10/10 - 5 stars

I was going to give it a 9/9.5 but realized, you know what? I loved this book. I had a great time. I loved the story, loved the characters, loved the dark sense of humor. I read it in 3 days, enjoyed it immensely, and found myself looking forward to reading the book whenever I was doing something else. That's a 10 in my book.

I went in blind, so I was surprised to find that it deals with some very dark topics right from the start. I liked Phoebe, and it was so easy to relate to her, to understand her struggle with teaching and feeling isolated after the pandemic. Her fertility issues, her disenchantment with teaching, and her frustration with her career were all things I could understand very well. All of the flashbacks and backstory chapters did feel a bit slow and weren't as interesting as her present story, but I'm glad the author decided to get that part out of the way early instead of hiding her past from us readers for most of the book and using it as a big revelation later on. I wanted to see the hotel, the wedding, and get to know all these wedding people, and the book delivered.

Every wedding day and every wedding guest had a purpose. They were weird and funny and felt both real and cliché. They all served a purpose in helping Phoebe change and see herself as someone different, or motivated her to become someone different. The book is witty, funny and messy, and every character is flawed and selfish, but also kind and empathetic in a very realistic way.

I loved the start, the middle and the ending. It was a great ride. Even though the book borders the line on emotional cheating, it's done in a way that makes sense. They are all struggling, because they are all grieving, and all's well that ends well.

I'm really glad I saved this one for the end of the summer, and will definitely look forward to reading more books by Espach in the future.

8/10 - 4 stars

Honestly, I think this was my favorite book by Hazelwood so far. Maybe it was the college setting, or maybe it was the messiness of it all. But I had a lot of fun, way more than I expected!

I have to be honest: sometimes, the way the FMCs in books deal with their trauma exasperates me. Which isn't fair, because who am I to expect others to behave the way I would? People grieve differently, they have different personalities and trauma responses, and I know I shouldn't judge. Still, I sometimes get mad about their avoidance issues, and especially their lack of communication. A fault of mine, for sure. Having said that, Scarlett was written in a way that I was never frustrated by her actions. I understood what she was going through. While I can't say I had an abusive father, or had been a competitive athlete, or had a scary injury, I could relate to her struggles: the overachievement, the lack of confidence, the external pressure, the not knowing who you are outside of what you do. I felt for her, and I rooted for her throughout the whole book. I liked her quite a bit, and I liked seeing her growth and change. She did get on my nerves by the end of the book, but luckily it was only for the last 10-15%, which caused the forced, third-act break-up. I'm still not a fan of those.

Luka was okay. I'm not sure he's my type, but he was steady and reliable, and that's what Scarlett needed. He was a suitable MMC for the story, he made her feel safe, and I liked their chemistry. I wasn't a fan of how he handled his relationship (or ex-relationship?) with Pen, especially considering how she behaved in public. He should have pushed to make things official, and set boundaries from the very beginning, instead of unsuccessfully trying to enforce them later in the story.

The spice was not my thing. I do not care for dom-sub relationships, nor do I find pain enjoyable. Still, it was done in a way that wasn't as heavy as it could have been (it's pretty light in kinks, really, considering how many there are). I'm too vanilla for most kinks, so I'm kinda glad that this book only dips its toes in it. There was a lot of spice, though, way more than the average romance novel I read, so I mostly skimmed those parts.

Now, the whole sort of love triangle was messy and I could see how it was going to go from the very beginning. I'm not a fan of these stories where the MMC has to choose between the FMC and his ex who left him and changed her mind, which seems to be a pretty recurring theme (Emily Henry has done this more than once). I get why it's a thing, since it's a way to test the MMC's feelings and consolidate the idea that they have found "the one". Here, it's done in a very messy way, which makes sense since they are in college and very young. While it was kind of fun to have all that drama, by the end I was over it and just wanted them to communicate properly.

A thing I like about Hazelwood's is the single POV story, with a final chapter that's from the MMC's POV. Dual points of view don't work as well for me, but that epilogue is a nice glimpse that I appreciate.

I'm not sure if I should be surprised that I liked the sports theme of the story. It's obviously a very popular subgenre in romance books, but it may be my first sports romance, so I'm now looking forward to exploring the scene.

Overall, this was a fun and enjoyable read!

9.5/10 - 4.75 stars

This was a lot of fun! I love Ana and Din, so I was looking forward to going back to this world. I also enjoy the world-building aspects of this series: the modifications, the plants and fungi, the weirdness and eccentricities of it all. It feels both old and new, odd and relatable. I also like the writing quite a bit, so I had a great time. I liked this book way more than I liked the second one in the series, which felt a bit long and not as enjoyable/satisfying. A Trade of Blood had the same feel as the first book, the same essence.

While I'm not sure anything will ever compare to the feeling of being at the wall during the wet season and fighting a leviathan, the story was everything I would have wanted: a complicated case, full of twists and turns, and a new set of interesting characters (and suspects) to get to know. I liked learning more about Din's family, and I really hope we get to meet more members in the next one. There was also a very interesting hint about Ana's family right at the end, which I'm sure will also be addressed in the future. I don't have that many critiques for the book: it was fun, it held my interest the whole time, and it was hard to put down.

My only issue was that I suspected the culprit from the very start, and while it's a lot of fun to say "I knew it!", I would have enjoyed being wrong. I didn't figure out the whole thing, though, so I can't fault the book there: it had so many things happening, it was impossible not to be shocked at every big thing that happened throughout the story. Still, I knew who the killer was from the moment they met them, and their motives were pretty obvious, which is not ideal. Still, it wasn't that big of a deal, since the book was so enjoyable.

Now, how long until the next one?