A review by laurenjodi
A Farewell to Charms by Molly Harper
3.0
A Farewell to Charms
3 Stars
Mystic Bayou's newest mechanic, Eva Boudreaux, has worked hard to keep her true nature and troubling past a secret, but a chance encounter with the League's managing director in town, Alex Lancaster, arouses more than his curiosity. As their mild flirtation develops into something deeper, Eva's past threatens to destroy both their romance and their lives.
This final installment contains all of the elements that have made the series such a delight - quirky characters, hilarious dialogue, a sweet romance, and an intriguing suspense plot.
Of these, the romance is the weakest aspect. While Eva and Alex are cute together, their opposites attract relationship is underdeveloped, and all conflicts are resolved very quickly, with everything forgiven and forgotten far too easily.
The stalker plot has tremendous potential to ratchet up the tension, yet it, too, fizzles quite rapidly once the villain and motive are revealed. The climax has its intense moments, but all is once again resolved quickly with a minimum of fuss. Even the revelation of Eva's identity is rather meh - she's a - gasp -. And so?
It is also disappointing that there is no closure to a couple of threads, namely Alex's and Eva's
Overall, this is not the best installment, but the series itself is well worth reading for the highly amusing characters, especially Bael and Zed. The audiobook narration is an added bonus. Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis are fantastic.
3 Stars
Mystic Bayou's newest mechanic, Eva Boudreaux, has worked hard to keep her true nature and troubling past a secret, but a chance encounter with the League's managing director in town, Alex Lancaster, arouses more than his curiosity. As their mild flirtation develops into something deeper, Eva's past threatens to destroy both their romance and their lives.
This final installment contains all of the elements that have made the series such a delight - quirky characters, hilarious dialogue, a sweet romance, and an intriguing suspense plot.
Of these, the romance is the weakest aspect. While Eva and Alex are cute together, their opposites attract relationship is underdeveloped, and all conflicts are resolved very quickly, with everything forgiven and forgotten far too easily.
The stalker plot has tremendous potential to ratchet up the tension, yet it, too, fizzles quite rapidly once the villain and motive are revealed. The climax has its intense moments, but all is once again resolved quickly with a minimum of fuss. Even the revelation of Eva's identity is rather meh - she's a - gasp -
Spoiler
gnome!It is also disappointing that there is no closure to a couple of threads, namely Alex's
Spoiler
conflict with his fatherSpoiler
issues with her parentsOverall, this is not the best installment, but the series itself is well worth reading for the highly amusing characters, especially Bael and Zed. The audiobook narration is an added bonus. Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis are fantastic.