This was cruising along at a 3.5 star book until 2/3 through. I liked the characters and the set up, the main relationship was lovely, but there was too much going on around the edges. Even if I'd read all the previous books, I think I would have been a bit annoyed at how often we are pulled away from the main couple to get the backstory of how who knows who and how long someone's lived in town and why they ended up there. 

However, at the 2/3 mark, Xeni and Mason have an amazing conversation around kids, reproductive choice (for both of them) and their experiences and expectations about the idea of birth and family that I wanted to give a standing ovation. Exactly the sort of thing I want to see more of in my mf romance. I also love that this is bi4bi and they do actual on-page

pegging

. Another round of applause. 

I do need to read more of this author, but I'm never the biggest fan of a sprawling interconnected world that has to constantly catch us up on who's who, but I know others love that. So, in the end, this is a four star book that had some five star moments.