I've had a couple meh reads and was really rooting for this book to shake things up, but alas that did not happen. My biggest issue is that by combining the conventions of romance and mystery neither aspect was executed well. Just when the mystery plot was starting to pick up everything would halt so that we could hit a romance beat. As a reader I didn't feel De Luca was a distinct enough character so Bastian's subsequent attraction doesn't feel warranted. I think a romance between these two could have worked if it was downgraded to more of a C plot. Build some tension throughout the story and then end it on a kiss or hook up with the implication that there is more to come. I think my frustration with the focus on the romance as a b-plot is that the relationship between Whitby and Bastian felt like it should have held that position. Their whole backstory is super interesting and I wanted so much more. We have Whitby struggling to overcome her magical block and it's just suddenly resolved without much work on Bastian's part. It felt like this idea of forgiveness and wrestling with the animalistic nature of the vampire should have been a big theme. If we had mused on these concepts I think that Enzo could also have been further integrated into the story. The epilogue and De Luca's decision to go see the world would have also hit harder. This didn't work for me and I think it's because there was promising stuff that wasn't expanded on in the manner that it should have been. I will say that if these characters continue into a series I'd probably give book two a shot because I really love Whitby. If you're looking for some mysteries with well executed romances, my go to recommendations are the Evander Mills Mysteries and The Last Binding series.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Perfectly serviceable but nothing stand out. Big fan of the mean polyamorous cat and the hockey player/musician is a cute pairing (read Contract Season or Tough Guy for more interesting executions). I think I just struggled to connect with Matt as a love interest. He just doesn't feel fully formed as a character which means this book would have probably benefitted from dual POV. If you're fine with a romance that has a generic love interest to allow for our main character's personal journey then I don't think this will bother you much.

Now for my insufferable hockey takes: I'm not trying to be some gatekeepy hockey fan, but I get a vibe that this author may be a newer fan to the sport. They actually touched on junior hockey leagues and certain superstitious behavior, which shows some research unlike previous authors I've read who talked about "quarters in a hockey game." However, there were also some strange choices like constantly using the word centerman when everybody just calls the position a center. I also found it strange that this author took the time to create fictional hockey teams and fictional player, but canonize Sydney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin in the text. It's just weird and breaks the immersion with your fictional world. As a reader I went from finding this fantasy NHL sweet to being reminded of the horrifying aspects of the real league.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Cassie I love you but this was some of your roughest work. I think when some authors reach a certain level of fame editors are less likely to tell an author to kill their darlings. We just had way too many POV characters bogging down this story. Cassie’s books typically have pretty expansive casts but they’re generally better integrated. For example I’ve read three books about these characters and I couldn’t really tell you who Thomas is as a person. In other Shadowhunter books the different POVs have felt purposeful to plot development and the interpersonal moments were like a little treat. This series leaned far too much into the relationship drama while having a kind of middling magical conflict. It felt painful waiting for something exciting to happen in this FINALE to a series. When we finally got the plot moving around 50% and entered cursed London things were pretty fun. There was some really great horror imagery, especially with the downworlders.

Tbh I think part of the problem is that Cassie has had these characters in her head since wrapping up TMI. She probably wanted to let them all shine, but when every character from that series has 2-3 kids it becomes too much. I’m not that worried about TWP having this issue since we’ll mostly be focusing on the little Blackthorns and principle character from prior series. Cassie’s adult books have also fared pretty well when it comes to balancing relationship drama and characters so I really do think this is a TLH problem.

CW: alcoholism

I wouldn’t say this was bad by any means, it was a very fun thriller and great for a speedy summer read. By the end I just had this feeling that the book wouldn’t stick with me in the long term. The themes present in this story were laid out pretty well, but I feel Scarlett’s hypocrisy regarding her relationship with Jasper wasn’t delved into enough. It’s totally fine for Scarlett to be a hypocrite I just needed her to grapple more with that dissonance. Without that the text implies that women are perfect angels that can do no wrong while men are the societal purveyors of violence. I just find that a very shallow view of feminism that lacks nuance surrounding intersectionality and that can spiral into gender essentialism. By no means am I saying that Scarlett can’t have this view of the world, but it’s something that would have been interesting to explore. I’m an enjoyer of a messy protagonist who’s so close to being right and then totally loses you, see Yellowface. Overall, not a bad read and this would be a great beach thriller. If you’re interested in the rape revenge genre or want a version of Promising Young Woman that sticks the landing, then I think you’ll enjoy this.

CW: alcohol, use of date rape drugs, sexual assault, rape, student teacher relationship, gore, murder, minor religious bigotry, domestic abuse

I was really wanting to love this, a western Lesbian romance just sounds delectable. Alas I think this book suffered in the way that many fanfic to novel adaptations do. The serialized nature of fic means that it can be a bit meandering at times. When reimagining your fic for as an original work you’ve got to be comfortable with killing your darlings. Having multiple almost kiss scenes can be fun in a fic but it feels tedious in a book.

Aside from the fic adaptation clunk, I just didn’t really love Joey as a character. My biggest issue is that she seemed at times cruel purely as a plot device. I love a gruff mean lesbian but I need some consistency and logic to their behavior. Yes Joey has trauma, but by all accounts she is kind to everyone except for Abby. Probably the factor that most impacted my enjoyment was the lack of a plot that really moves. This may be partially because of my own preconceived notion, but I thought that Joey and the kids would be doing Wild West bandit things. That’s the fun trope of the genre and it would have made the idea that Joey is a known outlaw make way more sense. Joey did one murder in England and somehow she’s a wanted criminal over in the USA, that just doesn’t checkout for me. This is the 1800’s information doesn’t travel like that especially overseas and the whole justification about the stolen money feels flimsy at best.

The cons may outweigh the pros in this book, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy parts of it. I think the kids are really great and don’t fall into the pitfalls of most child characters. They’ve got spunk and smarts while still being believably young. I also thought Lewis was a wonderful character. You don’t often see characters who have high support needs autism depicted in fiction and it felt like there was a great deal of care depicting that. I appreciate how the text explicitly states that Lewis is not dumb and his disability does not make him a child. However, I will say that I do not have autism so I should not be the end all be all when it comes to determining what is good representation.

Overall, my take is that this book is a bit of a mixed bag. The clunky stuff makes the story drag, but the supporting characters really make this book shine. Even though I didn’t super resonate with this story I really want to know what happens next. I have a hunch that this story could have been condensed into one book but I’ll have to read the sequel to confirm.

CW: homophobia, racism towards indigenous North Americans, religious bigotry, past CSA (including of a disabled individual), kidnapping, gun violence, past child abuse, threats of rape towards a lesbian, autistic meltdowns depicted on page