Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥
Humor: Yes
Perspective: Third person from both hero and heroine
When mains are first on page together: A bit in (18% in but it’s a novella – it’s the end of chapter 2)
Cliffhanger: No this ends on a happy ever after
Epilogue: No

Should I read in order?
This book has crossover characters from Pier’s Good Dukes series. If you’re a completionist, start with Good Guke Gone Cold. (Margaret and Jonathan from Good Duke Gone Hard and Adeline and Luke from An Ember for a Duke make appearances)

Basic plot:
Rose meets Andrew while singing in the woods

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1816)
- England setting
- Fairy tale retelling – Sleeping Beauty
- nanny heroine
- widow heroine
- Christmas theme
- author heroine
- Duke hero
- beloved pets – hero owns a dog named Dodger
- isolated hunter’s cabin
- must undress you to save your life (come on...it’s hypothermia!)
- novella length

Ages:
- Heroine is 32, didn’t catch hero

First line:
“Wake up!” followed by a swat to the knee jolted Rose out of her reverie.

My thoughts:
What a meet cute! This is the third fairy tale installment by Piers for her holiday novellas and it was pretty fun.

This is a quick read that has some instalust just like the Disney version. There were a lot of really cute scenes in this one and I did like it quite a bit. My big complaint is it ended so abruptly, I was actually looking for the rest of the book. I think this is my second favorite of the series, book 1 still had a lot of swoony thoughts and quotes I adored the most.

Quotes/spoiler-y thoughts:Any mistakes/typos are my own. More quotes under steamy scene details for my dirty steam stat posts

“I’ll do anything to warm you up.” He placed a soft kiss on her shoulder. Those delicate lips left their mark there. She would never want to clean that shoulder again.
---
He would protect her now. No matter what.
He shot to his feet, grabbed her midair, and pulled her into her arms. To safety. The thumping of his heart could be heard for miles, he was sure. He didn’t care. She was in his arms. Where she belonged. Where he belonged. With her. Holding her. Tenderly caring for her.
 

Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.

- remembrance of a slightly unhappy marriage
- death of spouse (heroine is a widow)

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Safe sex: 

Hero pulls out 

47% - 🔥 kisses, missionary in the empty cottage

His hairs tempted her by disappearing under his breeches, and for a second she knew he was doing the right thing by keeping them on.
But then they dropped a bit, catching on his thick thighs. With a final tug, they slid down to the floor.

75% - 🔥 oral/fingering for her, missionary

“I need to have you.”
He growled his desire. “You will. But first.” He trailed his tongue down her stomach. “This.” The trail continued down through her lane and stopped at the notch that he knew would give her so much pleasure.
“Andrew! God, what are you doing to me?”
“I’ve asked the same of you.” But he didn’t wait for her reply.