Though at first it seems odd to have an F/F romance in the midst of a series that has been primarily M/M to this point, Anna Maxwell has been a recurring character through the Bluewater Bay tales, and it was lovely to finally see her find some happiness of her own after the drama of her drawn-out breakup with Leigh featured over so many stories.
Of course, the elephant in the room for this book is Anna’s biphobia. Depending on the reader, this can be triggering, dull, or enlightening (in terms of such a thing existing). I was on the frustrated side of things (i.e., “OMG get over yourself already”), but I recognize that any sort of phobia is not something that one can just “get over.” So while annoying, it was an important source of conflict to the story.
Though first-person narration does make the biphobia issue more central to the conflict, Natalya seems like such an interesting character that I missed out on some of her perspective of things. On the other hand, so much time with Anna also means lots of time spent with Jeremy, a character from a previous book in the series, and their interactions are always delightful.
I find it mildly hilarious that this book “flips the script” in terms of certain sexual expectations — this story certainly wins for most number of ridiculous hook-up spots, when the men of this series have mostly stuck to boring surfaces like beds and couches.
And finally, while I’m glad that the books in this series don’t tend to end in weddings, I was thrilled to see a couple from a previous story tie the knot and have their happily ever after. I’m a sucker for weddings, and this one was delightful.
Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
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