I knew Cat Sebastian was a very talented writer but this is an amazing debut. M/m historicals are rare but she makes both the romance and the history vivid with period details and lots of attention to both the psychological and the social complications of a same-sex, cross-class relationship. The class issue was especially impressive because that's often breezed over in historical romances-- as if waving an aristocratic hand will get rid of all obstacles. But cross-class relationships were neither impossible nor easy in 19th century England and it's hard to get the balance right and realistic. Here Sebastian does a great job with Oliver and Jack, who are more than just figures of the upper and lower classes. They are complicated personalities that Sebastian fits together carefully. Judging by this first book, her stories promise to be unlike anything else out there.