A fun setting for a romcom: Harry Potter meets Dungeons & Dragons. And an endearing, funny cast of characters. I'm always happy to see more diversity and representation, especially in a relaxed, normalized way, instead of either a token way or an overly preachy way.

BUUUUT this romcom follows the classic trope of "If only they had had an honest conversation at the beginning of the story, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!" I find this trope EXTREMELY annoying. Matt and Arek's chemistry is severely hindered by their romcomedy of errors. The book insists that they're close, but they spend WAY too much time bickering and brooding, and not enough time being sweet or swoon-worthy with each other. It tainted my perception of them, and made it really really difficult to root for the happily ever after of two incredibly dumb people. They desperately needed to grow up and improve their communication skills. I mean, why on earth did Arek think it would be better to seduce his entire circle of friends, and every eligible young adult in the kingdom, BEFORE confessing his conflict of interest, i.e. that he's hopelessly in love with Matt?!?!! Why would he assume a substitute would work, and that a soulmate wasn't a prerequisite for a soulbond?!?!?! Because romcom's gotta romcom, I guess. *shrug* I only knocked off 1 star, because this trope is somebody's guilty pleasure, and to each their own. But it frustrated me, and made pushing through to the happy ending a bit of a slog.