For me, this was just an okay read. The steam factor was extremely high, higher than I'm normally read if I'm being honest. However there were also a lot of inconsistencies in the story plus a lot of plot points that could have done without.

One thing I did like was the development of Sonja's confidence. I can see how she allowed herself to become meek during her marriage to Eric, even with her witchy background, but eventually she got her groove back on, as it where, and was able to show everyone the boss b**ch she actually was. I also appreciated that her children weren't the typical jerks that they are written to be after a divorce happens. While they had their moments, it was written as just normal everyday teenage moodiness and I also like how they weren't blind to their father's imperfections and how he treated their mother and that this was something they came to on their own and weren't told.

It was also a nice change to have the age gap be she was older and he was younger. In almost every other age gap romance I've read (even though it's far from my favorite trope) it's the other way around. So, that was a nice change. And I appreciated for the most part the realistic path their relationship took (more on that later).

However, this book could have done with another round of edits since there were a lot of inconsistencies. the most glaring of which was which Malone sister was the oldest. At one point, Sonja said she was which was why the mantle of apothecary was going to fall on her. But then later on during the blood moon ritual, Aggie was referred to as the oldest .Then right at the end, Sonja was the oldest again, calling Aggie her 'widdle sister'. Out of all the inconsistencies that a book could have, birth order should not be one of them.

We also had too many villains. Between Eric the ex, Ashley and Heather the thirsty as hell classmates, and Deacon, it was too much drama for me. The only one that made sense was Eric because it's not uncommon for exes to miss what they no longer have, even if they were the ones who wanted it to end. Ashely and Heather were just pathetically annoying but Deacon pissed me right the eff off. But so did Sonja in that respect because she should have told Estelle the trouble her husband was trying to cause. I get on some level while she may not have wanted to be confrontational with Atlas and Eric, but Estelle was her girl and they had a lot of history. So it should have been an easy conversation to have. Had that been me, I would have been like "Either you correct your husband or I will. And you'll be nicer about it than I will." And then it would have been forever awkward between us.

There were also a lot of plot points that were left dangling which is an annoyance of mine. Such as who Atlas's daddy was. The relationship between his mom and Mr. Bailey, the neighbor who had a crush on her. The drama that went down between Atlas and Kairo and the girl that he allegedly stole from her and how he bailed town with their idea and money to travel all over the country and the world. That was another unbelievable part for me; that Kairo would go into business with him after that. Because while I may have forgiven him for all the other stuff, I don't mess around with my money. So, yeah, I would not have gone into business with Atlas.

All that said, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. It's a very middle of the road read for me because of all those points above and that it wasn't an HEA. At best it was an HFN and even that's debatable because they did kind of end the story bickering. That's not normally my brand either I am very much someone who wants an HEA in her romances. But, it was still enjoyable enough for me to not DNF.