This book made me swoon IRL. Reading it was a fever dream and not just because of the sex scenes. I was so immersed in it that the real world and its troubles didn’t even occur to me for the duration of the book. (I am anxious by nature, so this is a feat.)

Lorcan St Leger had a rough start in life in St Giles, but through illegal (and now legal) means, he has built himself a little empire. I realise I’m about to describe a classic ‘alpha’, but that is only one small facet of his tremendous appeal. As the blurb says, he’s ‘feared and fearsome, battered and brilliant’, but my favourite part is that he’s endlessly loyal to those who are loyal to him. His presence in the story is so visceral and his sincerely protective* vibe is so sexy. Truly, I swooned. (*In a not-creepy, not-controlling way, I promise)

Lorcan’s ship has just docked and he is walking near the docks, just before ‘the storm of the decade’ promises to strike. The streets are quiet with everyone taking shelter for what promises to be a very intense storm. He’s looking for an inn, but instead he comes across Lady Daphne Worth climbing out of a window using braided bedsheets. He’s fascinated despite the storm pressing ever closer. The two end up seeking shelter at the Grand Palace on the Thames – the base for this entire delightful book series.

Cue two of my absolute favourite tropes: a fake relationship and there’s only one… suite of rooms (it’s a historical after all). Yes, there is only one suite of rooms and if Daphne and Lorcan want to get out of the terrible weather in a city whose inns are already full to bursting, this is their one option. That there is already a flicker of something between them is just a bonus.

Daphne is the only daughter of a feckless man who has gambled away the family fortune. Her brothers are in France avoiding the whole mess, as far as she knows. She’s travelled down to London as a paid companion, but her employer’s husband seems to think additional services should be offered. Hence the reason she was carefully defenestrating herself. Daphne feels obligated to help her family. She’s run the household since her mother’s passing when she was younger. She tries to keep the family afloat financially, but it’s wearing her down. She’s rather desperate by the time she’s climbing out that window.

Daphne and Lorcan – to their tremendous surprise – have personal connections with some of the residents at the Grand Palace on the Thames. This adds a delicious layer of complication to their forced stay. By the next morning, the roads have flooded and no one is going anywhere for the duration. This leaves a lot of time for glorious, squee-making conversations. More on that soon.

This is a book that should not be rushed. I didn’t take my own advice and I devoured it at pace. I’m going to read it again as soon as I’ve finished this review so I can revel in the sheer genius of the emotional growth.

The conversations between Daphne and Lorcan are slower to read because every flicker of emotion is described as the conversation unfolds. Initially, they’re talking about their cover story and how to make it believable, but from there, their conversations start to go into their individual histories and getting to know one another properly. Turns out, they love talking to each other and they want to do it all the time (to the extent that they sneak away from the social time after supper so they can talk to each other instead). Yes, this drops the pace of the book a bit, but the pay-off is huge. You are able to FEEL the connection between them happening. It’s immersive, compelling and so, so real. Layers of the onion are peeled back slowly and it’s a glorious process.

There is a delightful cast of supporting characters, but I would speedread those parts, desperate for more of Lorcan and Daphne’s far-ranging, emotion-laden conversations. Such is the power of this book, that I’m still in a fog of misty-eyed love a couple days later. If you need your heart to be held, loved and adored, then this is the book for you. Truly, I am in love.