But the man he can't forget is now in London and, even worse, joining the project too.
Silas Rook-Worth hates London. His magic won't behave and he's weary of the prejudice he faces against fae-humans like himself. He's counting down the days until he can return to his hard-working, close-knit family — but he can't ignore the pull he feels toward Keelan Cricket, the man he slept with, and unkindly dismissed, a month ago.
As the two men gradually reunite, their mutual attraction blossoms into romance. But even a powerful magical connection cannot change Keelan's duty to his family or Silas' impending departure — and falling in love on borrowed time will force both of them to decide what truly matters.
I bought the third book in this series because I was chosen to receive an ARC of the fourth!!! Like the previous book, you do have to read every book in this series in order or you won't get what's going on.
At Emrys and Torquil's wedding (the couple from book #2), a buff handsome workman, Silas, catches the eye of
Emrys' best friend Keelan (a gentleman), and they hook up during the reception party.
They part ways but can't stop thinking about each other. Silas is one of
the fae-humans who writes to Torquil about his magic, and Torquil
invites him and several other fae-humans to London to have their magic
tested by the rubric Torquil et al. drew up in book #2.
Obviously Keenan (a fae) is asked by his friends to help do the testing, and they meet
again. It's super awkward but they're just drawn to each other, feel each other's presence in the room like a magnet, etc.
However, Keenan's mother (who is on the Council) sets him up with one of the fae-humans doing the rubric testing, a selfish and controlling rich girl from a good family who just wants a stupid arm-candy husband. Neither Keenan's mom nor the awful girl care if Keenan wants the marriage to happen or not, and both ignore or are oblivious to how he's suffering and how mean the girl is to him even though it's obvious to literally everyone else who sees them interact. I couldn't believe that Keenan wasn't willing to stand up for himself and tell his mom and the girl that he didn't want to marry her. He was just waiting for someone else to save him from the marriage! Like I get that Keenan has a gentle personality, but the man is in his thirties. Stand up for yourself!
Luckily all is resolved, even the stupid third-act breakup that happened for no reason. There is an interesting lack of meddling in this book; it's mostly just Emrys and Wyn's grandma and Torquil's grandma making pointed comments to Silas about his 'secret' relationship with Keenan. That's practically nothing, compared to the first two.
Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot even if I thought Keenan was a doormat. This is a fun world to live in for a bit.
Score: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Spice score: 🌶🌶/🌶
Read in: September 4
From: B&N Nook
Genres/classification: romantasy, cozy fantasy, Regency romance
Representation: bi MMC, gay Black MMC, 2 nonbinary side characters who use they/them pronouns, queernorm and racially diverse society with lots of queer side and minor characters, I'm pretty sure Keelan's dad is autistic
Spoilers past this point
Tropes: initially rude love interest, that hookup you can't forget, they keep staring/trying not to stare at each other from across the room, I'm engaged to another but in love with you, let's make the most of it (sexually) until I have to get married, arranged engagement to horrible controlling person, we can never be together because we're from different social classes/standings, forbidden romance, rich x poor, secret couple think they're hiding
their secret relationship/feelings successfully but their loved ones
suspect something/become aware/totally know
Trigger warnings: controlling and emotionally neglectful parent, verbally abusive and controlling girlfriend/fiancee, a character is forced into an arranged marriage engagement without his consent, racism/speciesism against fae-humans, classism, mentions of working-class family struggling financially
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