What do you think?
Rate this book
Girls Weekend #4
Reunions
Final book of the Girls Weekend series
Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2026
About the author
C.M. Nascosta
35 books4,918 followersC.M. Nascosta is an author and professional procrastinator from Cleveland, Ohio. As a child, she thought that living on Lake Erie meant one was eerie by nature, and her corresponding love of all things strange and unusual started young. She’s always preferred beasts to boys, the macabre to the milquetoast, the unknown darkness in the shadows to the Chad next door. She lives in a crumbling old Victorian with a scaredy-cat dachshund, where she writes nontraditional romances featuring beastly boys with equal parts heart and heat, and is waiting for the Hallmark Channel to get with the program and start a paranormal lovers series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
March 3, 2026
I have been anticipating this book for over 2 years now. And the fact that it took me 7 days to get through it says a lot.
The writing and the world building were easily 5 stars. The page count initially had me very excited. Two books in one? Yes please!
But this book was hard to get through. A little bit bc of the slow pacing, but mostly because the subject matter was depressing. I found myself choosing other books to read because I didn’t want to be depressed all day from reading this one.
Overall thoughts: Ris and Ainsley were the best part of this book. Their relationship journey, the playful banter, their sweet dog Fitz… I would go back and reread all of their chapters.
Lurielle and Khash were fine. It was a journey of becoming parents. And honestly it was pretty spot on. But that was painful to read. Not enjoyable. It was PTSD.
Silva and Tate. No. Just no. This was like taking two interesting, messy characters that had the potential to become a really fascinating look at what it means to get your shit together and show up for the person you love. But instead they just became increasingly self-involved and awful. They were Catherine and Heathcliff, Daisy and Gatsby, Anna and Vronsky. So very disappointing.
Tate less so. He, I think, genuinely loved Silva and made hard but necessary choices. I don’t understand why everyone was so angry at him. He didn’t leave his affairs in disarray. He tried to make sure everyone was taken care of. He shared what information he could but prioritized protecting his loved ones over full disclosure. Essentially he went off to war because Silva put herself at risk and then everyone was pissed he saved the day? This is like being angry when a POW returns because “why didn’t you just not get captured?” These people make no sense!
This was not a lovely, feel-good romance à la MGMF. This was literary realism à la Anna Karenina. And just as weirdly skewed in its perception of people and love.
A LOT of women hating other women. That through line really caught me off guard. Everyone hated their mother. Everyone hated groups of women. They only really liked each other. And honestly Silva only really liked herself. And her daughter. Silva acknowledges *multiple* times that she’s a snob. But she seems proud of the fact. The elvish clans are full of terrible women. The mom’s group is full of terrible women. All the women in Tannar’s and Khash’s families are terrible. That is so far removed from real life. What an odd storyline to anchor the book in. The contempt was overwhelming and off putting.
And I think what was most surprising, was a total lack of Nacosta’s signature and wonderful social commentary and calling out corrupt systems. The closest thing was maybe Ris’s attempt to start an alternative to the exclusive elvish country clubs. But it was till a pay to participate club selling expensive tables for fundraising. It wasn’t dismantling clique clubs, it was just starting a rival one built on the same template.
This whole book just had me scratching my head at the very uncharacteristic tone from what I’ve come to expect and love about a Nacosta book. I’ve read them all. Most of them twice. And this (and He Loves Me Not) was an unwelcome departure from the rest of her work.
**********
The following is my play-by-play commentary as I read the book. Spoilers ahead. So stop here if you haven’t finished the book and don’t want it spoiled.
Are we all supposed to be ok with Silva using Tannar? This is like sociopath behavior.
The gene suppression thing Silva did to her baby is creepy. I don’t understand her motivations at all. Why would she choose “fitting in” over a baby that looks like Tate?
Silva valued that Tate “put her first” in everything, but she didn’t do that for him. Even her “rescue” attempts were wishy-washy and half-baked.
I don’t love how judgemental Silva is of everyone. It’s very “not like other girls”. I’m sure most elves are pretty decent if she would give them a chance.
Ainsley and Ris fav couple so far. 34%
Real tired of Silvia’s ambivalence. Real tired of all the “riddles”. Not enough Tate.
Little wing is weird. Wings come in pairs. This makes it seem broken from the start. And kind of grotesque? Like an insect wing pulled off.
Are Tannar and his family really terrible? Or is Silva just the worst?
I just can’t with Silva’s stupidity anymore. She married Tannar for security when Tate had already provided everything for her? A house and passive income.
There’s no rhyme or reason to the fae world and Nacosta doesn’t bother creating any. Needlessly vicious. Even Run Run Rabbit isn’t as dark as the hunt in Autumn. Hunting a child?? Why Nacosta? Why? Why was Tate called to the bonfire court in the first place? What debt was owed? Was all this separation and pain really bc Silva made a wish and threw a coin in a well? I don’t like the implications of that.
The reunion with Tate was infuriating. Nothing I hate more than easily cleared up misunderstandings.
“Silva had no idea what to do next.” Excuse me?!?! Why not??? How could she possibly reject Tate? Why would she??
Silva still wearing her ring was stupid. Put it in a safe. A safety deposit box. A jewelry box for crying out loud!
Keeping Tate and Silva apart for 500 pages was a travesty.
Also Silva is the worst and doesn’t deserve Tate. My baby daddy is in the hospital and I’m not checking in every day? Yeah right.
I was trying to hold on to hope that this book would redeem itself. But chapter 24 - Tate in the hospital - was where my hope died. Just the worst. Maybe it was a useful writing exercise but it should not have been included in the book. Silva is the worst. I honestly can’t believe she still moved out?! Wtf? Does she hate Tate?
Kora was PTSD for those of us with colicky babies.
I hate everything about how Tate and Silva were written. If I were Tate I’d be begging her to leave whoever she married, I would not be sheepishly “bowing out”.
The fact Silva didn’t immediately say “our little girl” when Tate said she should get back to “her little girl” was infuriating.
Emotional immaturity to heighten drama is barf
Literally hate Silva. Giving Tate an ultimatum after he’s half dead from sacrificing himself to save her by getting her stupid coin back. Dude can barely take care of himself and she’s all high and mighty “you need to make a choice” and then just leaves him there?? Why is she not staying to help take care of him?? He needs you!!
The five days it took to read this book felt like five years
Did they not have phones? Why does Silva just keep surprising him by showing up to his apartment with no warning? Why would she set her daughter up to be potentially disappointed if they showed up to Tate’s apartment and he’s not there?
“To earn the role of father”??? You make it sound like he knew Silva was pregnant and ran out on her. He literally had no idea. In his mind he’s only been gone five days and he was there to get back her stupid coin.
Silva is the kind of person who posts something like “if you can’t love me at my worst you don’t deserve me at my best” while simultaneously demanding perfection from everyone else.
I genuinely don’t understand why everyone is so angry with Tate? When Ris asks why Tate “couldn’t have just died” I realized there are no likeable people in this book. If my loved ones came back from the dead I’d be ecstatic. Is everyone in this book terrible?
Silva can’t even be a decent person in therapy?? She’s jealous that Tate is “winning” therapy?? It’s more than a differing attchment style, Silva has a personality disorder. She meets criteria for borderline personality disorder. And possible narcissistic personality disorder.
Gaslighting her kid about “not being mad at Tate.” Real classy Silva.
Strongly disagree with how Silva handled telling her daughter that Tate is her father. You let the cat do it?!
Their first time having sex after 5 years was so gross. Blood from his stitches as lube ??? What am I even reading?! This book had some of the least sexy sex I’ve ever read.
A lot of women hating women in this book. Why?
Lurielles mom group sounds like it was researched online not something actually experienced. Most moms and women are really nice and helpful.
Ambushing Tate with her mom and grandma? Not cool Silva!
Ainsley’s dog and Tate’s house were the best storylines in this book
Silva’s snobbery about Tannar’s Midwest family is offensive.
The sex scenes are written as if your friend is telling you about the sex she had with her husband over coffee. Not sexy. Just weirdly uncomfortable.
I don’t know what is happening in Nacosta’s life, but her writing continues to get darker and darker. Did she seriously just end this book and series on the precipice of war??
Also, we really never get to know why Tate felt like he was running into a brick wall every time they entered Cambric Creek?
The writing and the world building were easily 5 stars. The page count initially had me very excited. Two books in one? Yes please!
But this book was hard to get through. A little bit bc of the slow pacing, but mostly because the subject matter was depressing. I found myself choosing other books to read because I didn’t want to be depressed all day from reading this one.
Overall thoughts: Ris and Ainsley were the best part of this book. Their relationship journey, the playful banter, their sweet dog Fitz… I would go back and reread all of their chapters.
Lurielle and Khash were fine. It was a journey of becoming parents. And honestly it was pretty spot on. But that was painful to read. Not enjoyable. It was PTSD.
Silva and Tate. No. Just no. This was like taking two interesting, messy characters that had the potential to become a really fascinating look at what it means to get your shit together and show up for the person you love. But instead they just became increasingly self-involved and awful. They were Catherine and Heathcliff, Daisy and Gatsby, Anna and Vronsky. So very disappointing.
Tate less so. He, I think, genuinely loved Silva and made hard but necessary choices. I don’t understand why everyone was so angry at him. He didn’t leave his affairs in disarray. He tried to make sure everyone was taken care of. He shared what information he could but prioritized protecting his loved ones over full disclosure. Essentially he went off to war because Silva put herself at risk and then everyone was pissed he saved the day? This is like being angry when a POW returns because “why didn’t you just not get captured?” These people make no sense!
This was not a lovely, feel-good romance à la MGMF. This was literary realism à la Anna Karenina. And just as weirdly skewed in its perception of people and love.
A LOT of women hating other women. That through line really caught me off guard. Everyone hated their mother. Everyone hated groups of women. They only really liked each other. And honestly Silva only really liked herself. And her daughter. Silva acknowledges *multiple* times that she’s a snob. But she seems proud of the fact. The elvish clans are full of terrible women. The mom’s group is full of terrible women. All the women in Tannar’s and Khash’s families are terrible. That is so far removed from real life. What an odd storyline to anchor the book in. The contempt was overwhelming and off putting.
And I think what was most surprising, was a total lack of Nacosta’s signature and wonderful social commentary and calling out corrupt systems. The closest thing was maybe Ris’s attempt to start an alternative to the exclusive elvish country clubs. But it was till a pay to participate club selling expensive tables for fundraising. It wasn’t dismantling clique clubs, it was just starting a rival one built on the same template.
This whole book just had me scratching my head at the very uncharacteristic tone from what I’ve come to expect and love about a Nacosta book. I’ve read them all. Most of them twice. And this (and He Loves Me Not) was an unwelcome departure from the rest of her work.
**********
The following is my play-by-play commentary as I read the book. Spoilers ahead. So stop here if you haven’t finished the book and don’t want it spoiled.
Are we all supposed to be ok with Silva using Tannar? This is like sociopath behavior.
The gene suppression thing Silva did to her baby is creepy. I don’t understand her motivations at all. Why would she choose “fitting in” over a baby that looks like Tate?
Silva valued that Tate “put her first” in everything, but she didn’t do that for him. Even her “rescue” attempts were wishy-washy and half-baked.
I don’t love how judgemental Silva is of everyone. It’s very “not like other girls”. I’m sure most elves are pretty decent if she would give them a chance.
Ainsley and Ris fav couple so far. 34%
Real tired of Silvia’s ambivalence. Real tired of all the “riddles”. Not enough Tate.
Little wing is weird. Wings come in pairs. This makes it seem broken from the start. And kind of grotesque? Like an insect wing pulled off.
Are Tannar and his family really terrible? Or is Silva just the worst?
I just can’t with Silva’s stupidity anymore. She married Tannar for security when Tate had already provided everything for her? A house and passive income.
There’s no rhyme or reason to the fae world and Nacosta doesn’t bother creating any. Needlessly vicious. Even Run Run Rabbit isn’t as dark as the hunt in Autumn. Hunting a child?? Why Nacosta? Why? Why was Tate called to the bonfire court in the first place? What debt was owed? Was all this separation and pain really bc Silva made a wish and threw a coin in a well? I don’t like the implications of that.
The reunion with Tate was infuriating. Nothing I hate more than easily cleared up misunderstandings.
“Silva had no idea what to do next.” Excuse me?!?! Why not??? How could she possibly reject Tate? Why would she??
Silva still wearing her ring was stupid. Put it in a safe. A safety deposit box. A jewelry box for crying out loud!
Keeping Tate and Silva apart for 500 pages was a travesty.
Also Silva is the worst and doesn’t deserve Tate. My baby daddy is in the hospital and I’m not checking in every day? Yeah right.
I was trying to hold on to hope that this book would redeem itself. But chapter 24 - Tate in the hospital - was where my hope died. Just the worst. Maybe it was a useful writing exercise but it should not have been included in the book. Silva is the worst. I honestly can’t believe she still moved out?! Wtf? Does she hate Tate?
Kora was PTSD for those of us with colicky babies.
I hate everything about how Tate and Silva were written. If I were Tate I’d be begging her to leave whoever she married, I would not be sheepishly “bowing out”.
The fact Silva didn’t immediately say “our little girl” when Tate said she should get back to “her little girl” was infuriating.
Emotional immaturity to heighten drama is barf
Literally hate Silva. Giving Tate an ultimatum after he’s half dead from sacrificing himself to save her by getting her stupid coin back. Dude can barely take care of himself and she’s all high and mighty “you need to make a choice” and then just leaves him there?? Why is she not staying to help take care of him?? He needs you!!
The five days it took to read this book felt like five years
Did they not have phones? Why does Silva just keep surprising him by showing up to his apartment with no warning? Why would she set her daughter up to be potentially disappointed if they showed up to Tate’s apartment and he’s not there?
“To earn the role of father”??? You make it sound like he knew Silva was pregnant and ran out on her. He literally had no idea. In his mind he’s only been gone five days and he was there to get back her stupid coin.
Silva is the kind of person who posts something like “if you can’t love me at my worst you don’t deserve me at my best” while simultaneously demanding perfection from everyone else.
I genuinely don’t understand why everyone is so angry with Tate? When Ris asks why Tate “couldn’t have just died” I realized there are no likeable people in this book. If my loved ones came back from the dead I’d be ecstatic. Is everyone in this book terrible?
Silva can’t even be a decent person in therapy?? She’s jealous that Tate is “winning” therapy?? It’s more than a differing attchment style, Silva has a personality disorder. She meets criteria for borderline personality disorder. And possible narcissistic personality disorder.
Gaslighting her kid about “not being mad at Tate.” Real classy Silva.
Strongly disagree with how Silva handled telling her daughter that Tate is her father. You let the cat do it?!
Their first time having sex after 5 years was so gross. Blood from his stitches as lube ??? What am I even reading?! This book had some of the least sexy sex I’ve ever read.
A lot of women hating women in this book. Why?
Lurielles mom group sounds like it was researched online not something actually experienced. Most moms and women are really nice and helpful.
Ambushing Tate with her mom and grandma? Not cool Silva!
Ainsley’s dog and Tate’s house were the best storylines in this book
Silva’s snobbery about Tannar’s Midwest family is offensive.
The sex scenes are written as if your friend is telling you about the sex she had with her husband over coffee. Not sexy. Just weirdly uncomfortable.
I don’t know what is happening in Nacosta’s life, but her writing continues to get darker and darker. Did she seriously just end this book and series on the precipice of war??
Also, we really never get to know why Tate felt like he was running into a brick wall every time they entered Cambric Creek?
February 23, 2026
4.5 rounded up - The long awaited Reunions is upon us and believe me when I say you better BUCKLE UP. This baby is thicc and packs a plot punch that I couldn’t get enough of! One thing CM excels at is weaving lore and Easter eggs throughout her books into a web that reveals itself as you zoom out, something I never tire of!
.
My flabbers were sufficiently ghasted as the dots started to connect in a big way in this installment for Silva and Tate’s storyline. Without saying too much, I was constantly torn between cheering her on and being terrified for her as she takes more and more risks. I was blown away by her arc - she’s a fictional character and yet I found myself so incredibly proud of her! I also found Ris and Ainsley’s growth in this one especially heartwarming, endearing me to them more than any of the previous novels. I loved watching their partnership strengthen page by page! Lurielle and Khash’s journey into parenthood was also a joy to read (something I’m not usually keen on in my books but if anyone could convince me, it’s CM), once again serving poignancy as Lurielle grapples with breaking generational trauma. The way CM writes about grief, relationship dynamics, mental health, etc is so achingly REAL, so refreshing to read even if it is set against a town full of beings that don’t exist (to our knowledge anyway lol a girl can dream).
.
Don’t let the emotional depth fool you though, this book is still a spicy treat that also had me absolutely cackling with glee in true Cambric Creek style. I lost track of the amount of times I laughed myself silly, rounding out the experience in a lovely way.
.
If I had to account for the lack of a full 5 star, I’d have to say it boils down to me wanting a tad more accountability when it came to certain characters treatment/perspective of Silva. I’m an unapologetic Silva sympathizer so while it didn’t seem to bother her (she even apologized for not keeping in touch), I wish the people in her life had owned up to judging her harshly and making unfair assessments despite being her “friends”. While I was happy for everyone in their respective relationships, it dulled the group dynamic a bit for me. Otherwise this was such an impressive end to a forever favorite series of mine, a conclusion that was definitely worth the wait!
.
My flabbers were sufficiently ghasted as the dots started to connect in a big way in this installment for Silva and Tate’s storyline. Without saying too much, I was constantly torn between cheering her on and being terrified for her as she takes more and more risks. I was blown away by her arc - she’s a fictional character and yet I found myself so incredibly proud of her! I also found Ris and Ainsley’s growth in this one especially heartwarming, endearing me to them more than any of the previous novels. I loved watching their partnership strengthen page by page! Lurielle and Khash’s journey into parenthood was also a joy to read (something I’m not usually keen on in my books but if anyone could convince me, it’s CM), once again serving poignancy as Lurielle grapples with breaking generational trauma. The way CM writes about grief, relationship dynamics, mental health, etc is so achingly REAL, so refreshing to read even if it is set against a town full of beings that don’t exist (to our knowledge anyway lol a girl can dream).
.
Don’t let the emotional depth fool you though, this book is still a spicy treat that also had me absolutely cackling with glee in true Cambric Creek style. I lost track of the amount of times I laughed myself silly, rounding out the experience in a lovely way.
.
If I had to account for the lack of a full 5 star, I’d have to say it boils down to me wanting a tad more accountability when it came to certain characters treatment/perspective of Silva. I’m an unapologetic Silva sympathizer so while it didn’t seem to bother her (she even apologized for not keeping in touch), I wish the people in her life had owned up to judging her harshly and making unfair assessments despite being her “friends”. While I was happy for everyone in their respective relationships, it dulled the group dynamic a bit for me. Otherwise this was such an impressive end to a forever favorite series of mine, a conclusion that was definitely worth the wait!
April 12, 2026
I read this a while ago and I still can't stop thinking about it — and not in a good way. I feel genuinely deceived.
Let me preface this by saying books one and two are comfort reads I've returned to more times than I can count. Light, smutty, not stupid — just fun monster romance with a diverse cast and real chemistry. That's the contract the author made with readers.
Reunions shreds it entirely. This is a heavy, relentless trauma dump, and the tonal whiplash is jarring. Book three already strained my goodwill — surprise pregnancy is a widely loathed trope, and the characters had already started feeling like strangers. By the time I heard book four centered Silva, I braced myself.
Silva is, without exaggeration, one of the most unlikable protagonists I've encountered in this genre. Vain, snobbish, chronically indecisive — she enters a relationship intending to deceive her partner, relocates away from the family she claims to love, and spends the rest of the book whining about consequences she engineered herself. Her husband didn’t buy her small antique glasses, boo freaking hoo. She makes a competitive sport out of therapy. That's not a flaw, that's a red flag with a word count. The potential between her and Tate evaporates completely, which is a genuine shame.
Tate, at least, acts out of real feeling — the tragedy being that his devotion is aimed at someone who can't be bothered to properly fight for him in return. His near-death moment deserved more than what Silva gave it.
Lurielle's chapters read like a parenting diary, and I say this without judgment: as someone child-free by choice, I skimmed extensively. There is simply nothing there beyond domesticity.
The one bright spot is Ris, Ains, and their dog — but even that storyline drowns in the book's suffocating depression.
To sum up: a series that built its audience on breezy, sexy fun abandons that promise entirely by book four, delivering instead a slog of trauma, depression, an insufferable lead, and very little payoff. Fans of the earlier books should proceed with serious caution — or not at all.
Let me preface this by saying books one and two are comfort reads I've returned to more times than I can count. Light, smutty, not stupid — just fun monster romance with a diverse cast and real chemistry. That's the contract the author made with readers.
Reunions shreds it entirely. This is a heavy, relentless trauma dump, and the tonal whiplash is jarring. Book three already strained my goodwill — surprise pregnancy is a widely loathed trope, and the characters had already started feeling like strangers. By the time I heard book four centered Silva, I braced myself.
Silva is, without exaggeration, one of the most unlikable protagonists I've encountered in this genre. Vain, snobbish, chronically indecisive — she enters a relationship intending to deceive her partner, relocates away from the family she claims to love, and spends the rest of the book whining about consequences she engineered herself. Her husband didn’t buy her small antique glasses, boo freaking hoo. She makes a competitive sport out of therapy. That's not a flaw, that's a red flag with a word count. The potential between her and Tate evaporates completely, which is a genuine shame.
Tate, at least, acts out of real feeling — the tragedy being that his devotion is aimed at someone who can't be bothered to properly fight for him in return. His near-death moment deserved more than what Silva gave it.
Lurielle's chapters read like a parenting diary, and I say this without judgment: as someone child-free by choice, I skimmed extensively. There is simply nothing there beyond domesticity.
The one bright spot is Ris, Ains, and their dog — but even that storyline drowns in the book's suffocating depression.
To sum up: a series that built its audience on breezy, sexy fun abandons that promise entirely by book four, delivering instead a slog of trauma, depression, an insufferable lead, and very little payoff. Fans of the earlier books should proceed with serious caution — or not at all.
April 6, 2026
Get settled in folks..this is gonna be a long one.
Let’s get the major thing out of the way… Silva is a racist, insufferable, ‘pick-me’ girl and exactly the type of Karen that would call the cops on you.
I thought she was naive and a little a bit annoying Book 1. Book 2 she was upgraded to pathetic. Book 3 had me tearing out my hair because she became unforgivably stupid, entitled and all around insufferable.
**Reunions is Silva’s final form. And it isn’t pretty. **
Early in the book she goes to a witch (a character I *used to* really like) in order to ensorcel her child IN THE WOMB so that it doesn’t display certain racial characteristics when its born. I actually had to put my tablet down and walk away when I read that scene. It is DISGUSTING. Utterly disgusting. So unbelievably abhorrent I got whiplash.
Firstly this is uncomfortably eugenics-adjacent but as someone who is mixed-race I was actually personally offended and angry. I really love being mixed and it’s part of the reason I used adore Tate’s character as a lot of his internal struggle comes from not really “fitting” anywhere because of his racial heritage and being ostracised from elvish society because he doesn’t ‘pass’. I live in South Africa and when my siblings and I were born there was this crazy thing called the immorality act which basically said that mixed-race couples having sexual relations was a criminal offence. My parents couldn’t be in public together as a couple. My mom had to hide my big brother in a closest once when strangers came to the house and pretend to be the maid. Silva’s reasons, in contrast, for erasing her child’s orc features are enragingly insufficient, nonsensical and insensitive.
She does it because she is attempting to trick Tannar and his family that the baby is his. This is so manipulative and evil but it’s also completely unnecessary because she doesn’t even need to be with Tanner (who she hates) because Tate left her a place to live and a passive income. Like, hello? WTF is that logic? She is supposedly with Tanner because having a baby out of wedlock is a bad look for her family but she’s already left her family anyway and cuts off contact with them. She also apparently does it because she thinks the baby won’t be accepted by her family—ummm yeah you left your family, dumbass. And we’re supposed to despise Tanner because he doesn’t bond with the kid and cheats.
The reason Silva really does it is because it’s just less hassle. Easier. Easier for her not to have a mixed race child that doesn’t look like her and might not fit into her inane fucking tea parties and socials and might struggle to be accepted by racist elvish society which she so desperately misses and still wants to be a part of. She rails against the racism and elitism of elves on hand while still being a judgemental snob about Tannar’s mid-western family and then turns around and changes her own child’s appearance before they can ever consent to it in order to make the child more racially palatable to a bigoted community. Silva is an unforgivable POS.
When Tate gets back he BARELY reacts to this despite the defining aspect of his character prior to this book being the struggle to find a place in the world because of his heritage. He’s just like, “Yikes, Silva that’s pretty messed up. Guess she’s gonna need braces LOL.”
***Moving onto Tate’s return and Silva’s reaction in general…**
Tate left out of the blue without having a real conversation with anyone about it and yeah that was shitty and really stupid…but why is he taking responsibility for running out on Silva being pregnant? Why is she pissed off about it? Why are we as reader meant to be angry with him?
Tate is depicted as being militant about using condoms. There are several internal monologues in previous novels from Silva about this and how much she hates it. The ONE TIME they do have unprotected sex Tate says he will go get emergency contraceptive. Silva says no, she has an IUD…but meanwhile Silva, dumbass that she is, is LITERALLY TOO STUPID at the age of 26 to understand how contraceptives work. She only finds out she is pregnant after Tate leaves. It is 100% her fault. He also leaves her an apartment and a passive income.
Why is Tate the bad guy in this situation? He should be furious at Silva and yet she acts like she’s the one who has been wronged and it’s this great big thing to forgive him.
**Silva and Tate’s fate… **
Tate starts fairly misanthropic, sad and isolated and we end the novel with him being…even more isolated. Whereas before he had his colleagues, the cafe, the pixie and Ainsley, he gives that all up for Silva and her republican family and moves away. He is more isolated than ever before. Silva’s character arc over the books has largely been around how she wants Tate but also wants to stay connected to her family and fucked up elitist elvish society. It is agonised over again and again that these things do not mix. She has to choose—but she always wants it both ways. As a reader you are asking yourself what she will have to ultimately sacrifice. The story has been building up to the some kind of choice. It’s “forbidden love”. A class divide that will require some kind of compromise or sacrifice on her part ,or her family’s, or Tate’s.
In the Reunions this goes…FUCKING NOWHERE.
We circle back around to Silva reconciling her with her family and grandmother and they suddenly love Tate because he knocked her up and they want more babies. More tidy, elf-washed, eugenic babies. Nothing is learned, nothing is sacrificed. Silva is still an entitled, naive, brainless POS. THE END.
**The fae stuff… **
Look. This made little sense to me overall and I hated—HATED—that Tate is suddenly a prince. *eye-roll* He is somehow meant to be banging the queen but he is also somehow a prince but also his grandfather is the queen’s consort not the King. PLEASE, make it make sense!?!
**The therapy through-line:**
Therapy is fantastic, it’s great. Huge fan. But felt extremely out of place and amateurish in this novel—and lazy, I’m sorry to say. Instead of seeing characters move through an actual plot, interact with each other and grapple with their feelings and struggles we just have scenes of them in therapy unloading. It felt like a really sneaky exposition device and tell vs. show. It was also BORING which is hard to achieve in a novel that has orcs with giant dongs.
Depression, grief and dysfunctional romantic relationships are serious topics and if you can’t do them justice or explore them in ways that is add value to the conversation then I would say maybe don’t go there in a story. While depression wasn’t terribly handled, the content around it felt superficial and at the same time tonally jarring for Cambric Creek. I felt like the author wanted it both ways: a monster-bait romp AND a literary-esque, resonant look into modern depression and loss. It reached and fell short.
Now when it came to Tate and Silva and couple’s therapy… THIS made me annoyed. It felt like the author watched a couple of insta reels about “attachment styles” and then felt equipped to use it in a novel. Did actual therapists have a look at this to sense-check for realism? I doubt it. Attachment theory is an real psychological framework but “attachment styles” is pure pop psychology. It’s not even in the DSM. After half a session the “therapist” starts labelling and pathologizing the behaviour of Silva and Tate in front of each other?? GTFO. (Helpful tip: If a therapist ever does this, RUN.)
**Pacing and plot…**
It was really slow and didn’t haven’t much of a plot. While liked parts of Ris and Ain’s story, in previous novels being plot-light worked because you were seeing couples come together, get to know each other and there was comedy and spice to hold your interest. This just felt like a slog. There was a lot of angst and a lot of struggle for the characters which is FINE if there is narrative arc, a plot. In other words—A POINT TO IT ALL. When I finished this novel I wasn’t left with any kind of takeaway that felt worth it. This author used to be an auto-buy for me but I think this is the final nail in the coffin.
Let’s get the major thing out of the way… Silva is a racist, insufferable, ‘pick-me’ girl and exactly the type of Karen that would call the cops on you.
I thought she was naive and a little a bit annoying Book 1. Book 2 she was upgraded to pathetic. Book 3 had me tearing out my hair because she became unforgivably stupid, entitled and all around insufferable.
**Reunions is Silva’s final form. And it isn’t pretty. **
Early in the book she goes to a witch (a character I *used to* really like) in order to ensorcel her child IN THE WOMB so that it doesn’t display certain racial characteristics when its born. I actually had to put my tablet down and walk away when I read that scene. It is DISGUSTING. Utterly disgusting. So unbelievably abhorrent I got whiplash.
Firstly this is uncomfortably eugenics-adjacent but as someone who is mixed-race I was actually personally offended and angry. I really love being mixed and it’s part of the reason I used adore Tate’s character as a lot of his internal struggle comes from not really “fitting” anywhere because of his racial heritage and being ostracised from elvish society because he doesn’t ‘pass’. I live in South Africa and when my siblings and I were born there was this crazy thing called the immorality act which basically said that mixed-race couples having sexual relations was a criminal offence. My parents couldn’t be in public together as a couple. My mom had to hide my big brother in a closest once when strangers came to the house and pretend to be the maid. Silva’s reasons, in contrast, for erasing her child’s orc features are enragingly insufficient, nonsensical and insensitive.
She does it because she is attempting to trick Tannar and his family that the baby is his. This is so manipulative and evil but it’s also completely unnecessary because she doesn’t even need to be with Tanner (who she hates) because Tate left her a place to live and a passive income. Like, hello? WTF is that logic? She is supposedly with Tanner because having a baby out of wedlock is a bad look for her family but she’s already left her family anyway and cuts off contact with them. She also apparently does it because she thinks the baby won’t be accepted by her family—ummm yeah you left your family, dumbass. And we’re supposed to despise Tanner because he doesn’t bond with the kid and cheats.
The reason Silva really does it is because it’s just less hassle. Easier. Easier for her not to have a mixed race child that doesn’t look like her and might not fit into her inane fucking tea parties and socials and might struggle to be accepted by racist elvish society which she so desperately misses and still wants to be a part of. She rails against the racism and elitism of elves on hand while still being a judgemental snob about Tannar’s mid-western family and then turns around and changes her own child’s appearance before they can ever consent to it in order to make the child more racially palatable to a bigoted community. Silva is an unforgivable POS.
When Tate gets back he BARELY reacts to this despite the defining aspect of his character prior to this book being the struggle to find a place in the world because of his heritage. He’s just like, “Yikes, Silva that’s pretty messed up. Guess she’s gonna need braces LOL.”
***Moving onto Tate’s return and Silva’s reaction in general…**
Tate left out of the blue without having a real conversation with anyone about it and yeah that was shitty and really stupid…but why is he taking responsibility for running out on Silva being pregnant? Why is she pissed off about it? Why are we as reader meant to be angry with him?
Tate is depicted as being militant about using condoms. There are several internal monologues in previous novels from Silva about this and how much she hates it. The ONE TIME they do have unprotected sex Tate says he will go get emergency contraceptive. Silva says no, she has an IUD…but meanwhile Silva, dumbass that she is, is LITERALLY TOO STUPID at the age of 26 to understand how contraceptives work. She only finds out she is pregnant after Tate leaves. It is 100% her fault. He also leaves her an apartment and a passive income.
Why is Tate the bad guy in this situation? He should be furious at Silva and yet she acts like she’s the one who has been wronged and it’s this great big thing to forgive him.
**Silva and Tate’s fate… **
Tate starts fairly misanthropic, sad and isolated and we end the novel with him being…even more isolated. Whereas before he had his colleagues, the cafe, the pixie and Ainsley, he gives that all up for Silva and her republican family and moves away. He is more isolated than ever before. Silva’s character arc over the books has largely been around how she wants Tate but also wants to stay connected to her family and fucked up elitist elvish society. It is agonised over again and again that these things do not mix. She has to choose—but she always wants it both ways. As a reader you are asking yourself what she will have to ultimately sacrifice. The story has been building up to the some kind of choice. It’s “forbidden love”. A class divide that will require some kind of compromise or sacrifice on her part ,or her family’s, or Tate’s.
In the Reunions this goes…FUCKING NOWHERE.
We circle back around to Silva reconciling her with her family and grandmother and they suddenly love Tate because he knocked her up and they want more babies. More tidy, elf-washed, eugenic babies. Nothing is learned, nothing is sacrificed. Silva is still an entitled, naive, brainless POS. THE END.
**The fae stuff… **
Look. This made little sense to me overall and I hated—HATED—that Tate is suddenly a prince. *eye-roll* He is somehow meant to be banging the queen but he is also somehow a prince but also his grandfather is the queen’s consort not the King. PLEASE, make it make sense!?!
**The therapy through-line:**
Therapy is fantastic, it’s great. Huge fan. But felt extremely out of place and amateurish in this novel—and lazy, I’m sorry to say. Instead of seeing characters move through an actual plot, interact with each other and grapple with their feelings and struggles we just have scenes of them in therapy unloading. It felt like a really sneaky exposition device and tell vs. show. It was also BORING which is hard to achieve in a novel that has orcs with giant dongs.
Depression, grief and dysfunctional romantic relationships are serious topics and if you can’t do them justice or explore them in ways that is add value to the conversation then I would say maybe don’t go there in a story. While depression wasn’t terribly handled, the content around it felt superficial and at the same time tonally jarring for Cambric Creek. I felt like the author wanted it both ways: a monster-bait romp AND a literary-esque, resonant look into modern depression and loss. It reached and fell short.
Now when it came to Tate and Silva and couple’s therapy… THIS made me annoyed. It felt like the author watched a couple of insta reels about “attachment styles” and then felt equipped to use it in a novel. Did actual therapists have a look at this to sense-check for realism? I doubt it. Attachment theory is an real psychological framework but “attachment styles” is pure pop psychology. It’s not even in the DSM. After half a session the “therapist” starts labelling and pathologizing the behaviour of Silva and Tate in front of each other?? GTFO. (Helpful tip: If a therapist ever does this, RUN.)
**Pacing and plot…**
It was really slow and didn’t haven’t much of a plot. While liked parts of Ris and Ain’s story, in previous novels being plot-light worked because you were seeing couples come together, get to know each other and there was comedy and spice to hold your interest. This just felt like a slog. There was a lot of angst and a lot of struggle for the characters which is FINE if there is narrative arc, a plot. In other words—A POINT TO IT ALL. When I finished this novel I wasn’t left with any kind of takeaway that felt worth it. This author used to be an auto-buy for me but I think this is the final nail in the coffin.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2026
IDK man!
Listen… I’m not sure about this one. I want to give it three and a half stars, but I genuinely love this series, so my heart keeps rounding it up to four. I’m somewhere in the messy middle, and here’s why.
This book is LONG ... over 700 pages, and honestly, I loved seeing everyone glow up. Silva, Lurielle, and Ris are deep in their grown‑woman era, juggling babies, jobs, trauma, magic, and the kind of responsibilities that make you stare at the ceiling at 3 a.m. Silva especially? My girl finally stopped being soft and apologetic and stepped into full “I will protect my child and myself, and you can choke on your opinions” mode. Silva of the day and Silva of the night both said: we’re done being meek. And I lived for it.
Lurielle and Kash were sweet and steady, and her year‑long pregnancy had me stressed on her behalf. The way she loves her baby but also desperately needs to return to work for her sanity? That was painfully real. And Ris and Ainsley… whew. Ainsley is still dealing with the emotional fallout of Tate disappearing, and it shows. Their relationship feels fragile and human in a way that made me root for them even harder.
And let me be dramatic for a second: I CRIED when Tate came back. Full‑body, ugly cry. I truly did not think he was going to make it out of the other side. That moment hit like a truck — all the fear, all the grief, all the hope you didn’t want to admit you still had. I had to close the book and just breathe.
But here’s where the side‑eye comes in: the ending. Because… what was that? After waiting for this book, thinking this was the finale, thinking we were finally getting the closure we deserved, we get… that? I can’t even call it a “happy for now.” It’s more like “happy in this exact second, don’t ask about tomorrow.” And the way it opens a door to something else? Ma’am. I did not sign up for another arc. I wanted a bow. I wanted a moment. I wanted to feel like we’d reached the end of something. Instead, I’m sitting here blinking like, “tf was that?”
So yes, I’m torn. The character development was top‑tier. The emotional beats hit. The glow‑ups were glowing. But the ending left me feeling unfulfilled and a little betrayed. I love this series too much to go lower than four stars… but my spirit is absolutely hovering at a 3.5
🤟🏾🤟🏾🤟🏾💞💞💞
Listen… I’m not sure about this one. I want to give it three and a half stars, but I genuinely love this series, so my heart keeps rounding it up to four. I’m somewhere in the messy middle, and here’s why.
This book is LONG ... over 700 pages, and honestly, I loved seeing everyone glow up. Silva, Lurielle, and Ris are deep in their grown‑woman era, juggling babies, jobs, trauma, magic, and the kind of responsibilities that make you stare at the ceiling at 3 a.m. Silva especially? My girl finally stopped being soft and apologetic and stepped into full “I will protect my child and myself, and you can choke on your opinions” mode. Silva of the day and Silva of the night both said: we’re done being meek. And I lived for it.
Lurielle and Kash were sweet and steady, and her year‑long pregnancy had me stressed on her behalf. The way she loves her baby but also desperately needs to return to work for her sanity? That was painfully real. And Ris and Ainsley… whew. Ainsley is still dealing with the emotional fallout of Tate disappearing, and it shows. Their relationship feels fragile and human in a way that made me root for them even harder.
And let me be dramatic for a second: I CRIED when Tate came back. Full‑body, ugly cry. I truly did not think he was going to make it out of the other side. That moment hit like a truck — all the fear, all the grief, all the hope you didn’t want to admit you still had. I had to close the book and just breathe.
But here’s where the side‑eye comes in: the ending. Because… what was that? After waiting for this book, thinking this was the finale, thinking we were finally getting the closure we deserved, we get… that? I can’t even call it a “happy for now.” It’s more like “happy in this exact second, don’t ask about tomorrow.” And the way it opens a door to something else? Ma’am. I did not sign up for another arc. I wanted a bow. I wanted a moment. I wanted to feel like we’d reached the end of something. Instead, I’m sitting here blinking like, “tf was that?”
So yes, I’m torn. The character development was top‑tier. The emotional beats hit. The glow‑ups were glowing. But the ending left me feeling unfulfilled and a little betrayed. I love this series too much to go lower than four stars… but my spirit is absolutely hovering at a 3.5
🤟🏾🤟🏾🤟🏾💞💞💞
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 27, 2026
6🌟
This was a fucking masterpiece and the perfect way to end the series. This is one of those books that finished me (but in a good, bittersweet kind of way?) and I don't know if or when I'll recover..
This was a fucking masterpiece and the perfect way to end the series. This is one of those books that finished me (but in a good, bittersweet kind of way?) and I don't know if or when I'll recover..
February 25, 2026
The Girls Weekend series has been a wonder, just the epitome of what CM Nascosta does best. She hooks you in with a titillating premise (three elf women going for a no-string frolic weekend at a resort mostly populated by Orcs), and then hit you with a fundamentally authentic treatment of universal issues: shifting friend dynamics, finding community, dealing with relationships that start one way and evolve, navigating cultural differences, mental health, shame, guilt, abandonment, and every conflicted facet of parenting, as both child and mother. All this with three intricately woven storylines and series lore paying off in ways small and large, time stuttering and jumps to track, and books that feel propulsively engaging and eminently rereadable.
As we start book four our characters are isolated, and each very much on the brink of change. Nascosta does fantastic work in this book bringing their paths back together, but for review purposes I'll take them apart. She has said that this book is very much Silva and Tate's story, and it is, but the other two resonated emotionally with me in a way I could have hardly anticipated, and add so much to the overall story.
When Tate leaves Silva in the preceding Invitations he just disappears (off to the Fae side of the veil). She is left devastated and pregnant, and agrees to marry another elf, who will pass the baby off as his. In the other books of the series she has been bifurcated between Silva of the Day and Night, one the elf that conforms to the suffocating dictates of the culture, and one who is free to love Tate on their own terms. Here, her two sides have knit together, or "the cracks in her performance were beginning to show." She's completely disassociated from the culture, focussing her attention on trying to find Tate, falling down rabbit holes in her search. Once her pregnancy really starts progressing, she is locked in. She's literally done all she can to find Tate, and her priorities completely change with the baby. She has spent the series second guessing herself and doubting Tate's feelings, and now she is fully focussed. "Silva of the Daytime was gone. Strangely enough, so was Silva of the Nighttime. She no longer felt splintered into pieces."
Tate battles his way out of the Fae world (aided by a literal lifeline from Silva), and returns to find time passes differently there. He's kept his grandfather's watch to keep him safe from losing time, to focus on the "Tick, tick, tick. He was counting on that steady tick" but it wasn't enough. I loved this section of the book. Tate and Silva have found their way back, and they have to work through their absence, and the transition from Silva going it alone as a single mom (she's left her crap husband) to co-parenting and learning to trust and love again. She's different now, asking for what she wants and not settling. Tate is too. He literally risked everything to keep Silva safe and get back to her. It's still a transition, hard to Silva to cede the role she has with her daughter. "You wanted him back. All you've wanted for five years was for hime to come home. So why does it feel like you want to push him away?" I love how Nascosta addresses the anger she feels being left, even knowing he would have done anything to prevent it, and his grief at the experiences he's missed, even knowing Silva did what she had to to protect herself and their child.
Ris and Ainsley have built a life together that works, chock full of business, "Color and life and movement, for they were never not coming or going from someplace else, sometimes barely passing in the doorway as they did so." Ainsley was extraordinarily hurt by Tate's leaving without a word, and suffered a real mental health crisis about it. They are fully committed to each other, and doing the work with his grief and their relationship. They are about to change, and the catalyst is their new dog. Instead of the puppy they wanted, they adopt an abused greyhound, "this was the dog he was going to want. Its small life upended, all that was familiar gone. Damaged and a little broken, like him." A dog who needs a soft place to land, and "time and patience" to heal.
With the dog Ris and Ainsley slow down to focus on each other, priorities changed. "It finally felt like they were living together, building a life together within those four walls, rather than just inhabiting the same space for a few hours at night and passing in the doorway." Ris starts the steps of knitting together a larger community, for elves and other people who are suffocated by the expectations of their cultures, and who are in relationships with partners of differing lifespans. As someone who has cofounded a book group and community resistance organization, as well as run a political campaign, I can tell you Nascosta got the community organizing aspects completely right.
During the course of this book Lurielle and Khash become parents, and Nascosta captures the experience of new motherhood shockingly well. Lurielle has so many universal experiences, the changing relationship with extended family, the conflicted feelings about working v. wasting the career she's invested in, family and societal expectations, everything. Not to completely self-insert into this book, but I, too, had an easy, agreeable baby and then a colicky terror. "Reclassifying Kael as an easy baby only served to underscore what she'd already begun to suspect - that she wasn't that great of a mother. She'd simply lucked out." The entire parenting journey, the mother groups, the careful monitoring, the relief at finding a like-minded friend, so resonant.
In a way, Lurielle and Khash have been a little removed from the series. They found each other that first weekend, and were communicative and supportive and appreciative of each other, while keeping friendships with the others. They've been the Steady Eddies of the series, working through their issues (while also having my favorite storylines), and living their lives, the most conventional of the couples.
If the series has been about people who are missing or exiled from community, then by the end they've found it. Crappy parents are dealt with on their own terms, boundaries are held, extended family is held at bay while found family and friends embraced and given space to flourish. These three couples are finding their own community, and most gratifyingly have found their way back to each other with hurts acknowledged and friendships remade. And they have all found their way back to Cambric Creek, metaphorical (and real) protective wards that kept them from settling in a place they all loved, and learned to love finally removed.
As we start book four our characters are isolated, and each very much on the brink of change. Nascosta does fantastic work in this book bringing their paths back together, but for review purposes I'll take them apart. She has said that this book is very much Silva and Tate's story, and it is, but the other two resonated emotionally with me in a way I could have hardly anticipated, and add so much to the overall story.
When Tate leaves Silva in the preceding Invitations he just disappears (off to the Fae side of the veil). She is left devastated and pregnant, and agrees to marry another elf, who will pass the baby off as his. In the other books of the series she has been bifurcated between Silva of the Day and Night, one the elf that conforms to the suffocating dictates of the culture, and one who is free to love Tate on their own terms. Here, her two sides have knit together, or "the cracks in her performance were beginning to show." She's completely disassociated from the culture, focussing her attention on trying to find Tate, falling down rabbit holes in her search. Once her pregnancy really starts progressing, she is locked in. She's literally done all she can to find Tate, and her priorities completely change with the baby. She has spent the series second guessing herself and doubting Tate's feelings, and now she is fully focussed. "Silva of the Daytime was gone. Strangely enough, so was Silva of the Nighttime. She no longer felt splintered into pieces."
Tate battles his way out of the Fae world (aided by a literal lifeline from Silva), and returns to find time passes differently there. He's kept his grandfather's watch to keep him safe from losing time, to focus on the "Tick, tick, tick. He was counting on that steady tick" but it wasn't enough. I loved this section of the book. Tate and Silva have found their way back, and they have to work through their absence, and the transition from Silva going it alone as a single mom (she's left her crap husband) to co-parenting and learning to trust and love again. She's different now, asking for what she wants and not settling. Tate is too. He literally risked everything to keep Silva safe and get back to her. It's still a transition, hard to Silva to cede the role she has with her daughter. "You wanted him back. All you've wanted for five years was for hime to come home. So why does it feel like you want to push him away?" I love how Nascosta addresses the anger she feels being left, even knowing he would have done anything to prevent it, and his grief at the experiences he's missed, even knowing Silva did what she had to to protect herself and their child.
Ris and Ainsley have built a life together that works, chock full of business, "Color and life and movement, for they were never not coming or going from someplace else, sometimes barely passing in the doorway as they did so." Ainsley was extraordinarily hurt by Tate's leaving without a word, and suffered a real mental health crisis about it. They are fully committed to each other, and doing the work with his grief and their relationship. They are about to change, and the catalyst is their new dog. Instead of the puppy they wanted, they adopt an abused greyhound, "this was the dog he was going to want. Its small life upended, all that was familiar gone. Damaged and a little broken, like him." A dog who needs a soft place to land, and "time and patience" to heal.
With the dog Ris and Ainsley slow down to focus on each other, priorities changed. "It finally felt like they were living together, building a life together within those four walls, rather than just inhabiting the same space for a few hours at night and passing in the doorway." Ris starts the steps of knitting together a larger community, for elves and other people who are suffocated by the expectations of their cultures, and who are in relationships with partners of differing lifespans. As someone who has cofounded a book group and community resistance organization, as well as run a political campaign, I can tell you Nascosta got the community organizing aspects completely right.
During the course of this book Lurielle and Khash become parents, and Nascosta captures the experience of new motherhood shockingly well. Lurielle has so many universal experiences, the changing relationship with extended family, the conflicted feelings about working v. wasting the career she's invested in, family and societal expectations, everything. Not to completely self-insert into this book, but I, too, had an easy, agreeable baby and then a colicky terror. "Reclassifying Kael as an easy baby only served to underscore what she'd already begun to suspect - that she wasn't that great of a mother. She'd simply lucked out." The entire parenting journey, the mother groups, the careful monitoring, the relief at finding a like-minded friend, so resonant.
In a way, Lurielle and Khash have been a little removed from the series. They found each other that first weekend, and were communicative and supportive and appreciative of each other, while keeping friendships with the others. They've been the Steady Eddies of the series, working through their issues (while also having my favorite storylines), and living their lives, the most conventional of the couples.
If the series has been about people who are missing or exiled from community, then by the end they've found it. Crappy parents are dealt with on their own terms, boundaries are held, extended family is held at bay while found family and friends embraced and given space to flourish. These three couples are finding their own community, and most gratifyingly have found their way back to each other with hurts acknowledged and friendships remade. And they have all found their way back to Cambric Creek, metaphorical (and real) protective wards that kept them from settling in a place they all loved, and learned to love finally removed.
March 17, 2026
War is over! I am free!
I came into this series expecting a Morning Glory-esque smutty good time. Book one was definitely that and then some. Book two was HARD to get through. (Read: boring.) Book three broke me. So naturally, I started book four ready to be hurt again. At this point, the stories of our FMCs have diverged so far that it was kinda nonsense to have them all in one book. I kept getting whiplash. There was Lurielle in her married mom life. I always liked Lurielle and Khash but they were always stable as a couple, so while I appreciated her struggles as a new mom, I do not read romantasy smut about elves and orcs to meditate on healing generational trauma through raising a daughter. Then there was Ris learning how to be a person. I always found her to be a bit self centered and not compelling. I genuinely think if you took her plot out of the series it wouldn’t have changed much. Finally, there was Silva risking life and limb to get Tate back. But like … for no reason lowkey. It was a lot. It wasn’t the story I wanted or deserved, but it was the story I got. The first 60% took me FOREVER to get through. Not even because it was long, although it was that too, but because I really did not care about Lurielle or Ris anymore. I would have been fine with a SilvaTate book and an epilogue of Lurielle, Khash, and the kids.
I came into this series expecting a Morning Glory-esque smutty good time. Book one was definitely that and then some. Book two was HARD to get through. (Read: boring.) Book three broke me. So naturally, I started book four ready to be hurt again. At this point, the stories of our FMCs have diverged so far that it was kinda nonsense to have them all in one book. I kept getting whiplash. There was Lurielle in her married mom life. I always liked Lurielle and Khash but they were always stable as a couple, so while I appreciated her struggles as a new mom, I do not read romantasy smut about elves and orcs to meditate on healing generational trauma through raising a daughter. Then there was Ris learning how to be a person. I always found her to be a bit self centered and not compelling. I genuinely think if you took her plot out of the series it wouldn’t have changed much. Finally, there was Silva risking life and limb to get Tate back. But like … for no reason lowkey. It was a lot. It wasn’t the story I wanted or deserved, but it was the story I got. The first 60% took me FOREVER to get through. Not even because it was long, although it was that too, but because I really did not care about Lurielle or Ris anymore. I would have been fine with a SilvaTate book and an epilogue of Lurielle, Khash, and the kids.
July 29, 2026
This was such a disappointing ending to the series (or was it -- it was very open ended). Basically, half the characters are completely co-dependent on Tate (despite him being very clear that he can't be depended on long-term for reasons out of his control) and half the people hate him with a burning passion (despite the fact that, overall, he's pretty likeable even though he's got issues). I felt like this book was real-time watching a bunch of people all fail at therapy together. It didn't help that the tone and content of the three interweaving stories were SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -- like here's your hard fantasy fae-infused quest, here's your contemporary romance with some extra spice, here's your boring romance-to-family story. And it just kept going on and on...
Silva and Tate. (Probably half the book?)
Silva continues to be the worst, most selfish, vapid person you've ever met, who is simultaneously mad at everyone for not catering to her every whim (while, of note, they actually *are* catering to her every whim). She's the "strong" female lead who is weak the whole time and shows no growth. Tate is annoying. You can give people some information without putting them in harm's way. How can you not see how much you're going to hurt them when you just ghost them? Leaving Silva an apartment isn't going to make up for that, you wanker.
Lurielle and Khash. (The smallest part.)
Their story was fine. A little boring. It felt like the author was working through her own trauma from nice-but-abusive female family members (re: weight, appearance, not having babies soon enough) and pregnancy and parenting trauma. It felt very *real*. Khash was almost non-existent, so it was all about Lurielle experiencing the changes in her life. Which again, very real, but also kind of boring.
Ris and Ainsley. (Should have been more.)
I liked this part of the book the best (that's not saying much). It was about Ris and Ains transitioning into a settled adulthood together. They get a dog. They move. They continue to occasionally go to sex shops. (Though sidenote: That scene was gross on SO MANY LEVELS besides the obvious ones. Ris *clearly* didn't want to be there and wasn't enjoying it -- like explicitly thinking that she'd rather just be home with Ains -- but "they'd always done it" so she felt like she had to. Gross. Also, that story about the frat sex slave when she was in college -- WTF? Haha, this guy wanted to join a frat so he was our sex slave for a while and we all used him haha so fun. GROSS.) I thought the storyline about Ris starting a retirement home for female elves that was separate from the snooty one was interesting. They'd set up the whole thing about how female elves live longer than anyone else books ago, so this was a natural extension. I liked that they tried to make it different from the snooty club but still ended up with a lot of the same problems. I still think it's different, but it was neat to see it come about and see the female empowerment and bonding (as compared to many of the other female relationships in this series).
Writing this review has made me change my review from a 2 to a 1...
Silva and Tate. (Probably half the book?)
Silva continues to be the worst, most selfish, vapid person you've ever met, who is simultaneously mad at everyone for not catering to her every whim (while, of note, they actually *are* catering to her every whim). She's the "strong" female lead who is weak the whole time and shows no growth. Tate is annoying. You can give people some information without putting them in harm's way. How can you not see how much you're going to hurt them when you just ghost them? Leaving Silva an apartment isn't going to make up for that, you wanker.
Lurielle and Khash. (The smallest part.)
Their story was fine. A little boring. It felt like the author was working through her own trauma from nice-but-abusive female family members (re: weight, appearance, not having babies soon enough) and pregnancy and parenting trauma. It felt very *real*. Khash was almost non-existent, so it was all about Lurielle experiencing the changes in her life. Which again, very real, but also kind of boring.
Ris and Ainsley. (Should have been more.)
I liked this part of the book the best (that's not saying much). It was about Ris and Ains transitioning into a settled adulthood together. They get a dog. They move. They continue to occasionally go to sex shops. (Though sidenote: That scene was gross on SO MANY LEVELS besides the obvious ones. Ris *clearly* didn't want to be there and wasn't enjoying it -- like explicitly thinking that she'd rather just be home with Ains -- but "they'd always done it" so she felt like she had to. Gross. Also, that story about the frat sex slave when she was in college -- WTF? Haha, this guy wanted to join a frat so he was our sex slave for a while and we all used him haha so fun. GROSS.) I thought the storyline about Ris starting a retirement home for female elves that was separate from the snooty one was interesting. They'd set up the whole thing about how female elves live longer than anyone else books ago, so this was a natural extension. I liked that they tried to make it different from the snooty club but still ended up with a lot of the same problems. I still think it's different, but it was neat to see it come about and see the female empowerment and bonding (as compared to many of the other female relationships in this series).
Writing this review has made me change my review from a 2 to a 1...
March 20, 2026
This is definitely 2.5 rounded up. Nothing about this book feels in line with the others, other than it’s continuing with the same characters. First 60% was boring and felt so out of left field! Ris and Anisley, love them! Lurielle and Khash, if it wasn’t for Khash I could do without them. Silva and Tate, love to hate them. Last 40% is the only reason I’m not giving it 1 star.
This felt like the author was going through something and it bled into Cambric Creek. It was so depressing and real and not a bad reflection of trauma and depression but I didn’t want it with my girls of Cambric Creek. I went from feeling for Silva at the end of last book to hating her and her absolutely wishy washy terrible choices! Tate, Ris and Anisley were the only saving grace.
This felt like the author was going through something and it bled into Cambric Creek. It was so depressing and real and not a bad reflection of trauma and depression but I didn’t want it with my girls of Cambric Creek. I went from feeling for Silva at the end of last book to hating her and her absolutely wishy washy terrible choices! Tate, Ris and Anisley were the only saving grace.
March 4, 2026
Silva and Tate <3
Silva and Tate are the only reason I made it through this. Lurielle's story was just kind of boring and Ris is still insufferable and selfish. Her reaction to Tate's return was so effed up considering WHY he left.
It also pissed me off that Silva apologized to Luriella and Ris for leaving without a word but they never apologized for how they treated her.
Silva and Tate's story was awesome though. It felt like an epic fantasy and I wish the entire series had just been about them and their daughter.
Silva and Tate are the only reason I made it through this. Lurielle's story was just kind of boring and Ris is still insufferable and selfish. Her reaction to Tate's return was so effed up considering WHY he left.
It also pissed me off that Silva apologized to Luriella and Ris for leaving without a word but they never apologized for how they treated her.
Silva and Tate's story was awesome though. It felt like an epic fantasy and I wish the entire series had just been about them and their daughter.
March 18, 2026
Unfortunately this book did not feel cohesive with the rest of the series. It felt more like a standalone spin off, and really I don’t think we needed another book on Silva and Lurielle, their stories felt complete already. More importantly, the rest of the series had parallel stories that fit together. Cozy tales of what falling in love can look like for different people. Three stories interwoven, separate but similar themes. This book had one story line that was high fantasy action, and that didn’t fit the rest of the series or the other two storylines in this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2026
WHAT WAS THAT ENDING???
This was one of the longest books I've ever read. I was really only interested in Tate & Silva and enjoyed reading about Ainlsey and Ris. Their relationship was so sweet. Watching Ainsley heal through his trauma was rough though. My heart broke for him.
Again I repeat though WHAT WAS THAT ENDING???
This was one of the longest books I've ever read. I was really only interested in Tate & Silva and enjoyed reading about Ainlsey and Ris. Their relationship was so sweet. Watching Ainsley heal through his trauma was rough though. My heart broke for him.
Again I repeat though WHAT WAS THAT ENDING???
Read
March 23, 2026I enjoyed reading about Lurielle and Ris in the prior books but this really felt more like Silva and Tate’s story more than anything else.
July 24, 2026
DNF @ 14%
I've read and LOVED a LOT of Nascosta, so this was a major disappointment. I stepped away because I was annoyed (fucking Silva, pick a GD lane), and when I tried to come back, I just couldn’t re-engage.
I've read and LOVED a LOT of Nascosta, so this was a major disappointment. I stepped away because I was annoyed (fucking Silva, pick a GD lane), and when I tried to come back, I just couldn’t re-engage.
March 1, 2026
Well, The ending seemed to insinuate there maybe a spin-off in the works?!
3.5 ✨
3.5 ✨
March 30, 2026
never in my life have i finished a 750-page book and thought, “get back in the fucking booth and keep writing.” 4.3/5 stars
potential triggers: blood and gore, body horror, pregnancy, childbirth, dubcon/coercion, implied animal abuse, grief, parent —> child emotional abuse, emotional DV
was it entertaining?
i think it’s crack. i do. she’s putting crack in the books. a not insignificant portion of the first half of the book takes place in a different realm. at no point does this break the immersion or break whatever witchcraft is being done here. and again, this is more than 750 pages. i was genuinely concerned about how long it would take to read this, but i knocked it out easily in 2-ish days.
with all of that to recommend it, this is a depressing book. that’s not a bad thing, or a good thing, it’s just a factual thing. the sky is mostly cloudy, it’s 67F, and this book is depressing as fuck. if you’re not prepared to read about 20-somethings being married to people they objectively hate, emotional abuse from parents and partners, deep-seated self-loathing, and the kind of grief that comes from realising (or thinking) that the person you love most in the world doesn’t feel the same, this is not the book for you.
i also just…hate most of the characters on a personal level. khash is an arrogant, overbearing, idiotic, obvious republican who runs roughshod over everyone and everything in his path to get his way and he just chalks it up to being a real man (male.) i almost hate lurielle more for not only putting up with it, but actively enabling it by becoming one of those people whose entire personality is wife and mother at the expense of her other relationships. literally what are you doing in therapy? ainsley is an incel adjacent, self-important little cunt and he always has been. ris is just…there. her entire being, her entire existence now revolves around keeping a smile on his face and
tate and silva. i technically like tate more than the other 5, but that’s not really saying much. he is entirely too old for silva and he should have left her tf alone. i don’t give a shit about how time works differently in the other realm. HE’S TOO DAMN OLD. otherwise, he hasn’t actually done anything that egregious. he’s annoying and he’s full of shit, but he’s not actually a bad person. silva, on the other hand, might actually be a sociopath. all of the elves are terrible people, but silva is something special [not complimentary]. i think it’s for the best that they ended up together, if only so that no one else has to be partnered to either of them.
i hated all of them. i hated all of it. 10/10. would read again. 5/5 stars
was it enjoyable?
this books is a HUGE departure from the others. i think it’s very clear from the first 3 books that cm nascosta had a clear plan for these characters. the first book was a lighthearted splash to lure you in. the second dipped a pinky toe into the trauma just beneath the surface. the third was a gentle wade into the kiddie pool of the despair. and this was the floor falling out beneath you over a gaping chasm of the full range of human emotion. personally, i loved it.
it’s a sloooooow start though. it’s nice to get several perspectives before the stories start to converge, but it does mean you’re waiting for several hundred pages before things start really happening. again, not a deal-breaker for me, but expect to work for those 700+ pages.
what i don’t love is that there’s a through-line of *not like other girls* that i find extremely off-putting. for a series that began with reinforcing the importance of female friendships, we’ve really lost the plot here. 3/5 stars
was it well-written?
there’s a lot of words in this. most of them are great.5/5 stars
potential triggers: blood and gore, body horror, pregnancy, childbirth, dubcon/coercion, implied animal abuse, grief, parent —> child emotional abuse, emotional DV
was it entertaining?
i think it’s crack. i do. she’s putting crack in the books. a not insignificant portion of the first half of the book takes place in a different realm. at no point does this break the immersion or break whatever witchcraft is being done here. and again, this is more than 750 pages. i was genuinely concerned about how long it would take to read this, but i knocked it out easily in 2-ish days.
with all of that to recommend it, this is a depressing book. that’s not a bad thing, or a good thing, it’s just a factual thing. the sky is mostly cloudy, it’s 67F, and this book is depressing as fuck. if you’re not prepared to read about 20-somethings being married to people they objectively hate, emotional abuse from parents and partners, deep-seated self-loathing, and the kind of grief that comes from realising (or thinking) that the person you love most in the world doesn’t feel the same, this is not the book for you.
i also just…hate most of the characters on a personal level. khash is an arrogant, overbearing, idiotic, obvious republican who runs roughshod over everyone and everything in his path to get his way and he just chalks it up to being a real man (male.) i almost hate lurielle more for not only putting up with it, but actively enabling it by becoming one of those people whose entire personality is wife and mother at the expense of her other relationships. literally what are you doing in therapy? ainsley is an incel adjacent, self-important little cunt and he always has been. ris is just…there. her entire being, her entire existence now revolves around keeping a smile on his face and
tate and silva. i technically like tate more than the other 5, but that’s not really saying much. he is entirely too old for silva and he should have left her tf alone. i don’t give a shit about how time works differently in the other realm. HE’S TOO DAMN OLD. otherwise, he hasn’t actually done anything that egregious. he’s annoying and he’s full of shit, but he’s not actually a bad person. silva, on the other hand, might actually be a sociopath. all of the elves are terrible people, but silva is something special [not complimentary]. i think it’s for the best that they ended up together, if only so that no one else has to be partnered to either of them.
i hated all of them. i hated all of it. 10/10. would read again. 5/5 stars
was it enjoyable?
this books is a HUGE departure from the others. i think it’s very clear from the first 3 books that cm nascosta had a clear plan for these characters. the first book was a lighthearted splash to lure you in. the second dipped a pinky toe into the trauma just beneath the surface. the third was a gentle wade into the kiddie pool of the despair. and this was the floor falling out beneath you over a gaping chasm of the full range of human emotion. personally, i loved it.
it’s a sloooooow start though. it’s nice to get several perspectives before the stories start to converge, but it does mean you’re waiting for several hundred pages before things start really happening. again, not a deal-breaker for me, but expect to work for those 700+ pages.
what i don’t love is that there’s a through-line of *not like other girls* that i find extremely off-putting. for a series that began with reinforcing the importance of female friendships, we’ve really lost the plot here. 3/5 stars
was it well-written?
there’s a lot of words in this. most of them are great.5/5 stars
February 27, 2026
FINALLY!
I binge read the first three books in this series about a year ago. When I went to read the last book, with #3 ending on a cliffhanger, I was utterly confused. It was supposed to have been published 6 months before at that point, and it took me a few days to discover it still hadn't been released yet. That said, authors are real people and life happens. I'm just so, so glad to finally have this resolution!
I was pleasantly surprised that the author didn't go for the standard "man comes back, woman falls into his arms, they pick up right where they left off and live HEA." She made Silva and Tate work for it. Despite being set in an alternate reality and the main characters not being human, their lives, trials, and relationships are pretty realistic. And I love that in the end, Tate is still "the scariest thing in the dark."
I docked a star because I quickly realized that while I love Silva & Tate and kinda adore Ainsley & Ris, I don't actually care too much about Khash & Lurielle. I found myself skimming over their chapters pretty quickly in order to get back to the characters I was interested in. The other thing I didn't care for was that the story seemed rushed along a bit. Five years is covered in less than 400 pages. One of the character's pregnancies occurs in one chapter, from conception to infanthood. I felt like maybe it should have been 2 books with a little more meat to them. It might have made me more interested in Khash & Lurielle that way, because I truly did like them well enough in the previous books. I really enjoy the Cambric Creek world, and look forward to more - though I definitely could read solely about Tate all day long! Maybe we can hear about his life going forward? 🤞
I binge read the first three books in this series about a year ago. When I went to read the last book, with #3 ending on a cliffhanger, I was utterly confused. It was supposed to have been published 6 months before at that point, and it took me a few days to discover it still hadn't been released yet. That said, authors are real people and life happens. I'm just so, so glad to finally have this resolution!
I was pleasantly surprised that the author didn't go for the standard "man comes back, woman falls into his arms, they pick up right where they left off and live HEA." She made Silva and Tate work for it. Despite being set in an alternate reality and the main characters not being human, their lives, trials, and relationships are pretty realistic. And I love that in the end, Tate is still "the scariest thing in the dark."
I docked a star because I quickly realized that while I love Silva & Tate and kinda adore Ainsley & Ris, I don't actually care too much about Khash & Lurielle. I found myself skimming over their chapters pretty quickly in order to get back to the characters I was interested in. The other thing I didn't care for was that the story seemed rushed along a bit. Five years is covered in less than 400 pages. One of the character's pregnancies occurs in one chapter, from conception to infanthood. I felt like maybe it should have been 2 books with a little more meat to them. It might have made me more interested in Khash & Lurielle that way, because I truly did like them well enough in the previous books. I really enjoy the Cambric Creek world, and look forward to more - though I definitely could read solely about Tate all day long! Maybe we can hear about his life going forward? 🤞
March 11, 2026
Meu deus, que livro enorme. Eu lia por diversas horas seguidas e quando ia olhar continuava numa porcentagem baixa. Apesar de ser uma história muito boa, foi uma leitura super lenta e cansativa. Eu passava a maior parte do tempo querendo pular os capítulos da Ris e da Lurielle pra ler apenas o do meu casal favorito (Tate/Silva). Inclusive, fiquei surpresa com o gancho no final. Espero voltar pra esse universo em algum momento, talvez com a próxima geração 😭❤️
July 23, 2026
I’m in pieces. This series did NOT end like that????? 😭
July 25, 2026
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT’S THE END? The final book in the series?? CM what do you MEAN???
April 6, 2026
Worth the wait
🌶 1.5 / 5, it really didnt matter for this part of the story. REUNIONS indeed. The ending was worth the wait, I don't appreciate that cliffhanger though. Contrary to popular opinion it was nice to see the ladies evolve and grow. A lengthy book indeed but wrapped up beautifully.
🌶 1.5 / 5, it really didnt matter for this part of the story. REUNIONS indeed. The ending was worth the wait, I don't appreciate that cliffhanger though. Contrary to popular opinion it was nice to see the ladies evolve and grow. A lengthy book indeed but wrapped up beautifully.
July 20, 2026
-We started out this four book series with the light, fluffy, fun, spicy Girls Weekend which was a 4 hour 50 minute audiobook.
-We ended with the heavy, considerably less excitement + spice, more depressing, still really substantial Reunions which was a 17 hour and 45 minute audiobook.
All four books of the series are incredible and this was an excellent end to the epic series... but it was just very, very different from where the series began. These books oscillate between pure fun, the agony of pining, and the turmoil of growth. There is friendship and found family as well as heartache and vulnerability. While book four was really light on the fun & entertainment we are used to - there was plenty of the rest here. All our characters go through some really big changes and also do some considerable growing apart.
Ris and Ainsley: Man oh man did Ainsley add so much levity and humor to this one. At one point I was crying laughing and felt like I was in jeopardy of peeing my pants! We got a really great, true to these two adventurous spice scene and I LOVED IT. It really made me miss what this series started as.
Lurielle and Khash: it felt like we got a lot less of these two. I really missed all the spice we used to get with these two. I missed Khash... it just felt like he was missing from this installment even when he was there.
Silva and Tate: Nothing can make me like these two less. Silva is her same slightly toxic self. Tate is still every bit as good and glorious as he ever was. But man, it was a depressing journey for these two. Insanely interesting and compelling.... but dark and depressing.
And to be honest, I didn't really get the entire point of Silva marrying Tanner. She said there was protection in an enclave - from what? And if it had something to do with her pregnancy, that was basically negated when she was able to leave with full custody of "their" child (no strings attached) - which was explained its customary for the child to stay with the mother after an unbinding. I don't know... that entire arc just seemed pointless or felt like a wild goose chase for no reason amidst everything else Silva was navigating.
It is also frustrating that by the end of the series we STILL don't know why Tate has a hard time passing the border. We don't understand why he can never remember the name or navigate Cambric Creek with ease. It was a really fun bit but I really was hoping that would be more cleared up. On top of it -- the epilogue?! If this is the end of the Girls Weekend series that's really too bad because the ending really felt like a tease to MORE.
So, on the one hand, these are characters we know and love and are SOOO invested in. I just feel like this was so much of a departure for me from the rest of the series. As much as I absolutely LOVED exploring the other world and peeling back so many awesome layers of this world, it just didn't hit me like I was hoping or in the way the others did. Which makes it hard for me to rate this one. I feel like four stars is the most honest. I ate this up. I was captivated. I had high hopes but it didn't fully stick the landing for me.
-We ended with the heavy, considerably less excitement + spice, more depressing, still really substantial Reunions which was a 17 hour and 45 minute audiobook.
All four books of the series are incredible and this was an excellent end to the epic series... but it was just very, very different from where the series began. These books oscillate between pure fun, the agony of pining, and the turmoil of growth. There is friendship and found family as well as heartache and vulnerability. While book four was really light on the fun & entertainment we are used to - there was plenty of the rest here. All our characters go through some really big changes and also do some considerable growing apart.
Ris and Ainsley: Man oh man did Ainsley add so much levity and humor to this one. At one point I was crying laughing and felt like I was in jeopardy of peeing my pants! We got a really great, true to these two adventurous spice scene and I LOVED IT. It really made me miss what this series started as.
Lurielle and Khash: it felt like we got a lot less of these two. I really missed all the spice we used to get with these two. I missed Khash... it just felt like he was missing from this installment even when he was there.
Silva and Tate: Nothing can make me like these two less. Silva is her same slightly toxic self. Tate is still every bit as good and glorious as he ever was. But man, it was a depressing journey for these two. Insanely interesting and compelling.... but dark and depressing.
And to be honest, I didn't really get the entire point of Silva marrying Tanner. She said there was protection in an enclave - from what? And if it had something to do with her pregnancy, that was basically negated when she was able to leave with full custody of "their" child (no strings attached) - which was explained its customary for the child to stay with the mother after an unbinding. I don't know... that entire arc just seemed pointless or felt like a wild goose chase for no reason amidst everything else Silva was navigating.
It is also frustrating that by the end of the series we STILL don't know why Tate has a hard time passing the border. We don't understand why he can never remember the name or navigate Cambric Creek with ease. It was a really fun bit but I really was hoping that would be more cleared up. On top of it -- the epilogue?! If this is the end of the Girls Weekend series that's really too bad because the ending really felt like a tease to MORE.
So, on the one hand, these are characters we know and love and are SOOO invested in. I just feel like this was so much of a departure for me from the rest of the series. As much as I absolutely LOVED exploring the other world and peeling back so many awesome layers of this world, it just didn't hit me like I was hoping or in the way the others did. Which makes it hard for me to rate this one. I feel like four stars is the most honest. I ate this up. I was captivated. I had high hopes but it didn't fully stick the landing for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2026
First off, just want to clarify that CM Nascosta is one of my favorite authors. I have been hit or miss with a few of her stories, but overall I love her writing and her worlds. Cambric Creek is my happy place, a Utopia that feels so real I get a sense of nostalgia when I think about it. Like I lived there in a past life or visited family there before. So with that being said, I think this is by far her best book yet. A masterpiece for her CC catalog thus far. It swept me up and carried me away. It’s wild to think how this all started- as an innocuous girl’s getaway for 3 friends wanting to party and get boinked by hot dudes. But the underlying theme of the whole series is that you never know where one little decision will lead you, how one moment can change the whole trajectory of your life.
I will add a few disclaimers: this book was not a fun, happy romp. It was the absolute definition of bittersweet, with the bitter parts sharp and painful, and the good parts OH so sweet. There is a lot of darker situations that include PTSD, dealing with grief, depression, child abuse, and imposter syndrome. Very real stuff. But we get to finally see (somewhat) healthy relationships and how they deal with these things as supportive partners to each other. Another admission I have to make: I love Ris, Ainsley, Luriel, and Khash…but be for real: the story we all want to read about is Tate and Silva. When it got closer to the end, I skimmed some of the other characters chapters lol. It’s cool though, I plan to listen on Audible as soon as it comes out, but I had some downtime so I read the ebook while waiting. I read most of R and A bc they’re delightful. But I don’t like a pregnancy trope, and I did not need to read about Luriel’s births. They’re a great couple, I love her character, but their storyline and those kids did not interest me even remotely.
Silva was the ultimate character arc. We kind of see it coming throughout the series, and she could never get her HEA without letting go of some of her hang ups. Oh she’s still got her issues and some of her behavior was questionable. But it was SO real, and I felt every emotion she went through so deeply. And Tate…we finally get to crack a bit of that mystery open. Most everything is answered (still not sure why he was having a fit every time he drove across the town line though). We see him as we have never seen him: vulnerable, in pain, weakened, attending couples therapy, and most surprisingly- a stay at home dad!?! I loved it and want to eat it up with a spoon. Could read a whole book on its own of Tate taking his daughter on little adventures. Their time apart ripped my soul out, and I wish they had reunited so much sooner. But at the same time, it played out perfectly and wrapped up as neat as a bow in Silva’s ponytail. Well, except for that epilogue…WTF was that?!?! What path are you leading us down CMN because I thought this was a wrap?!
I waited a long 2 years for this book and it was well worth it. Gonna be a hard high to come down from.
I will add a few disclaimers: this book was not a fun, happy romp. It was the absolute definition of bittersweet, with the bitter parts sharp and painful, and the good parts OH so sweet. There is a lot of darker situations that include PTSD, dealing with grief, depression, child abuse, and imposter syndrome. Very real stuff. But we get to finally see (somewhat) healthy relationships and how they deal with these things as supportive partners to each other. Another admission I have to make: I love Ris, Ainsley, Luriel, and Khash…but be for real: the story we all want to read about is Tate and Silva. When it got closer to the end, I skimmed some of the other characters chapters lol. It’s cool though, I plan to listen on Audible as soon as it comes out, but I had some downtime so I read the ebook while waiting. I read most of R and A bc they’re delightful. But I don’t like a pregnancy trope, and I did not need to read about Luriel’s births. They’re a great couple, I love her character, but their storyline and those kids did not interest me even remotely.
Silva was the ultimate character arc. We kind of see it coming throughout the series, and she could never get her HEA without letting go of some of her hang ups. Oh she’s still got her issues and some of her behavior was questionable. But it was SO real, and I felt every emotion she went through so deeply. And Tate…we finally get to crack a bit of that mystery open. Most everything is answered (still not sure why he was having a fit every time he drove across the town line though). We see him as we have never seen him: vulnerable, in pain, weakened, attending couples therapy, and most surprisingly- a stay at home dad!?! I loved it and want to eat it up with a spoon. Could read a whole book on its own of Tate taking his daughter on little adventures. Their time apart ripped my soul out, and I wish they had reunited so much sooner. But at the same time, it played out perfectly and wrapped up as neat as a bow in Silva’s ponytail. Well, except for that epilogue…WTF was that?!?! What path are you leading us down CMN because I thought this was a wrap?!
I waited a long 2 years for this book and it was well worth it. Gonna be a hard high to come down from.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Did I read this in one sitting? Yes. Am I okay? No. Yes. Maybe.
4.5/5 rounding up (mild spoilers so proceed with caution)
First I need to say thank you to CM Nascosta for writing three FMCs who are so different from each other yet are each so relatable. I could see bits of myself reflected in Lurielle, Ris, and Silva throughout all the GW series but especially this one.
Lurielle’s body image struggles hit a cord with me throughout this series and that was even more pronounced in Reunions. As a plus size woman who also struggled with the change between “have you tried XYZ diet” and “oh it’s okay you’re fat now because you’re pregnant” it was so validating to see those struggles in Lurielle’s story. A lot of romance tends to dull characters through pregnancy and imply their problems all go away because they got the HEA. This didn’t happen in Reunions to either of the FMCs who went through pregnancies and I am grateful.
Ris was always the character I related to the least, even though I love her. In Reunions, you get to see Ris dig into herself, finding purpose in her life beyond being busy. Her dedication to her relationship after spending most of the first three books vehemently against anything serious didn’t feel like a betrayal to her character like I feared it would be at the end of Invitations; instead it felt like she finally accepted that what she wanted had changed and that is OKAY! We love a woman who can accept change
Silva. My dove. My angel. I love that she and Tate went to counseling and I love that she maintained her priority to her daughter instead of immediately falling over Tate. She is not the naive elf of Girls Weekend but her shift in personality felt natural and not at all forced, even with the faster pace of the story.
I applaud the growth of these three characters and am so happy with how they ended their stories… I mean unless there is more coming about then bc I need more Kael/Kora/Aelin hijinks
My ONLY gripe (and the reason for the 4.5/5) is I wish Khash was more present. I feel like we got a lot more of Ainsley and MUCH more of Tate, which is great, but I wanted to see more of Khash’s growth as a partner/parent. It felt like he was sort of pushed into more of a supporting role rather than one of the MMCs.
4.5/5 rounding up (mild spoilers so proceed with caution)
First I need to say thank you to CM Nascosta for writing three FMCs who are so different from each other yet are each so relatable. I could see bits of myself reflected in Lurielle, Ris, and Silva throughout all the GW series but especially this one.
Lurielle’s body image struggles hit a cord with me throughout this series and that was even more pronounced in Reunions. As a plus size woman who also struggled with the change between “have you tried XYZ diet” and “oh it’s okay you’re fat now because you’re pregnant” it was so validating to see those struggles in Lurielle’s story. A lot of romance tends to dull characters through pregnancy and imply their problems all go away because they got the HEA. This didn’t happen in Reunions to either of the FMCs who went through pregnancies and I am grateful.
Ris was always the character I related to the least, even though I love her. In Reunions, you get to see Ris dig into herself, finding purpose in her life beyond being busy. Her dedication to her relationship after spending most of the first three books vehemently against anything serious didn’t feel like a betrayal to her character like I feared it would be at the end of Invitations; instead it felt like she finally accepted that what she wanted had changed and that is OKAY! We love a woman who can accept change
Silva. My dove. My angel. I love that she and Tate went to counseling and I love that she maintained her priority to her daughter instead of immediately falling over Tate. She is not the naive elf of Girls Weekend but her shift in personality felt natural and not at all forced, even with the faster pace of the story.
I applaud the growth of these three characters and am so happy with how they ended their stories… I mean unless there is more coming about then bc I need more Kael/Kora/Aelin hijinks
My ONLY gripe (and the reason for the 4.5/5) is I wish Khash was more present. I feel like we got a lot more of Ainsley and MUCH more of Tate, which is great, but I wanted to see more of Khash’s growth as a partner/parent. It felt like he was sort of pushed into more of a supporting role rather than one of the MMCs.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2026
I was a latecomer to the series and binged the first three books last year, and I have thought about them constantly since then. There is something delightfully wonderful and magical in the world C.M. Nascosta has woven with hints, tight threads, and such radiant storytelling that it left me breathless. The organic feel of each relationship in this series is raw, sometimes gritty and painful, but filled with such longing and hope for the future that you can't stop yourself from cheering them on when they do well and ugly cry when their hearts break. I did an unreal amount of snort laughing and ugly crying in this conclusion to the Girls Weekend series. Silva has my heart, Ris has all of my bravery, and Lurielle is the hope for the future for me. The way each of them learn to navigate this world filled with such soul crushing pressure to conform, loneliness, generational trauma, heartbreak and grief is truly inspiring. I adore that they each seek out mental health counseling and grow with their partners, except for one and he deserved what he got. I love this group and the journey they go on to become better at being themselves, partners, parents, and community villagers.
This is a thick book, and there is nothing I love more. I am convinced that once I let this one sink it, I will surely start the series again to find more fascinating details I missed on my reading bender. This book was heartbreaking, beautiful, and everything I needed it to be. I have been a Silva supporter from the first page. Watching her bloom into who she was always meant to be was painful to witness but so satisfying. She deserved every scrap of happiness she pulled together as many of us do. I am so happy with the ending. This is a story that gives hope to any of us who have felt broken. There is always something to keep us going and there are endless possibilities in trying again and again. You are more than worthy of happiness.
This is a thick book, and there is nothing I love more. I am convinced that once I let this one sink it, I will surely start the series again to find more fascinating details I missed on my reading bender. This book was heartbreaking, beautiful, and everything I needed it to be. I have been a Silva supporter from the first page. Watching her bloom into who she was always meant to be was painful to witness but so satisfying. She deserved every scrap of happiness she pulled together as many of us do. I am so happy with the ending. This is a story that gives hope to any of us who have felt broken. There is always something to keep us going and there are endless possibilities in trying again and again. You are more than worthy of happiness.
August 7, 2026
What an emotional wrap up book for a series that I have loved from the first chapter of "Girl's Weekend". Its a HEA but it definitely puts you through the emotional wringer and makes you want to smack every single character at least 3 times. Except maybe Khash? I think he's most definitely the most chill in this book. Everyone else though- yeah... they mess up. The thing is though, this isn't supposed to be a book that's a wrapped present in a neat bow. There's supposed to be character growth over the few years that this book takes place. You are supposed to watch them learn and grow from their mistakes and learn to be partners. Especially how they deal with partnerships with vastly different lifespans. Maybe Tate is immortal- who knows? That fucker would outlast the sun, just to prove he was right about an arguement over neatly distributing rays. He's infuriatingly eternally youthful.
There are pregnancies in this book. While sometimes can make a reader change their opinions on a series entirely because they come out of nowhere, these are not that. It's not even a spoiler to say there are pregnancies. They make sense if you think about how these three couples go at it all the time. Plus, Khash and Lurielle have spoken about wanting to start a family in previous books.
If you want nonspoiler spoilers:
Tate and Silva remain eternally messy and a bit stuck up- but they go through a lot and get better.
Ris and Ainsley still like to get wild in the bedroom- but learning to navigate a tremendous loss puts a toll on them.
Khash and Lurielle are still married couple goals who are learning what it means to raise an interspecies family while trying to stop the cycle of familial trauma.
There are also cameos from previous books and Cambric Creek tie-ins. It's a winner for me, but I can definitely see where others may be annoyed that things take as long as they do or are as emotional as they are.
There are pregnancies in this book. While sometimes can make a reader change their opinions on a series entirely because they come out of nowhere, these are not that. It's not even a spoiler to say there are pregnancies. They make sense if you think about how these three couples go at it all the time. Plus, Khash and Lurielle have spoken about wanting to start a family in previous books.
If you want nonspoiler spoilers:
Tate and Silva remain eternally messy and a bit stuck up- but they go through a lot and get better.
Ris and Ainsley still like to get wild in the bedroom- but learning to navigate a tremendous loss puts a toll on them.
Khash and Lurielle are still married couple goals who are learning what it means to raise an interspecies family while trying to stop the cycle of familial trauma.
There are also cameos from previous books and Cambric Creek tie-ins. It's a winner for me, but I can definitely see where others may be annoyed that things take as long as they do or are as emotional as they are.
February 28, 2026
What does it cost to be happy? To build a life for yourself rather than to the expectations of others?
The Girls Weekend series is one of the best explorations of adult female freindships and self-discovery I've ever read. As we've watched Lurielle, Ris, and Silva move from their young and single early adulthood to their maturing and finding relationships and even themselves, these books are so real and at times so raw. Their stories are by turn joyful, heartbreaking, and messy, and that's what makes them so amazing.
I knew going in that this book would be an emotional ride, and it was everything I expected and so much more. This was female pain, grief, rage, and joy put into word on the page so real that I read through tears more often than not.
We've been with these characters over years as their lives changed. One of thing that will stay with me for a long time is how they all journeyed to their own happiness. All three of them could have crumbled under the pressure of expectations, but instead they worked to find themselves and what they really want out of their lives.
Their relationships have also matured along with the characters, but they are no less amazing for the time that has passes. Again they are a real portrait of what it takes to build an enduring life together. The ups and downs of long-term love are not shied away from, instead they are the thing that engages the reader so that we don't want to ever let the characters go.
Saying goodbye to some of my favourite characters in a favourite series was always going to be hard. But I'm also sat here with tears streaming down my face and a heart full of joy at the story I've just finished. Thank you so much, CM Nascosta, for this incredible story and these amazing women.
The Girls Weekend series is one of the best explorations of adult female freindships and self-discovery I've ever read. As we've watched Lurielle, Ris, and Silva move from their young and single early adulthood to their maturing and finding relationships and even themselves, these books are so real and at times so raw. Their stories are by turn joyful, heartbreaking, and messy, and that's what makes them so amazing.
I knew going in that this book would be an emotional ride, and it was everything I expected and so much more. This was female pain, grief, rage, and joy put into word on the page so real that I read through tears more often than not.
We've been with these characters over years as their lives changed. One of thing that will stay with me for a long time is how they all journeyed to their own happiness. All three of them could have crumbled under the pressure of expectations, but instead they worked to find themselves and what they really want out of their lives.
Their relationships have also matured along with the characters, but they are no less amazing for the time that has passes. Again they are a real portrait of what it takes to build an enduring life together. The ups and downs of long-term love are not shied away from, instead they are the thing that engages the reader so that we don't want to ever let the characters go.
Saying goodbye to some of my favourite characters in a favourite series was always going to be hard. But I'm also sat here with tears streaming down my face and a heart full of joy at the story I've just finished. Thank you so much, CM Nascosta, for this incredible story and these amazing women.
July 31, 2026
Pretty satisfying I must say. I went into this book absolutely hating Silva so much and by the end I thought she was alright. I don’t think I can ever fully like her and truly the best part of her is Tate and he is fucked up. It seems like there’s more to come story wise, fingers crossed, but not quite enough communication as I would’ve liked after Tate came back. I don’t get why he couldn’t just sit everyone down who he cares about and explain the whole Faerie thing. He’s being forced to go there ! Any friend/loved one would’ve understood. I also get that tate knew people who try to rescue him more than just Silva but ugh the communication drives me nuts.
Also at the end when Tate was saying how he won’t let anything from the other side be near their daughter I was just screaming “the cat you morons”! How does he not know that Moonbeam is from the other side? I’m trying to figure out who the cat is. First I thought it was the Hoyt like guy from the shop Silva originally went to a sold the key to. Then I thought it was Astrid the Wisp but I’m not sure now. It’s probably not going to be good.
Also also the house Tate bought, that’s Ladybugs house right? It seems like that’s the implication and knowing CM, she’s connect her characters together like that.
Also at the end when Tate was saying how he won’t let anything from the other side be near their daughter I was just screaming “the cat you morons”! How does he not know that Moonbeam is from the other side? I’m trying to figure out who the cat is. First I thought it was the Hoyt like guy from the shop Silva originally went to a sold the key to. Then I thought it was Astrid the Wisp but I’m not sure now. It’s probably not going to be good.
Also also the house Tate bought, that’s Ladybugs house right? It seems like that’s the implication and knowing CM, she’s connect her characters together like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Currently Reading
August 31, 2026Oh I am really enjoying this already. I wish I wouldn't have read the reviews because I am just not agreeing with them. Silva and Tate's story has been head and shoulders above the other two if you ask me since book one.
I really haven't cared about Khash and Lurielle since book 2 and I am trying to be empathetic but um Lurielle you are an idiot chick. So just because you're having a boy, someone just waved a magic wand and all the inherited trauma is just gone? What a fucking message to send to women with trauma who had daughters. I am taking this a little personally because I have a horrible relationship with my mother and I was terrified that my daughter wouldn't like me but she adores me. I have broken so many generational patterns and traumas but gee I guess all the trauma would have just gone away if I had had a boy? Tate and Ainsley said it best... I know they were talking about Khash but clearly Lurielle doesn't have the sense god gave a brick. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with boys obviously the world needs both and I am sure there will be some kind of growth throughout the book but pardon me while I root for Sylva and her little wing.
I was up from 12 to 4 am reading this I'm really glad I saved it for now.
I really haven't cared about Khash and Lurielle since book 2 and I am trying to be empathetic but um Lurielle you are an idiot chick. So just because you're having a boy, someone just waved a magic wand and all the inherited trauma is just gone? What a fucking message to send to women with trauma who had daughters. I am taking this a little personally because I have a horrible relationship with my mother and I was terrified that my daughter wouldn't like me but she adores me. I have broken so many generational patterns and traumas but gee I guess all the trauma would have just gone away if I had had a boy? Tate and Ainsley said it best... I know they were talking about Khash but clearly Lurielle doesn't have the sense god gave a brick. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with boys obviously the world needs both and I am sure there will be some kind of growth throughout the book but pardon me while I root for Sylva and her little wing.
I was up from 12 to 4 am reading this I'm really glad I saved it for now.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews