I think I liked following this pair more than the pair in the first book. Jake and West shouldn't work. Jake is the heir to a real estate empire engaging in borderline criminal practices, but he's trying to wait out his dad so that he can inherit and make things better. West owns a deli he inherited from his dead uncle along with the apartment his uncle had in one of the buildings owned by Jake's dad. When Jake and West meet in a club hookup, lies of omission ensue that lead to feelings and secrets and mess. Somehow the lies don't feel bad or gross in this one. Jake and West make sense even if they aren't easy. Looking forward to book three in this trilogy.

An interesting take on a crime syndicate romance centered around monsters and a funeral home. Autistic POC representation with the FMC that does not detract from her agency as a person, but absolutely influences her identity and behavior. I enjoyed my time with this, but was never super motivated to get back to it when I put it down. I probably would have done better with an ebook copy instead of physical. Would have loved for an audio edition that doesn't seem to exist, particularly given our MMC's Mid-Atlantic/Transatlantic accent. I don't think I will prioritize continuing (whenever the next book is released), but would definitely do so if audio editions were made.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about my experience with this book. My enjoyment was actively pretty neutral to low until the last 24ish percent. From that point, my enjoyment went into the good to high range. But for the starting half to two-thirds being a near DNF to 2.5 star and the back end coming out near 3.5 to 4 especially after reading the author's notes? I've got to cut the difference and land at a 3. This book is important. The representation of anxiety in a young teen, discovering queerness, Judaism, having mixed race heritage. All of these things are important. Particularly for the target audience. The ending message for this book is good. I would still recommend it to the target audience. But this book, stylistically, did not suit me personally despite my objective appreciation of what it was doing.

I'm honestly kind of annoyed that I don't dislike this. Hear me out. I personally think these books are fun, but not like... the highest of quality. But they're genuinely fun and I have a good time with them, and I would prefer to not like them at all so I don't have to keep going with the series. But alas. Here we are. Entertained again. Dang.

This one missed the mark for me personally, which is a shame since, on paper, I should have liked it. Murder mystery with amnesia trope on the part of the criminal investigator. Goes to witches for help. Sounds fun. Ended up just fine. I will absolutely forget the contents of this book in less than three months.