Fave book in awhile. This is my second go round. I love the series and every book with one novella exception. But this was great. Its nice to see Anita out if her depth again. Same with Edward, who was a surprise. I was a bit disappointed with the bad guy reveal but not that much. The look at some of the Harlequin was great too. Plus we get to see some of the affects the new laws have in real time. Lastly, Micah's family. Lots of surprises there.

I liked this. As a long time reader of LKH and this series, its been getting hard to feel as excited about it as I used to be. No, its not because of the sex but because the series is now so long that I've begun to forget import points from previous books, mix up the order of some events and forget who some of the characters are. Since this has happened to me before with other long series I don't blame it on LKH.

Why I liked this book and why I keep trying to keep up with the series is because of the character development. Even when there was 4-5 books that were basically just sex, sex and more sex, you could see Anita changing; even if it was just her outlook on sex and sexual relationships. I enjoyed that because I like Anita. But I also like others (and plot and bad guys and zombie stuff too) and I've been missing the main guys.

So I loved this book because of the bromance between Jason and Nathaniel. That has been alluded to in the past but not really shown until now. I like J.J., who I only vaguely remembered. It would be nice if Anita had female friend again since Ronnie couldn't cut it anymore. I love that Anita realizes that

Jade needs to go

. She's just as manipulative as what's-his-face who Anita had to kill. Just because you were a victim and I feel bad for you and want to help does not mean you get to suck the life out of me or have all my attention. So hurrah for that decision. And that extends to Anita realizing

she can't fit all this people in her life at the same levels.

I loved the sex because it was helpful and everyone enjoyed it.

I think having a more experienced buddy when you're trying something new in bed is awesome and it should be a thing.

So yes, I quite enjoyed this book. The sneak peek for the next one looks good in that

zombie rape is bad but a new case and Zebrowski making fun of Anita's fairy tale engagement is good.

I'm crossing my fingers for more Jean-Claude who's been almost transcendent lately.

-edited- I saw someone else's review and I forgot to add this. The reason this is not 5 stars is because of the descriptions and explanations. LKH has clearly gotten a bit better at cutting down the conversations to move things along but the character descriptions need to be cut too. It takes up too much of the story and its hella irritating to a long time reader. Other authors have found ways to keep new readers up to speed without bogging down older ones, she should too. Something has got to go.

This was deeper and darker than I was expecting from a middle grade book. Then the ending comes and I'm unsatisfied. Its appropriate for middle grade though.

Better than the first one. And I think I'll like the last of this trilogy even more. Way more depth to Diana and Matthew's relationship. Once again the secondary characters are so interesting. The historical elements are much more in focus here because they go back in time. I was not expecting this entire book to be their trip. Gallowglass is my favorite, I love him he's amusing and straightforward. We finally understand Diana's magic/witchcraft.

Overall the book is more Matthew focused. Hence the title. And between everyone they kind of bring him out of being mysterious and a bit over the top. Diana is more a modern woman here, ironically, in that she refuses to be pushed into a corner and protected in their relationship. It made it all more realistic.