#19 Read a romance with neurodivergent characters.

You may have heard the phrase, possibly in a TikTok, talking about different types of people: one person that looks like a cinnamon roll and is a cinnamon roll, one that looks like a cinnamon roll and could kill you, one that looks like they could kill you but is a cinnamon roll, and one that looks like they could kill you and could kill you. All of these types of characters are represented in this book, and I love them all.

The character that looks like a cinnamon roll and is a cinnamon roll is cousin Odo (cousin of the nobleman main character). He is the eccentric, history obsessed secretary who is the only member of the main character’s family that is nice to him from the beginning of the story. He is precious. Every time someone insults Odo in the book, I want to punch them.

The character that looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you is Emily. She is the cousin to the other main character and love interest. She is also a maid in the nobleman’s household. In 95% of the book, she is a nice, sweet lady. Towards the very end, the claws come out, and she is revealed as a terrifying but badass lady.

Now we get to our two main characters. The nobleman mentioned in the title, Rufus, is the character that looks like he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll. He is gruff and big and looks scary on the outside, but he has such a big heart.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Luke, the scoundrel mentioned in the title. He looks like he could kill you and could actually kill you. With a mysterious gnarly scar on his face and a wit sharp as steel, he’s definitely someone you don’t want to cross.

There are so many more memorable characters in this story, but these four were my personal favorites.

Not to mention that one of our leads, Rufus, appears to have dyslexia.

The word dyslexia was first coined in 1887. So at the time of this novel, 1823, the word did not exist. The condition, however, certainly existed in that time. Just because a condition has not been named does not mean it doesn’t exist! Dyslexia and other types of neurodivergent conditions have become more frequently diagnosed as their stigmatization has decreased.

The romance was heartfelt with plenty of steam. The stakes were heavy. The conflict felt genuine and resolved in a very satisfying manner.

I genuinely loved this book and can’t wait to read the other book in this series.