4.5*

This was a delight of a book to read! I loved the sound of the synopsis and was captured from the start. The author had a great sense of setting, with the feel of Prohibition New York captured in all its sounds, sights and desires.

I especially appreciated the way that the diversity was shown, not just in terms of queerness but also race, and how the appeal of the speakeasy was also in the freedom it granted various marginalised communities over the rest if more segregated society

In general, there was an excellent mix of three dimensional , complex characters, with the more straightforwardly villainous ones, although I did long for a bit more depth for Betty's love interest, Eva, especially compared to the detail and depth we had of Jack's counterpart Sammy. Give me more Eva backstory! But I did like how the two relationships contrasted against each other with one getting things (sort of) sorted as quickly as possible while the other two were still sizing each other up!

A fun, sweet and very entertaining read. I'll definitely be keeping a eye out for further books by this author

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC*