4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
I was honestly very sceptical going into this book. After briefly reading the synopsis, I wasn’t sure it was going to live up to the previous 2 books. And furthermore, it seemed to be set at Christmas time which kind of confused me given the last two books were very focused on the lead up to Halloween. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a go. Complete the trio.
Each story seems to have a rule or warning and this time was no exception: “Personal rule,” she told him. “Never get involved with a coworker. But. Also a personal rule: Never let a good mistletoe moment pass by.”
10% in and I WAS LOVING IT!! Erin totally won me over and very quickly. Her storytelling was in full power and her use of characterisation was on point 🤌🏼
As before, new book, new main characters. This time around the storyline was focused on Bowen (the third brother) and Tamsyn Bligh. By this point in the series we have a fairly good idea of Bowen’s personality. He is a top-class loner, living alone in Snowdonia in the Welsh mountains. And that is just how he likes it. Tamsyn, on the other hand, we don’t know a lot about. She did have a previous appearance in book 1 - pretending to work for the College of Witchery in Graves Glen; she gave Rhys and Vivienne a Eurydice Candle to capture a ghost during there curse hunting days. She is now an Acquirer. Aka, a human who sells magical artifacts. It is a shady business and deeply secretive.
Or in other words: ‘He was a mess and in no shape to offer anything to anyone. She was smart and beautiful and sharp as an obsidian blade.’ 🫣
Oh yes, and Tamsyn just so happens to work for Bowen, under an exclusive contract, to acquire magical artifacts for him. And to add to the mix, they may just happen to be absolutely head over heels for each other 😈 and boy, oh boy, was it getting hot and steamy up in the castle 🏰🥵🤭
‘Happy. It had made her happy to see him there in the hallway in this weird-ass house, handsome and familiar and . . . solid. Safe.’ 🥰
Bowen is, reluctantly, spending December with his family in Graves Glen when his friend Declan-who happens to be a ghost-asks him to attend a Yuletide wedding at a grand estate deep in the Welsh countryside. Bowen agrees. Meanwhile, Tamsyn has finagled an invite to the very same Wedding of the Century in the hope of finding a magical artefact, priceless enough to retire on. Both find themselves at Tywyll House sneaking around when a wedding mishap transports them both into Tywyll House's past, to the Yuletide Celebration of 1957. They find themselves having to work together to get back to the present, all the while, they might be falling in love 😍
This book had a STRONG plot. Where the previous two books lacked, this book made up for in the bucket load!! Not only that, but the characters were SO strong and I loved that Erin kept our OG characters in the firmly mix 🪄 ✨ I particularly loved the addition of little Taran 🤭🤐
Overall, this book really blew me away. It totally took me by surprise; which I love. Isn’t it the best when books deliver so much more than you expected?! I honestly did not think I would connect with these characters. Especially because of my love for the first couple, Vivi and Rhys. But Erin came through with this POWERFUL couple that definitely brought a storm of time-travelling entertainment and, of course, magic ✨