*I received an ecopy of this book from the author. This has not influenced my review.*

There was some heavy, dark, messed up stuff in this story (there are trigger warnings at the beginning of the book), but the romance was so tender and patient and sweet and full of healing. And that was the main focus of the book.

Wex’s past as a slave and everything he went through really did a number on him. He had a lot of complicated, sometimes self-sabotaging or seemingly counterintuitive feelings and didn’t even understand things like love and affection at first. But Eyck was exactly the right person (or Kat’hoondeman) for him. Eyck was willing to give him the time and space and understanding and anything else he needed.

The book was also sexy. Part of Wex’s healing was realizing sex could be enjoyable for him. (But it also never felt like sex was being pushed as a necessity for all relationships or every person, which was nice.)

Wex was mute, an effect of trauma in his past, and couldn’t read or write, so he used sign language and gestures to communicate. And it wasn’t unique to him, this world had an established sign language (maybe with variations) and there were other characters he sometimes ran into who knew it as well.

I believe this is the first book I’ve ever read about main characters who look like humanoid animals. Mainly they had fur and tails. It’s not something I seek out, but I’m not opposed to it, and it was fun since it was something different for me.

There was some interesting world building and backstory that was revealed as the book progressed.

Overall, like I said this really was about the romance and healing and things changing for the better, and if you can handle the heavier stuff, it’s ultimately very sweet!

Trigger/Content Warnings: *SPOILER* On-page dubcon and rape, but the sex scenes between Wex and Eyck are consensual. *END SPOILER*

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2022 // Format: Ebook via TTS*