Gilded Cage by KJ Charles

[spindizzy]

Once upon a time a boy from a noble family fell in love with a girl from the gutter. It went as badly as you’d expect.

Seventeen years later, Susan Lazarus is a renowned detective, and Templeton Lane is a jewel thief. She’s tried to arrest him, and she’s tried to shoot him. They’ve never tried to talk.
Then Templeton is accused of a vicious double murder. Now there’s a manhunt out for him, the ports are watched, and even his best friends have turned their backs. If he can’t clear his name, he’ll hang.

There’s only one person in England who might help Templeton now...assuming she doesn’t want to kill him herself.

Gilded Cage is the follow-up to KJ Charles' Any Old Diamonds and The Rat-Catcher's Daughter, and I could probably get half of it's intended audience by just yelling "FRIENDS TO LOVERS TO ENEMIES TO LOVERS" and "THERE'S ONLY ONE BED" and "SUSAN LAZARUS IS THE DONE-WITH-THIS-SHIT PROTAGONIST WE DESERVE." The actual summary is that once upon a time, Susan Lazarus was the common girl in love with the son of a lord, which went about as well as you could expect. Seventeen years later, he's a jewel thief, she's a private investigator, and when he gets framed for a murder that he didn't commit, she's the only person he can turn to to clear his name.
There's the messy emotions I was looking for!

Full review available at Lady Business.

[Caution warnings: off-screen miscarriage, kidnapping, child abuse, threats of torture, mentions of off-screen spousal abuse, off-screen slut-shaming] [This review is based off an ARC provided by the author.]