Second book in, this series continues to be excellent entertainment. It’s combining all of my favorite things: creepy af eldritch horrors, ongoing romance with flawed characters, a villain who does something horrible because he feels it’s the more moral choice compared to the alternative, unpleasant historical realities not being glossed over and yet not being allowed to stand in the way of hope and happiness, and giggle-inducing banter. If you love those things to, definitely pick Whyborne & Griffin up, don’t be like me and keep delaying it for no sane reason. It’s awesome so far.

Other than just being a really fun and scary supernatural adventure, I feel like this book does great as a series installment specifically. It picks up so many small threads from the first novel to develop and sets up hooks for stuff to come. I feel it’s particularly evident when it comes to character and relationship arcs. Speaking of the latter, I kind of really dislike the places the guys’ relationship went into on a personal level, but I’m really digging it on a storytelling level, kinda? I mean, the circumstances of the third act break-up in the first book clearly showed they’re in for a rocky ride, but then they transitioned into a honeymoon period and kind of swept it all under the rug. But the events of this installment, particularly the involvement of Griffin’s ex, make it impossible to keep that metaphorical rug smooth over the pile, so we’ve got Whyborne’s jealousy and Griffin’s insecurities spilling all over the pages. I think they got pretty toxic at one point tbh, and I feel oddly let down by Griffin. It’s already evident that his whole deal is that he’s spent most of his life as a lying liar who lies, but I thought that some of his personal qualities that particularly endeared Whyborne (and me) toward him, like his inherent kindness, were his actual true colors shining through whatever masks he wore. Now, I’m not so sure. I’m glad the guys were able to talk it out and recommit to each other, but I continue to not be sold on them as a longterm, endgame type couple. They have great chemistry and are entertaining together, but are they *good* for each other? I’ll see what the next books have to say.

As for the book’s flaws, there’s once again the matter of the spicy scenes being kiiiiiiinda cringey due to some word choices, but I think they’re getting better, and I like how by the end of this novel the author started actively using those scenes as tools for more in-depth character development. And then there’s also the mystery—it got *sooo* good around the final 30% of the book with all the reveals and action and high-stakes moments, but I think that some of the threads from the same mystery’s set-up got forgotten. Like, that whole odd alien stone that basically started it all—literally everyone stopped thinking about it midway through investigation. Honestly, now that I think about it closely, I have to admit Jordan L. Hawk is far better at the action-y parts of horror than at the investigative horror these books are billed as, and what the investigative parts are lacking is attention to detail. So now I’m here thinking about constructing effective mysteries and how to make every detail matter or feel like it matters, and I like these thoughts. They’re inspiring.

All in all, I’m really excited to continue with this series. I hope Christine continues to be a prominent presence and that she’ll have more of her own stuff to do rather than just accompanying the leads, because she’s amazing and deserves all the storylines. Excited to see what other curveballs Whyborne’s family has to throw, especially now that he’s utilized his newfound experience in standing up to unspeakable horrors in order to stand up to his father’s butler. Hoping that all those hints about the magic book trying to influence Whyborne’s judgment pay off at some point and create a glorious mess. And I really want to see what kind of person Griffin really ends up being once he’s done dealing with all the self-inflicted layers of deception (it’s so cool, by the way, how Whyborne’s POV makes Griffin’s arc so obvious even as Whyborne himself doesn’t seem to be fully cognizant of his boyfriend’s issues!).