2.5 stars. That might be overly harsh.

This was Fine. The premise sounded so interesting, but wasn't as engaging when it played out. Marian's motivations for becoming a courtesan made sense, but at times was muddled—she doesn't want to be forced into a loveless marriage, so she decides she'll become a high-class courtesan instead. Where does love fit in? There were themes of choosing your own destiny, but I felt those needed to be coaxed out more.

So many (historical) romance novels develop the characters' relationship before sex, and while expected the reversal threw me off. I had a hard time understanding Nate and Marian's connection. Their class difference was discussed in terms of the choices Marian has to make, but the implications on their relationship and matrimonial union weren't explored.

I was interested in the stories of Marian's sisters, but was satisfied just reading the blurbs for the next books on Goodreads, lol. I don't plan to continue this series.

ALSO the author has an extremely large vocabulary and wields it perhaps unnecessarily often. I had to look up multiple words per chapter, including sobriquet and catarrh. I normally keep track of words I learn from books, but I absolutely gave up and just used the dictionary on the Kindle.