I do not recommend this book. 
 There are things I have always found in what I've read of KJ Charles' work, and they are present here: beautiful sentences, deeply compelling writing, hot sex scenes, lovers being careful with each other (the bit about lube was a striking example), beautiful chemistry between the lovers, complex high stakes conflict with no clear easy answer. 
 That said, I found this book deeply problematic. 
 I had serious concerns about this story from the start. A main character who is a free Black man in Georgian England who has complex and fraught ties of loyalty and obligation to the White family that enslaved him, and freed him, which are main drivers for some of his core choices in the story. I went into it worried about that. And, I was right to be worried. 
 The portrayal of Martin's conflicting feelings of loyalty and indebtedness and rage with regards to the family that enslaved him was somewhat complex. That aspect of the story was done in a way that didn't feel glossed over, had a bit of depth to it. But, if you want stories that engage with similar complexities, there are brilliant books by Black authors that go deeper, hold the larger picture better, and explore more of the nuances, like Kindred or Dessa Rose or Beloved. They aren't romances, and I'm honestly not sure this kind of thing can be effectively done and central to a romance plot. If it is possible, it feels to me like something that really needs to be ownvoices. There are Black authors writing romances about enslaved Black characters, and I have higher hopes for those. I have not read any of these yet, but I have heard good things about An Extraordinary Union, Be Not Afraid, and Captured. 
 I have four main issues with the book, and they are large scale, about how the story was built. 
 First, this is a story centering a free Black man in Georgian England, who was enslaved for much of his life, and there are no other Black characters in it. Not only that, his actions, his thoughts, and pretty much everything about him is focused on and centers White people. This is a White-centered story, through and through. 
 My second issue is with the romance arc itself. The lovers get separated because (view spoiler)[ Theodore betrays Martin pretty terribly, and has been lying to him for the bulk of the story. It turns out that he does so to be free of a terrible and usurious debt that has ruled (and basically destroyed) his life. He does apologize and takes some action to remedy the situation, that is fairly successful. (hide spoiler)] It didn't feel like they earned the happy ending, given what happened. Instead, it felt like the author set it up so that we were supposed to assume that Martin forgives Theodore because he has empathy for his motivations, not because Theodore did much to earn that forgiveness or prove himself. It feels like the story is set up so that the reader is supposed to assume that Martin is drawing from his own experience of enslavement to empathize with Theodore--otherwise, the ending makes no sense. By doing this, this story indirectly equates the enslavement of a Black character with (view spoiler)[ usurious debt experienced by a White person who was raised middle class, and equates Martin's need to be free from enslavement with the need Theodore has to be freed from his usurious debt. (hide spoiler)] This is extremely problematic. And it sets up a Black main character who was enslaved for much of his life to be doing the lion's share of emotional labor to resolve the conflict caused by the actions of the White main character, which is also problematic. 
 My third issue with the structure of the story is the choice to make the family that enslaved Martin "kind" and "generous". It feels like the choice was made to create more internal conflict for him, and set up this complex feeling of obligation and indebtedness on his part, and I don't think a novella has the room to hold this kind of choice, and still hold these characters properly accountable for enslaving him. This is the thing that feels the most glossed over and pat, and there to serve the plot, but not properly attended to in the story. 
 My fourth issue with the structure of the story is one I spotted from the beginning. The only woman in the story is there not as a person but as a tool for the plot, and in particular the threat of violence and sexual assault to her is one of the core things that motivates the lovers actions near the end. I don't mind when heterosexual people are de-centered from a story about queer people (in fact, hurray!), but using the threat of intimate partner violence and sexual assault to a woman character as a plot device is problematic, especially when the character who is threatened with it never gets to really have a voice or depth or complexity. 
 Trigger warnings (view spoiler)[ detailed stories about enslavement highlighting "kind" enslavers, detailed depictions of recent racist interactions with the family that enslaved the now free MC, physical violence, threat of intimate partner violence and sexual assault to a secondary character, persistent experiences of racism on the road to Scotland. (hide spoiler)]