*4 knock out stars* 
 "I have wanted you ever since I can remember wanting." 
 This was sweet! A sigh of relief honestly because I was so disappointed and kinda worried after reading Book 1. I felt this author's distinct voice was completely vacant and missing in Romancing the Duke but here I felt right at home. This had Tessa Dare's signature mark stamped all over it. Clio and Rafe were so engaging, sexy and fun. Nothing was forced between them and the chemistry and sexual tension just rings off the page. Yayus! There were a few hiccups and one or two anachronisms but overall MUCH tighter and cleaned up than Romancing the Duke. 
 I'm a complete sucker for gruff towering ginormously built heroes. YUM. I love them. The bigger the better. And to top it off, they're a prizefighter with huge fists and bad boy disposition? 
 I'M THERE. What was great about Rafe is that even though he's reckless and a self-described illiterate brute, he's got such a playful vulnerable heart with insecurities that were very endearing. I loved how sexy and open he was about his attraction and admiration of Clio. No matter how much he fought it off, it was great seeing him test the boundaries and get Clio to fight for what she wanted. There were a few laugh-out-loud moments that I loved. The comedic timing and whit was there that TD is always great with. It's not trite and overly done. Bruser was hysterical and Tessa flirted with him possibly being OTT and a cartoon but thankfully it never went there. There were some close moments that toed the line but he made a great secondary character that brought laughs and levity to the story. And what I loved and missed the most and was here in spades was the sensual, playful sexy love scenes. TD doesn't shy away from that and I love it. I always appreciate the way she's written love scenes and just intimate moments in general. She always manages to capture the underlying desperation, need and all-consuming passion. It's always what I look for in my readings, that connection and realism of human emotions no matter how flawed or reckless. I just need to see more of that in her future work that was so prevalent in her other series and in here. 
 Closing his eyes, he let his brow fall against hers. His thrusts redoubled with force. They clashed against one another-cheek against jaw, teeth against chin. Raw, openmouthed kiss against kiss. 
 Then his hand tightened in her hair, and he broke the kiss, pulling her just a few inches away. He held her so tightly, forbidding her to look anywhere else. She had no choice but to stare into his eyes. 
 "Look," he said. "Look what you did." 
 Those bold green eyes held hunger and yearning and stark unabashed want. 
 And something more. 
 Something that could only be love. 
 "I know," she said. "I know. It will be alright." 
 The chemistry and banter between h/hr are honestly what saved this for me from being a dull & unexciting story. There were some modern anachronisms that bled into here but they weren't so heavy handed and OTT like in Romancing the Duke. The beer/distillery plot I could have done without because it was suspending belief and honestly? Not interesting. lol TD is known to have a modern voice and drop a lot of pop culture references in her HR books so for a new readers keep that in mind. It's subtle in some cases and others I personally didn't notice but in her more recent work it's like a sledge hammer and too much. Thankfully it was toned down in here save the beer/distillery business the heroine wanted to pursue in. And some of the details surrounding the hero's prizefighting career could have been trimmed and finessed more to suite the era IMO. But I'm no expert. I just wish Tessa would be more careful with her slip ups (or intentional winks?) because they can be distracting in some cases or just silly. Here thankfully it wasn't. And since I'm starting to repeat myself I'll end there. While I don't think this was her most exceptional work it was still a fun read and I felt at ease. I hope to see more angsty dark forlorn characters Tessa used to center her stories around because they were much more fun, fluid and organic. Yeah yeah even with the deep DARK tortured OTT secrets! lol