So it’s been ages since I’ve read Wayhaven… after the book 3 demo, for whatever reason, I just wasn’t feeling the RO path I was on and wasn’t sure I was going to continue with Wayhaven. But, with the full book just released, I decided to try re-reading the whole series again from book 1 and give it another shot with a different route.
I’m glad I did, I ended up enjoying F’s route a lot more, surprisingly. I mean, I’m a sucker for the friendship romance trope, but thought F wouldn’t be my cup of tea. Anyway, seeing how this seems to be the least popular route, I figured I’d share some thoughts about what I liked in book 3 and what I hope to see more of for F.
Cut for length...
So first of all, one of my favorite scenes in book 3 was the scene where MC & F are investigating Addie’s house together and finding her photograph. Would love to see more F moments like this one in the future. This scene was bittersweet, as family is obviously a big theme for both the MC and F, and we see F’s “always cheerful” mask slip a little here. The dialogue discussing how auras work was nice too. F was born a vampire, and so I think F’s route is most engaging when it capitalizes on this element. As uncomplicated and easy as their romance is, you are almost lulled into sometimes forgetting F is a vampire…until F suddenly says or does something very out of the ordinary in the moment. Like the breakfast scene where F is seen chugging down a blood bag in front of the MC, much to the embarrassment of N, who begs F to go and get a glass straight away for MC’s comfort. These little moments add a lot of dramatic tension to an otherwise carefree F route.
I loved F’s version of the combat training scene, and version of the dinner with Tina. Tina thinking she is sly on the side bringing up the subject of blood drinking, to the obvious shock of F overhearing, was a funny moment…but I appreciated it wasn’t just a throwaway line, and appears to be foreshadowing how all of the ROs are starting to become more aware of the elephant in the room. The fact that they are not immune to MC’s blood either, and will have to overcome and deal with that eventually.
F sharing details about their past and their hybrid mother was interesting. I liked the bit about how F struggled to relate to their mother’s teachings as a witch, seeing how vampires don’t really need to cook or use healing medicines/plants. We already knew F was the youngest vampire in the group at 70-something years, but the revelation that F was apparently kind of isolated away from the rest of supernatural society even in the echo world, having spent 50 of those years living remotely in the forest with their mother, was interesting. Would love the possibility if F’s mother is still alive and out there somewhere. She’s a witch, enough said. 
I loved all of the the N/F friendship scenes. We see some more of F’s doubts and anxieties come out again, as a reminder F’s cheerfulness is just one facet of their personality, on the surface. M’s quips on the MC/F relationship continues to be amusing of course.
I liked F’s version of the Bobby encounter. MC has upgraded, lol, well that’s a good way to look at it I guess. Some of Bobby’s lines are hilarious to me, and Bobby continues to probably be my favorite non RO side character.
F and MC discussing A’s role as leader of UB, and the possibility of F maybe leading a team someday was good stuff. My MC was a reluctant leader type, so I find these tid bits between F & MC discussing their rank/responsibilities adds a lot of character development for this route in particular, as F doesn’t start off as the most powerful vampire of the group. It’s relatable. The question of how they will both handle having more power as a couple seems like it could be an important theme/angle to explore for the future of their relationship, as the MC continues to rise in importance to the Agency.
Overall, I liked book 3. There were some things I didn’t think were perfect, or that should have been fleshed out more. But I’m interested to see what direction F’s route ends up taking. It’s not obvious to me at the moment where Sera plans to take F. Certainly I would like to see F’s less happy/carefree side get more exploration in depth, and see more of how F is able to open MC up to new/different possibilities relating to the supernatural…outside of just the spin the Agency puts on things.
demands them to be, in which case they’d still be a threat regardless of gun, because Plot 
