Plot: 3/5
Spice: 2.5/5 (only for number of on page V off page. Rather bland, clinical.)
Characters: 3/5 (they were ok, not problematic but not rushing to remember their names)

Overall Reco:
It's a very cute and low stakes book. And really, if that's what you are looking for this will probably be an enjoyable time. I do think this is a cute read and the series has potential and it's an interesting take on fated mates (without using the words "fated mates"). It's very insta-love, but that is expected, even so it's not a crazy rushed thing, there is still courting and relationship building. Nothing seriously offensive of upsetting happens in this super low stakes read.
I enjoyed the confrontation with her antagonists,

her mother and her Ex

. They already felt pretty villainous, and that climax felt pretty satisfying, even if rather low stakes (though that's the point of a cozy novel, low stakes).
I had a few issues with the story and I'm honestly waffling if I'm giving this too high a star mark (at just under 3 stars). The biggest problem I had with this story was staying in it. I often found my brain wandering and had to reread pages or paragraphs. Something in the book would spark a thought and my brain would run off and suddenly I'm a page later an no idea what's happening. This tends to only really happen in books that are rather repetitive or not that interesting to me. I did find some errors that I emailed the author about, those did not affect my rating surprisingly.

My rants:
The spice: 

Was very, very clinical feeling. There was hardly any dirty talk or really flowery/steamy language. We got some dirty talk towards the end in the actual heat but before that the spice is rather dry. It's over in paragraphs in some places and like there was a lot of glossing over what people were saying using things like "he was whispering naughty things in my ear." or "She screamed MMC's name as she came." but nothing in terms of dialog. I kind of wanted to give this a 2 on spice, but every time they DID something it was on page, just rather.. dull.

An established pack but no Swordplay?: I'm hesitant to put this behind a spoiler tag, only because I would have wanted to know this before reading the book..

but there is no fucking swordplay. There is no Dude on Dude action. They are just 3 bros living together and making a back when an omega comes along. I'm sorry. what? Did I trip down the wrong lane of OV? Like god damn, at one point a dude snuggles up to another and the one guy gives him a look and the author points out that that's just the way it has to be. I was expecting some relationship building between the dudes but nope. This makes the guys seem just kind of flat. Like yeah they have personalities but they feel totally like sticks and not dudes.

Backdoor Spice (Anal):

Cali must have a unicorn ass. There is anal in this book with just about ZERO prep. The MMC is described as being "is wide, dark, and intimidating". He lubes up (thank god with actual lube) and just about dives right in. The chapter literally ends with him lubing himself and then pressing to her backside. There is a bit of backtracking, it seems, at the start of the next chapter where he uses his thumb (yes SINGLE thumb) a bit but nothing beyond that. This girl has said she's never done anything anal before, and while yes she's mentioned toys its kind of implied in how she talks that she hasn't used anything back there before. EVEN SO, the MMC handling her should have been a better partner. But of course she has a unicorn ass so there is no pain or issue with him going fully to the hilt in just a few thrusts. *Eye roll*  Like, I get this is fantasy. Even more so because it's OV and while I forgive a whole lot of things around anal it still bothers the SHIT out of me.

She screams:

This annoyed me so much. Every time this girl gets some pleasure she screams. The author though doesn't write it out what she's screaming. Its usually "as I scream my release into his room." or "tipping over the edge, screaming my name into the stars,". Like okay, boring. But after the first few times it being described as screaming I just kind of picture her screeching, which really lost its appeal.

The world building:  

There was a lot of political stuff in this book, a surprising amount for a cozy type novel. It felt a bit out of place for me, and maybe it's important in the later novels that will come in the series, but the whole thing about Jane Eyre had me kind of scratching my head. I didn't understand why it was added. Maybe it was because I was really having trouble staying in the novel at that point but it definitely had me wondering what the author was trying to say. What is trying to make a comment about current society? Okay. This wasn't so bad but when it happened it felt a little jarring, but again, that was probably because I was half out of the book by this time was was just trying to finish to see if there was any god damn swordplay..

 I recieved an early copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.