Octavia Holton arrives at her childhood home following the death of her father, determined to claim her inheritance, fix up the property, and sell it off to settle her debts. There's one snag: Gabriel Fallon has already arrived at the estate, claiming that his late father won it from Octavia's just a month prior.

As Octavia has no way to prove that she is owed the property, she's a bit out of luck--except for the fact that Gabriel takes an immediate liking to her. He offers a four week fake engagement, which will give Octavia time to stay at the house without being questioned. If she doesn't find any documentation that the house belongs to her by the end of that time, it goes to Gabriel.

Of course... While they're pretending to be engaged, they might act on their physical attraction to each other, right? I mean, it's only right and proper.

This one has all of the things I like about Megan Frampton: a good sense of humor, great sexual tension, and a knack for blending those two elements in a way that doesn't come off as goofy. I love that there are two people duking it out for a house; I love that he had a tiny, cute dog and she has a big, intimidating dog; I love that Octavia is not shy about her sexuality, and doesn't feel any shame for wanting to get up to stuff and thangs with Gabriel.

So why didn't this quite click for me? I would say that it's because this is a good few books into Frampton's ongoing Hazards of Dukes series, and it's definitely well-connected to a previous one I haven't yet read (though I want to). I think that while this book definitely stands on its own pretty easily, there could have been some context lost from the fact that I wasn't super acquainted with the history between Gabriel and Octavia's families.

However, I don't think that was really it. I think this was largely a case of Frampton not quite going as hard for the drama as she could have. Which is fine--lots of people will love that. There's still good chemistry between the leads, hot sex, banter. All of that holds up. Plenty of people will prefer that to high drama. I'm just... a drama queen, I suppose.

There isn't that much that Octavia and Gabriel are struggling with internally, is the thing. Ultimately, they're both pretty good people with some emotional baggage, but nothing huge. He's a scholar. A very nice scholar. She is neither jaded nor totally naive. And again, as I mentioned in a review of another book... The obstacle that they think they face is not much of an obstacle. Gabriel is never dead set on fucking Octavia over if the house belongs to her, and vice versa. Their other obstacle is quite easily overcome.

And it's not that I think this should have been a book in which Gabriel was exposed as this vigilante or like, the true killer of Octavia's father or something--that's not really the style of this series, and that's well and good. However, I still feel like the emotional tension was higher in the previous installment, and that's what I was missing here.

Nonetheless, if you're looking for a lighter book with good smut, I would recommend it. Not everything needs to be super high stakes.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the perfect low stakes read that I really needed this week! I think Octavia is a character we can all relate to (who hasn’t made a massive mistake in their lifetime). Gabriel is such a heartwarming hero who brings the perfect amount of spice in the bedroom. What I loved most about this book is the development of what happens when a person becomes your place. I also really enjoyed all of the different Greek mythology tales told throughout. Gabriel is a scholar who studies Greek mythology and the tales are used as a communication tool throughout the book as Gabriel tells the household a new story every night. I thought it was a really clever way to incorporate his passion into the story. I would recommend any Frampton fan to read this, but also anyone who loves historical romance and needs a low conflict read right now!

Thank you Net Galley and Avon for allowing me to read an advanced copy for an honest review!