The third book in the Last Chance Scoundrels Series, A Rogue's Rules for Seduction is a second chance romance story featuring two MCs with a fair amount of childhood baggage who finally get to know the real person behind the former infatuation.

I had read the first in the series a few years ago and vaguely remembered the characters, but it wasn't critical and this book worked as a standalone.  I did make a note in the Good Girls Guide to Rakes review that is worth repeating here: This title is part of a recent theme of “guides” and instructional type titles that don’t actually mean the MCs are doing anything in the book resembling the title.

I am not a huge second chance romance reader, but I vaguely remember Dom leaving Willa at the altar in the first book so I thought I would give it a whirl.  I have to be honest, even with understanding his backstory at the conclusion and enjoying how Leigh makes it clear their first "chance" at romance was mostly superficial, I am still not clear on why he left her at the altar.  I don't remember clearly how it was presented in the first book, but I felt like the callback to that scene wasn't here.  There also wasn't a ton of callback to the driving force of the series, which is these three former rakehell besties need to get married within a year in order to gain their inheritance.

Lots of readers in other reviews loved this book.  And there is a lot to love.  A house party at a dreary island in the Hebrides for debauchery, a strong and salty heroine who bucks convention and a former dock worker hero who is also brilliant and sensitive.  The first quarter of the book kept me glued trying to figure out where Leigh was going.

Then, it started to slow way down for me.  

There was a funny competitive scene that brought the MCs together and then a forced proximity/one bed scenario that wasn't exactly the most believable but was fun nonetheless.  Despite this, a lot of what was in between was a will they/won't they tension that wasn't really interesting or compelling for me.  By the time Leigh cracked into the intimate scenes (and there was one that was more on the spicy side), I honestly didn't care.  I skimmed it.  And I skimmed the rest of the book.

I think in the setup there was a lot going right.  Leigh does a good job showing why these two probably shouldn't have married at the first but were still right for each other.  Normally, with second chances I feel like the adage "an ex is an ex for a reason" is good soup.  I didn't have that sense with these MCs.  However, his reason (or what I think was his reason) for jilting her was sort of anti-climactic.  It was predictable, and serious, but also sort of understandable given the violence of his surroundings. 

There was also a little angst but to me it gave more of the misunderstanding feels.  So I think that is why I lost interest in the characters.

There were a lot of appearances from the MCs of the first two books which will be satisfying for readers who have stuck with the series from the start.  There are also some other, interesting characters that I would love to read in their own stories.

I think if you enjoy second chance romance, this may ring your bell.  There is good character growth (although it feels like we are coming in on the tail end of it) and many readers adore these MCs.  It also contains some spicy (BDSM) bedroom scenes which some readers will enjoy.

I won't reread, but I would read books about the host or Miss Steele.

I loved this book. It was one of my 5 stars for the year. I was excited for this story and it delivered. I loved Dominic. He was a great hero. I thought the story was wonderful . I would recommend to others in a second.

After the first book I was most anxious to get to this one... sorry Finn and Tabitha I was more interested in Dom and Willa and seeing how they managed to turn things around... and how does this begin? Oh with some brotherly conspiring which is exactly how things went wrong in the first place...

After their disasterous wedding that wasn’t Willa and Dom find themselves trapped on an island at a house party with no way to escape each other. She is determined to get over the hurt he caused and he is desperate to avoid the woman he loves like his life depends on it because he never felt like he deserved someone like her.

Could most things in romances just be solved by having a conversation? Yup... though I suppose this is a different time when such things would never think to do such a thing. And in this case breaking up actually made things better for them in a way because they actually got to know each other for real.

I really liked this book especially since it lacked any unnecessary conflict. Yes Dom had a secret he didn’t want to tell her and their different classes was a bit of a thing but it all worked and made sense. Willa had to learn and grow on her own and make her own decisions. I like a good second chance romance.

Lots of build up to Dom’s book and I feel pretty underwhelmed. I’m a bit over the whole “I’m not good enough for this person even though I love them” way of thinking that seems really common in historical romances. I enjoyed the sexy times and wished there was more of that but the rest of the plot was rather boring for me. The party scenes were kind of cringy too.

Thank you Harper Collins/Avon and NetGalley for the ARC!

Eva Leigh is utter perfection! A Rogue's Rules for Seduction is the perfect sensual and redeeming conclusion to this trilogy. This each novel Leigh's writing becomes better and better, her humor and understanding of the historical romance genre shines through on every page. Her characters are throughly realized, they are relatable and worth rooting for. Leigh's writing is charming, descriptive, delightfully paced and has a perfect clarity which help the romance and plot to both shine through as they need to. If you have never read an Eva Leigh you absolutely must! While this can be read as a standalone, I would definitely advocate for it to be read in order. Eva Leigh does a beautiful job in her trilogies making them subtle build upon each other, and if you want to see this hero's full journey you must start with book one!

This is a second chance romance between our hero and heroine, who were meant to wed a year ago. But in the time that has past both characters have had a better opportunity to examine themselves and better understand what they need for their future and from a partner. I think that in their year long absence, the heroine has really been able to grown into the strong and independent woman that she is meant to be. This growth has also made her a woman who can better meet the hero head on and understand his insecurities and desires in a more well rounded way. Eva Leigh does a really beautiful job reopening this relationship and giving both hero and heroine a safe and secure place to learn to trust each other again and open themselves up to a future full of love and understanding. All of the novels in this series have been delightful steamy and sensual, using the exploration of physical touch and intimacy to build and convey the depth of emotion that is developing between the hero and heroine.

Eva Leigh is a must read historical romance author! This novel has beautifully blended mysterious secrets, scheming family and forced proximity of a remote Scottish Isle. Watching these two star crossed lovers rediscover love, truth and understanding is stunning heartwarming and the perfect end to this absolutely wonderful series!

I have been looking forward to Dom and Willa's story ever since they're introduction in the first Last Chance Scoundrels novel. Dom's best friends invite him to a stay a remote house in the Hebrides, but they don't tell him that their sister, and the woman Dom left at the alter, will also be in attendance. Neither Willa nor Dom ever wanted to see the other again, but now they're forced to confront their past together to move forward. I loved the force proximity and second chance romance vibes.

Eva Leigh has saved her steamiest couple for last in her Last Chance Scoundrels series with "A Rogue's Rules for Seduction." Dom and Willa's failed engagement has been teased in previous novels but we finally get the meeting and hash out we've been anticipating.

Dom's got a secret past that he's always feared dragging Willa into. Willa isn't the girl she used to be, Dom's leaving her at the altar cut to the bone. They liked the idea of each other in the past, but can they love the reality of each other in the present? Their happily married family members conspire to trap them together at a house party on a remote island and force them to find out. Thank goodness!

Exploding with passion, yearning and forced proximity tropes. I'm not sure Leigh has ever written a steamier second half to a novel. It was INTENSE. I had to make sure I hadn't opened a Stacey Reid novel on my Kindle by mistake! I need a cold shower. I'm pretty sure if I had a paper copy, it would come with scorch marks. Steam level 11 out of 10... you get it.

I have been waiting for this book from the moment I read an ARC of The Good Girl's Guide To Rakes. I just KNEW Dom and Willa's story was going to be second chance romance perfection.

And it WAS.

In the very beginning of the series, we see Dom literally leave Willa at the altar on their wedding day.

How can a hero come back from that?

Turns out, sweet, giant, man bear Dom knew exactly how to pull it off. This book had EXCELLENT groveling, some truly beautiful, quiet moments with our couple together (something Eva Leigh does so well that I always look for) and an explanation I could easily get on board with for why exactly Dom left the love of his life at the altar!

AND we also have a giant, powerful man capable of violence who shows only tenderness for his lady? MY FAVORITE.

I loved this book. My new favorite second chance historical romance.

This was a much awaited ending to a series, at least by me!
This review may contrain spoilers.
This book was part of a series about non-traditional young ladies finding love. For the mist part, these ladies are respectable, but not First Season Debutantes. They are a little older, with a few Seasons under their belt and they haven't found a man who saw beneath to the woman underneath.
In this book, the heroine had already been engaged to the hero and he ran away from her at the altar. The heroes,two brothers and their best friend are yoked up by the brother's father, an earl. He is sick of them gambling and frittering their lives away and they have to get married to a respectable young lady. The heroine is the younger sister of the brothers, who have already married. The hero of this story is the last of the three. The hero grew up in a bad section of London and worked the docks next to his father, before his father made a fortune and raised his family from living in the slums to living in Mayfair. The hero had to go to Oxford, where he met the brothers. They all became friends who would do anything for the other. The hero did not reveal all of his secrets to the brothers and yet, when he said he had to jilt their sister, they helped him.
The heroine spent the past year on the Continent, travelling to get over the grief of being left at the altar by the man she had feelings for. Her heart is broken and is just starting to be put back together when she is talked into going to a scandalous house party on an island. Her brothers tell her she can get away and she goes. Her brothers and their wives will be her chaperones. She is on the boat travelling when she is aware that her previous fiance' is there. Her brothers tricked her and him into coming to the house party. The final hurt was when the hero refused to sleep in the room next to her. He sees it as being penitent but she sees it as avoidance. Neither one feels that they are deserving of love or happiness. Each one needs to find their own way and love the other for themselves and not what they perceived the other as.
While I really loved this series, this book was more about the characters finding themselves. I enjoyed how the story was written, but it was hard for me to immerse myself into the story. There were two erotic scenes, with explicit sex. I understand why they were there, but there should have been a warning because they were very explicit with fetishes. This really wasn't your grandma's historical romance, if you get what I am saying.
I liked this story and the characters. I felt this story was more introspective and finding who one's self is, rather than reacting to the environment around the characters. I liked that the background characters stayed in the background. And I saw one young lady who might be a future heroine. I give this book 5 stars and a place on my keeper shelf.

I've been waiting for Willa and Dom's story since the beginning of the series, because I knew it was going to be full of all the things I love in romance. Longing, pining, guilt, reconciliation. And A Rogue's Rules for Seduction didn't disappoint. Plus, it delivered on setting and storyline, drawing me in and keeping me interested the whole way through.

Willa and Dom really are a great couple, and what I loved most about this book was watching them realize that they hadn't really known each other the first time around - and then deciding to rectify that. It was sweet and gratifying, and tied together the series on an excellent note.

That said, my main issue with this book was that it was just too spicy for my tastes. This is more of a personal preference issue than a quality thing, but Rogue's Rules is definitely high up on the steam meter! I didn't feel like it added much to the story, but again, that's just me.

Overall, a satisfying conclusion, if not one that was 100% my jam.

3.5/5

There are many fish in the sea however Lady Willa Ransome and Dominic Kilburn have already been caught in “A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction” by Eva Leigh!!

Who needs a meddling mama when you have meddling family and friends? What is funnier than the forced proximity is the inability escape extraordinaire Willa to actually escape. Plus, fate brings Willa and Dom at the right place at the right time when they are at their most vulnerable creating emotional scenes.

This second chance romance is beautiful! There is complexity with their different social backgrounds yet both are privileged. There is growth and their personalities bring balance as a couple, and their coupling is hawt!!

This book is utterly satisfactory!! We finally know why Dom walked away and more of what Willa was doing while apart. The strong willed individuals finally have their sweet happily ever after!!

If you love beautiful declarations of devotion, then I highly recommend this book!!

Thank you to Net Galley, Avon, and Harper Voyager US for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This is the final book of a series and I do think you should read the previous books to get some of this couple's backstory. I did not care for Willa. I thought she was immature and flighty. I didn't think that Dom's big secret should have been enough to stop their wedding. However, after a year apart, and spending time getting to really know one another both MC's grew in maturity.

Top Pick - 4.5 Stars

The final book in Last Chance Scoundrels is delicious!

Leigh is probably one of my favorite historical authors currently writing. I prescribe her books to anyone wanting a more inclusive window into the historical world, along with heroes that empower the women they love and aren’t threatened by a woman’s desire or ambition. The final book in this series only adds to her ongoing world and legacy… not to mention her talent for writing smokin’ hot romance.

I’ve been waiting for Dom and Willa’s story since the opening pages of The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes. Dom left Willa at the alter for a reason, some reason, and it was horrible, and I needed to know why. I also had to understand what type of person Willa was. Leigh delivered this heartbreaking story in the best way possible, with Dom and Willa stranded together at an island house party. When these two are forced to face their past, the awakening is so much more than lingering attraction.

I loved how Dom and Willa had issues they needed to overcome and how being together once more drove them to uncover hard truths. These two together are smokin’ hot, though, from the forced bad acting scene to their random meeting on a dark night beach, to getting caught in a rainstorm, and of course, a small guest house with only one bed. There’s some light kink in this book too, which I love. Leigh is so good at weaving in sexual tension amid internal conflict. As for external, this book is all Dom and Willa, which forces readers to really sink into the history between the pair and how they’ve grown in the time apart.

There is nothing conventional about this book, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. From the setting to the pacing, it’s on the mark. While there aren’t external forces keeping these two apart, the wounds of the past are the major antagonist here. Both characters show how easily a person can be dominated by the expectations of society around them and the masks they wear instead of being true to themselves.

If you’re looking for historical romances that really dive deep into character development and you enjoy on-fire sexual tension, you can’t go wrong with this one. I’m considering this summer for an Eva Leigh Renaissance and may be reading through her last four series to soak in a world I wish I were part of.

~ Landra

Really enjoyed this installment. Dom and Willa are an amazing couple, once I started this book I couldn’t put it down. This author just understands how to write a good book that is entertaining and keeps the reader on their toes. I am intrigued by what this author puts out next. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have (im)patiently waited for the release of the final book in the Last Chance Scoundrels Series by Eva Leigh, and the day hath arrived, dear readers! If you’ll remember, I was absolutely obsessed with the second book in the Series, How the Wallflower Was Won. We featured it quite a bit on our ‘best of’ on last years anniversary show. So when offered the chance to finally meet the elusive, jilted bride and Finn/Kieran sibling, Willa, I squeed out loud! Just call me the whomping willow kids, because I was loving the pining of the main couple in A Rogues Rules for Seduction.
A Little Bit of Plot
The Last Chance Scoundrels Series begins on the worst day of Willa Ransome’s life - being abandoned at the altar by Dom Kilburn, former dock worker turned ‘aristo’ and brother to Celeste, heroine of The Guide Girls Guide to Rakes. As a result of his decision to run, Dom, Finn, and Kieran were all tasked by their families to find suitable brides and marry within a year or they’ll be financially cut off.
After a year abroad, attempting to heal a broken heart, Willa reenters society again by attending an unconventional country house party on a remote Scottish island . Dom is unknowingly coerced into attending the same event. With no way off the island, both Willa and Dom are subjected to a week in forced proximity. Will they find some middle ground or decide to remain apart?
The Compliment Sandwich
The Top Bun (The Pro)
The Lead Characters
I will admit that having met Dom in the previous two books, he never clicked with me. His gruff manner toward Tabitha in HWWW turned me off - but that was the point, I guess. since she’s now blissfully married to Finn. Therefore, having the opportunity get the full extent of the complex character that is Dom Kilburn, was quite enjoyable. As the epitome of the brooding enigmatic ‘silent type’ leading man, the reader can completely understand why the marriage between these two would never have worked before.
To say that Dom is going through some things is an understatement. While I’m not going to share what these things are, I am confident enough to say that neither he nor Willa were in a ‘good place’ in regards to their sense of self. As the reader, you witness a character shift (for the better) for Dom that I don’t believe would have occurred without this year of separation.
As for Willa, I’m in absolute love with her. I didn’t know at first what to expect. I was hoping she wasn’t a giggling debutante with a catty disposition. While the lady does have claws, her witticisms strike more like a sharpened blade - with precision and depth. All of which Dom deserves, and he knows this.
As with Dom, Willa needed the year apart to discover what she wanted out of life - not as a miss of marriageable age, but a thinking, feeling person with needs and desires. Left on her own and ignored through most of her life, she felt as though she was performing for someone else - her parents, the ton, Dom… now she’s living for her.
At one point in the novel, Dom stops referring to her as princess (which infuriated me..as it did Willa), giving her a completely different moniker. Lets just say It hits squarely in the feels - perfection.
Calling her princess seemed right because that’s what she had been to him: regal and powerful.He’d glowed with pride whenever they had walked out together, and had loved seeing the wary and irate looks on the nobs’ faces whenever they clapped eyes on her on his arm. Except…she was more than that, and a throb of shame pierced him. He’d worshiped not Willa herself, but the idea of her.
The Meat (The Con)
The ending circled a little bit, but not enough to be distracting. I don’t really have much to say here, I wouldn’t change anything.
The Bottom Bun (The Pro)
Dirty Talk
Holy cats. Holy freaking cow. I’m trying to think of other animal exclamations to use here. Holy Toledo! The dirty talk in this book. My eyeballs were sweating. I will also say that this has to be the steamiest of all three.
While I say that and upon rereading my other reviews for the books in this series, I make that proclamation each time.
I lost count of how many sex scenes we had. Literally, my brain stopped working for a time and was incapable of numbers.
While we wait until almost 50% through to get a kiss, the remainder completely makes up for lost time.
And when I said dirty talk, I didn’t just mean just Dom - Willa has quite the mouth on her too (twss).
“If, in my absence, you’ve become such an expert in pleasuring yourself, I want to see your skill.”
He gaped at her. Surely, she didn’t mean…
“Do it,” she insisted. “You wanted me to use you - here I am. Using you. Take your cock out and make yourself spill while I watch.”
“Hell,” he growled, so excited he nearly came then and there.
“Now,” she ordered him.
Damn, you get it girl. Make him beg and plead for it.
This scene is honestly one of the hottest I’ve read outside of erotica.
Let’s just finish that scene off, shall we…as Dom does:
“Let me hear you,” she whispered, as if knowing his battle.
“I’m very…loud.”
“Even better.”...
“Faster,” she urged…
“Do it,” she panted. “Bring yourself off while I watch.”
Also, there’s bondage. Which I will not spoil at all. Believe me, you will not be disappointed if dirty talk and steam are your bag.
Lastly, I just wanted to thank Leigh for giving our former main couples so much screen time in this book. I fell in love with them so much, therefore, it was enjoyable to have small glimpses of them in perfect marital bliss while not belying what made us as readers fall head first in the first place. Celeste is depicted as being more free spirited and willing to be debauched (only by Kieran) and Tabitha enjoys the more unconventional pursuits from a ‘purely philosophical’ position while Finn wholeheartedly supports her.
In summation, this is the last book in this series, however, Eva Leigh weaves all of her novels into the same shared universe so while these stories are tied up I believe this won’t be the last we see of the Last Chance Scoundrels.

The first two books of the delightful Last Chance Scoundrels trilogy, chronicled the stories of the two younger Ransome brothers, Kieran and Finn, after they helped their best friend, Dom Kilburn, jilt their sister at the altar.
Think about that, helping their best friend jilt their beloved sister, Willa. The three thought they were doing the right thing because Willa and Dom seemed so unhappy in the days leading up to their wedding.
As punishment for the jilting, Dom’s immensely rich father and the the brothers' father, an Earl, required all three men to be married within the year or else they would lose all financial support from their families. This was serious business, even ignored spares weren’t supposed to work.
In A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction the two brothers and their wives schemed to get both Dom and Willa to a house party on an island in the Inner Hebrides owned by their friend Oliver Longbridge. A house party designed for fun and naughtiness, far the strictures of London society.
A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction is a most satisfying end to the trilogy. The tortured Dom has been the most intriguing character from the very beginning, his and Willas’s story does not disappoint.
How can you not love a heroine whose first appearance upon a page is introduced by a rather shocking (from a woman during Regency times) word. But, Willa has a good reason to be surprised and dismayed at the appearance of Dom at the same house party on the desolated Scottish island.
After the forced togetherness they begin to make an amazing discovery. Their separation was the best thing that could have happened to them. Leigh writes of their voyage of discovery in her usual intelligent manner. Leigh goes from their immaturity to a new found knowledge of both their own hearts and that of each other.
What could have been a drippy HR is leavened by so much humor. The delightful and irrepressible Longbridge has put together what reads like the perfect house party, especially his amusing naughty parlor games.
The setting is fascinating, nice to be away from the usual London, or grand estates. Longbridge even brings his sturdier houseguests on a tour of the island.
The characters are intelligent and usually act so. Sometimes slipping up, but in a well-meaning way. It was lovely to see the characters from the first two books, especially since Leigh has almost always written really fascinating women characters. No change with that skill in A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction
After the groveling is done and finally, mostly accepted, things heat up between Willa and Dom. On the Scoville scale I would go with Ghost Pepper in the scenes set in the convenient cottage found during a storm. The language also seems rougher than in most HRs. Not complaining, just wanting to warn some readers.
The realistic fights between brothers and sister, friend against friend and former lovers against one another are poignant and no holds barred.
This book could easily be read as a standalone as the backstory unfolds in a genuine way. However, all books in the Last Chance Scoundrel trilogy are well worth reading. Actually, nothing would be lost in going back and reading the first two books after reading this one. There are no great surprises in the revelations; the main joys of Leigh’s books come with her fascinating characters and her fresh takes on the usual tropes.
Thanks to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book.

I have been waiting for Dom and Willa's story and it does not disappoint, The third book in Eva Leigh's Last Chance Scoundrels series, this is the story of Dom and Willa's second-chance romance, following Dom jilting Willa at the altar at the start of the series. This book can be read as a standalone, but I recommend starting with the first two books of the series so one can truly feel the pent up longing and anguish. Dom and Willa have been tricked by mutual family and friends into both being present at a house party in the home of a libertine on an isolated Scottish isle. The boat dropping Dom off will not be back for some days, thus the couple is in delicious forced proximity.

Delicious as the forced proximity is, this book is definitely a slow-burn (which becomes an all-out inferno!). Willa has to see past her hurts, Dom has to deal with the consequences of his prior actions, and both have to come to understand what was missing before can be present now only in the wake of the destruction of their prior engagement. Both Willa and Dom had ulterior motives for being together in the past. Stripped of those motivations and illusions makes their relationship deeper and with the ability to last.

4.5 stars. I did wonder how Willa managed to be able to attend the house party at the center of the story, even with her family present (and would they really attend such a notorious event?). The scorching seemed a little advanced for someone of Willa's innocence, plus I would think there would be walking issues based on all the couple shared in a matter of hours. But still so good. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary ARC of this book. The opinions herein are my own.

A Rogue's Rules for Seduction is a captivating novel that left me utterly spellbound. It is a second-chance romance that simmers with a slow-burn intensity, featuring two characters who are polar opposites and initially enemies but ultimately fall deeply in love. The chemistry between them is scorching hot, leaving me breathless and yearning for more.

This relationship has been building up since book one of the series. You got to see them develop a love relationship, then the heartbreak, and now the aftermath of all of those feelings. Willa was heartbroken, even do we see them from far away, you know that both of them are pinning after each other. Dom is trying really hard to run away from his feelings, but they will eventually catch up to him. And what better way to catch up to him than to put him and the person he is running from together in a house with all kinds of wild things happening? An amazing end to this series (I hope not) but at least, we finally get to see Willa and Dom smash in the most beautiful way.

I always come into second chance romances with some level of apprehension; when executed poorly, they can make me upset at the lack of sense the relationship makes. But when done well, second chance romance makes me so emotional and is truly beautiful and powerful. A Rogue’s Rules for Seduction falls clearly into the latter category. I was pleasantly surprised (even though I’ve already read The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes and How the Wallflower Was Won and enjoyed both of them a lot!) by just how much I loved Dom and Willa’s love story and how much depth Eva Leigh brought to their past and present relationship.

The setting, for one, made so much sense for Dom and Willa; as Finn and Kieran know well, these two are so stubborn and wouldn’t talk with each other if they hasn’t been trapped on the island together for an extended period of time—the forced proximity was a stroke of genius on their parts, as much as it angered Willa and Dom to have been set up by their meddling. Besides that, being on this remote island also gave Dom and Willa the chance to spend time together outside of the smothering eyes of the ton, the weight of expectations and pretenses and society gossips, which they desperately needed to properly get to know each other.

Willa’s anger was understandable and justified, although the transition from that to just being unable to resist the pull to Dom (and he to her as well) was so satisfying to see. There’s so much angst in the whole setup of their relationship, given we know what happened at the beginning of Kieran’s book, and witnessing Dom’s self-hatred and guilt was so difficult. We know that he never felt he deserved Willa, but this was news to her (those glimpses where Willa realizes this were so important). I love that as Willa and Dom keep getting pulled toward each other, we see them realize how they’d each misjudged the other before, and as the story unfolds, they learn the hidden depths to each other, the vulnerable parts of themselves they never showed to anyone else, not even their siblings. The two of them vowing to do better by each other because they can’t help but care, the gradual opening up and sharing about their pasts while also asking their family/friends for more information to better understand the other, all of it adds so many layers to their romance.

I loved how Finn and Kieran and Celeste and Tabitha all played roles in their story, both as friends and family and as examples for Dom and Willa of happy marriages. Willa and Dom recognizing that their engagement a year ago wouldn’t have led to a successful marriage because they both didn’t trust each other and truly know their partner made me teary-eyed. It was such a big step for them to come to terms with that, and it’s a pivotal part of them moving forward and learning and growing so they can build a strong relationship in their present and future.

I love the respective sibling relationships and friendships; Finn and Kieran both love their baby sister so much and want to help make things right for her after their part in everything and want the best for both her and their close friend, Dom. And Celeste imparting her wisdom on her brother (and every time Dom apologizes for not realizing she hated the stifling societal role she was supposed to play makes me love him more; he calls her Star and that’s the cutest thing ever. And him talking about saving the best food for his baby sister when they grew up poor) and also to Willa, the way she knows that her brother’s been through more than he’d ever tell her made me tear up. Celeste and Tabitha reaching out to Willa at the end, too, wanting to be sisters, oh my heart. They’re all so sweet and supportive. Also just the fact that we get to see so much of Finn and Kieran’s good natured ribbing, along with Dom, it was so good to see their friendship in this one and to get to see all of them spend time together. The sibling disgust at getting any kinds of glimpses of their sibling’s sex lives with their partners (Willa hearing Kieran propositioning Celeste and Dom not wanting to see Celeste dancing for Kieran and Kieran saying he’s pretending they’re going to make lace) made me laugh out loud because yeah, that sounds right.

And of course the sex and the significance of what their relationship is like then, how it reflects on what their dynamic is like and their trust in each other, I loved that. Dom letting (and enjoying) Willa being in control, giving her agency which is so important to her after everything, and Willa also trusting Dom to be in control at other times, too, all of this parallels how far they’ve come and grown as people, how well they understand each other and their needs at that point. It’s hot but adds so much depth to their romance.

The epilogue was perfect, down to the words they exchanged, the rings!! And Kieran and Finn both tearing up (Kieran even sobbing like the big softie he is). All the details were perfect for them, which really reflected how much Dom and Willa wanted their wedding to be just for them. I’m sad that the series is over though I’m happy all of them found their HEAs, and I’ve loved reading about Kieran and Celeste, Finn and Tabitha, and Dom and Willa. The empowering of women as a central theme across the books and the mention of that in the epilogue made me emotional. I’ll have to do a reread sometime where I read all three back to back!

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the ARC!