It’s the classic story of boy meets boy, boy loves boy, boy leaves boy, boy hates boy, boy comes back and loves boy again. Plus ghosts.

There’s one thing to be sad for S.E. Harmon’s writing: it’s just so immensely readable. I practically inhaled this book, reading most of it in one sitting, and I had so many laughs throughout. Rain never stops delivering as a fantastic narrator with an eye for detail and a knack for self-deprecating snark. I also really liked it that this time, his character growth absolutely stuck. It may have taken him at least one book too many, but the lessons are learned, the trust between him and Danny has leveled up, and generally he feels like an improved (and yet still deliciously flawed) version of himself. I approve.

All the wedding planning with both sides of the family pitching in was endlessly entertaining, and I cackled every time Rain was left alone with Paula, Danny’s mom, or otherwise in the position where she got to get her claws into him. Their relationship is endlessly entertaining, with her now being just so fucking determined to be a great mother in law. And her designs for the wedding are all so hilariously over the top and also come from such a good place, awww.

When it comes to the romance part, my pickiness about series that follow the same couple strikes again, it seems. Last time, I complained Danny and Rain kept walking in circles around the same source of conflict. Now, I intend to complain that they didn’t have enough conflict, even though there were new sources of what could be some pretty cool, low-stakes, character- and relationship-growth inducing conflict. But they were underutilized grossly, to say the least. I did love all the sweet domestic moments of the guys being each other’s ports in a storm, and I have this lingering suspicion that maybe the author loved writing them this way so much after all the past drama they couldn’t bring themself to make these glow sticks shine the way they could. Which is something, to be fair, I totally understand, but I still wish there was just a little more tension in certain parts.

As for the mystery half of the book… sorry, but blah. I think it would have helped if this plot thematically was more connected with the whole wedding planning, getting ready for a future together, watching the two halves of the family blend part of the book, but I couldn’t find enough connection for the love of me. Because of that and because the mystery just wasn’t that interesting this time, it felt like a distraction rather than a valuable part of the story. It was only in the final act that the stakes suddenly raised in a slightly confusing though exciting way. I did really like that part when all the action peaked and the fallout afterward. But it came so late in the story and I’m not sure it made the boring investigations parts worth it. Rain’s narration and humor did really help with getting through them and to the interesting bits, on the other hand!