I forgot to read this Novella after I finished the main series, I think I was just relieved at that point to be done with Avalon that I blacked out the fact that this existed. I convinced myself to come back to it purely because it claimed to have more of a focus on Rhys, and who doesn't want more Merlin? 

Well… me. This version of him anyway. He's every possible “homosexual stereotype” that exists. All of them. He's excessively quirky and over the top that his character isn't realistic, let alone relatable, and I found it really hard to follow his chapters. 

He has some redemption moments when he's helping Ava because, let's be real, pregnancy is hard, but that's about it for me. 

Ava's chapters were also hard for me. This book was 100 pages of flamboyant over the top sex crazed magician and 100 pages of Ava complaining about how much pregnancy sucks. I made it 34% in before it reaaaally started to get repetitive and boring. 

I like Christmas as much as the next girl, but come on. 

The pacing in this book did me in. It's so slow, and it didn't create suspense for me in the way I think it's intended. 

Don't get me wrong, I love that we're getting such a clear background into Tess. But I also don't think I needed the rundown on every step she took to make stew. I also like watching her relationship with Wyatt grow, but I also don't need to read about them (in detail) just going for a walk. It did feel like there was a bit of filler stuffed into a bunch of places. 

About 50% of the way through things start happening, and we start to realize that there might be more about Grandpa than anyone really knows, and this is where I perk up and start to get a little more excited about what I'm reading. 

Overall, I found myself interested in this one from start to finish, but not in a “I can not put this down” kind of way. More of a “slow and steady wins the race” kind of way. The pacing stays pretty much the same throughout the book. 

I want to say it all felt pretty casual to me. Even as Tess is freaking out over everything going on, I didn't feel that, I didn't really feel anything in this book, really, not scared, or stressed or anxious; not on the edge of my seat, and certainly not swooning over the “you're basically an old married couple already” romance. But the plot was decent, so I kept on keeping on, and I really did like the plot. 

It was a bit obvious where the whole thing was going, though. No big plot twists here. It is what it is, and it was sad. But really, a decent read.

I'm stuck somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. While I really liked this book, I never teetered over into love. 

The atmosphere of Lute was to die for. The premise of “the day” was fantastic, and the only thing I really felt like we were missing was somewhat of an origin story. I want to know so much more of the shiny people.

I loved the community coming together, and honestly, one of the best elements of this book for me was Hugh slowly unraveling.

My biggest issue, I think, was nothing ever really blew up. There were no big emotions, this book was steady from page one and although my interest was there the entire time I was reading, I was never totally enveloped and excited about what was happening, or going to happen next. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I generally don't do half stars, but this one is really a 3.5.

I quite liked the plot of this one, I think it was up there for my favorites of this series. We got to see some old faces, which always feels like coming back home. 

All of the women of this series have been so cute, and Max is no exception to this. She's headstrong and capable, and I loved her. 

The romance was pretty lackluster, though, and I didn't feel a huge connection between the mcs.

I cannot tell you how happy I was for this reversal. 

The woman from the parallel universe?! Yay! Spending the book in our world? Surprisingly, still a yay! 

I was so excited to see Noc, too. I loved him from his first appearance on page, and that continued through this book. I also really loved spending time with other world Circe. 

The matchmaking parts of this book were fun, and probably the only time I really loved Franka. I had such hope for her after her whole personality change, but I still just didn't like her. She was very high maintenance and uppity, and it bugged me. 

There was also no real plot in this one, as it ended in book four, so this was just kind of full of romantic fluff, and that's also not my favorite.

Stinking loved this book so much. I laughed out loud so many times. Honestly, every single flip of the page was a “that's so me!” moment. 

So much fun! 

This book hit me in all the ways, not just the new words, but feeling seen in ways where I thought I was the only person that felt that way. 

I think, if anything, everyone should at least flip through this book once.

I think this one kinda rubbed me the wrong way. I was happy to see the two of them come together despite having a past relationship with eachothers parallel twins, but it also just didn't feel right for the entire book. I was absolutely team Derrick, and I'm still upset we didn't get that as a plot twist.

This book follows the shitty alpha male men are more important than women thing too, so that also put a bummer on things. 

All things considered, the women in these books are all so cute, even if I'm not here for the whole “baby/honey” thing. 

The finale of the connecting plot over the last 4 books was also great, and really, that's what I was here for, so I wasn't let down completely. 

I think I could have liked this book. The plot was kind of there, but it just didn't pull me in. Every time I put this book down, I really struggled to pick it back up. It felt like a book I should have enjoyed more, but I just don't think any of it had enough depth. 

We barely got to know the characters more than a quick mention about their pasts. Everything happened so quickly that there really wasn't much development. 

Mostly, I was bored. I just couldn't get invested.

I couldn't tell you why I continued on in this series, as I hated book 2 more than I could ever express, but I'm glad that I did. 

Cora's story was cute and wonderful, and I loved the romance of it. Tor is also the first mmc in this series that I've actually liked and enjoyed having around, so there's something to be said about that as well. 

This is also the first book that we've really spent time in this side of the parallel universe and when it happened, I wasn't all that excited for it, and I like my fantasy books to be in fantasy worlds, but it really worked. 

It was fun watching Tor be dropped into this world and meeting her family and her friend. Tor meeting Tor was the epitome of amazing, I laughed so hard. 

This one was fun, and I'm glad I made it here, but I'm not planning on holding out hope for the rest of the series carrying forward like this book did.