not only the main relationship but also the relationships the MCs had with others. Alaric had to focus on his relationship with his brother and his family issues; I love watching family bonds in romances. Life and romance books are so much more than developing and fostering all kinds of relationships and this was a great example of that.

Everyone was telling me that this book had great steam and boy were they right. The steam was so good and I did not expect that kind of steam from a historical. The scene were he took her to the "special" house (iykyk) was amazing.

I was not a big fan of Emma for a good amount of the book because of her naivety but was headstrong and very dedicated to being a detective, so I loved it. I loved how she did not give up her dream of being a detective after she married Alaric.

My favorite part of the book was how it kept going after the climax. So many times in books like this, we will see the murder get solved, the heroine escape from danger, or the climax happen and then both characters are professing their undying love for each other. The next thing you know, they are married and we are at the epilogue. That is just not how life works. Both Emma and Alaric still had to work on their relationship and work past their issues. The book gave them time to develop and work through their problems realistically and honestly after the climax.

If you haven't read Grace Callaway yet and are looking for new, fresh, and unique historicals, this book is for you.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/ 5 stars | 🌶🌶🌶.75/5 steam