I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

As Caball Hollow slowly recovers from a tumultuous summer, the James family must also come to terms with their own newly revealed secrets.

18-year-old Rowan James has spent her whole life harboring unpleasant truths—that’s what happens when you can smell lies on the teller’s breath—and building walls around herself to block them out. Like her younger sister, Linden, who can taste the feelings of others, Rowan has long struggled with her gift, which has taught her that everyone distorts the truth, and no one is who they seem to be. So when her old rival Hadrian Fitch shows up on her front porch—bloodied and bruised and asking for the kind of help only she can provide—her first instinct is distrust.

Except Hadrian’s attack isn’t the only strange occurrence. Now small items are disappearing, but rather than report the losses the owners act as if their missing things never existed. Rumors of a new monster prowling the Hollow begin to swirl. But how can Rowan smoke out the culprit in a town full of secrets? And worse, how can Rowan trust beautiful, solemn Hadrian when every other word he speaks has the distinct burnt smell of a lie?

Short and Sweet Review

It’s been a little while since we’ve been in Caball Hollow, and the town is still recovering from what went down in the summer. Rowan like the other women in her family has a power and her’s is the ability to smell when people are lying, because of this she’s built a wall around herself. Hadrian Finch is also back and he ends up asking Rowan for her help, she doesn’t trust him but Hadrian asking for help is the least strange thing that’s taken place. Recently things have gone missing, there’s poachers, and even a new monster. In a town full of secrets Rowan know’s she’ll be able to find the culprit.

When I read the first book of this series (Bittersweet in the Hollow) I fell in love with the setting and the characters. I was excited that this book was following Rowan because I was interested in seeing her powers at work. Rowan is fiercely protective of her family and we see her temper get the best of her more often than not, because of this Rowan is sent to volunteer up in the mountains. While there Rowan learns about ginseng poachers and also some other weird transactions going on. Rowan also makes her first interaction with Hadrian here. Hadrian needs Rowan’s help because of her ability and at the moment she’s the only one he can trust. There’s something strange going on in town where small things are going missing but the owners have no recollection about it. I loved see the mystery unfold we get a lot of things answered in this book and that was great. The relationship between Rowan and Hadrian felt genuine, there were moments of tension and others where they truly tried to understand each other better. I loved the interactions these two had. I also enjoyed seeing Linden and Juniper help Rowan when she needed it. The ending was great and I thought everything was wrapped up in a way that’ll leave readers satisfied.

Overall, this book was magical and I couldn’t get enough. Rowan was a great character she’s reactive but she means well and we see her character grow throughout the book. The Rowan and Hadrian pair up was great because we got to see their relationship start with distrust but blossom into something more. I would definitely recommend this book and the predecessor if you haven’t already read it!