3.75 stars 
 Beautiful story with interesting, flawed, complex leads. 
 This used a character/couple trope I'm generally not a big fan of and I guess it slipped my mind before reading this since Winter is such a stoic mystery who carries himself so much older. The hero is 6 years younger than the heroine and a virgin to boot. The virgin part doesn't bother me, in fact it made for some really interesting compelling scenes between the h and hr who both are for the lack of a better term, straightforward. That blunt honesty between the both of them worked really well. It made the teasing, bantering and even arguing fun and refreshing. I already went into this somewhat bias, I already had a soft spot for Winter given how heartfelt he is with everything he does and carries so many burdens on his shoulders. So I tried to keep an open mind with the age difference. And I'm glad I did. Isabel and Winter were well matched and another great commentary on high class vs low class, which is the overall theme in this series. That theme adds enough conflict and tension between the couple and Hoyt explores it wonderfully. 
 "But you must be awash in a sea of compliments, my lady," Winter said. "Every gentleman you meet must voice his admiration, his wish to make love to you. And those are only the ones who may voice such thoughts. All about you are men who cannot speak their admiration, who must remain mute from lack of social standing or fear of offending you. Only their thoughts light the air about you, following you like a trail of perfume, heady but invisible." 
 I said this about Temperance's book and I have to say it again, Hoyt really masters at drawing realistic flawed characters with so much depth, honesty and rough edges. The self-awareness and limitations her characters show I find the most refreshing and so realistic. Nobody is perfect, we all have issues and make mistakes or sometimes carry misconceptions of others we aren't even aware of but try to do better. That human flaw is played out here wonderfully. Here it was with the quiet school master and orphanage manager Winter Makepeace (clever last name btw) who tries his hardest to save and protect orphaned children from the streets of St. Giles. He meets his match in Lady Isabel Beckinhall, she with the silver tongue, quick wit and vulnerable insecure heart. That vulnerability which is buried underneath layers of self-deprecating snark was brought to the surface by Winter, who doesn't let her hide. 
 And I have to say the sexiest love scene with a virgin hero in HR I think IaEUR(tm)ve read to date was here. The experienced heroine showing the inexperienced hero how to pleasure her. Wowza. So simple and honest but sensual. I just adored how unbashful Winter was with his questions and pushing Isabel to tell him frankly what he should do. I found that very sexy.