The warmest, caringest, most welcoming romance novel I've ever lost myself in. And there's a whole second part still to look forward to!

Nicky is 33 years old. She lives in a flat with her cat, Spud, and she is close to her family. She hasn't been lucky in love and spent several years in a relationship before coming to her senses and extricating herself from a situation that was not right for her. Now she works the nightshift in a new 24-hour programme at a library, where she meets Billie...

Billie is immediately infatuated with Nicky. Over several shifts Nicky and Billie get to know each other and Nicky learns that Billie is non-binary, and that they are part of a pack of five, a polyamorous relationship comprising three males, one female and Billie.

This is a contemporary omegaverse story. The setting is our real world with recognizable technology, lifestyles and geography but with changes to how interpersonal relationships work. This was my first real experience of this popular setting and the book does a marvellous job explaining how everything works without getting bogged down in too much worldbuilding.

I've been waiting what feels like a long time for stories to appear featuring my ideal for polyamory, in which a pansexual group comprising multiple members of more than one gender all committed to one another. Sierra Cassidy has given us that and it is exactly what I hoped.

With six participants in the relationship there are a lot of steamy scenes in this book involving some or all six characters, all deliciously told, but being a longer read there is time too for us to meet all six characters and for them each to build a relationship with Nicky, who is the catalyst for the story and from whose point of view we experience a large portion of the story - though not all, we do get to hear from all six pack members.

With a sweet, lovable cast, lots of steamy sex and a worrisome threat from Nicky's past to overcome, this was pretty much a perfect read for me. Everything wraps up in a satisfying "happy for now" ending (with an optional first chapter preview-and-cliffhanger from the second part of the story, something I chose to forego until the book is available).

All the stars. Very highly recommended. ( )