Aww, anon, thank you, but I’ll stop putting you in the position of defending me, lol. I actually ended up finishing Priory last night because of your ask.
Actually, if you are interested in what books I like, in between pausing and picking up Priory again, I reread The Rook by Daniel O’Malley, No f/f but no romance at all, if that helps. Also, Hellspark by Janet Kagan, same thing. I actually do have a books tag but those two are the ones I recommend first an always. For f/f, Poppy Jenkins, while being as different in tone and genre from Priory as a book can be, is lovely.
Trying to decide what to read now, since I’m still in a reading mood.