Mehhhhh, but I’m having a hard time putting my finger on why. This might have just been too heavily Omegaverse for me (not generally my thing), and the instalove was REALLY insta. A few too many immediate comparisons to Emily Rath’s Jacksonville Rays (and they came out at about the same time, so now I’m wondering if they were both inspired by another why choose + Finnish hockey player, lol!) And the self-sabotaging female lead also just seemed… whiny. Like in addition to the ACTUAL whining, which I guess is an Omegaverse thing. Also SPOILERS, but whatever doctor was like, “her mom just died and her alphas aren’t showing up, let’s put her on this medication that may VERY WELL induce depression” is just a fucking idiot. It was written well enough, but the narrative dragged, the timeline dragged, and I just wasn’t that invested. I’ll probably give the next one (set up in this one) a shot, but

Well, I enjoyed the hell out of this beginning part. But it’s genuinely so short, I feel like I need to wait to rate it until after the first book. Like… this really just should have been the prologue, and I’m not sure why it’s not.

This was a so delightful and gorgeous and hot and WONDERFULLY LONG. And plotty at the same time! Plus I learned things! About hockey and polyamory! (I did not have the word “metamour” previously, and THANK YOU, cause it was a gap in my vocabulary.) I’m excited to read more of this series, Emily Rath has quickly become a new favorite author, and I’ve been delighted with everything she does.

So I liked Bethiah in her previous appearances just fine, but I won’t lie, I started this book and was like, “It’s HOW LONG?” Well, I take it back. The pacing was great and didn’t drag at all like the last few Corsair Brothers books had— even though so much of it was really them navigating their relationship. (For comparison, Mathiras took me 4 days to read. Finished this one in half a day.) Dora and Jamef shone wonderfully, even in Bethiah’s oh so big presence, and the very obvious differences between the three of them as people absolutely sold the way they all fit together. Bonus cameos from Jerrok & Sophie and Zakoar & Tessa, some of my favorite Risdaverse couples.

So pretty funnily, I had just read a reverse harem with five guys by another author and complained that was too many, and then immediately read this— also a reverse harem with five guys. I still maintain that it’s too many, but it was definitely better handled here, possibly just because of the length of the book and the time given to each of them. However, Ben, Luke, and Avery needed to be two characters max. Ryland and Kade had enough of their own stuff going on to stand out, but those three seemed like personality factors doled out that could have been consolidated.

I was surprised at how much I liked this book though, given that aside from the reverse harem ABO factors, it was pretty standard contemporary romance. I thought the whole plot of her being the twin of someone famous was well done. Her mom could have gotten more of a comeuppance, but I liked that the FMC was at least willing to cut ties if it came to that.

I’m loving this series and I love that she’s giving each of them their own book. Bringing the Scrivens to Canderfey seemed like a guaranteed powderkeg, but it still plays out well, although the Corina situation could have done with a little more buildup and fallout. Aidan is wonderfully insecure— which is refreshing given his outward demeanor, and I feel like we see that less with male protagonist— and I love the others verbally smacking some sense into him.

Still flipping between the audio and regular book for this one, and it’s solidified my feelings on the narrators (love Collins, pass on Frances). The Scrivens’ accents are still tough sometimes, so it’s hilarious to go back to the written book and realize there’s no indication of an accent written.