I usually hate romance. I often can’t stand romance books or films, and I’m critical of it even as a subplot. I dislike it so much to the point I avoid many romantasies despite enjoying them.  All my hatred for romance makes my hatred for smut even more severe. I find it corny, gross, and often extremely boring. This book defeated all my expectations. I was obsessed with the couple and the smut scenes were actually so fun to read. I’ve never been invested in a book this much before to the point I read it all in one NIGHT. The only reason it wasn’t higher is because despite having really good smut, a lot of the scenes that seemed like they would’ve been fun to read about were mentioned rather than shown. And why does the smut scene start in the middle of the deed?? I also didn’t like the politics. I usually enjoy that type of stuff but what was the point if in the end, Mikhail didn’t truly care about the lower class? It was only because of his love for Kate which would've been fine for other things but it made Kate seem so hypocritical. If he doesn’t change to show any compassion, what’s the point of having that element other than showing how submissive he is and pissing me off? There are other ways of showing his devotion without including politics that lead to nowhere and seem randomly placed.