I enjoyed the first book more but this one was still very good - I loved the characters already so I liked this one, since it was mainly the characters working to reunite after the events of book 1. If you want more hippo cowboy shenanigans and less emotional reunions, character study, and learning moral lessons after having heart-to-hearts with fellow criminals, you probably aren't going to enjoy it as much. 

This duology's story concludes in a very satisfying way, for me, and

the protagonists survive!

A light-hearted read I'm coming back to after a few more heavy reads, so perhaps I'm less critical of it because I needed a pick-me-up.