Relos Var’s final plans to enslave the universe are on the cusp of fruition. He believes there’s only one being in existence that might be able to stop him: the demon Xaltorath.
As these two masterminds circle each other, neither is paying attention to the third player on the board, Kihrin. Unfortunately, keeping himself classified in the “pawn” category means Kihrin must pretend to be everything the prophecies threatened he’d become: the destroyer of all, the sun eater, a mindless, remorseless plague upon the land. It also means finding an excuse to not destroy the people he loves (or any of the remaining Immortals) without arousing suspicion.
Kihrin’s goals are complicated by the fact that not all of his “act” is one. His intentions may be sincere, but he’s still being forced to grapple with the aftereffects of the corrupted magic ritual that twisted both him and the dragons. Worse, he’s now tied to a body that is the literal avatar of a star – a form that is becoming increasingly, catastrophically unstable. All of which means he’s running out of time.
After all, some stars fade – but others explode.
Title : The Discord of Gods Author : Jenn Lyons Series : A Chorus of Dragons (book five) Format : eBook (overdrive) Page Count : 512 Genre : fantasy Publisher : Tor Books Release Date : April 26, 2022
Reviewer : Hollis Rating : ★ ★ ★
Hollis’ 2.75 (rounded up) star review
Finally. We have a straight-forward bit of storytelling. I’m not saying we don’t jump around a bit, with some overlapping bits from different POVs, but it wasn’t like what came before. And thank goodness for that.
Having said that, I knew the stakes wouldn’t feel very high because they’ve never felt very high. And even though we finally introduced a way to keep from everyone coming back to life, forever and ever, we still had enough of it. And as a result of that new caveat, I knew we wouldn’t lose a lot of characters. And we didn’t. In fact I think we came out ontop in a way.
In that sense though I’ll admit that everyone who has annoyed me the most.. annoyed me a little less. Maybe because we had less time (this is the shortest book of the series) for the story itself but we also had a tighter focus and a bigger ticking clock in a sense (though we still had time for repeated rehashing as certain players had to get caught up on things) as things were finally coming to a head.
And yes, the confrontation was finally here. How did that measure up? Welllll. I’ll admit I solved the final “aha!” conflict well before the reveal but there was something to do with the remaining immortals I didn’t see coming. And, of course, the whole truth behind the demons had interesting and horrible implications. But like so many of these big epic series, the final showdowns never really feel as big because they’ve been built up so long, that when it finally happens.. it’s just a shrug.
I’m not mad I pushed on in this world despite the ups and downs (mostly downs? I think? maybe it’s an even split) but I really feel this was just too convoluted for it’s own good. Tried to be so many things, do so many things, chronicle so much history and drama, and it just got so tedious and, weirdly, lowkey overwrought sometimes. But that doesn’t seem to be an opinion anyone else really shares so what do I even know. I obviously wouldn’t recommend these but hey if you ever decide to give them a try, I wish you better luck than I had! And also that you have an all-around better time, too.
Each month, we’ll be putting together a list of our top most anticipated releases; from romance, to sci-fi, to fantasy, and everything in between. These releases might be ones we’re counting down the days for or ones we’ve already read and want you to read (and love!), too.
What you do need to bear in mind is that living on different continents we have different release dates. So as a general rule there might be some repeats from one month to the next.. it’s not that we’re just being weird. Though we can’t dismiss that totally out of turn.
Be aware that some of these are sequels and it’s at your own spoilery riskif you read the blurb!
For April, our hotly anticipated titles, in chronological order, are :
A thrilling story of rival witch families in New York City, from New York Times bestselling author and internet phenomenon Olivie Blake.
In modern-day Manhattan where we lay our scene, two rival witch families fight to maintain control of their respective criminal ventures.
On one side of the conflict are the Antonova sisters — each one beautiful, cunning, and ruthless — and their mother, the elusive supplier of premium intoxicants, known only as Baba Yaga. On the other side, the influential Fedorov brothers serve their father, the crime boss known as Koschei the Deathless, whose community extortion ventures dominate the shadows of magical Manhattan.
After twelve years of tenuous co-existence, a change in one family’s interests causes a rift in the existing stalemate. When bad blood brings both families to the precipice of disaster, fate intervenes with a chance encounter, and in the aftershocks of a resurrected conflict, everyone must choose a side. As each of the siblings struggles to stake their claim, fraying loyalties threaten to rot each side from the inside out.
If, that is, the enmity between empires doesn’t destroy them first.
A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.
Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.
And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she can’t refuse.
All her life Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself to face the Wisdom, the all-powerful, reality-shaping weapon that gave the Majoda their victory over humanity.
They are what’s left. They are what must survive. Kyr is one of the best warriors of her generation, the sword of a dead planet. But when Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to the nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity’s revenge into her own hands.
Alongside her brother’s brilliant but seditious friend and a lonely, captive alien, she escapes from everything she’s ever known into a universe far more complicated than she was taught and far more wondrous than she could have imagined.
When a daughter is born to the King of Arcadia, she brings only disappointment.
Left exposed on a mountainside, the defenceless infant Atalanta, is left to the mercy of a passing mother bear and raised alongside the cubs under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis.
Swearing that she will prove her worth alongside the famed heroes of Greece, Atalanta leaves her forest to join Jason’s band of Argonauts. But can she carve out her own place in the legends in a world made for men?
Imagine you could be rid of your sadness, your anxiety, your heartache, your fear.
Imagine you could take those feelings from others and turn them into something beautiful.
Lynx is a Grief Nurse. Kept by the Asters, a wealthy, influential family, to ensure they’re never troubled by negative emotions, she knows no other life.
When news arrives that the Asters’ eldest son is dead, Lynx does what she can to alleviate their Sorrow. As guests flock to the Asters’ private island for the wake, bringing their own secrets, lies and grief, tensions rise.
For the First Time, Again is the closing chapter in Sylvian Neuvel’s acclaimed Take Them to the Stars trilogy.
When you don’t know The Rules it’s hard to stay safe.
After a traumatic incident, Aster finds that her blood work comes back with some unusual readings. Unsurprising, as she’s the last of an alien race called the Kibsu, though she doesn’t know it.
She finds herself the focus of a hunt, with her mortal enemies, the Trackers, on one side, and the American government on the other. But help has come from a most unexpected quarter.
Whoever finds her first, it won’t be good news for Aster, or for the world!
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots–fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio-a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.
Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.
They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.
Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.
Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week…in front of those who know you best?
What titles are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments below!
They say you can never go home again, and for Persephone Fraser, ever since she made the biggest mistake of her life a decade ago, that has felt too true. Instead of glittering summers on the lakeshore of her childhood, she spends them in a stylish apartment in the city, going out with friends, and keeping everyone a safe distance from her heart.
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.
For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.
When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.
Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.
Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.
Title : Every Summer After Author : Carley Fortune Format : eBook (overdrive) Page Count : 307 Genre : romance Publisher : Berkley Release Date : May 10, 2022
Reviewer : Hollis Rating : ★ ★
Hollis’ 2 star review
And the award for the writing of the most unlikely thirteen year olds (and the most annoying fifteen year old) goes to..
But seriously, I almost DNF’d this at 13% because I was just not buying it. Why not just age these kids up so they could actually act in a way that befit their age? Additionally, it made it really hard to believe there was going to be this great long-lasting relationship out of those early interactions because they were so.. bland? Awkward? And, in the case of the older brother, weird and inappropriate?
So, yes, the past-time-y flashbacks? Obviously not my favourite. And it didn’t get better even as they aged up because everyone was so so dumb. Like, truly. This was just dramatic for no reason. And sure, yes, kids are idiots. But these kids were actually relatively intelligent and, in some cases outright smart, so it didn’t quite make sense for them to be this stupid.
But then it got worse. Then I started hating the present-day scenes, too. Especially once we’d caught up to the why of this big break between these two characters and.. no. Sorry. I hate the trope in general but some authors can make it work if I believe in the why of it — or if the characters are good enough. And I don’t and they weren’t. And I don’t understand how everything was forgiven, everyone was friends, and the blameless party gaslit himself into taking on a share of the blame. That’s a whole new level of mess and I just can’t.
Even all the great bits of Canadiana couldn’t save this one, sorry.
I definitely read a different book than everybody else but hey that’s okay. Super glad this was everyone’s favourite last year. I’m late to the party anyway so (vague gesture) just ignore me.
I will give her next book, which is out in like a month, a try but it seems like we have another second-chance something, and another giant timeline gap, so like.. I don’t know, is this her formula, the same way Ali Hazelwood does the pixie chick and giant man shtick? If it doesn’t include the other bit, the trope I hated in this one, maybe it could be a winner. Maybe. We’ll see.
Happy “where’d all my money go?” new release Tuesday, everyone!
As you know, the most exciting day of the week in this community is the day that follows the one we all dread (Mondays for the nope) and today we’re going to highlight some of the new books chipping away at our bank accounts — but each one is so worth it.
The Gargoyle’s Captiveby Katee Robert brings us book three in the A Deal with the Devil series this time featuring, well, a gargoyle and his captive. Go figure.
Are there any titles out today you’re excited for? Let us know in the comments below!
Alice Quinn’s young life has never been marked by stability, and it’s about to turn upside down again. When her mother decides to move from their small Canadian town to an area that is even more remote, Alice is left to navigate the strange and hostile community on her own. She is befriended by a classmate named Remy, who hails from his own bleak circumstances, and the two forge a bond that helps buffer the forces prevailing against them. The story follows Alice and Remy through the everyday beauties and terrors of childhood, revealing their breathtaking resilience while at the mercy of whims and cruelties beyond their control. Despite the vile treatment Alice endures at the hands of her teacher, the persecutions of a local bully, and the disturbing presence of her mother’s new boyfriend, she retains an outlook on the world marked by optimism and wonder, enhanced at times by her own imagination. Remy, who is enduring physical abuse at home, harbors a more cynical approach to life. Between them and with the assistance of a mysterious neighbor, the children find a haven for their bright and curious minds, as well as the essence of meaning they are both seeking in this grim and exquisite, unpredictable world.
Title : Starling Author : Kirsten Cram Format : Physical Page Count : 350 Genre : Publisher : Highway Six Press Release Date : November 18, 2021
Starling was a well described zoom-in on the friendship between two neglected children Alice and Remy in the 1970s. Told over a number of months, these two children connected in a naive and beautiful way. They became each other’s solace in difficult world. This story stayed embedded in childhood but the themes mean this was not a children’s book.
The story was told in the backdrop of deprived small town (Starling) and neither Alice or Remy had much in the way of love, care or parental guidance. What they did have was abuse, neglect and a lack of advocacy. School should have been a place of safety, but it wasn’t. In some ways, the story was grim but Cram found a way to bring chinks of light into the narrative, mainly by the times that Remy and Alice spent together exploring and sharing stories. There is no doubt that I felt much for these characters.
There were a few adults that weren’t toxic like Madame Voisine and Mr Redchenko. The adults that mattered, parents, teachers and siblings were either awful or just didn’t care. This was such a tough life and the description had me chilly and sad.
Starling leaves the reader in a tough place, it’s an open ending and there’s little closure and so I would hope for more from these characters and I would definitely read on if there was.
Starling is on kindle unlimited if you fancy a bite of this story.
Thank you to the author for the review copy; this is my honest opinion.
Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak-but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth . . . a truth about her heritage that could change her life-and her future-forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?
Title : Heir of Fire Author : Sarah J Maas Series : Throne of Glass #3 Format : ebook Page Count : 568 Genre : Fantasy Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing Release Date : September 2, 2014
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 4 star review
Headlines: Oh my allegiances What in the Manon? Here for the growing self-belief
It might of taken me weeks to read this book but I appreciated the time to process all the happenings and despite my own pacing, it kept me involved in the plot and characters. What I didn’t expect (but why not, Micky?) were the Maas-extraodinaire shifts in allegiances, rebels, couples and so on. I find myself with Maas’ plan of Celaena’s longing.
Rowan was a slow burn to like but I got there. Celaena kept me on her side all the way through and I enjoyed finally getting the reveals on her past experiences and how she arrived in assassin life. I’m still not 100% sure what I think of Aedion but I don’t like where he was left and Chaol has left me disappointed.
Manon gets her own paragraph because what in the world building were these sandwiched chapters of Manon? We are left with zero connection to the overall story and this was clearly prep for another book but surely this would have worked better in what ever book this relates to? Everytime it shifted to Manon, it was a groan of whyyyy? Abraxos was the saving grace, and Manon I don’t dislike but it was the shoe-horned narrative that annoyed me.
Overall this was a good read and I am still finding this a worthy series.
It starts with a stolen kiss under an English sky, and it ends with a walk down the aisle. It starts with the President sending his best friend to woo me on his behalf, and it ends with my heart split in two. It starts with buried secrets and dangerous desires…and ends with the three of us bound together with a hateful love sharper than any barbed wire.
My name is Greer Galloway, and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.
This is the story of an American Queen.
Title : American Queen Author : Sierra Simone Series : New Camelot Trilogy (book one) Format : eARC Page Count 387 Genre : romance / LGBTQIAP+ / retelling Publisher : Bloom Books Release Date : April 13, 2023
Reviewer : Hollis Rating : ★ ★ .5
Hollis’ 2.5 star review
I’m pretty sure everyone who wanted to read this book has already read it by now but when I saw it up for Read Now on NetGalley (likely a glitch because it disappeared, as it also did for the other two books before I could grab those too, moments after I downloaded) I thought.. why not. I’m pretty sure the whole series is actually buried on my kindle somewhere but that project is slow going and I didn’t have these on my 2023 list. So here was an excuse to knock another oldie off the TBR and see what all the hype and fuss was about all them years ago.
And honestly? I think my low expectations helped. Because this might not be a glowing review or high rating but.. I disliked a lot less than I expected to. But having said that, I skimmed too much of this to bump this any higher than it is.
I’ll be interested to see if I enjoy this more or less as the series goes on but I was definitely intrigued by the Arthurian-style premise, even though one of the characters is apparently an expert on the subject which feels a little too on the nose, and I’m always looking for more good polyamourous romance. Time will tell if this is one of them. Mostly because, so far, I only enjoy one side of the triad. Ash doesn’t really interest me as a character, made worse by the suspension of disbelief required around him being the bloody President, and Greer.. well. She’s just a reader insert. She doesn’t have much of a character and what she does is contradictory. How can someone purported to being so perceptive be so oblivious about Ash and Embry but also Abilene. Like, what the fuck. If shady had a colour, it would be her.
Also, I mean, speaking of suspension of disbelief, the circumstances around the romances themselves? The whole kiss thing and the pining and waiting? It just.. well, it begs some disbelief. The only thing that felt real(ish) was the backstory between Ash and Embry and I think we get more of that in book two as it looks to be Embry’s book. So I’m looking forward to seeing that unfold and the answer to some of the whys of how it all went down the way it did. Plus it might be a tad angsty. And maybe less Dom/sub’y so there could be winning all around. For me, at least.
As to that comment about skimming, well, I was tuned out for all the Dom/sub moments. I think I got through the first and then remembered I rarely can get through those scenes feeling any sort of way other than “nope” (not yucking anyone’s yum here! it’s just rare these dynamics work for me) and so spent the rest of the story skipping around them. Honestly, I’m not going to push on with this series for the steamies though it is, yes, steamy. I’m interested in the three of them, how they make it work, what more political machinations are going to ensue, and what other juicy Arthurian bits we are going to have woven into the series. We’ve seen most of the original cast by now and I want more of that. It’s one of the original messy soap operas and I love it.
So, yeah, this is a weird one to review — and I’m definitely not here to convince you any which way about it — but it was nice to have a reason to finally get into this series. No idea when I’ll get to the next but I’m sure it won’t be long now.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. **
A heartfelt queer romance in a high noon standoff with Earth’s uncertain future, full of love, loss, and laser guns. Perfect for fans of Becky Chambers and Mary Robinette Kowal.
In the distant future, climate change has reduced Earth to a hard-scrabble wasteland. Saints and sinners, lawmakers and sheriffs, gunslingers and horse thieves abound. Folk are as diverse and divided as they’ve ever been – except in their shared suspicions when a stranger comes to town.
One night a ship falls from the sky, bringing the planet’s first visitor in three hundred years.
She’s armed, she’s scared . . . and she’s looking for someone.
Title : Frontier Author : Grace Curtis Format : Physical Page Count : 256 Genre : Sci-Fi/LGBTQIAP+ Publisher : Hodder Books Release Date : March 6, 2023
This was a quick read with western vibes in a sci-fi setting. Earth was a slightly recognisable wasteland in a dystopian future of suspicion and survival. All that said, the tone of this book had a lightness to it at times.
The MC was somewhat elusive and the story was told in looping POVs that circled back to the MC. It was an unusual approach to storytelling but it mostly worked for me once I realised how it was structured.
The civilisation on Earth was interesting with a religious zealotry related to the evils of technology; guns were okay though… The stories that connected to the overall story presented an eclectic bunch of characters but I really enjoyed getting the juice on the MC and their search for their beloved.
An interesting concept with a fresh feel. Thank you to Pride Book Tours and Hodder Books for the review copy.
In the aftermath of the Ritual of Night, everything has changed.
The Eight Immortals have catastrophically failed to stop Kihrin’s enemies, who are moving forward with their plans to free Vol Karoth, the King of Demons. Kihrin has his own ideas about how to fight back, but even if he’s willing to sacrifice everything for victory, the cost may prove too high for his allies.
Now they face a choice: can they save the world while saving Kihrin, too? Or will they be forced to watch as he becomes the very evil they have all sworn to destroy.
Title : The House of Always Author : Jenn Lyons Series : A Chorus of Dragons (book four) Format : eBook (overdrive) Page Count : 523 Genre : fantasy Publisher : Tor Books Release Date : May 11, 2021
Reviewer : Hollis Rating : ★ ★.5
Hollis’ 2.5 star review
Welp, just when I had come to terms with the storytelling formula, Lyons shifted the method a bit. We’re still reliving and piecing things together but at least they aren’t sitting around reading to each other. No, they’re just all experiencing snippets of events from each other’s perspectives. I don’t know if this is better or worse. Maybe it just is.
But after just having been pleased that I’d been having a good time with the characters again? Well, we brought back a whole bunch who had been having adventures off-page (hence the memory catch-up game) and unfortunately some of those are ones I would’ve preferred never see again. These names obviously won’t mean anything to anyone who hasn’t read but : Qown. I hate you so much you dramatic coward (yes, it’s a thing). And Kalindra you were a pain. Dramatic in your own way but mostly just a bitch. You both exhausted me.
Bonus though? The thing I had anticipated not happening for a while romantic dynamics-wise based on how book three ended? Well, something allowed for some of that to happen in book four and.. I’m not mad at it.
Beyond that, the only fun part of this was how most of the story felt like a spooky locked room haunted house horror show with a ticking clock counting down the seconds until they were all.. well, killed. And the way some people were taken away was clever, too. I enjoyed that. The downside is some of the filler during the less tense scenes, between memory sharing flashbacks, was spent debating everyone’s horribleness. As in, who had done the most awful things and why. Who deserved what. Who had the most blood on their hands. Who deserved to feel guilt and shame and who didn’t deserve happiness. Who deserved to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Who would then get mad about it all. It got tired pretty quick because this isn’t a new dialogue for this series, we just had a lot of people who had betrayed a lot of the same people, who had all or were still working against each other whilst convinced it was for the greater good, in one space for an extended time.
Also, for a book about the end of end of end of end of days (IYKYK), only 1% of people die. And even then, half of them still manage to come back to life. Talk about taking the wind out of your sails stakes and tension-wise. Either we have to assume literally everyone important will survive book five for the happiest of HEAs ever or the author is going to pull something where everyone dies. Maybe not surprisingly, I’m finding my preference is for option two.
Oh, and okay I guess one other fun part was the twist. I didn’t see it coming.
So, yeah, most of this was a pain. But that kind of tracks if we look back at the pattern of how these instalments have gone. So I guess that means we’re ending on a high note for book five? Maybe? Please.
The only one who can save Sera now is the one she spent her life planning to kill.
The truth about Sera’s plan is out, shattering the fragile trust forged between her and Nyktos. Surrounded by those distrustful of her, all Sera has is her duty. She will do anything to end Kolis, the false King of Gods, and his tyrannical rule of Iliseeum, thus stopping the threat he poses to the mortal realm.
Nyktos has a plan, though, and as they work together, the last thing they need is the undeniable, scorching passion that continues to ignite between them. Sera cannot afford to fall for the tortured Primal, not when a life no longer bound to a destiny she never wanted is more attainable than ever. But memories of their shared pleasure and unrivaled desire are a siren’s call impossible to resist.
And as Sera begins to realize that she wants to be more than a Consort in name only, the danger surrounding them intensifies. The attacks on the Shadowlands are increasing, and when Kolis summons them to Court, a whole new risk becomes apparent. The Primal power of Life is growing inside her, pushing her closer to the end of her Culling. And without Nyktos’s love—an emotion he’s incapable of feeling—she won’t survive her Ascension. That is if she even makes it to her Ascension and Kolis doesn’t get to her first. Because time is running out. For both her and the realms.
Title : A Light In The Flame Author : Jennifer L Armentrout Series : Flesh & Fire #2 Format : Paperback Page Count : 652 Genre : Fantasy Publisher : Bluebox Press Release Date : November 15, 2022
Reviewer : Micky Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Micky’s 4 star review
Headlines: I still adore these two MCs Pacey read Second half addict
A Light In The Flame didn’t start out as I expected; it was a slow journey to really get to some juicy plot. However, my utter connection to Nyktos and Sera kept me persevering to the good parts. There was plot in the first half, it was just slow turning, although I appreciate there was significant relationship and character development in that portion.
Then we hit halfway and BOOM! The plot took off at speed, a lot happened and I was glued while being much happier with the pacing. The story took us to safe and trechorous places, to loyalty and betrayal (I was shook) and never once did these characters lose my interest.
Meeting Kolis for the first time was an experience but Vetes took the biscuit for me in terms of evil characterisation. I liked Bele, I adored Reaver and Jadis and Nektor was pretty amazing too. Sera had depths, anxiety, hidden mental health issues and the kind of loyalty and selflessness that was admirable. Nyktos cared but that damn kardia, I need to have more from him, I feel he’s almost there.
“I’m always in awe of you. I could keep going, but most of all, what I feel is the closest thing to peace I’ve ever experienced.”
The end of this book was that kind of painful satisfactory cliff of an ending. So much so, how am I going to make it to December to get this next book? I hope the pacing is better, but I’ll be here for it nevertheless.
A Take from Two Cities 