#TBRChallenge Review: The Rake

The Rake by Mary Jo Putney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The nineteenth was TBRChallenge day, to give an idea of how busy I've been, I started this book like March 5th and just finished today. But, I got it done. Persistence, let us all move thusly. The month's theme was Rizz, and though it may seem amazing, I've never read The Rake by Mary Jo Putney, so I immediately thought of it, because rakes and rizz, am I right?! Y'all, I got the tired middle aged rake. Which, fine, lol. There was no syphilis (Yeah!) but there was alcoholism. This book was featured on a lot of All Time Bests lists back in the day and if you're going to pick it up now, I'd say take into consideration the first publishing date of 1989, to give it some of the import it deserves in how it connects alcoholism and disease, something that is widely more accepted in this day and age.

Ex. of his rizz:
With a horrid sense of discovery, Alys realized how charming Davenport could be with a sparkle in his light blue eyes and a wide smile that invited her to smile with him.

Ex. of her rizz:
"Good Lord, Lady Alys, your eyes don't match."
"Really?" she said with asperity. "I never noticed."
"Indoors the gray-green eye looks more or less like the brown one, but in this light the difference is striking," he said, ignoring her sarcasm. "A most unusual feature, but then, you are a most unusual woman."

I've read a few Putney's and recognized a lot of names in this, so consider this loosely set in a series but the “Despair of the Davenports” has just been misplaced as heir when a cousin appears. Reggie (pour one out for the heroes once named Reggie, as I don't think we'll have any for a long time) is in his late thirties and now that his uncle who had to take him in when his family died, has also passed on, he has lost his taste for trying to embarrass the family. His heir cousin isn't a bad guy and alerts him to the fact that he should have inherited his childhood home all along. So, world weary of London, Reggie decides to go visit his old home. There he finds a steward who looks exceptionally well in pantaloons, discovering a “Lady Alys” has been hiding her gender and running his estate.

Under the world-weary air were tolerance and intelligence that would be a credit to anyone. And he had the tiredest eyes she had ever seen.

With povs from Alys, readers are let in that she's been on the run from her father after she overheard her betrothal say he was only marrying her for her money and found her a “bossy long leg”. Her father wouldn't let her break the betrothal and years later she survived hiding out as a governess and now estate manager, who also is the guardian of a young woman and her two younger brothers. There's some tension at first with Alys wondering if Reggie will fire her out of hand and Reggie trying to fight his attraction to her.

In a way, they were opposite sides of the same coin: The rake and the reformer, both stubborn and proud. One a destroyer, one a builder. One a cynic, one a dreamer.

I was very busy this month but oof, I struggled with this one, it liked to ramble. I mean, we had a sheep washing scene, lol. Who was going on about wanting more historical details in their romance? Couldn't be meeeeeee! I was tempted at times to call this men's fiction for a little bit because of the struggling with wanting a drink, not wanting a drink and remembering his childhood issues Reggie, but that was at my more petty moments. Alys' issues with not feeling attractive take up a good amount of time too. Basically, Reggie doesn't want to live up to his reputation anymore (throughout the story you learn some undeserved there) and Alys needs to accept Reggie finds her attractive. There's two other side romances, numerous povs from secondary characters, and a villain arc that brings some danger. I don't know, I love you all and I know this is a favorite, but, eek, I was bored a good portion of this.

What really sheared my sheep in this was the 1989 issue tackling you could feel happening:

"I have only one more question at the moment. As an eager reformer, have you had everyone on the estate vaccinated against smallpox?"
Alys was startled. "No, I've encouraged vaccination, but some of the workers are very suspicious about 'newfangled ideas.' Only about half the people would agree to it, and I don't really have the authority to insist on something like that." In fact, she had railed, begged, and pleaded with the tenants, enraged by their pigheaded stubbornness.
"In that case, I will issue my first order." His gaze met hers, cold determination in the depths of his eyes. "Everyone who is not vaccinated within the next month will be dismissed and evicted. There will be no exceptions."

Reggie don't play, and neither should you.

"If her husband had assaulted another woman as he did her, he could have been convicted and jailed. But since she was his wife, beating her was perfectly legal, unless he actually murdered her. There was no possibility of divorce. Violence isn't enough to free a wife of her husband."

Say it with me, “No fault divorce”.

"Allie, sex is a very basic part of the human animal, and it's a great tragedy that men and women almost never talk freely about it. Respectable women are taught that ignorance and distaste are signs of refinement. Heaven knows how you survived that kind of upbringing with your passion intact, but don't ever be ashamed of what you are, or what you feel."

Ok, so this sexual freedom, we love! But also beware that the “slut” other woman was a hell of a drug trope in this publishing era and this book does not escape it.

And because I can't help myself:
He drew her into waltz position, one strong hand on her waist and the other clasping her gloved hand firmly. "Good girl," he said softly as they began dancing.

Romance, good girling since 1989!

He stared down at her, raw emotion in his eyes. "Could you bear it if he does disinherit you?"
"Yes," she said flatly. "Could you bear it if he doesn't?"
He let his breath out in an explosive sigh. "I don't know."

The end gives us Alys' true identity coming into the mix and Reggie not liking the idea that she is actually more wealthy than him and ok, maybe thinks he's not good enough for her. I can see how Reggie's struggle with alcoholism and linking it to a disease would feel more impactful in the original year this was published and there was a decent amount of time dedicated to showing him struggling and have setbacks before he realized how he just had to be abstinent (there was some slight give it over to God that I wasn't thrilled with but ymmv). For more modern reading sensibilities, there was even too many povs and side stories going on for me and it made it kind of boring and scattered. I was also getting frustrated with Alys “I'm tall and ugly”, like girl, he's thirsting hard and everyone sees it. I guess I can see how it felt impactful at the time but sorry to say, I can see why it's falling off newer Best of lists.

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Review: The Hidden Moon

The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 stars 

I buddy read this, for my thoughts and comments: The Hidden Moon buddy read 

I loved these two. 

She knew this was impossible. Because of birth and class. Who she was and who he wasn’t. 

The Loooooooonging! 

“Do you think I’m spoiled?” she asked all the sudden. 

“Yes,” he answered without pause. He glanced at her, smirking. Gao’s look entirely changed when he smiled. 

She managed a smile back, her heartbeat skipping. 

The honesty and connection of two people seeing each other in ways no other person pays attention to. 

“Lady Bai.” An iron-hard voice sliced through the silence. Wei-wei looked up to see Gao standing over them. His gaze fixed onto Li Chen. It was the first time she saw a glimpse of what her brother had talked about. What Mingyu had warned her away from. Gao didn’t have to say or do anything. Magistrate Li kept his eyes on Gao as he released her arm, moving slowly as one would do when facing an unpredictable and wild animal. 

The touch her and die vibes! 

“I never thought you could possibly be mine, Wei-wei,” he said, his voice heavy. “I just wanted to ask.” 

My god. 

The historical time period classism angst felt! 

If you've read the series, you'll know there is always a murder mystery, I was kind of meh on the one in this, felt super to the side and I'm not sure I always grasped the whos and whats and then the ending got resolved kind of off screen. I don't know, I was extremely busy these last couple weeks and yet, these two didn't leave my mind.

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Reading Update: 17%

 

What a week it was, treating myself to some Blackberry Lemon Poppy Seed cupcakes and buddy reading the third book in the Pingkang Li Mysteries series. 

Wei-wei is the sheltered sister who feels the constraints of the time but when she's with from the wrong side of the tracks Gao, she starts to feel free. 

A murder that needs solving and Wei-wei and Gao find themselves in each other's world again. 

And their attraction is stronger than ever. 

I love good girl/bad boy with heart! 

The Hidden Moon by Jeannie Lin purchase link

Blackberry frosting, lemon poppy seed cupcakes recipe

Reading Romance Bingo Challenge

 That's What I'm Talking About (Twimom227) 2025 Romance Reading Bingo Challenge

Why is it always the audiobook square keeping me from getting a bingo???

*curses* *shaking fist in air* 😭

*clicking on book title takes you to my review

Sports - The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan

Snow/Ice on cover - Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey

Forced Proximity - A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

SciFi/Fantasy - Order of Swans by Jude Deveraux

Non-US/UK setting (real country) - A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera

TBR over 1 year - The Liar's Dice by Jeannie Lin

LGBTQ+ - Les Normaux by Janine Janssen with S. Al Sabado

Non-US Author - Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki

One Word Title - Prophecy by M.L. Fergus

Review: Prophecy

Prophecy by M.L. Fergus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.7 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

“Never attack in anger,” he whispered, his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his breath on her skin. “And never start a fight you can't win.” 

Prophecy is an updated and revised fantasy story (The Gypsy King) that follows a girl trying to fight destiny and the way it pulls and pushes her into dire consequence situations. We first meet Persephone as a shackled enslaved late teens girl who is trying to protect chickens from a boy a little older than her that is trying to steal them. When Azriel gets a look at her face in the moonlight, he seems to know her and wants her to come with him, which Persephone refuses. Only to have Azriel show up the next night impersonating a lord and buys her. This sets her off on a journey where she constantly tries to find ways to break away for her freedom but is shackled not in chains this time, but to the seemingly workings of an old prophecy. 

Once, she'd believed the prophecy of the Methusian king to be nothing more than the wishful thinking of a hunted people. Now she knew it was a death sentence for all those it touched. 

In almost the opposite of an info dump, this first book in The Fractured Kingdoms series, takes it's time, and doesn't get there for some aspects, in introducing readers to this fantasy land. After a prologue that introduces readers to a Methusian seer who gives us a prophecy of a Methusian king that will reunite the clans of Glyndoria right before she's attacked and killed, the next chapter jumps us fifteen years later. As we follow Persephone and Azriel on their road trip, the worldbuilding gets placed in here and there with the gist of it being that there are four clans who make up this world, a boy king of the Erok clan is currently crowned but as he's not quite eighteen yet, his regent Mordesius runs things. Mordesius has a deformed body from a fire and is mad for the legend of a Methusian magical pool that could heal his body, he also hunts Methusians not only to torture them for their knowledge but to kill the children for their blood, thinking that has healing powers too. The advertisement of this saying it's like the Princess Bride and Game of Thrones kind of fits, you'll get light and goofy with Persephone and her animals that follow her but some gruesome killing and torture with a wanna be Little Finger in Mordesius. 

“I do not believe that the Fates will allow you to refuse. I believe that a path stretches out before us, Persephone, and though I cannot say exactly where it will lead, I would stake my life on the certainty that we are meant to walk it together, come what may.” 

Most of this first book in the series is more of a meet and greet to learn the players and set them in their roles. Persephone will annoy at times with her bratty determination that doesn't always make sense, she wants to escape Azriel and the Methusian prophecy they think she has a part in, but escape to what? Persephone never really has a plan just a “I want to be free” that feels forced to keep her apart from Azriel. Their budding romance had moments, they have some sweet and heated teasing between each other, but it definitely felt in the lighter young adult realm that this is categorized in. In the second half where the prophecy has them headed to the capitol to rescue a Methusian boy, along with an added girl Rachel who looks a lot like Persephone and no one is sure who the prophecy is about, the story started to feel a little dragged out. We get point-of-views from the other side, Mordesius, to further the overarching plot, but there was still not enough moved along for me. 

I enjoyed this because of the cute chemistry between Azriel and Persephone but Persephone's insistence in wanting to “escape” when it didn't quite make sense, had me frustrated with her a lot of the time. This first installment delivered on some answers but a lot still isn't clear and with a sudden cliffhanger, I find myself wanting to start the second in the series right away. This was at turns cute, goofy, gruesome, and had fun back and forth chemistry, I just wanted Persephone to accept she could be a heroine in a fantasy story more readily.

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Reading Update: 26%

Neither of them said anything until he walked up to the edge of the pool, dropped his pack, unbuckled his sword and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"How's the water?" he asked.

I am absolutely feral for scenes like this. 

Quickly, Persephone is traveling, not by complete choice with Azriel, a guy she barely knows but the inklings are there for trust and attraction, and took the chance in the morning to escape him. He's spent the whole day searching for her and dealing with her goofy animal friends, dog, horse, and hawk, and covered in mud. Thinking she escaped him, Persephone relaxes in a hot pool, with her shift on the bank. Only to have her separation anxiety horse crash through the trees and find her, leading Azriel to her. 

This tense moment of him saying "How's the water?" and undressing like he's going to join her, gah! LIVE for this type of tension. The scene continues on and gah! But also, we're only 26% in, so don't get too excited, lol.

Review: Love and Other Paradoxes

Love and Other Paradoxes by Catriona Silvey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“You’re from the future.”

Love and Other Paradoxes was a story about how your future could change if you knew your future. Joe is a twenty year old student at Cambridge who aspires to be a poet like the greats he's studying, but as he's studying, he's also getting a heavy case of impostor syndrome. A middle class Scot in the rich environment of Cambridge and raised in a household that was encouraging but also worked to keep his feet on the ground, Joe feels lost as he tries to measure up and graduate. When he bumps into the barista he was having some chemistry with and he picks up the book that fell out of her purse, he sees his name on the cover and picture of himself as a sixty year old man. As a panicked Esi tries to grab it out of his hands, Joe runs and finds himself in his dorm room with a piece of his future.

“I want to be remembered.”

Told all from Joe's point-of-view, the first half of this had me locked in as Joe learns that Esi is from the year 2044. She's accessed Joe's current time, 2005, by paying a time tourist company that allows people to take trips to observe famous people, which he'll be in her time for writing poetry. The time travel gets as deep as “I traveled through a wormhole” for most of the book and instead focuses on how knowing your future could change a person. Joe knows that he writes an impactful and famous book of poetry for a girl he's only glimpsed on campus and they fall in love later in life. So when he has the chance to meet this girl, he enters a poetry contest with one of the poems from his future book and ends up paired with her as she'll do a dramatic reading of the poem, he's all in, ready to start to his future now. This leads to Joe living life different, taking more chances and slacking off from school, as he thinks nothing he does matters as his future is already determined.

Determinism was nice in theory, but it didn’t actually save you any effort.

After the rush of knowing his future wears off, Joe starts to wonder if he's actually changing his future with his current actions as he learns that Esi's whole point of taking the time trip wasn't to observe him but to try and change her mother's future, as she ends up dying in a car accident when Esi is eight. This leads to some themed questioning of determinism and we get a second half that meanders and jumps weeks at a time as Joe begins to realize that not only what he does now still matter, the future he thought he wanted may not be what he truly wants. The beginning also had Joe and Esi developing a friendship that had some sparks but the middle abandons them a bit as Joe tries to start his romance with his future wife early. I missed their companionship and when Esi comes back into the picture in the later second half, they had lost some momentum for me.

He wanted to be with her, even if it was temporary, even if it was doomed. He wanted to taste every moment they could possibly have before it was over.

If you've been or are familiar with Cambridge, you'd probably enjoy the setting descriptions and Joe's roommate and other secondary characters added to the flushed out feeling of the world. It just felt like the beginning was more tightly held together and then the second half got lost in where it wanted to go and how to work everything out regarding the time travel aspects. You won't get solid spelled out answers to how everything wraps up for the characters but more of “infinite universes” and a kind of weak easy solution for how Joe and Esi's romance endures. This started strong with an interesting concept, the underlining discussion on determinism was thought provoking, Joe and Esi had beginning spark, but then the second half lost its way and Esi disappeared for too long, only to anemically drift back in. If feeling nostalgic for 2005 Cambridge, with some romance, wormholes, infinite universes, and inventive weapons for the campus game Assassins, this had those eclectic elements.

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Review: The Anatomy of Magic

The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

“I spelled my heart.”

Second in the Estrada Family series, The Anatomy of Magic is about Lily, the youngest sister. If you read the first (The Enchanted Hacienda) you'll know that generations ago, an Estrada woman made a desperate deal with the Aztec goddess Mayahuel. The deal was for every female descendant to be blessed with their own brand of magic that is enhanced by plants and flowers. Lily's magic is memory and when a patient's son utters a line from her past, she is shocked into a distant memory and then tragically loses for the first time a patient on the operating table. This causes her to go home to her family flower farm in Mexico and face the consequences of the intensified memory spell she put on herself to try and forget her first love Sam.

“It’s because something else is taking up space in your heart, and you have to heal that.”

Told all from Lily's point-of-view this was a more sedate moving story about how not dealing with past pains can bubble up and impact you when you least expect it. It's a magical realism setting with the flower magic and a family generational story, even though each book takes turns focusing on a different Estrada woman. There's the love interest Sam, who doesn't appear until around the 25% mark, but his character isn't so much there for his story to be told but in service of showing how Lily is the way she is today and how she has to work through that. The love thread is a second chance romance as the two were childhood sweethearts and then eleven years ago when they were nineteen, Sam out of nowhere says he doesn't love her anymore, giving no other explanation. This causes Lily to spell her heart to try and forget their years long love but also works to deaden her emotionally somewhat. The story was more about Lily discovering she should feel again and how she could go about it than showing Lily and Sam working together to resolve their past pain. A little later into the second half, Sam tells Lily why he broke up with her and Lily pretty much forgives him right away. The romance arc was more working through Lily's pain, hearing the reason she always wondered about, and then immediately moving on to we're in love.

“Azalea came to me in a dream,” I say.
“And?”
“She told me to go back to the beginning.”

The ending has some family and magical drama from a decision Lily makes but we get a resolving of that for no cliff-hangers, also an epilogue to deliver what looks like a Lily and Sam worked out happily ever after. I enjoyed the continued magical realism aspects and Estrada family relationships that were laid out in the first, you could pick this up as a standalone as there's enough relaying to clue new readers in, but the pace got a little slow for me as Lily glummed around. I also missed the romance thread being stronger and having more working through to give the second chance more impact. This wasn't the strongest installment for me but I'm still entranced by the Estrada women and their flower farm and will be looking out for the next one to fall in love.

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Review: A Place No Flowers Grow

A Place No Flowers Grow by Cheryl Cantafio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

a woman once lived here 

emerald eyes and bright smile 

born on the last frontier 

raised along the arctic mile 

A Place No Flowers Grow was a book in verse told in pantoum and quintain poem format. Divided into five parts, with an epilogue, readers are taken on a haunting journey. 

it's for science, though, right? 

the cold makes his hands throb 

his mettle tested by the never-ending white 

Roen wonders why he took the job 

The first part introduces the main characters, Octavia, Roen, and Fox. Octavia grows up in the Arctic with loving parents who teach her the importance of nature. Her mother gets sick and this leads to Octavia studying plants to try and find a cure for her. Roen grows up with his mother and grandfather and dreams of doing something extraordinary. With his grandfather being deaf, this leads to Roen studying, experimenting on animals in hopes of finding medical ways to help humans. 

she was defenseless in her love for him 

he made hand puppets in the shadows 

she made him feel weak in every limb 

we could make lovely little weirdos 

Part two has Octavia and Roen moving to Alyeska, meeting and falling in love, while part three shows that the Fox we previously meet in the wild is now caged in Roen's lab. We get povs from all three characters, showing us Octavia and Roen falling love, with Roen thinking about how the experiments are cruel to the animals but thinking the end justifies the means and how Fox is getting changed by the experiments and about to have a Rise of the Planet of the Apes “NO!” moment. It's a good contrast of how oblivious beings inhabiting the same world can be of each other, the happy in love Octavia and Roen and the angry Fox. 

she thought of the caged beasts she'd avenge 

it felt good to be out in the wide open 

readying to exact her revenge 

Fox dreamt in her ice cave den 

Parts four and five deliver the climax of the happy and angry worlds colliding and lead to an epilogue that delivers on a Gothic tale ending feel. This story was told in an interesting way and I hope readers give the format a chance because it's an atmospheric and engaging story. It's a does the ends justify the means, with morality and ethical questions, and look at all the ways humans respect, use, and abuse their place in nature, all wrapped up in a vengeful, Gothic feeling love tale. 

if you 

wed in the spot 

known as Crimson Vows Vale 

bring yarrow and buttercups for 

good luck

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Review: Scot and Bothered

Scot and Bothered by Alexandra Kiley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review 

He’d been the one person she’d trusted with her dreams and he’d single-handedly unraveled them. 

Scot and Bothered was a second chance story told in alternating Then and Now chapters, that pretty much last throughout the whole book. Brooke is an American who is studying at the University of Edinburgh in their English program, she has the dream of being a writer. Jack is a Scotsman who is in the MBA program, he supposed to help with his family's tour guide business when he graduates. When they meet at a party, they're both instantly drawn to each other, until Brooke shows up to class one day and Jack is one of the T.A.s in the class. They know they shouldn't start anything but they can't help themselves and when Jack feels like his hand is forced and makes a decision without telling Brooke, they both feel the consequences. It's not until seven years later that these two are forced together to collaborate on Jack's aunt's memoir, Brooke's mentor, that old wounds are finally healed. 

It was easier to slip into someone else’s story, someone else’s voice, than to admit she’d lost her own. 

I'm not a strict linear reader, so I don't mind alternating timelines that are simultaneously showing our characters in present time and pushing the story forward while also going back in time to show how they got where they are and why they are the way they are. However, I usually like the past timeline to be wrapped up around midway point, having gotten the foundational information needed to understand but then fully in the present so the characters have time to work out what they need to and fall in love again. The alternating timelines kept up until, almost the very end of the book and I was left feeling like Brooke and Jack didn't spend that great gritty time working out what they needed. When Brooke and Jack are forced together, Brooke's writing her mentor's memoir, while Jack's taking the photos for his aunt's book, Brooke is still extremely angry over how everything went down seven years ago. She does not take her foot off his neck for awhile but it seemingly takes one, I'm finally getting angry line, from Jack and she kind of lets it go. It's an apology of sorts but I still felt she let that strong anger go kind of quickly. 

“I feel bound to a life I didn’t pick. I have never felt free.” 

The anguish in his voice broke her heart in two. And spoke to something she never felt allowed to voice. 

Considering the set-up of Jack being not her specific T.A. but a T.A. in her class, I'm not sure I felt the desperate “we must be together” even though we could wait and there would be no consequences. I could see Jack caving but Brooke's character is described as very by-the-book and she's there on scholarship and talks a lot about how important this all is to her. I know she's in love for the first time and likes how Jack brings out her adventurous side but it still felt a betrayal to some of her characterization, because they wouldn't have to stay away forever, just for the semester or even two. I spent more of the Then chapters shaking my head and thinking the big blow up coming could be easily avoided. How unromantic of me, but there it is. 

“I fucked up. So badly . I wish more than anything I could take it back. I know I broke your trust and it’s unforgivable.” 

Around 30% is when Brooke loses her red mist of anger and they start to talk. They're hiking the Skye Trail in Scotland, the mentor/aunt founded the trail and the memoir is focused on that. If you read the first in this series, you'll remember the amazing way the author incorporated aspects of Scotland, geography, historical facts, and legends. We mostly get geography here and while I didn't find it as encompassing as the first, I still enjoyed how the setting, the land and trail, added atmosphere to the story. We get some secondary characters that are hiking and a little bit of Jack's family, what connects the series, but mostly this was focused on Brooke and Jack.

It wasn’t the look of someone who’d never cared. It was the look of someone who still cared. 

Around 70% Brooke is ready to try with Jack again and like I said, I never felt like there was much working out the emotional problem in the Now chapters, Brooke felt like she just kind of mellowed and their instant connection from the Then chapters was what I felt left with to explain and feel why they were giving in to this second chance. It felt odd that Brooke's over what happened in the past before readers even find out how everything blew-up, which is revealed around 80%. How could I the reader move on with her if I didn't even know what happened yet? 

“Sometimes we have to fuck it all up to know how to do it right.” 

The alternating timeline chapters went on too long for me and I didn't get the knuckle down and work it out for this second chance romance, it felt like it came too easily (lower angst readers would enjoy more). The Skye Trail descriptions gave good setting but the pace dragged in the later second half as I felt the characters were stagnating because the Then chapters were still behind where the Now Brooke and Jack seemed to emotionally be. There was a brief upset moment to add late second drama but gotten over quickly and a two years in the future epilogue to cement the HEA. This didn't quite hit like the first for me but I'll definitely be returning to the series for the third brother's romance.

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