Portals and Puppy Dogs

Portals and Puppy Dogs (2021) Amy Lane (Hedge Witches Lonely Hearts Club)

Alex is glad his roommate Bartholomew has found his true love, but Alex’s life is still a mess: he put in for a transfer, so he could try and move on from his huge crush on his boss, but Simon wants to know why Alex wants to leave, and with everything so messed up with the spell gone wrong, Alex doesn’t have the energy–or the inclination–to lie.

Experience had taught them that if the ritual wasn’t performed, the snakes would all head for the apple tree in front of Bartholomew and Alex’s house, turning the rather average bit of flora into a writhing herpetological nightmare by morning.

Simon runs an accounting firm with his two best friends–once of whom is in an ugly divorce–and his partners want to know why Alex–their best employee–wants to transfer. So Simon decides to take him out to lunch, to ask.

“You just look perfectly average!” Simon exclaimed, and even as the words came out of his mouth, he saw the pit he’d dug for himself with the spiders and snakes in the bottom. Abort abort abort!

As the coven continues to try and get their friends back, Alex comes to terms with his own truth–his own deepest desire–and wants to see if just maybe things will work out.

“I’m afraid I’m so tired that I might spill embarrassing true things before I’m emotionally ready to be that vulnerable,”

I could have down without two virgin heroes in a row. I get that Simon is supposed to be demi (as noted previously) virgin and rake is a trope I don’t much like. Hopefully were done with that.

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Rating: 7/10

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