Not good.
The first 2 stories in this series aren't great works of art or anything, but they're cute and entertaining.
This one? Egh.
I'm gonna start by mentioning the least egregious thing:
I've skipped out on saying anything the first 2 books because I was genuinely interested in what was happening and it didn't annoy me enough to mention.
But these girls have little critters that live inside them, apparently.
I thought maybe it was a quirky thing with Katelyn.
She's got bumble bees that live in her stomach. I thought, ahaha. Cute. It's like butterflies, but they can sting.
I rolled with it.
Then, we met Izzy. And Izzy has a turtle dove that lives in her chest.
It wasn't annoying so much as just something that made me roll my eyes. It didn't come up enough to be truly irritating.
But now Meghan has a honey badger in her ribcage.
What the fuck is going on? What a strange detail include in all your FMCs. It's giving Inner Goddess, and honestly, kind of weirding me out.
But I'm 3 books into this series. Did I quit in chapter 3, at the first mention of this ... spirit critter?
No.
I probably should have, though not because of this weird little inclusion.
See, I think Sebastian is my least favorite of the MMCs in this series. Which is terrible news, because I genuinely wanted to love him. He's just as sassy as Meghan - they make a great pair when they're trading barbs. The banter's hilarious.
But, romantically????? Eh. This whole book is a big ol' nothing burger at best, and down right offensive at worst.
To be honest, Meghan spends so much of the book NOT being around Sebastian, there's not a ton of time for the romance to even become a thing. They have sex in an alleyway and then spend MONTHS apart, and yet...she's fallen in love with him???
How? When?
But let me back up - there's other things that irritate about this story that need mentioning before we even get to the romance stuff.
The nature of the story in book 2 means there's a lot of overlap in this book. We're forced to read the same scenes and the same scenarios, it's just written from Meghan's or Sebastian's perspectives instead of Zach or Izzy's.
This is at once fine, and a little annoying at the same time. Yes, we're getting clarity for what was going on in these characters' minds while the events in book 2 were happening, but that also means we're getting regurgitated dialogue and interactions, too. Yawn.
It's especially not helpful that Meghan and Izzy have virtually the same experiences in these places - both are screaming terrified at the haunted attraction and require the arms of a big strong man to save them.
Both are trying not to notice their MMC at the bowling alley while out with another dude they have zero interest in.
Up until this book, Meghan and Izzy were very different characters. But this book made them sound the exact same way - dramatic, stubborn and hyper-reactive to their MMC's presence. Meghan was, up until this point in the series, the outspoken, vibrant, no shame, self-confident woman of the group. The mastermind of trying to get her friends together. The one always begging for the most torrid stories from her friends. She was loud and unrepentant.
In this book, we're treated to a mouthy, but often insecure and uncertain person and it's not the woman we've met and grown to love over the first half of this series. And more than a little of this change has to do with Sebastian treating her like garbage, time and time again.
THEN. When the story finally gets caught up to the present and we begin moving forward, there's so much other stuff going on that Sebastian and Meghan rarely get time just to themselves. Meghan's got a wedding and another event to plan, Sebastian's obviously playing hockey. They don't date, they don't hang out, they don't even appear to like each other most of the times they're in the same room together.
But even more than that, we're introduced to a cavalcade of new faces - suddenly we have Meghan's 3 or 4 siblings butting in out of nowhere, and we have Sebastian's twin and other siblings getting involved in his life...There's like 10 new people coming out of nowhere for no real reason, semi-sidelining the girl group and the hockey teammates in the process. The people we were getting to know and love show up periodically but rarely have any real beyond surface-level interactions with either MC. I found this turn of events strange and jarring, to say the least.
Now, the romance. Or rather, the lack thereof.
For most of the book...there straight up isn't any. After the months-long ghosting Meghan does, Sebastian begins to show up in random places out of nowhere. Basically, he stalks Meghan for a good chunk of the middle of this book. Why? I couldn't tell you. Except maybe that he wants to fuck her again.
But, even while they're... doing stuff... to each other, he's still thinking things like "I don't do relationships, I have to find a way to bring up just wanting something casual. She's not my girl and I don't want her to be." while at the same time, getting bent out of shape every time she even breathes in another dude's direction.
At one point, Zach even calls him out for this - stating:
"You don't date." The look Zach's giving me tells me he thinks I'm a moron.
Yeah, the argument sounds as dumb as it feels.
I reach up and rub my temples. "I'm not looking for a relationship. Not right now."
"Okay. But you don't want her dating other people? Swiping left or right? Fucking other guys?"
"Dude." I drop my hands and glare at him.
"Just trying to get this straight. You like her. You want to see her, talk to her, bang her. But you don't want to ask her out. Don't want to have a relationship. But you also don't want her going out with other people."
I hold his gaze. "Exactly".
This is gross behavior, man. I'm pretty sure this is exactly the point where I just quit caring about Sebastian altogether. If a man ever said that about me, he'd be choking on his own nut sack.
And then, seemingly randomly, out of nowhere, he drops the L-bomb on her during sex. Like that's going to somehow fix everything. When exactly did HIS feelings evolve from "I don't do relationships" to "Marry me?" Because the two DO elope at the end of this book after only a few weeks of being together officially!
So, yeah. Crazy awesome banter aside, Sebastian's sort of a dick. He waxes hot and cold with Meghan all throughout this book - hurting her repeatedly in the process. It legitimately began to feel like Meghan was hooking up with a narcissist at one point - because he'd say shit or do things to hurt her, then love-bomb the fuck out of her until she forgave him. Total toxic fuckboy behavior.
This book was such a letdown. I'm legitimately upset for Meghan. And while Tilly TRIED to get us to sympathize with Sebastian she doesn't redeem him. Having him get injured during a hockey game doesn't tug on the heartstrings at all if he's not a likeable character BEFORE that moment.
This is getting 2 stars PURELY for their banter alone. If the banter was paired with different situations and Sebastian wasn't so ... gross... this would easily have been my favorite of the series so far.