A Notorious Vow

Fake-relationship is one of my favorite tropes and this was a delightful twist on that premise. I haven't read many American-set historicals (an occasional cowboy or two, but I don't think I've read anything in the Gilded Age like this), so this was a nice change of pace from the usual Regency/Victorian settings (which I still love, but variety is good). I can't speak to the accuracy of the Deaf representation in this book, but it was fascinating to learn about the development of hearing aids and ASL during this time period. I also really liked the heroine and how she gradually learns to create and enforce boundaries for herself and learns that she's stronger than she thinks. I haven't read anything by this author before, but I definitely want to keep an eye on her!

(2019 summer romance bingo: “next door neighbor”; could also count for “heroine smells like a flower.”)

First book of the year and it's 5 stars! Yay!! So I told myself I would savor audiobooks this year but as you can see I'm already failing at that. But this was so good! I love a recluse hero!

This is my first audio with a deaf hero and I really enjoyed both characters and the romance dynamics here. I love how they each had their own reason to want to be isolated from society and how they worked through that separately and together. Also, getting to see Frank was a fun plus for sure!