When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo, she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood.
Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become.
As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again.
This book has two of my absolute favourite things: the friends-to-lovers trope and a low-angst romance. The premise has the potential to be very stressful and lead to an incredibly high-angst Black Moment, but Alexis Hall subverts all that. Gracewood discovers that Viola is trans before the 50% mark, and although he doesn't have the greatest reaction, it has everything to do with his sense of betrayal at discovering Viola didn't actually die and nothing to do with the fact that she's trans. In fact, every character that Viola is close enough to come out to immediately uses her correct name and pronouns and fully accepts her as she is. It was a wonderful surprise to learn that Viola has such a supportive group of people around her when it would have been so easy to isolate her in the historical setting the book takes place in.
Since the potential for an angsty Black Moment is prevented so early, the rest of the romance is incredibly low-angst with the main romantic tension revolving around the fact that Gracewood is a duke and Viola is a lady's companion. Most of the reluctance comes from Viola and although it is a logical fear, the book kind of brushes it off and nothing really changes before Viola changes her mind. Although I didn't mind because I was enjoying the story so much, it may be a sticking point for some readers, so be aware of that if you decide to read this book.
The way that Hall played with the friends-to-lovers trope in this book was a lot of fun. Because you don't have to worry about a stressful reveal, you get to spend most of the book enjoying Viola and Gracewood getting to know each other fully in a way that they couldn't before Viola transitioned. But the fact that they were friends for so long is apparent in the way they banter with each other and how comfortable they feel with each other in such a short period of time. Their shared history comes up multiple times since they were best friends for so long, and I really enjoyed learning more about their pasts and how much they meant to each other before any romantic feelings were involved.
The secondary characters were all a lot of fun, and I honestly hope we get books for some of them. Gracewood's sister, Miranda, was such a wonderful and unique character, and I loved how weird she was. She doesn't fit in with normal society, especially at first, and I appreciated that she doesn't have to change how weird she is to make friends. Viola's sister-in-law, Lady Marleigh, was also a wonderful character. She's incredibly blunt and honest and she doesn't care if people like her, but she obviously cares very deeply for all the people who are important to her.
Overall, this book hit a lot of my specific interests, and although the plot was slow and meandering at points, I still loved every second of it.
Rating: 5 stars
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