Fated mates gets me every time, man.

This was fun AF to read. The FMC, Misery, has the signature Ali Hazelwood snark. I legit snort laughed multiple times while reading. The audiobook reader’s delivery makes it even funnier. A snarky character who loves to troll those around them is always a win in my book.

Same goes for fated mates. The book doesn’t really give you anything new with this trope, but the two characters are so damn likable and fun that it really doesn’t matter. The spice wasn’t bad either, amiright.

Also, weird to talk about this right after I mentioned spice but I don’t have another transition, there’s a child in this book WHO DIDN’T EVEN ANNOY ME! She’s adorable. A miracle. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t appear super often? Eh. Whatever. Giving credit where credit is due.

I was convinced this was going to be a 5-star read until around the 85% mark when I realized this was a standalone rather than book 1 in a series. The fault is partially on me for assuming, as it says literally nowhere that this is a series. But, the book has a lot of political plot happening along with a mystery Misery is trying to solve that I was CONVINCED there was no way this could be it. There were just TOO MANY threads going. It had to be a series. I was willing to bet my life on it.

So, it was a major letdown when just about everything was resolved in one measly chapter and then tied up with a neat little bow. Felt like a lot of buildup just to road runner through the grand finale.

Yet, somehow I cared about the plot in an Ali Hazelwood book, which has never happened before, so major props to that. (Honestly very rare I read for plot in general, tbh.)