As usual, Briggs does a great job of bringing out new aspects of her characters in each book. Charles comes off as someone who largely isolates himself from other people, even werewolves that are part of the pack, so it was different to think of him building a friendship with a human like Joseph of all people. I really liked to see a glimpse into the relationships Charles forged before meeting Ana, especially because Charles isn’t much of a people person, so that’s rare. It was also really cool to see a family like the Sani’s that’s so mixed. Hosteen is obviously a werewolf but still keeps in touch with his family’s lineage despite knowing he’ll outlive them all. Well, except Chelsea now. Hosteen was an interesting character despite not being the most likeable. I think it’s mostly because his emotional detachment is a good reflection of the different perspectives immortal creatures and mortal creatures like humans have on things. Hosteen has a big ego and I can tell he is more on the ruthless side than Charles is. Despite Charles’ job as Bran’s executioner, I think he has a lot more compassion than Hosteen. He was a lot more trigger happy about killing Kage’s wife than he should have been in my opinion.
 
I wish that we had seen more of Kage and Chelsea’s relationship. We only get to know Chelsea in her post werewolf phase and she’s still adapting to the change, so she isn’t necessarily herself. Based on what little we did get to see, though, I can tell that they care about each other and love their children. Hopefully we do get to see them more as a couple in future books. I’m sure there will definitely have to be quite a few changes in their relationship now that Chelsea is a werewolf and all. I also liked Maggie and Joseph together because they had so much history that was interwoven with Charles’ backstory. Their deaths were really fitting I  think and I’m glad Charles was able to stay with his friend until the end. 

There wasn’t as much going on in this book as in previous books as far as character growth for Anna, but I also think that has to do with the fact that she is becoming more comfortable with herself and has had time to adapt to her new life both in terms of being a werewolf and a wife to Charles. We did get to see another facet of character growth with Charles when it came to considering being a father. I’m sure it’s something that he never thought he would have to think about. I don’t know why they hadn’t really seen that adoption was an option for them if they wanted to be parents without risking Anna’s life. Considering how Charles’ mother died having him I would think that Anna would better understand why he doesn’t really feel like having biological children is an option. I’m glad that they found a middle ground by the end of the book, but I think it could have definitely been resolved earlier in the plot. We’ll see if they explore more of this parenting thing in the next book.  

It was really fun to see Penny Reid bring this family of characters to life on the page. This book is focused on Duane and Jessica, but I knew the moment Cletus was on the page that he was going to be my favorite. To think how much stress the twins could have saved themselves if they had just asked Cletus for help from the start. He’s a character that even his brother’s underestimate, but he’s a force to be reckoned with. Listening to Jessica be in denial of how much she liked Duane was really fun to see, even though I’m glad she conceded to seeing Duane after a bit of coaxing even if it was only a temporary relationship according to the two of them. Duane isn’t very good at communicating, but as his relationship with Jessica develops he becomes better at opening up with those around him. Jessica is also not super self aware at the beginning of the story when it comes to her own feelings and by the end of the story really learns to accept what she feels and balance out what she wants from life with her happiness. Watching them argue was also very fun because they have such great chemistry.

My favorite part of the book, though, is the relationships Duane has within his family. His brothers drive him nuts, but they are all fun to be around and tease him because they all love each other. Cletus talking to Jessica about his sausage and Jethro kissing her under the mistletoe and getting a glare from Duane were some of my favorite scenes in the book. The side characters, despite the brief time we spend with them, each stand out on their own, which is difficult to do when there are so many of them, so I am very happy with this. As much as I enjoyed this book, it’s probably in the bottom three of the series, not by any fault of its own, but simply because a lot of the other ones were more enjoyable for me to read for different reasons. Still a really cute contemporary romance, though. I will be gradually be putting up reviews for the rest of the series.

At first I wasn’t super excited to read Jethro’s story because I was more interested to learn more about Cletus. However, I quickly took a liking to Jethro. He’s charming and the Jethro that we get to know in this book is a very different person from who he was in the past. I was interested in seeing more of his relationship with Billy and what exactly happened to cause a rift in their relationship in the past. It was also interesting to find out that Jethro has chosen to be celibate until he is married or at the very least in a serious relationship. It’s not usually the way men are depicted in fiction and I’m all for this kind of different. His platonic relationship with Claire was also nice and Billy's concern about his relationship with clear indicates that there is some history there that we don't know about yet. Can't wait to find out more about it. As for Sienna, I think she is a super fun character. She greatly represents a lot of the ostracizing that women of color and plus sized women go through in the entertainment industry where the way you look determines a lot of the opportunities that come your way. It was cool to see those experiences first hand from her perspective. 

It was enjoyable seeing Sienna being able to date someone who didn’t know her from her film career and who treated her like a normal person. I’m sure it had been a long time since she had that happen. We also got to see more of the relationship Jethro has with Ashely and Cletus. It was nice to see how playful Cletus is. Ashley also has a soft spot for Jethro it seems. I can always appreciate nicely written sibling relationships. Despite all the crap Cletus gives Jethro, he clearly cares about his happiness. Overall, it was great to see like seeming uninteresting, Jethro turned out to be a very intriguing character and I’m glad I got to know him via this story. I’m looking forward to seeing glimpses of what he’s like as a stay at home husband.

When I started this series, I knew that it went downhill later on in the series and I expected that I’d probably stop reading around book 8, but now I’m not so sure. One of the main things I enjoy about urban fantasy is that it usually combines fantasy with murder/mystery elements. I don’t usually pick up regular mystery novels, but this is a nice way to incorporate some mystery into my reading. Unfortunately, this book had way too much of a bad romantic subplot for me to fully be able to enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, I can read a good romance, but to me this book just made Anita out to be very indecisive when it came to her love life and what she wants. That’s not the main part that bothered me, I think it’s really that it feels like she’s taking Richard along for the ride that is her existential crisis. Everyone has a moment in time where they have to sort out their feelings and things aren’t super clear, but the fact that Anita has a situation where she is dating two people at the same time and is technically engaged to one of those people bothers me. Multi-dating is one thing, promising to possibly get married to someone when it’s pretty clear it’s something you aren’t capable of delivering, at least not in this moment in time, is just unfair to the other person involved. 

I really like Richard as a character, not because I think he’s a perfect love interest or anything. It is quite the opposite actually, at least for what Anita wants in a partner (assuming she even wants a partner, at least not a serious long term one based on her internal dialogue). He seems like someone who knows how to respect boundaries in his relationships and is willing to try his best to make his relationships succeed. That’s largely what creates a problem with trying to have a relationship with Anita. He’s ready for commitment, marriage, sharing a home, the whole white picket fence deal. Anita doesn’t seem to be anywhere near ready for that kind of commitment and seems to have really gotten in over her head by saying yes to his proposal, but that’s a separate topic. Richard also has some really strong morals, even if I don’t necessarily agree with them all. I have to get on board with Anita when it comes to being willing to kill creatures and people if they are a threat to my livelihood. Despite this, it is quite impressive that he’s a werewolf and hasn’t killed anyone yet. It’s obvious that werewolves, similarly to vampires, have their own set of protocols that they follow that are largely morally questionable and killing people isn’t beyond the scope of that. Richard doesn’t seem to fully accept his nature as a werewolf yet, which is to an extent understandable since he didn’t choose to become one and he feels like it is one of the barriers to being in a long term relationship with Anita. I would look forward to seeing more of Richard’s character development, but on his own. I don’t see any scenario where things end well for him here. 

Jean-Claude has never been a likeable character to me, mostly because he is incapable of taking no for an answer and that rubs me the wrong way on a lot of levels. He also seems to equate Anita being attracted to him physically as a confirmation that something should happen between them. I don’t understand what he’s on, because just because you’re attracted to someone doesn’t mean you should do something about it. The fact that he has to blackmail Anita to date him should be enough evidence that he’s an unhealthy choice at best. There really isn’t much he can do at this point for me to like him. I’m resigned to the fact that I will probably never like him as a character and I know based on what I’ve heard about the series that he is here to stay. It doesn’t mean I’m here to stay, though. I might have the energy to pick up the next book to see where this goes. We shall see.

There were small details in this book that I really appreciated. Let me start with a large one, though. This is probably one of the few fantasies I’ve read where the main character has a visible disability. It was a nice change of pace from what I’m used to seeing in young adult fiction. From the beginning of the story it’s also clear that her personality stands out considering she goes out of her way to defend another woman from what she perceived to be a kidnapping or an assault. Most people would have probably called the authorities rather than gotten into an altercation like she did, so that was quite admirable from the beginning with her. Then again, that’s also why she got herself kidnapped in the first place, but that’s besides the point.

Harper’s personality also makes sense in context. She has had a lot of firsthand experience with poverty and it’s clear that she’s had her share of people not treating her well. In turn, she has become someone who is distrustful of other people, but at the same time has a lot of compassion for those in need. Rhen has locked himself away in a castle out of fear that he might hurt people, but Harper’s opposition to this approach really help him see that maybe his approach has hurt his kingdom more than it has helped them. It’s an amazing dynamic that really opens both characters up to character growth. I like that Rhen is a very flawed character and not made out to be this super charming guy that just sweeps girls off their feet. He is brooding (for legitimate reasons) and when he’s interacting with Harper it shows that it’s been a long time since he’s really interacted with girls within a normal context. Harper’s reaction to him is also pretty realistic. No girl is going to be jumping for joy about having to fall in love with you and save you from your curse when you kidnapped her. She was also very upfront about the fact that she wasn’t going to fall in love with him. By the end of the book, I think Harper and Rhen definitely care for each other, but I don’t think they’re necessarily in love yet. I’m looking forward to seeing more of their development together in the sequel.

 As for Grey, I’m still unclear as to what his true motives were for staying with Rhen. So far all I can boil it down to is his strong sense of loyalty and wanting to keep his promises really. There are people that are like that in real life, so I can buy it. I liked seeing him develop a friendship with Harper reasonably quickly. I think Grey may have felt some attraction to Harper. She’s an interesting person with an admirable strong moral character that potentially would have attracted Grey, but I don’t think he ever really thought about it as a serious possibility. Despite his strong sense of obligation to serve Rhen, it’s clear that over the years they have formed a sort of friendship based on their shared experience. It will be interesting to see in the next book if Rhen and him are actually related in a more intricate way. I’m sure despite that suspicion hanging up in the air there are a lot of fans of the series writing fanfiction of Rhen and Grey as couple. There is enough material for it in this book, I can tell you that much.

I appreciated the strong sibling relationship between Harper and her brother Jake. They’ve both been through a lot with their mother being sick and a single mom. They only have each other left when it comes to family and Harper spends a lot of her time in Emberfall being concerned for Jake’s wellbeing and vice versa. Jake’s reunion with her after her disappearance says it all. He was nothing but concerned for her safety and was willing to help her out in whatever way he could even without context.



**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**



Noah, Jake’s boyfriend, is a wonderful addition to the cast of characters. We don’t get to spend much time with Jake, but it feels like we get to know a lot about him through his relationship with Noah. Noah is such a trooper. He gets transported to a magical universe while being a medical student and should be panicking, and yet he still pulls through and makes himself super useful in Emberfall. He’s also super supportive of both Jake and Harper. I can see why Jake loves him. I’m looking forward to seeing more of them in the sequel since they are stuck in Emberfall now. Guess medical school isn’t really an option in the conventional sense anymore, huh?

We didn’t really get to see much of Lilith, but we didn’t really have to know that she’s terrible. Her malice was shown well in the small chunks we got of her. You have to be some otherworldly level of spiteful to curse someone for centuries and make them kill their own family because they tricked you into having a one night stand. Lilith is something else. I know Rhen was a privileged prick before he was cursed, but honestly, he’s become a much better person since then and has learned truly care about his people and a cause larger than just himself. There is nothing Rhen could have done to her that would have merited the punishment he received.

Finally got to my favorite character in this series so far. I think his story really comes to show that when choosing a romantic partner, expectations don’t always match up to the person you end up happy with. Jennifer went through some amazing development in this book and also helped bring out a lot of Cletus’ best traits throughout the story. Despite what a talent Cletus has for using his intelligence to get what he wants from people (sometimes through means that aren’t the most moral), he is incredibly generous and a smart mouth when it comes to standing up against injustices. It’s implied that he has a bit of a temper in this book, but I can’t say that we really saw a lot of it here. I’m sure he was probably worse when he was younger and has just learned good coping mechanisms that he uses here. 

 Jennifer has lived her life for a long time pleasing other people and I’m glad Cletus was able to inspire her to pursue what she wants. Like Cletus, she is a lot more intelligent than she seems and I’m sure is one of the few people who have beat him at his own game. It was cute having Billy coach her through a date. Despite her lack of experience, I’m sure Cletus would vouch that she’s a fast learner. It was great to see that she doesn’t come off as any less of a strong character because she has aspirations to become a mother and wife. Wanting those things doesn’t define her as a person and she definitely has the potential to do anything she puts her mind to. I’m glad her mother and her are on reasonably good terms by the end of the book. Her dad is the worst, and I’m thankful for Cletus’ discovery of his infidelity. Otherwise, who knows how much longer her mother would have stayed in that terrible marriage. I know there is another book being released in the future focusing on Jennifer and Cletus and I’m looking forward to it. They are my favorite couple in the series probably because they are such odd balls, but in the best way possible.

My favorite parts of this book were everything having to do with the murder and the mystery and like the last installment, I could have done without all of the love triangle gymnastics. It wasn’t as bad this time around because Richard wasn’t really present, but I get more confused every time I see Anita and Jean-Claude interact. I just don’t understand her appeal for him at all. She swears that she dislikes monsters and for some reason considers Richard less of a monster than Jean-Claude because Richard technically isn’t dead. Yet, she has an entire make out session when Jean-Claude and defines it as cheating on Richard. It feels like she doesn’t understand that she isn’t being exclusively monogamous with anybody and the realization hasn’t hit her yet for some reason? She may be super capable as a vampire hunter and necromancer, but her personal life is a mess. 

Magnus was an excellent introduction to fey in this world. He was super charming and had a lot of interesting family history that tied in really well with the lore for the fey. Despite him working together with Bloody Bones to gain power, he still made a really interesting character who was charming and seemed liked the lesser of the two evils when it came down to it. I didn’t expect him to die quite like he did, but I guess it was bound to happen. Nobody was going to let him just keep that monster around. His sister was so upset at him for it and I guess now that he’s dead he proved her concerns right. 

Larry was my favorite part of the book because we get to see him grow more experienced as Anita and him investigate this case. Anita treats him like a younger brother for the most part which of course, frustrates Larry, but he’s a trooper. He’s seen so much and has still stuck around proved himself fit for the job. What he lacks in experience he makes up for in determination and eagerness to learn. Over time I think that the differing morals between Anita and him will probably cause some kind of rift between them. He isn’t as trigger happy as her, but that might actually be a good thing. Despite my annoyance, I will probably keep reading the series. I don’t trust the romance will get any better, but at least I can stick around for a bit for the murders. 

This was such a sad story to read. Seeing Scarlet and Billy suffer abuse as children essentially was terrible. It’s even more horrible to think about the fact that there are children out there in similar circumstances that still haven’t been able to leave such situations. The best part about this installment in the series is that it gave a lot more dimension to all of the characters. Cletus for example, has really come a long way from the hot head he was when he was a teenager. His platonic affection for Claire makes a lot more sense with this context now too. I loved the scene where she ended up kissing him to save him from embarrassment. Now that’s a true friend. Billy was also fleshed out to show what an outstanding person he is. He put his life on the line for Claire when he didn’t have to. I can understand how all the responsibilities he took on for his family and for her took a toll on him as a teenager, though. It explains why he’s such a serious person as an adult now. His rift with Jethro is also more understandable. Jethro’s approach to dealing with their abusive father was very different, but I can see why Jethro would have thought he was doing some good with his actions. Thankfully he’s on a much better and happier path with his life now. Hopefully his rift with Billy also gets fixed. Billy and Claire really need to sit down and actually talk about what happened in order to put this all behind them. They better get a nice ending, because despite being such a great backstory, this was depressing to read.

I kind of wish I had read this book first since it’s only told from Ashley’s perspective mostly and the fact that all the other books in this series are told from a dual perspective left me yearning to be in Drew’s head more. Drew is a super sweet guy and also a hopeless romantic. It’s not often that you bump into a guy that literally writes poetry about a girl he’s falling in love with. It’s quite refreshing. I appreciated how Drew helps get Ashley out of her shell amongst her grief, yet doesn’t overstep any boundaries and is respectful of how fast she wants to pursue a relationship with him. He also gives her space and time and is even willing to break up with her if it’s what will make her happy. Their relationship moved pretty quickly, but they also got to know facets of each other that usually wouldn’t have been revealed until much farther into a serious relationship, so it felt like the pacing was adequate. I’m glad Ashley chose to stay in Green Valley with him. The budding of their romantic relationship really helped her reconcile her relationship with her brothers, I think. Any relationship where both parties are able to grow as people and be supportive partners is a good relationship. I might pick up the rest of the books in this spin off series in time because I’m interested in knowing about the rest of Ashley’s friends in Chicago, especially Quinn since he’s related to Shelley.