Wait, where did you see that?  I might throw my hat into that particular ring...

There was a form.

About 2 months ago, I actually got an email inviting me to apply to be a beta.  The email said betas were being sought for MM.  I don't know why I got the invite; maybe because I signed up for Butcher's newsletter.

In any event, I completed and submitted the form quickly and haven't heard anything since except the sound of crickets.

Yep. It came to those who are subscribed to his newsletter. I applied as well, haven't heard anything yet either. I don't know what the criteria of selection would be, tbh.

I imagine the NDA would come after you pass whatever bar they set up.

I've been wondering if all of his self loathing makes a difference here. He doesn't think he deserves anything good, let alone love. Maybe that makes a difference.

That's what Mab's explanation was about.

Jim said Harry didn't know about Maggie. That suggests that knowing about Maggie would change his emotional stance enough to break the protection.

Now that is an interesting point. Harry definitely feels way different about Susan after he learns about Maggie, so I think you might be onto something. And indeed, in that case Mab's explanation could, potentially (though I'm still not 100% on board) maybe work.

I thought it was so Harry though, when he asked Mab if she was saying that death defeats love, because it's obviously a Princess Bride reference. I think, of all the excuses, like Harry here, I don't want to believe that death changes the protection, though. That's so depressing. I'd say Harry's self-loathing, his (IMO) self-centerness in his grief, his guilt, and how belief tends to work in the Dresden universe would be slightly more convincing a reason for why the True Love™ protection goes away. Though still a cheap excuse. If that were the case though, if Harry starts to feel better about it, if he embraces Murphy's memory, would the protection return? Probably not.

I will say this, too, that I found a bit hard to digest in this book: I don't have a problem with Harry grieving, I'll start with that, it was necessary, it is raw and it is painful. I wished we had seen a little less of "Karrin is dead and oh how much this hurts me" and more "Karrin is dead and that's unfair because Karrin was x, y and z" I mean, he tells us more times how wonderful Michael is in any of the books than he thinks about Murphy in this one, when it'd be the appropriate book to do it. There's a lot of things that you feel when you lose someone, yes, guilt, anger, denial, but also longing, and the memories of the best about them replay in your head making you miss them more, want them more. I felt there wasn't enough longing or enough memories. And I still can't believe we didn't learn when her birthday was in a full year of story.

Well, my experience is different. I never believed Harry loved Murphy, at least not True Love, so I was surprised when he actually burnt Lara. I always thought their love was the love of a dear friend or sibling. More than many romantic loves, granted, but not True Love.

Hm, I'm shook. I would understand to some level the "they were better friends than lovers" that some readers feel about them, regardless of my shipping heart, but I don't think they ever read as siblings or just friends. Interesting.

Yeah, again, to me, trying to push the narrative toward a relationship between Harry and Lara, either if it turns romantic or if it's just about Harry getting "a taste of sexy", is doing a number of things to the overall story that Jim is not handling well, or at least, is not coming through to some of us, this matter feels very retconny. I find it disingenuous

Those questions for Vadderung will come later, his confrontation with Mab over the spell that enabled Murphy to overcome her physical injuries to be present and die as a result was realistic.

I hope that is true, that we see those questions to Vadderung.
I felt like the confrontation with Mab was a good moment, and that felt more like the true Harry to me.

I thought your forum name was because you were a fan of Lara, and I was so confused about your posts 

LOL, nope, just my name.

I always thought Harry would not be with Lara because she feed of people, so yes, some retconned seemed to have been happened, so now she tries not to kill. 

I always admired that Harry seemed to know the dangers of Lara, that he was aware and tried to not be fooled, lately, it feels like it's all about getting Harry to a hotter younger model. I don't know if that's going to be the case, honestly Twelve Months probably left me as confused about this as Harry regarding the relationship with Lara. But I think it's too titilating to miss and JB would want to go there. Plus, the fans really like it, so *shrug*

So I am disappointed by the retcnonning here. Unless the idea is to take Harry to a darker path with this.

I'm reading the series out of spite at this moment, and still participating in forums for the same reason, if I have to be the one/last person still remembering Karrin and reminding Jim that she deserved better, I will be. LOL I will admit Harry is not my favorite character in the books, obviously.

I hope JB proves me wrong in all my bad feelings about where the series is going, I do. I've been with this series for 20 years, I'll see it through, lol. Clearly, I am a masochist.

I also hope you are wrong about Thomas because I want them together, being loving with each other. Thomas had time to think. To reflect about what his own actions did, how Harry lost his woman for ever, not for a few years like Justine.

I think there's a setup for a riff between Harry and Thomas, it's been there since Turn Coat. But I think it will end up ultimately with them reconciling, thought it'd be very rough for a while.

I'm still on team Eb though. But I did like that Harry followed Murphy's advice to try to at least talk to him. It turned out even better than that, which frankly surprised me.

To be frank, I had no problems with how things went with Ramirez, or with Eb, for that matter.
I would agree on points 2 and 3. Everything about Lara bothered me, for more that one reason.

I honestly wanted to like this book, I mean, I went into it thinking that it'd be touching, but there were too many things that made little sense to me.

I thought part of Harry's grief would be confronting Vadderung about Murphy's situation, try to negotiate, you know, because he is very stubborn and adamant when he cares about something, and yet, he gets Vadderung on the phone even, and not even a "is she really okay?" I dunno.

I liked the twist about Harry "enslaving" Lara, so to speak, I think that makes a relationship harder for now, and I really don't want to see them getting together as a couple yet (yeah, I know it's coming, ugh).

I liked how things got resolved with Thomas, and I wished we had explored that even further, but I supposed that is for future books, I don't think the relationship between Thomas and Harry is good, and I hope it's not (yeah, I'm evil like that).

Lara seemed neutered and like Butcher is trying so hard to make her fit into Murphy's shoes now. The whole Lara is Thomas mother, because we have to show that she cares, is eyerolling. I really wish that the whole potential for the Harry/Lara romance wasn't built on Murphy's demise, it feels like a diservice to the three characters (Harry, Murphy and Lara).

I wished the rest of the cast had been allowed more depth, and not just Michael.

Bear is the other half of the Murphy replacement, a very predictable addition.

The other scenes were okay, I guess.

I don't really care about Fitz.

I'm glad Maggie shows a bit more personality now, at least.

And the last fight was just ridiculous, IMO, like a very bad 90s cartoon, I think what JB was trying to do was a sort of "friendship is magic" vibe, where all of Harry's friends just show up to support him, but honestly, it didn't work for me, felt cheesy not in a good way.

I am glad that Mab seemed evil, I think JB has been writing her too much in a way that people emphatize with her.

I did like that Harry was genuinely broken over Murphy, I wouldn't have believed anything else, but I was disappointed in his... how to say it, his comformity with it. And I don't know if I can explain this properly, but it felt to me, like he accepted her death very easily, what he had problems with was her absence and his guilt over not doing more in the past. But having Vadderung within reach, I would have imagine the Harry we knew would have tried to ask about her, to learn more about how exactly the einherjar worked, or if there was something that he could do, or even to ask if he could get a message delivered to her or something.