Publishers really have to lay off of calling romances rom-coms. This is about a woman finding a way to heal her past, forgive her mistakes, and owning who she really is. And saving lives and falling in love with immortals, as one does.

The latter had the potential to be uncomfortable but the author handles it by having it mentioned by multiple characters in the book, only to have the MC affirm she likes the power dynamic, and by having our immortal MC never being the one to make a move. Their relationship began when she was a teenager and all we find out about that time was that he never treated her as anything other than a student, despite knowing she was his destiny. The needle was threaded well.

We learned a lot more about the power dynamics of the town as well and a substantial part of the book is our group figuring out the threat they pose and how to fight the forces of evil against them. Grief is also a big theme in this book. This series is following the structure of my favourite Nora Roberts supernatural trilogies and I'm here for it. Can't wait for the next one. ( )