*This review contains spoilers for previous books in the Thieves and Hunter series, and kinda for this book, but not really if you’ve read the previous books or the description for this one. I’m not discussing anything you don’t already know from the description.*

This was much more like the original Thieves books than the Hunter series has been, and that made me so happy! It even gave me the same sense of comfort I get from rereading Thieves, even though this was my first time reading the book. I didn’t love it the way I love those, but I did enjoy it.

This was kind of a transitional book more than it was really a Thieves or Hunter book. It broke the pattern of the series by having Zoey’s, Kelsey’s, and Summer’s POVs. I understand why the author did it this way though. This was, for the most part, about Summer, but there were also some other important things going on and being set up for the rest of the series that required more than just her POV. Some old loose threads were wrapped up, and the story was pushed where it needs to go next.

This author is very good at plotting, especially when it comes to complex, “long game” kinda plots that weave together and are being set up long before the reader realizes. I feel like it’s an aspect of this series that gets kind of overlooked in favor of the romance and characters.

I’m a Marcus fangirl, and I’ve been waiting so long for him to get his happy ending, so I was so happy to see him finally get he love he was promised! (He made an ass of himself at first, but the poor man was just so excited that I couldn’t even blame him.) But, on the other hand, because I’ve waited so long, I would’ve liked it to go a bit slower, to actually feel the relationship forming between them. It felt rushed and like they didn’t actually know each other but fell in love only because they were fated to. Everything fell into place very quickly and neatly with them. I do understand to an extent though—the author needed it to happen in this one book, rather than over multiple books, for reasons.

And Zoey and Danny finally got to meet Summer! It was a really nice family reunion. It was also very cute how Dev immediately became protective of her because he considered her his daughter too. (Which just shows that he really does see Daniel as another father of Lee, Rhys, and Evan, which just makes their whole relationship that much more solid and sweet.)

This actually is a slight spoiler for this book: *SPOILER* I was also happy for them that Daniel gets to have a child of his own blood with Zoey, since I know how much he’s always wanted that. *END SPOILER*

I also just loved being back in Zoey’s POV and getting to see what her, Daniel, and Dev’s relationship is like now.

This book brought back some of that fun interplay between characters too, those scenes where it’s a bunch of them arguing and having multiple conversations at once, and it’s just funny and fun.

We got to meet a new character, Dean, who’s definitely going to be back in future books, and I liked him. He seems like a good person who will fit in well with this lovable group.

Something I couldn’t stand though was how the author kept using the words male and female instead of man and woman. It was maddening. At first I thought maybe it was just Summer’s way of talking/thinking, or just a fae thing, which, though still annoying, I could’ve excused. But many other characters spoke that way too. And it sounded very weird and distracting every single time. I don’t recall any of the previous books being like that, so I don’t know why this one was.

I also didn’t love everything about the ending, but that’s more of a personal thing than a critique thing. *SPOILER (for this book again)* I thought it was kind of sad that Marcus and Summer had to stay and leave all their friends and family behind. Partly because I’m selfish and am just going to miss Marcus, but partly because they both do have people they care about, and Zoey, Daniel, and Summer had only just gotten reunited. *END SPOILER* And then there was the ENDING ending. That was a doozy. But it should make the next book even more interesting.

Overall, though I can’t say this was quite as good as the original Thieves book, it had much more of that feel than the previous few books have had. I was happy to get some of Zoey’s POV again and to see some of the old loose threads picked back up or resolved. I still love these characters, and I’m glad to know there’s more to come of their story!

*This is a spin-off series, and I highly HIGHLY recommend starting with Steal the Light. The original characters have a heavy presence, and I don’t think this spin-off series will be as enjoyable if you haven’t read the original one.*

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2020 // Format: eBook*