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A review by storytimed
From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper
4.0
Despite my pan of the first book in the series, I still enjoyed the vibe enough to try the second. This book is about the sister of the love interest from the last book (whose name I have already forgotten) and Rowan Thorn, the brother of the best friend
I hate to admit it but this time the straight couple is better
I think mostly because they actually have a history and interaction before they start with the instalove bullshit: Isa (?) Avramov used to volunteer at the animal shelter where Rowan did his veterinary practicum, and he fired her lmao
I kind of like the way they handled the enemies part of enemies to lovers? Like they're not too aggressive towards each other — it's a lot of glaring and passive-aggressive sniping
And the conflict feels believable! They were in their late teens/early twenties!
And Isa was legitimately an annoying volunteer who didn't like doing the shit work and had a not great attitude
But also Rowan handled the thing poorly because of his prejudice against her family (he's a greenery/nature witch and she's from the goth necromancers)
They sort of dragged out the family enemies thing a little too long because they had to have a third act breakup
But I thought their dynamic was charming! She's a little chaotic and scattered, he's amused despite himself
There's a very cute bit where she always calls him Rowan Thorn, Wildlife Hero because she pictures him always saving small animals etc.
And I think the big strength of these books is the very charming community. I have my issues with lineage-bases magic systems since they do end up feeling kind of eugenics-y, but at least there's some diversity — the Thorn family is all Black, and mundanes who've married in mean that there are lots of background people of color
But every book there's a new fun witchy ritual, and cool magic abilities, and scenes of quirky small town businesses
Rowan's character type is also v appealing to me: he's just a good dude who wants to be kind but has a sense of humor about it! Also I think this is the first time I've seen a vegan male romance protagonist and it's portrayed in a chill way