3.75 ⭐ (rounded up). Having absolutely loved Keeper of Enchanted Rooms, I was really excited to continue into the second book and follow Merritt along his journey of self-discovery in both his magic and what family truly is. While points of this felt like it was suffering from second book syndrome, I thought the character development for Merritt was strong and he grew into himself while also building a stronger relationship with Hulda. I really loved Hulda's character and personality in the first of the series, but in this she seemed to regress a bit in her confidence and strength, especially when dealing with our antagonist and the problems at hand in BIKER but I think this could be attributed to the trauma she suffered at the end of the first book - <spoiler>her loss of Myra as a confidant and the death of Silas</spoiler> - so I really can't fault her for that. Towards the middle-end, Hulda did start to grow that confidence back and then some, especially with her interactions with Merritt (which were adorable and squeal worthy).

My biggest disappointment in the second of the Whimbrel House series was the lack of depth for our villain. While I loved the way our protagonists handled the situation - it felt like we didn't really get any answers about why they were pursuing BIKER leadership. Another 20-30 pages to wrap that up would have rounded out the story in my opinion.

I love this series and the cozy fantasy/mystery vibes (plus the romance is so cute). I'm really looking forward to getting a Owein centric story next with Boy of Chaotic Making.