I really enjoyed this. The second book of this series gave me very mixed feelings – strong writing and a lovely romance, but some bizarre race stuff that comes of having two white leads working with/around Indian culture. This kind of addresses it head on (though I don't think it was on purpose), with a male lead from Lebanon, speaking Arabic, operating in theft with kind of a noble cause. And I REALLY liked him. There's a few throwaway things about his background that really resonated – like his cousin bringing hoards of food when he came to visit, or him being upset that fruit tasted like onion because the knife used wasn't cleaned? – and some really lovely turns of phrase that I thought more than made up for other fiddly fumbled bits. 

And the stuff that works about Dunmore continues to work. The leads are immensely likable and root-for-able, and the way they discover each other and fall in love is VERY dreamy. My memory of the other female leads in the series is kind of hazy, but I still felt Catriona was a distinct, sharply painted person, with understandable blind spots and flaws, and very modern and sympathetic hang-ups about marriage and motherhood and loneliness. And she's bi! 

I will now go back to read book #3, but I kind of don't think it'll beat this one.