Title: Not Your Crush’s Cauldron
Author: Rachel Joyce
Publisher: Griffin
Year: 2024
Genre(s): paranormal romance
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 3. Read reviews for Book 1 and Book 2.
Rating: 
Why I read it: To complete the trilogy
Summary: Olive, the third Maxwell triplet, always assigns her class an assignment to challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zone. This year, she decides to do the list along with her student. Her friend and new roommate, Bax, agrees to do it with her but hides important information from her – namely, that he’s been assigned as her guardian angel. As they complete Olive’s list, will their relationship become more than it is?
Review: This trilogy frustrates me.
It started out strong with Violet’s story but Asher then kept repeating the same formula over and over so that it was weakened by the time I got to Olive’s. I know many readers are hoping there will be a fourth book with Harper and Adrian but I worry that will just be another disappointment.
I also don’t want this to be an entirely negative review because it got three moons for a reason. So I’ll try to balance the good with the not-so-good.
Good: Olive felt more different from her sisters. She wasn’t as impulsive as Violet or Rose, ruled more by logic than emotion – even with her challenge to leave her comfort zone. She had her life together and that was nice to read after Violet’s and Rose’s story.
Bad: Bax felt like another carbon copy of Linc and Damian, right down to his issues with his father. He even had an older mentor like Damian. While Bax was an interesting romantic lead, I just wish he had been more different than his predecessors. I know the sisters are triplets but what are the odds they all had the same taste in men?
Good: The chapter where Olive and Bax do a Cirque du Soleil type class was well done. I felt Asher really described it well and balanced the action with both Olive’s and Bax’s feelings. It was very well done.
Bad: The chapter where they enter a dance competition. There was a lot of build up to them doing the dance from Dirty Dancing and then the chapter ended before we could read about it. We were just told about it. Asher really didn’t have a good balance between showing and telling.
Good: I mostly enjoyed the world building with the angels as well as the different types and the bureaucracy Asher created with them. That was pretty creative.
Bad: There’s still so much about the world Asher doesn’t describe. There’s a chapter set at the transfer of power between Edie and Violet but Asher never described the ceremony, just like she never described the bonding ceremony in the last book.
Good: The romance was a good mix of sweet and spicy. It was friends-to-lovers, which is always a treat for me. While I think it may have been a little more drawn out than it should’ve been, it still was pretty good. Or else I probably wouldn’t have finished the book.
Bottom: Still a good read but really formulaic after two other books.
Sex: Yes. Lots of it.
Moonlight Musing
Have you ever stepped out of your comfort zone?
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