Story: 4 stars 
 Couple: 3 stars 
 What an adventure! My very first Tessa Dare read. Took me long enough. This book has been sitting in my TR list for years. I ended up enjoying this. It was a slow start I was worried because it took me a good while to get into it but once the story picks up where our hero and heroine are catching rides across the country to make it to Eidenberg is when things started to get really interesting. The dialogue was snappy and had some great witty moments. I honestly had the hardest time relating or connecting to the characters and story until half way in. Everything seemed so expected and cliche but that started to change near the middle. It took a while but I'm glad it happened. I thought Colin and Minerva made quite the team while they aren't my favorite their story was fun. 
 I will be honest that I wasn't really in love with Minerva in this. She came across very arrogant, judgmental and a snob in the first half of the story which really irked me. She's the kind of bluestocking heroine I generally can't stand, one who acts like she's better and above others just because she can add and subtract huge numbers. She was censorious, haughty and condescending to the extreme. And the biggest nosy busybody ever! (a secondary character who I really wanted to smack in the other books ugh). But she seemed to grow up some during her little adventure with Colin. And I got to give a shout out to Miss Dare for some seriously sexy pexy HOT sex scenes. Like DAYUM. Holy moly. Everything I want in love scenes Dare catered to. And then some. Oof. Good Lorrrrd Colin. *fans self* There were a handful of incredibly sexy passionate moments between Colin and his little scientist Minerva and tender sweet moments as well that made up for parts that I found lacking in the first half. The last 2/3rds of the story were sweet, poignant, incredibly sexy, tender and had me melting. Also something else I wasn't 100% sold on was Colin's 'big dark secret' that was used to justify his rakish ways and why he can't sleep alone and teased endlessly throughout the story. I found it contrived and pushing to draw sympathy from readers.(view spoiler)[ He survives a carriage accident as a young boy, his parents die in the crash and he's stuck in the wrecked carriage for an entire night. Because of that he can't sleep alone and still carries guilt and shame over the accident. I thought his PTSD and claustrophobia was handled really well but using that tragic incident as away to draw sympathy for his floundering ways was pushing it too far and contrived for me. And given his nightmares it seemed to allude to something more but it ended up just being the accident. So I did think Dare dragged it out and teased it for all it's worth. (hide spoiler)] 
 Curious to know what awaits for Thorne and Kate.... ;P