The story is enjoyable and I was surprised by how much I came to like Johan and his relationship with Lucas. I'm not sure Nya was well-developed as a character for me to see why Johan would be drawn to her. Nya's defining personality traits seem to be that she's nice and shy/sheltered... and that's about it. Despite her father having chided her all her life for "dreaming big," I don't think we ever got a sense of what her talents, interests, and dreams were. Despite saying that she didn't want to be defined by her relationship with Johan, I felt like that's exactly where she ends up. 

A far more emotionally complex book than the (rather terrible) cover would have you believe. As is typical for Alyssa Cole, satisfying commentary about everything from personal identities to migration to capitalism to the patriarchy is baked into a steamy romp and topped off with a number of fun tropes as well as a nice mental space for those coping with parental loss to work through some of the associated emotions.

The first section of the book is easier to read if you’ve recently read the rest of the series, but it’s manageable as a stand-alone read.

This book blew me away. So much more than just a romance. Incredible representation: Black, African, bisexual, non-binary... And more! The main characters were complex, believable, relatable in surprising ways, and didn't draw out the tension between them for sake of ***DRAMA!*** Incredible. (Epilogue was a bit of a letdown though... Just skip it.)

This is the best Alyssa Cole book I have ever read and its differently on the top 3 royal romances that I have read. I first want to say that the low-key queer and trans rep was so heart warming to see and omg I love Nya and Johan so much! 

This book is a master class on how a modern contemporary romance should be written. And now if you excuse me, I will be ordering the rest of the RR series.