Romance Wrap-Up September 16-30

 Runaway Love - Melanie Harlow

This is the first book in Cherry Tree Harbor series and follows single dad, Austin, and recently single runaway bride, Veronica. After her fiance accidentally sends a sext meant for his assistant to her on their wedding day, Veronica leaves him at the alter. Only problem is that he bought her everything from her phone to their apartment so she basically is left with only the wedding dress on her back. Austin is in need of a nanny for his twins for the summer and Veronica is just the woman for the job.  Like all the other Melanie Harlow books I've read, I really enjoyed this.  We have great small town setting and side characters, opposites attract to the max, and chemistry sizzling off the page.  I loved Veronica's storyline and how she came back from her controlling ex to find herself again.  Austin toed the line of being a little too alpha-hole for me at times, but for the most part it worked. We get a great group of side characters which is always a plus in the first book of a new series.  I did find myself wanting more of Austin and Veronica together doing mundane activities.  It felt like if the kids were around, then Veronica was in nanny mode.  But if the kids were gone, then they were jumping into bed together.  We do get some scenes of them outside the house, but many of them were when they were still figuring out their feelings so they weren't actually together.

I Like You Like That - Kayla Grosse

This rockstar/bodyguard romance follows childhood friends Birdie and Liam.  The two were good friends growing up ... until they weren't. Now, Bridie is a famous rock star touring the world with a stalker getting a little too close for comfort.  Liam is an ex-cop who is looking for his next steps after recovering from an injury and Birdie's new bodyguard is the perfect opportunity.  The two try to make the best of their new relationship dynamic but spending so much time together is bringing up old history and maybe there's a way they can move forward together. I really enjoyed this read, but felt like the plot was being pulled in two different directions.  We get a bit of romantic suspense with the stalker plot but we also get a regular rockstar/bodyguard romance and the two plots weren't really well entwined for me.  There were stretches of the book where I completely forgot about the stalker plot until it would just pop back up again.  I loved Birdie and Liam working through their past together and working together to move forward.  I'm not a big lover of rockstar romances but I thought this had a good balance of the stardom vs the backstage reality of the job which made Birdie much more grounded as a character.

Jaywalking - Rachel Ember

This MM romance is the first book in the In Step series and follows Emile and Jay.  After the two have an almost-hook up, Jay walks into his first college class to find Emile is the professor.  The two have an undeniable connection, but the rules of the college are clear.  After a number of failed relationships, Emile is looking for something very specific in a relationship and Jay just might be that something special. I really enjoyed this read and it was much spicier than the cover art led me to believe.  Jay and Emile are fantastic together but also were each very compelling characters on their own.  I enjoyed the character arcs they both went through and how that led them to be together.  Since the two met outside of class, the student/professor dynamic didn't ick me out like it sometimes can.  Plus, Ember did a good job building up their connection to be more than just a physical attraction. I really enjoyed the way the kinkier elements were used and how this was Jay's "kinky realization".  Jay and Emile aren't into the more equipment-based kink, but more so the power exchange side of things and that is a side of kink I don't see often on its own in the kinky romances I read.  I did find myself wanting more of Jay and Emile just being a couple in more every-day situations to build up their relationship outside of the bedroom a bit more.

Practice Makes Perfect - Sarah Adams 

This is the second book in the When in Rome series and follows Annie and Will.  Annie is the quiet flower shop owner who is on a quest to find her perfect match but when she hears a date describe her as boring, she starts to think finding someone might be out of her reach. Will is the bodyguard of the pop star marrying Annie's brother and he is the opposite of Annie in just about every way.  But when he agrees to help Annie with her dating and flirting, the two of them just might be more of a match than anyone expects.  This is 100% in the running to be my favorite romance of the year!  Annie and Will are a great example of opposites attract and I loved their entire dynamic.  Adams does a great job of building up both these characters as more than their stereotypes.  We got to see a little bit of Will and Annie in the first book in the series, but I didn't get a great feel for them so I was glad that we get so many details about them right at the beginning.  We have a great cast of side characters, but the moments that really shine are when Will and Annie are together and let down their walls piece by piece. The dating lessons were a great mix of cute and steamy and had an excellent escalation from scene to scene. We also get personal growth outside of just romantic relationships as well. 

Yours, Insatiably - Aveda Vice

This Nbi/F paranormal romance follows coworkers Avirin and Pye.  In the prequel novella (Feed) we see Pye and Avirin's first night together. This book opens not long after where Avirin and Pye are still working together. But now there's a new underlying tension between the two.  Neither of them can forget their night together and the explosive connection.  And when Pye starts introducing Avirin to the monster world she avoided for so long, neither can go back to the way things were. This was a great extension of the original novella and I really liked how much deeper Vice was able to explore these characters now. The world building was really well done and I enjoyed finding out more about the monster world alongside Avirin.  The sexual tension was fantastic from start to finish. This was very much a lust to love situation and I really enjoyed seeing these characters give in to their emotions fully.  I really love this world and would read as many more books in this universe as Vice would like to write.

His Cocky Valet - Cole McCade

This MM romance is the first in the Undue Arrogance series and follows Ash and Brand.  After his father falls ill, Ash ends up becoming CEO of his father's company years before he was expecting to.  His years of gallivanting around, spending his father's money, and being on the front page of the tabloids have not prepared Ash for this job.  That is where Brand comes in - Brand is a professional valet and quickly starts putting Ash's life back together. The two initially butt heads, but as they spend more time together they grow closer.  And when they both realize that Brand's way of caring for Ash gives them both something they deeply desire, they take their working relationship to the next level.  This was an unexpectedly emotional read that I overall really enjoyed.  At first, I really didn't like Ash and wasn't sure if I could get over how bratty and annoying he was.  I just wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him back to acting like an actual adult needed in the situation he was in.  Luckily for me, Brand did it for me.  I really enjoyed how the relationship between the two men evolved over the course of the book and how they slowly fell into the romance before taking a full plunge.  I did want to see more of Brand and Ash outside of the home/office to see how their dynamic would work out in a more casual setting. 

Mixed Signals - B.K. Borison

This is the third book in the Lovelight series and follows Layla and Caleb.  Both of them are unlucky in love but strike up a deal one night that they should go out on dates together so he can restore her faith in men and she can help his dating game.  Their fake dating arrangement is all fun and games at first, but then it starts to feel a little too real.  And when they revise the terms of their agreement to add in physical interactions as well, the fake dating starts to feel a little too real.  This was a great fake dating romance and I was absolutely thrilled to be back in the Lovelight universe.  Caleb and Layla are both such unassuming characters that really got their chance to shine as the MCs of this read. They are both on the more quiet side but obviously had a lot of love to give to the right person.  I loved how up front they both were with their struggles and how they both felt like equal participants in the fake dating agreement. Their dates together were just so wonderful and when the heat between them grew, it was even better.  We get a good number of cameos from the couples from the previous 2 books which is always nice.

Cleat Cute - Meryl Wilsner

This FF sport romance follows Grace and Phoebe.  Grace is the team captain and veteran of the pro soccer team that Phoebe just joined.   Off the field, the two are just about as different as they could be, but they start up an unlikely friendship.  They graduate to friends with benefits at the same time that Grace is sidelined for an injury which puts her spot on the US National Team in jeopardy.  But when they figure out they can work together instead of competing against each other, these two women just might find a connection they never expected. This was such as fun sport romance that was spicier than I initially expected. Grace and Phoebe are such great characters and I loved how different they were from each other.  They each had a ton of character development throughout the story. Of course, there's a good amount of on-page soccer playing but I thought it was still really well balanced.  We get a variety of soccer scenes that didn't get repetitive.  I really liked how Wilsner was able to weave in tension on and off the field and how the two interact with each other. 

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.  Publication date was September 19, 2023

Let Me In - R.M. Virtues 

This is the third book in the Gods of Hunger series and follows friends Athena and Dionysos.  After the events of the second book, Hades and the other rulers are trying to secure peace in the region.  Athena and Dionysos are sent to Thassos City to negotiate a peace treaty.  But when negotiations break down, Athena and Dionysos must team up to find and defeat the threat to their home.  Along the way, the two finally realize that being more than friends might be the thing they've both been waiting for.  This was another great entry in the Gods of Hunger series.  I would recommend reading them in order because the non-romance plot does stretch across all the books.  I found this to be the most well-balanced between the romantic and non-romantic plot and it felt like a more traditional romantic suspense.  I also found the non-romance plot to be easier to follow than the previous book.  I loved Athena and Dionysos as their own characters as well as a couple.  They worked so well together and their long friendship was obvious.  The sexual tension between them was well done and paid off so well once they get together.  I'm so glad book 4 just released so I can continue on in the series. 

The Messenger - Jessica Gadziala 

This is the third book in the Professionals series and follows coworkers Jules and Kai.  Kai has been in love with Jules since she started working at the office, but she never seemed to return his feelings.  Now, Jules is getting married and Kai knows he'll have to let her go. But when Jules's fiance disappears and she learns the truth of who he truly was, Kai insists on helping Jules find him and get what he stole from her back.  This had such great potential and build up over the previous 2 books in the series, but I didn't love the execution.  We get a ton of flashbacks to Kai and Jules to show the progression of their relationship.  However, these scenes took away from the current romantic suspense plot and overall really deflated any tension.  I also didn't really buy into the sort of insta-love that Jules went through and I didn't have enough time with Jules and Kai as a couple to really get on board with their relationship for the long term.  I did love the pining and tension we see in some of the flashbacks, but overall felt like the structure of this book really took away from the story.  I am excited to continue on in the series and see if we get more of Jules and Kai's relationship that way.

That Night in the Woods - Kristopher Triana

This horror/thriller follows a group of friends 20 years after one Halloween night changed their lives forever.  When Scott Dwyer calls out of the blue to invite the fractured friend group back together, they are all a bit wary of returning to Redford.  But each of them - Jennifer, Corey, Traci, and Mark - agree to come and honor the memory of their recently passed friend, Steven.  As the group begin to reminisce about their teenage years, Scott breaches the vow they made to never speak of that one night.  
 

We get a good mix of characters - but I found them to be on the caricature side of the spectrum.  While the group hadn't spoken in many years, I didn't get a good feeling that they were ever really friends.  Even in the flashbacks, it felt like more of a gathering of acquaintances rather than an established friend group.  We get a brief introduction to most of the characters before they gather together but I wanted more time to establish their characters now so the comparison between then and now would be more clear.  There is some substantial character change during the ending climax but since I didn't get a good sense of the characters to begin with, this change didn't hit me the way I think it was meant to.

The horror elements in this were spectacular and there were so many chilling moments.  There are 2 timelines in this story and the past timeline, where we are seeing what happened that night in the woods, reminded me of All Hallows by Christopher Golden.  We get the creepy people in the maybe haunted forest and a group of friends who are trying to be logical about it all but also aren't sure what they are experiencing.  There's also a fair amount of gore in the last 25% or so of the read which I wasn't really expecting but I think worked well given the escalation with the plot.  

I think the standout element by far is the tension Triana was able to craft.  While the dual timelines do alternate, we get pretty big chunks at one time.  There isn't a whole lot of back and forth that would normally help to build tension through the structure of the book so the meat of the story really needed to do the heavy lifting.  As we get more reveals, the tension amps up because each reveal has some pretty far-reaching consequences.  These aren't just "oh, X did Y" type of reveals.  It is "X did Y which means that A and B ended up C which would mean..." type of reveals.  There's also a good amount of interpersonal tension with the friend group and the fallout of that night in the woods.  We get multiple POVs so tension is built that way as well where we see certain characters and their internal thoughts or desires. 

The ending lost me, which is a real shame.  Plot-wise, the ending was actually was a little off the rails but in a way that I usually like.  However, I found the plot development to clash with the character development.  There were certain characters that felt like they had complete personality shift in the last 30 pages or so which didn't work for me.  I also found a bit of the explanation/reveal of the ending to be a bit info-dumpy in a way that made it feel rushed.  Like we could have had this information woven into the scene a little more but instead it felt like the reader was being pushed toward the ending before I was ready for it.  

Overall, I enjoyed parts of the story but it didn't quite come together perfectly for me.  Fantastic horror elements and tension building but the characters and ending ended up feeling a little misaligned. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for the ARC.

Expected publication date is October 7, 2023

Romance Wrap Up September 1-15

How to Fake Date a Vampire - Linsey Hall

This is the second book in the Charming Cove series and follows witch-in-training, Emma, and vampire duke, Alaric. In order to earn a spot at her coven, Emma is in charge of planning the annual Beltane Ball.  The biggest problem is trying to convince Alaric to let her host it at his estate - his famously private estate.  Lucky for Emma, Alaric needs a fake girlfriend to show his grandmother after a disastrous break-up.  As the two spend time together preparing for the upcoming Ball, they find that maybe they have more in common than they initially thought.  This is falling into the 'not for me' category.  I didn't really connect with the characters or the writing style.  I found Emma and her whole plot to feel more YA than I was expecting which just isn't my vibe.  This YA-ish plot also clashed with the more adult romance elements.  I wanted way more from Alaric than we got and I never really got a good handle on his character or backstory. I did really love the world of Charming Cove and all the different types of magic or magical creatures we get to see. Also, Penelope the skunk was far and away my favorite part of this book. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Bonnie Doon Press for the ARC.  Publication date was August 31, 2023

The Fiancee Farce - Alexandria Bellefleur

This sapphic romance follows Tansy and Gemma as they enter into a fake engagement.  Tansy, sick of the constant questions about her love life, fabricates a relationship with a fictional Gemma.  Then, when at her cousin's wedding, the real Gemma finds out about Tansy and their supposed relationship.  Good thing for both of them that Gemma needs to be married in a few months in order to inherit her grandfather's publishing company. What starts as a purely business arrangement inevitably turns real. This was absolutely fantastic and has solidified Bellefleur as an insta-read author for me.  I was fully invested in Tansey and Gemma as individual characters and their own journeys but also loved to see them get together.  They were such a good example of the opposites attract trope where they aren't caricatures or it isn't completely unbelievable that they would actually like being together.  We have a great cast of side characters and I liked how the marriage of convenience plot was used.  The chemistry between Tansy and Gemma was fantastic and built up believably as they spend more time together. 

The Plus One - Mazey Eddings

 

This is the third book in the A Brush With Love series and follows childhood enemies Indira and Jude. Weeks before her brother's wedding, Indira finds herself newly single and needs a place to stay - obviously her brother's house is her first choice.  When she arrives and sees Jude is also staying there, the two pick up where they left off with the verbal sparring.  However, it isn't exactly like when they were younger as their own internal and external struggles have left their marks on both of them.  Their fake dating agreement quickly turns real as the two of them find comfort in their shared history. Both Indira and Jude have their own mental health struggles and these struggles were the forefront of the story.  I loved how Eddings integrated the mental health aspects into every aspect of their lives and relationship.  Indira and Jude were such complex characters on their own and I loved when they did finally get together how we could see their relationship morph. The banter between them is perfection and we get a good amount of interaction from the cast of side characters - including the previous couples.  I did want a little more of Indira and Jude finding out more about each other.  They were antagonistic toward each other for so long, I wanted to see more of them turning that around.  

TW/CW: PTSD from medical procedures, parental abandonment

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.  Publication date was April 4, 2023

Let Him In - William Friend

 

This horror novel follows Alfie and his twin daughters - Sylvie and Cassia - 9 months after his wife's accidental death.  What starts as an assumed nightmare of the twins seeing a man in their room evolves into a shared imaginary friend, Alfie reaches out to his wife's sister, Julia.  Psychologist Julia initially sees nothing out of the ordinary about the girls' behavior but as she spends more time with the grieving family, memories of her own childhood start surfacing.  As the situation with Alfie and the girls start escalating - including hallucinations and physical danger - this friend might be more than imaginary after all. 

TW/CW: death of a spouse, death of a parent, suicide, child endangerment, child neglect, domestic violence, miscarriage, grief

The atmosphere of this whole read is spot on.  The book opens with heavy grief and even the creepy stuff gets circled back to grief.  Yeah, the girls and their imaginary friend are a little weird and something feels off, but they're just grieving the way children do. Or that Alfie is overly sensitive due to his own grief.  This is reflected perfectly with the family being basically self-isolated in this old and grand home. As we learn more about the backstory of the home and the events that happened in the past, we can't help but see how that could be impacting the current day story. I'd categorize this read as a pretty quiet, creepy read.  We do have some moments of action, but for the most part we're in solid creepy kid story territory. 

The horror elements were so delicately balanced, I was surprised that this was a debut. I think it would have been easy for this type of story to get over the top with the horror.  And while that might have worked very well also, this sort of more subdued, gently escalating horror was great.  Creepy kids are almost always a win and them being twins really was the cherry on top.  I liked how we get a mix of them being their usually creepy selves - like seemingly able to communicate telepathically - but then the line gets crossed and now there's maybe something supernatural going on.  It felt like the type of horror that I could very well imagine happening in real life where it is just unsettling and strange enough that it makes you wonder but if you aren't a believer in the supernatural/paranormal then you also can come up with explanations for the events.

 As far as characters go, this felt very much like a snapshot in time.  The majority of the story takes place over a 3 day span, but we do get some flashbacks as well.  This short time span didn't give a whole lot of time for much character development.  We also see the characters being stagnant due to grief, which also doesn't change a whole lot over 3 days.  Friend does a good job of giving us details of these characters through their actions and reactions with other characters.  We alternate POVs between Alfie and Julia so we do get their internal dialogue during their chapters. What I absolutely loved is that the children actually read like children.  They weren't overly precocious or intellectual for their age and the creepy kid factor then hits that much harder when the kids read as realistic.

I think the ending might be a hit or miss with readers.  I found it toeing the line of being frustratingly ambiguous in the same way that the ending of Inception was.  We spend this whole book following these characters and seeing the escalation of something that may or may not be supernatural.  Then it just sort of ... ends.  We do get a epilogue that flashes forward a few months and I found that to also end on sort of an ambiguous note. I think what saved this ending for me was that we have enough textual evidence to support the reading in either direction.  I'm certainly swaying in one direction but I can absolutely see the argument for the other reading being the 'real' ending. I also found this ambiguous ending to work well as this theme of trying to figure out what is real or not comes up a lot throughout the book.

Overall, this was a great atmospheric, creepy read.  The horror elements were balanced well and the ambiguous ending was pulled off well. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.  Expected publication date is October 3, 2023

The Kind Worth Killing - Peter Swanson

This suspense follows Ted and Lily.  The two meet on a flight and after having a few drinks, they play a game of truth where they can't lie to the other, no matter how small.  When Ted reveals that his wife Miranda is cheating on him and that he could kill her for this betrayal, Lily offers to help.  As their plan unfolds, the two of them also find there is a detective on the case and that they might have a harder time coming out of this alive than they originally expected.

Full disclosure: Bummer book review incoming.  This was one of those books that I'd only heard good things about.  It is constantly listed as people's favorite Peter Swanson read but I don't get the hype around this book at all.  I was 100% on-board with the premise and even gave this time to sit on the shelf between when I first heard about this book and before picking it up to make sure it wasn't overhyped for me.  However, this was one of those books where I was getting annoyed at most of the character's choices, plot points, and even Swanson's writing choices. I'm pretty bummed because I just wanted to love this as much as other people seem to love it. 

I was initially intrigued by our two main characters. Their initial interaction and conversation does seem a bit fantastical since I can't imagine any real person having that conversation on an airplane, but I'm always down to give a thriller a bunch of leeway with this type of stuff.  We do get a pretty good sense of these characters right at the opening...but then that's it.  I didn't get more character development other than Ted wants his wife dead and Lily wants to help him kill her. As the characters go through some pretty significant events during the course of the book, I was expecting some character development.  However, it just felt like Lily and Ted continued to be the same characters we met at the beginning with little to no added depth to their characters.

I love a good cat-and-mouse thriller but due to some plot/writing choices, I found this completely devoid of tension.  There were a number of twists and reveals that I wasn't expecting, which was good.  These reveals were pivot points in the plot where the tension and momentum that was building then had to completely stop in order for the plot to pivot.  And these types of pivot points happened numerous times throughout the book which means that the momentum was starting and stopping instead of building consistently over the course of the story.  The twists that happened were something I haven't seen in a lot of books so I do give Swanson points for that.  These twists maybe could have worked if the other aspects of the book were more robust such as the characters, but it they didn't work for me.

I enjoyed the flashbacks we got of Lily's past way more than the current-day plot.  I thought this past-timeline story was much more intriguing and tense.  The connection to the current plot isn't clear at first and I was initially nervous that this was just another way to show us the same character detail we already know about Lily.  However, I did enjoy the way Lily's past tied up to the ending of the book and left the door open a bit for more books. And while Swanson did recently release a sequel to this, I'm most likely not going to be picking it up.

Overall, I don't think there was anything truly bad about this book, but a good chunk of it was just not working for me. Great premise, but I didn't connect with the characters or plot execution.  I wish I loved it as much as other people seem to.

The Odds - Jeff Strand

 

This thriller/horror follows gambling addict Ethan after he falls off the wagon.  After losing just under ten thousand dollars in Vegas, Ethan is dreading calling home to his wife.  But when a mysterious man offers Ethan the chance to win it all back, Ethan thinks it must be a scam but decides the opportunity is too good to pass up. Afterward, he thinks the game is over and he can return to his regular life only the game is just beginning. 

TW/CW: gambling addiction, child endangerment, gore

I thought this was a pretty solid read, but overall not what I was expecting.  While, from an overview perspective, this book was exactly what I was expecting based on the premise, I wanted more of everything.  I wanted more character development, more gore, more stakes, more drama, more details on the behind the scenes, etc.  

This was very much a max-plot/min-character type of read. The main plot of the game starts just a few pages in and doesn't let up.  We do get some details about Ethan and his family, but they felt very surface level.  I was expecting the challenges Ethan faces to be based around his character or specific character traits but really the only character trait that seems to matter is his gambling addiction. Plotwise, this book starts early and keeps going.  We get a good mix of different challenges and it was interesting to get more details on the structure of this game.  I thought the challenges had a nice escalation pattern to them so the tension doesn't stagnate at any point. 

Because of these constant new plot points but very little down time, the pacing is fast which makes this a really fun potato chip type of read.  At 256 pages, it was already a bit on the shorter side, and the quick pacing makes it absolutely fly by.  This fast pacing does help the reader glaze over some of the more fantastical parts of the plot.  I didn't have enough downtime while reading to wonder "why doesn't Ethan just do X to get out of this" type of questions.  I've seen on a few other reviews that this sort of pacing/writing style comes up in other of Strand's books. 

As much as the challenges do escalate, they never quite get as gory as I was expecting.  The final challenge is set up to be the level of messed up that I was expecting, but due to plot reasons, we never get to see it play out on page.  There are still moments of violence and death, but not the Saw-type gore challenges that I was expecting. Despite the lack of on-page gore, Strand does a decent job of still amping up the tension in this read with aspects such as time limits for Ethan to complete certain challenges.  When we find out more of the reason for this game and how the behind the scenes works, that also adds to the tension as well.  

Overall, this was a fun read but lacked the character development I would prefer.  I really wanted to know more about the characters and the game but I really liked the details we did get. 

I read this for the Midnight Society Book Club - hosted by ReadingWryly.  Bookclub live show linked here. 

The Hike - Lucy Clarke

 

This suspense/thriller follows 4 friends on their annual vacation.  Maggie, Helena, Liz, and Joni rotate who picks vacation destinations and this year, Liz picks hiking up a mountain in Norway - a far cry from their normal sand, sun, and cocktails. But the friends show up, all ready for a break from their regular lives for reasons not even shared with friends.  Only once they are there, the weather isn't the only thing that could derail their hike.  They aren't the only ones on the mountain and the locals advise that there is something eerie, almost supernatural, about the mountain. 

TW/CW: drug use, drug abuse, death of a loved one, infidelity, animal death

This was one of those reads that has a pretty simple premise but absolutely used that premise to the max.  Clarke does a fantastic job of taking everything I was expecting from a survival/suspense/thriller and adds in other aspects I didn't even know I wanted.  We also get right to the main meat of the story of hiking this mountain pretty quickly.  This is one of those books where if the premise doesn't sound interesting to you, I'd recommend you just pass on this one because there isn't a ton of extra plot outside of the events that take place on the mountain.  I think the elements that Clarke added with the other threats the characters end up facing elevate this past what I was expecting, but even if this was just a straight up outdoor survival story, I would have enjoyed it.

Since we are following this group of friends, I enjoyed the decision to have this be multi-POV.  However, since we are following 4 people, I felt the POV switching did get in the way a little bit of the character development.  I didn't have enough time sitting in each character's head to be able to get a good sense of who they are.  They are easy enough to tell apart because each friend falls into a stereotypical archetype (the party friend, the over-worried new mom, the midlife crisis one, the bossy one). I did like how we got to see the different friendship dynamics and what each person thought of the others at certain times during the book.  However, I didn't feel like we got as much character depth as I would have personally liked.  I can see, on paper, how the characters were changed by their experiences but I didn't quite feel those changes come through when reading.

The setting was spot on and had a nice blend of British domestic drama and stoic Nordic noir.  When we find out about the rumored supernatural history of the mountain and of events that have taken place there, I was 1000% on board.  I absolutely loved the little hints of folklore horror that we get and I would have loved even more of them.  We get to see a whole spectrum of natural elements our characters have to overcome - everything from extreme weather to blisters.  My favorite part of any sort of survival story is how the characters interact in a stressful environment that they aren't used to.  There is no calling for an Uber or deciding halfway that they are done.  So when the going gets tough, they have to stick together even when that's the last thing they want.

I was a little surprised at the mystery/thriller element that gets introduced around the halfway point.  As I mentioned before, I would have been perfectly happy if this was a straight-up wilderness survival story. I do think this element increased the overall tension and helped the plot momentum.  However, I wanted more of a build up.  Going into this hike, there wasn't really anything out of the norm going on so neither I, nor the characters, were expecting anything of this magnitude.  I wanted more hints that maybe something wasn't quite right in this area of Norway so that when the characters get to that point in the plot, it would start to come together a little earlier.  I did like the solution to the mystery, but just wanted more of it spread throughout the book.

Overall, this was a fun read that paid off on the premise.  I enjoyed our variety of characters and their battles against the elements as well as their own inner demons. 

Thanks to NetGalley and GP Putnam's Sons for the ARC.  Expected publication date is August 29, 2023.