After a tough breakup with her fiancée, Nina Blackmore is afraid to break into the Thistle Grove dating scene. Her best friend dares her to go on a date with someone who seems like the least-likely candidate for being Nina’s soulmate - local dive bartender and “normie” Morty Gonzalez. He’s freewheeling to her uptight, a silks aerialist to her marathon runner, and also the owner of a property her family has been trying to buy for months. When their first date blows up in their faces, Nina’s sure that’ll be the last of it. But a weird dream about the lake that feeds Thistle Grove’s magic has them linked, and enhanced Nina’s powers beyond normal. Can Nina figure out her powers, her relationship, and her desires without the interference of her overbearing family?

I love a trip to Thistle Grove, and this certainly hit the spot. But while other books have felt very world-buildy, this one is definitely more of a slice of life novel. It takes a bit for any big non-relationship plot pieces to happen, and the sense of urgency that the first two books have is just not present here. It’s a pretty internal book, and definitely more so for Nina than Morty (who does not get a POV, just as the love interests in other books in this series do not). I had a nice time seeing everyone, but at times I was sitting there asking myself what the point of this book was.

And too - I think if you have a non-binary love interest whose dating profile uses he/they pronouns, it would be nice for that character to use them throughout the book. Nina asks Morty what he prefers on their first date and he says he/him is fine, and he particularly feels a need to perform his assigned gender for his supportive but traditional mother. I get that! But it feels like empty representation. 

Anyways, I definitely enjoyed this book. Neither follow up has hit quite the same for me as Payback’s A Witch did, but I always have a good time. I’m looking forward to see who the love interest is for the character for whom we get a bonus chapter!

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC.