I flew through this book most because it was a nothing burger in terms of plot. It was very easy, I couldn't get super invested in the characters, and by the end I wasn't surprised that the conflict was super easy to solve (barely an inconvenience).

I loved the idea of the book - cozy fantasy, a haunted ish villa, a wedding, and a romance for the ages. However, what I got was insta-lust, two characters who had one defining trait each, magic that didn't do much after the first quarter of the story, and a wedding that we barely got to see. It felt like the ingredients were all there but the final product went wrong somehow.

Also, there's a green flag and there's a doormat, I feel like the MMC was definitely a doormat. Also, he smirked every other time he was on the page, so that's a no.

Anyways. Three stars for an easy read, two stars knocked for all this story is lacking.

TW: alcohol consumption, injury detail, blood, sexual content; mentions death, grief, vehicle accident, infidelity

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Pacing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

ARC gifted via Indigo by Penguin Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.