God, I want to kiss her. I want to feel the heat of her lips against mine. Would she want that? Would she melt against me if she did? Or would the tension I feel between us snap and release something feral inside her? Inside me?

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiancé and his derailed surgical career. It’s a simpler life: head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.

But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she’s not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an injured leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.

The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.

. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts are to catch up.

Rose is a quirky motorcycle-riding, tarot card-reading circus performer who helps abused women escape their dangerous partners by ANY means necessary.

Fionn is a sexy doctor with two serial killer brothers, two badass serial killer sisters-in-law, and a hefty dose of childhood trauma he’s desperately trying to escape.

Together, Fionn and Rose crochet a sex swing with the Suture Sisters (a hilarious group of crocheting octogenarians), unalive a handful of abusive dudes (who REALLY deserved it), and experience some seriously fucked up stuff (The Phantom and David). They make cotton candy undeniably sexy (IYKYK), redefine sexy clowns (I’m sorry, they’re still terrifying), and fall madly in love (ILY. INLYG. INW.).

We get shared trauma, forehead kisses, broken hearts, love letters, caretaking, and the glorious use of words like feckin’, gobshite, bellend, and eejit.

Oh, and there’s a codeine-addicted trash panda named Barbara.

I laughed, I cried (a lot), and I can’t recommend this book enough.

15/10—Brynne Weaver took flight and saved the best for last!