★★★★★ 5
Sapphic Yearning at Its Best
Format: Paperback
4.5⭐️ rounded up
Set in the same world as Rebekah Faubion’s debut THE LOVERS, we follow Cadence Connelly, park ranger and daughter of the enigmatic Madame Moira, as she finds out that her too-wild-to-be-tamed mother is getting married after only knowing the man for a few months. She travels home for the first time in years in an attempt to save the man from what she believes to be a con, only to find herself entranced by the man’s daughter, Sydney Sinclair. Sydney is also wildly suspicious of the engagement as she believed herself to be incredibly close with her father and it came as a complete surprise. The pair enter in a scheme to get to the bottom of the whirlwind engagement, but the chemistry between them may prove to be more of a distraction than they originally believed.
It is not a secret that I was deeply obsessed with Rebekah Faubion’s debut and I’m happy to report that that love carries into her sophomore novel—no slump here! Returning to this very contemporary world that is coated in the mystical was like coming home. The love and care Rebekah gave her debut continues to shine as she tells Cadence and Sydney’s story and allowed me to immediately become attached to them.
It’s clear from the start that these two women carry trauma from their childhood, but they have been wildly independent as they’ve grown up. The chemistry between them is constantly sizzling just under the surface and it is everything I could have asked for when I think of sapphic yearning.
Cadence as a character stood out to me especially as a fellow daughter who felt like their mother controlled many aspects of her life. While our worlds are incredibly different, I felt every part of Cadence’s journey through the story—with the way she felt the need to run away and rebel against Moira to the eventual (if still slightly strained) acceptance of her behavior.
If you’ve read THE LOVERS, you’ll be happy to see a few familiar faces return to the page as happy and in love as they were when we left them. I had a deep hope that we’d get a cameo or two, but it was still a pleasant surprise to actually see it happen. And the way Rebekah was able to weave them into the actual plot of this standalone story is masterful, allowing new readers and old alike to experience the story in much the same way.
And, of course, we can’t not talk about Chicken. Chicken is perfect and wonderful and stole the show. He is living his best life and making us all fall in love with him from start to finish. We stan Chicken.
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher for free and have voluntarily written this review.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2025
