Why you make not like this book: This is a paranormal romance that leans pretty heavily into those genre trappings. It is very self-aware and has fun with a few of those tropes, specifically with Alpha, the MMC's inner-wolf, who due to being trapped for so long, is in full alpha mode. I found it really funny, and thought it was well-balanced by Mateo as an artsy, lovable, soft hero, but anyone who doesn't enjoy the alpha-wolf thing won't like this.

This was also rather cheesy, and whether or not that plays as entertaining or annoying to you is hard to say. The FMC love comic books and Star Wars and we get a lot of her geeking out about that. Those kinds of pop-culture references in a book can annoy people, and there is plenty of that in here. Also some of that neediness kind of bleeds into the narrative voice and the awkward way that sex is sometimes thought about and described.

Finally, this is a slow burn romance. I enjoy slow burns, but when I don't, it's because they have a tendency to get too repetitive. They fill out time by hashing and rehashing things. This did get a bit repetitive through the middle to me, but for the most part it did a good job showing us why these two people fell in love.

cw: sex (on page), ableist language, death of a loved one

Why I liked this book: I had fun! Other reviews have said it and I agree that this has Charmed vibes. It's also got the same sort of soapy energy, which is what you should go into it expecting. I liked the main characters and enjoyed watching them fall for each other. It also had a good secondary plot boosting the romance, and it introduces a bunch of other elements that I found interesting. I would definitely continue on in the series.