The Devil You Know (Mercenary Librarians #2)

I don't know how to flirt.
I only know how I feel.

Available at Amazon.com

The Devil You Know
Kit Rocha
Mercenary Librarians, book two
Kindle Edition, 336 pages
Audiobook, 13+ hours
First published August 31, 2021

Maya has had a price on her head from the day she escaped the TechCorps. Genetically engineered for genius and trained for revolution, there’s only one thing she can’t do—forget.

Gray has finally broken free of the Protectorate, but he can’t escape the time bomb in his head. His body is rejecting his modifications, and his months are numbered.

When Maya’s team uncovers an operation trading in genetically enhanced children, she’ll do anything to stop them. Even risk falling back into the hands of the TechCorps.

And Gray has found a purpose for his final days: keeping Maya safe.

The series continues with Gray and Maya's story although everyone else gets just as much page time.

Nina and Knox are still the beloved alpha pair taking care of everyone and out to save every lost and wounded soul in Atlanta.

Rafe and Dani bicker as usual as they fight off their mutual attraction to another.

Conall remains. Ava visits. And Mace is alive!

We also add another few characters to the cast and finally kill off a high ranking villain. But the story rolls on in the next installment.

3 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

Metal Slinger (Fire & Metal #1)

I will sleep wherever you want me to.
Whether it’s on the floor or in the dirt or in your bed...

Available at Amazon.com

Metal Slinger
Rachel Schneider
Fire & Metal, book one
Kindle Edition, 497 pages
First published May 12, 2024
ISBN 9798324986469

Brynn has spent the better part of her life waiting for the chance to attend the annual market hosted by the Kenta, the very same people who exiled the Alaha to live a life over the sea. A rite of passage for all young guards, she’s not sure what to expect from it, but breaking a century- long peace treaty certainly isn’t on her map.

Neither is the encounter with an enemy soldier.

Returning home to Alaha, she’s confronted with the aftermath of the day’s events. The future is uncertain as the threat of hunger looms over the people. With rumors of a growing rebellion, Brynn and her closest friends promise to stick together.

When an unexpected visitor arrives, Brynn’s loyalty will be tested as she learns of a world of magic and treachery. Once her enemy, always her enemy, right? But the dark, knowing eyes of a stranger make her question everything…

…including her heart.

Brynn is a proud member of the Alaha, a people banished to life on ships after losing the war so many years ago. It's tradition, however, for the graduating class, those coming of age, to be allowed to come to shore and visit the annual Markets. They get just one day.

It's a day Brynn has been anticipating for forever. It's also the day her best friend, Kai, has chosen to reveal to her that he's asked his parents' permission to choose her at the Matching Ceremony.

But Kai is the Captain's son. And Brynn is an urchin. Not the most ideal match. And he'd never even hinted of his affection for her before that moment. So, she bolts...

Into the crowd of the Market, lost among the Kenta and their strange clothes. The women in their richly colored skirts and dresses. The soldiers in their metal helmets with just the slightest slits with which to see.

Soon enough, she catches someone's eyes. Someone she's noticed before. Someone who's following her.

Dark hair, dark eyes, a gold ring in one nostril. Lips I somehow know often say crude things-or maybe it's his entire demeanor that tells me that, but there's something inherently vulgar in his beauty.

Color me intrigued.

Brynn attempts to lose her stalker but sure enough she gets caught, and accused of being a thief. As disorienting as it was to be dropped into mid conversation with the very first line of this book, the turn a nice trip to the markets took into a wild chase was just as jolting.

He orders the command into my ear for only me to hear, sending a shiver down my spine. “Place your hand against the stone.” He’s not simply playing games with me like I had suspected.

I shake my head despite the sting of the blade. “Why are you doing this?”

He’s done waiting for me to comply. Instead, he uses his free hand to grab mine and places my trembling palm against the warm stone, his hand covering mine.

Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt before lances through my body. Heat sears my arm and my chest, down my body and into my legs. It’s like a live current, similar to the electric eels found in the coral outside Alaha, but times a thousand. I scream.

Then, in the span of a blink, it’s over.

…

I look up, up, up and into the soldier’s face. He looks as stunned as I feel, eyes wide as he stares down at me, breath frozen in his chest.

Kai’s voice shouts over the gathered voices. “Let her go!”

But the soldier doesn’t break eye contact with me, something between awe and fear staring back at me.

“I said,” Kai demands, the voice he rarely uses silencing the crowd. “Let her go.”

The soldier is slow to turn, head swiveling in Kai’s direction before his gaze slides away from me, face transforming from awestruck to cold as he looks at Kai. “That won’t work on me,” he says, voice low and undeterred. “You have no power here.”

I struggle to get to my feet, legs giving way when I try to put my weight on them. I can’t look behind me to see Kai’s expression, but the unflinching gaze of the soldier tells me this isn’t going to end without collateral damage. He flips the blade in his hand, a visual reminder that Kai and I are defenseless against him and his men.

“Let her go,” Kai repeats, more placating than before.

The soldier tips a brow. “She’s not yours.”

::chokes::

Sir, I don’t yet know your name but I like you. Watching the wrong woman though. Damn, Aurora, was blowing up the market really your go-to? Brynn was just here for the pastries. And Kai? Big Aetos energy with that one, except he'd actually chuck the rigid pda rules just for a kiss. While Messer is their best swordsman and resident peacemaker and slut.

Love Kai's parents! But "suspect?" Rofl. You suspect the girl who blew up the market is a part of an uprising? What was your second clue? Still, it's so refreshing when characters have loving, supportive parents.

I picked this ebook up somewhat randomly while recovering from the beating I took from AcoMaF. If I didn't find a proper distraction I would have grabbed up Wings & Ruin and no... No. This Maas addiction will not be made real.

Every chapter, one after another, is just checking each of my boxes. Every character. Every detail. All the things I love about fantasy romance right here. Rachel Schneider, the writer that you are!

Then Acker finally starts talking-his name being the only downfall of this book-and now my mind is reeling because a large percentage of the characters I love may be the devil in disguise. And I'm loving them even more for it!

This book is wild and oh so good. Kai has a secret. Messer has a secret. Acker has many secrets. Oh how the twists turn and the turns twist! The eyun! The squid! Hallis with the wisdom. Beau! Gurl! Here I thought Aurora was the badass chick of the book, and then Beau says Hold my beer.

And take a lesson, Feyre darling. This is how one responds when they discover their mate knew about the bond and didn't reveal it. Very demure. Very mindful.

There's a shift that happens in the story where what is fun and romantic becomes dark and erotic and violent. And then Chapter 56 happened and it broke my brain. Turns out the one with the most secrets... was Jovinnia.

“Use your magic on me again
and I’ll take it as an invitation to do the same.”

5 out of 5 stars. And I still don't know what he said when he hit him!! He hit him! He damn well hit him! Whatdidhesayyyyy??Whydidhehithimmm???

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook



If book two isn't Acker hunting her to the ends of the earth then I don't want it. He is too good a character to be collateral damage. Justice for Acker! Justice for the man who wanted to swim among the stars!!

The Ippos King (Wraith Kings #3)

It's just the aftermath of relief at avoiding death,

her reason told her turbulent emotions.

Her emotions guffawed and told her reason to kindly fuck off.

Available at Amazon.com

The Ippos King
Grace Draven
Wraith Kings, book three
Kindle Edition, 437 pages
First published October 6, 2020
ISBN 9781641972246

The demonic horde that threatened to devour the world has been defeated, but at great cost. Plagued by guilt and nightmares, Serovek Pangion sets out to deliver the soulless body of the monk Megiddo to the heretical Jeden Order for safekeeping. Accompanying him is sha-Anhuset, the Kai woman he admires and desires most--a woman barely tolerant of him.

Devoted to her regent, Anhuset reluctantly agrees to act as a Kai ambassador on the trip, even though the bold margrave known as the Beladine Stallion gets under her skin like no other, and Anhuset fears he'll worm his way into her armored heart as well.

But guilt and unwelcome attraction are the least of their problems. The demons thought vanquished are stirring again, and a warlord with blood-soaked ambition turns a journey of compassion into a fight for survival. When the Beladine king brands Serovek a traitor, Anhuset must choose between sacrificing the life of a man she's grown to love and abandoning lifelong fealty to the Kai people.

A tale of loyalty and acceptance.

I was delighted to find that book three in the Wraith Kings series takes a sidestep and focuses on Serovek, the noble, human ally that all but sacrificed himself to aid Brishen in the quest against the demon horde, and Anhuset, Brishen's bastard, female cousin and second in command. I love me some Anhuset.

Serovek? He's in awe of her. Her mind. Her skills. And yes, her body.

While she, true of her kind, finds him abhorrent. His eyes are like bugs about to pop out of his skull... But his hair? His hair she likes. And his strength. His compassion. His courage. His wit. And yes, she might have ogled his arse a time or two.

Girl has it bad and she's at constant war with herself. And when she's not telling her inner, lustful demons to kindly fuck off, she's being the master, er mistress, of mixed signals. You're ugly. Are you married? You're an annoyance. Why haven't you remarried?

And when she plucked the ribbon from the mud.. awe... Our girl's a softie inside.

“Ah gods,” he said in a rough voice. “We made love, didn't we? And I don't remember any of it.” He shifted position, cursing from the pain it caused him. “You weren't jesting when you said I wouldn't survive you.” 

...

Serovak regarded her, trading his frown for a half smile. “Battered and pissed on, you're still beautiful.”

“And I didn't think you could get any uglier.”

His smile grew, accompanied by a wince. “Does this mean I can't coax you under me?”

“The beating has made you delirious. I doubt you can even stand at the moment.” Her mind recognized his jesting, but her body reacted otherwise, sending a hot blush flowing under her skin. Her heart, barely slowed after the climb, resumed its previous heavy beat.

Serovek waved a hand in a careless motion. “Some bruises, a few cracked ribs. They didn't geld me.”

“Don't think the idea didn't occur to them. And you didn't mention the black eyes. Your nose is broken too. You're in no shape for a swiving.”

He snorted. “I'm beaten, not dead. I'd suggest you be on top, but you weigh as much as my horse. You'll break the rest of my bones those shit maggots didn't get to.” A chuff of laughter escaped her. “Ah, there it is,” he marveled, as if he'd turned back a threadbare cloth to reveal a valuable jewel.

It has action, romance, suspense, banter... Ah, the banter. I laughed till my eyes cried. Bless you, Anhuset.

And I'm still damning you, Feyre.

She's no longer sha though. Not sure how I feel about that. Margavina just doesn't have the same ring to it. And the Ippos King? Did I miss the part where the title was relevent to the story? A mere reference to the Beladine Stallion perhaps??

4 out of 5 stars.



Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

A Court of Mist and Fury (ACOTAR #2)

There you are.
I've been looking for you.

Other Editions Available at Amazon.com

A Court of Mist & Fury
Sarah J. Maas
ACOTAR, book two
656 pages, Paperback
Audiobook, 19+ hours
Night Court Edition published April 29, 2025
ISBN 9781639736706


Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now possesses the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, the mesmerising High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates his dark web of political games and tantalising promises, a greater evil looms – and she might be key to stopping it.

But only if she can step into her growing power, heal her fractured soul and have the courage to shape her own future – and the future of a world cloven in two...

Everyone deserves a second chance. This was Feyre's.

Three months have passed since what went down in A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Feyre is miserable. And yet... Rhysand come get this damn woman. She's being stupid again!

She's haunted by her kills. She has nightmares. She's vomiting at all hours of the night. She's trapped under guard, in a house, losing weight, turning pale, panic driven at the color red... and she's still f#€^£;#% Tamlin!! I know women like this exist but there is not an iota of my being that can relate to this kind of insanity. Feyre is the only person to go from human to Fae and actually have a glow down instead of up.

Part 2 ::

Being in Velaris, at the restaurant, sitting round the table and sharing their history - how they met and the obstacles they'd overcome - was so very reminiscent of the League. It took me back to Nykyrian and yes, Rhysand very much gave Syn vibes, and I had all the feels as this small team divulged how Rhys had come to have his Inner Circle: his Second, Morrigan; his Third, Amren; the commander of his armies, Cassien; and his spy, Azriel.

Page after page, chapter after chapter, I was trying my best to like Feyre. I was desperate to see her through Rhysand's eyes and kept reminding myself that she does have redeemable qualities. She is a survivor. When faced with a challenge, she will drag herself up to meet it. What she loves, she will destroy herself to protect. But she's being so *difficult*. The way she thinks. The choices she wrestles with. The mantra she clings to only to forsake.

I was a wolf. I was a wolf. I was a wolf. ...I'm not an animal.

What dafuq?!

And then there's her relationship with Tamlin.

“I had done everything—everything for that love. I had ripped myself to shreds, I had killed innocents and debased myself, and he had sat beside Amarantha on that throne. And he couldn’t do anything, hadn’t risked it—hadn’t risked being caught until there was one night left, and all he’d wanted to do wasn’t free me, but fuck me, and—”

And when Amarantha had broken me, when she had snapped my bones and made my blood boil in its veins, he’d just knelt and begged her. He hadn’t tried to kill her, hadn’t crawled for me. Yes, he’d fought for me—but I’d fought harder for him.

And he had the nerve once his powers were back to shove me into a cage. The nerve to say I was no longer useful; I was to be cloistered for his peace of mind. He’d given me everything I needed to become myself, to feel safe, and when he got what he wanted—when he got his power back, his lands back … he stopped trying. He was still good, still Tamlin, but he was just … wrong.

And then I was sobbing through my clenched teeth, the tears washing away that infected wound, and I didn’t care that Cassian was there, or Rhys or Azriel.

How. Many. Times. Will this woman break apart over this pathetic cretin before enough is enough.

But we press on and in true Maas fashion, after about thirty chapters, we find our stride and all is going swimmingly. A visit to the Summer Court. A side quest with Amren.

And then...

I swore as I slammed into the post of the stairwell landing.

You're wrong for that, Maas! I laughed then and I laugh now but you're wrong for that.

Then there came a point, however brief. And I don't know how I got there, but I didn't want this book to end. Maybe it was the spice of 42. Maybe it was the rage of 43. Maybe even the hope found in 44. Maybe it was the culmination of knowing the hell that Rhysand had been suffering for years was reaching its end.

Details got caught up in my consciousness that I would dwell on for hours. The words that he'd said. The questions he'd asked. For Feyre's benefit or his own?

Here was the High Lord of the Night Court with a mate—once in love with the High Lord of Spring—now telling the High Lord of the Summer Court how easy it would be to fall in love with him. Feyre darling, you are lethal to this man's self esteem.

Oh yes, this book was under my skin.

And then finally, finally, it happened: Feyre became the main character I needed her to be. She effortlessly yielded her powers, declared her independence, stood against Lucien (Not Tamlin, but meh), molded her wings and made her choice. Yes, we had faltered a bit when she oh so appallingly told the man who had spent fifty years placating his captor as a whore that all she wanted was fun and a distraction from him... But, fine, push passed, ignore that trigger...We were here.. and then, just.. as.. swiftly...

You bitch.

"...take whatever pieces that you offered"

He was willing to take whatever she offered and all I could hear in my head as my eyes flew over the words on the pages was Stop, Feyre. StopitFeyre. Stop. It. Feyre!

"I don't want to hear this."

That's what she'd said to him as he poured his heart out. Before she demanded he, poisoned, bloodied, and weak from torture, use whatever power he had left to winnow her home where she left him on his elbows and knees in the mud.

And I just sat there as the chapter closed—raging, tearful, devastated—with a book in my hands too pretty to throw.

Part 3 ::

I don't have the words for Chapter 54 but Feyre is Cauldron blessed that she managed to sort herself out before nightfall. Even if it did take five days for her to face Rhys again. Five days! Just go paint your little pictures, Feyre, it’s not like we’re preparing for a war or anything.

Hasn't that man suffered enough from a volatile female? Feyre... Maas... What are you doing? Why is the lead female continuously lashing out against a far more traumatized leading male? Out to single-handedly exemplify that hurt people hurt people? Using his vulnerabilities against him. It’s gross.

And from that point I was just ready to be done. No more rollercoaster. No more struggling to love a character hell bent on jumping from victim to villain and back again.

I love this world. I like Lucien and Rhysand and Mor and Azriel and Cassien and Amren. It's Tamlin and these damned humans that keep ruining things. I don’t know if I’ll venture again into the Maasverse. Certainly not anytime soon.

5 out of 5 stars. I can give it no less. This book emotionally wrecked me.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook


Previously in the series:

One good thing about coming into a series ten years late is that the fanart is abundant and on point!

Shadow Wars (Secret War #1)

We all have pain to bear.
It just wears different faces and attacks us in different places.

Available at Amazon.com

Shadow Wars
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Hinako Hishinuma & Madaug Hishinuma
Secret War, book one
255 pages, Kindle edition
Published May 27, 2025
ISBN 9798200751044


From bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon and debut authors Hinako & Madaug Hishinuma comes a middle-grade fantasy adventure unlike any other, where demons rub shoulders with gods and one boy must learn to control his power before it's too late.

Banished, isolated, and hunted for a destiny he doesn’t understand, Ryuichi must learn to master the powers he inherited from his mother in order to protect the sacred gates that separate the mortal world from the realm of demons. If he doesn’t, kami, yōkai, and demons who are determined to make humanity suffer will flood the human realm.

No one can be trusted. Not even his own guardian … And here he thought puberty was the worst thing to threaten his sanity.

If he’s going to survive, Ryuichi must figure out who his real allies are—and who wants him dead. He’ll learn that sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right, and to overcome evil, you might have to bend the rules—and believe in people others tell you not to trust.

This book, written by one of my favorite authors in collaboration with her children, was a part of my son's assigned summer reading.

It is a good book. It's fast paced. There's a lot of characters that seem to swoop in and out. Multiple POV changes. To put it succinctly, my head was spinning.

That said, the characters are fantastic. There's many deep, haunting themes but also there's humor throughout. And although I'm not the biggest fan of making light of alcohol addiction, it certainly is no where near as offensive as Jiraiya's affliction. And I make that reference because this book obviously has all the anime feels and anyone who is a Naruto fan should find some enjoyment in the reading of it.

What I appreciated most were the many proverbs dispersed throughout the pages. The pantheon of Japanese mythology. The folklore. The culture.

Ryuichi is an orphan without a family name. His mother and father are long forgotten by the mortals that roam in and out of his young life. He is bullied but is he far from broken and as he comes of age, the powers he inherited from his parents are surging to the surface.

With the help of his guardian, a ronin, a couple kitsunes, and a few capable kids, Ryuichi discovers he is someone of value. He is not worthless. He is loved. He is not forgotten.

3 out of 5 stars.



Available in ebook | hardcover |  audiobook

Eidolon (Wraith Kings #2)

Promise you'll be here for me to return to.

Available at Amazon.com

Eidolon
Grace Draven
Wraith Kings, book two
ebook, 291 pages
First published April 18, 2016
ISBN 9781310196522

In a bid for more power, the Shadow Queen of Haradis has unleashed a malignant force into the world. Her son Brishen, younger prince of the Kai royal house, suddenly finds himself ruler of a kingdom blighted by a diseased darkness and on the brink of war. His human wife Ildiko must decide if she will give up the man she loves in order to secure his throne.

Three enemy kingdoms must unite to save each other, and a one-eyed, reluctant king must raise an army of the dead to defeat an army of the damned.

A tale of alliance and sacrifice.

It’s been ten years since I read this book’s predecessor, but this sequel took me back to all the warm feels of Brishen, a spare prince of little value, his hag of a bride, Ildiko, (I jest. Sort of.) and their fantastical love story.

When Brishen's mother unleashes a horde of galla (demons) into their world, it is left to Brishen, the seemingly lone survivor of their royal line, to save the kingdom. Now, the Kai prince whose only worth was to be wed to a human noblewoman to secure an alliance, is left with the feat of betraying his people's access to their magic in order to sever his spirit from his body. To become an eidolon. To become a Wraith King. To raise an army of the dead in order to force the galla back through the breach and seal it shut. And now, the same duty that forced a wife upon him would require him to put her aside.

For Ildiko is a human and, as such, she can never produce an heir for Brishen. And while Brishen may be willing to die for the kingdom, he will not surrender the wife he has grown to love. Ildiko, though, is under no illusion of her own value in the predicament, and begins strategizing a worthy replacement to serve as Brishen’s wife and queen. Even as her heart is breaking.

Mercifully, and fortunately, a loyal nursemaid and two royal guards have secured the infant daughter of Brishen’s brother. Their only task is to see her safely delivered to Brishen to be raised as queen. If the spirit of Brishen’s vile mother doesn’t possess her first.

3 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

A Court of Thorns & Roses (ACOTAR #1)

What do I care?

Available at Amazon.com

A Court of Thorns & Roses
Sarah J. Maas
ACOTAR, book one
Paperback, 419 pages
Published June 2, 2020
ISBN 9781635575569

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

I don’t know how I’ve never heard of this series but I managed to be convinced to read book two, A Court of Mist and Fury, and I can’t very well in good conscience skip over book one so, without even reading the blurb, here we are.

Smh. I should have just skipped to book two.

The first chapter was sad. And the main character is a bigot. Not off to the best start.

But Tamlin made me smile (once, and never again) and Lucien’s hostility was intriguing enough so on I continued as the two Fae worked on eradicating Feyre’s prejudices.

The plot - Feyre is a young woman of nineteen tasked with providing for herself, her father, and her two older sisters. Her mother is long deceased and any riches the family once possessed have dwindled to a tiny cottage. This doesn’t shy the woman from looking down on everyone though. Resentful and oh so judgmental.

On a hunt to sustain the family, Feyre crosses paths with what appears to be a wolf targeting the same deer in the woods. Wolf kills deer. Feyre kills wolf. Feyre skins wolf. Feyre leaves wolf’s corpse to rot in the winter woods.

But that wolf was a Fae. And that Fae had friends.

And so, Tamlin, High Lord of the Spring Court, invokes the rights to a life for a life as dictated by the treaty between their two peoples and collects Feyre to join him in Prythian as not his prisoner or slave, but as his guest.

There you have it. Beauty and the Beast. At the most diabolical level.

Spoilers and a profane rant below.

Beauty and the Beast meets... Saw? Because wtf else did I just read??

She's his pet.

About halfway through this book, I had a question that was nagging to be answered because apparently I’m developing a habit of questioning the role of the love interest… Am I suppose to like Tamlin? I knew he wasn't endgame thanks to Booktok and what little I'd pieced together about book two, but was I suppose to even like him? Despise him? Was I suppose to despise everyone? Because aside from Lucien, that was the path I was on.

And then Rhysand shows up and what a breath of fresh air... Yes, you beautiful, dark creature! Avenge me for the pain they’ve put me through! Torture them all!

If only I had skipped the first seventy percent of this book... Feyre is awful. Tamrin… fucking hell. The entire plot is based on a lie and a curse. Fuck him. Fuck his whole court.

Pages 290 through half of 415 was all I needed. Didn't even finish the last bit because Rhysand was gone and to hell if I was going to suffer through Tammy again.

The bond between us went taut.

Are we really not going to talk about that? ^^

Am I going to still give it a go with book two? A grumbled yes.

Why? Because Rhysand is the devil and I hope to see all these characters, aside from Lucien, burning in hell.

And because I’ve already purchased it.

“Well, good-bye for now,” he said, rolling his neck as if we hadn’t been talking about anything important at all. He bowed at the waist, those wings vanishing entirely, and had begun to fade into the nearest shadow when he went rigid.

His eyes locked on mine, wide and wild, and his nostrils flared. Shock—pure shock flashed across his features at whatever he saw on my face, and he stumbled back a step. Actually stumbled.”

2 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Dire Bound (Wolves of Ruin #1)

Welcome home, my queen.

Available at Amazon.com

Dire Bound
Sable Sorensen
Wolves of Ruin, book one
Kindle Edition, 682 pages
First published February 26, 2025
ISBN 9780316601405

Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them.

Meryn Cooper has always hated the Bonded, elite warriors who form mental links with the massive, vicious direwolves they ride. While they live in luxury, Meryn struggles to keep her family out of poverty. When her little sister, Saela, is kidnapped—stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting—Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army and is thrown into the deadly Bonding Trials, where any mistake will cost her life.

Now Meryn must survive four months of training at the castle. She is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her cold and beautiful instructor, Stark Therion, is eager to punish any weakness.

Everything is a competition, and everyone is out to get her—everyone except the dangerously handsome crown prince, whose attention adds another target to her back. In the castle, every smile hides a knife…and the halls hide dark secrets.

It’s bond or bleed. Duel or die. Failure is ruin.

Hunger Games meets Fourth Wing. That's what I was told. And they did not disappoint.

This will contain spoilers. You’ve been warned.

Meryn Cooper lives in a war torn world where the army and the Bonded, the king's elite warriors, face off against the Siphons, a vampire like enemy that has allegedly been abducting children for as long as Meryn can remember. Few have survived a Nabber's encounter, and those that are taken are never seen again.

Meryn is a fighter. Literally. It started ten years ago when her father was killed in the war and Meryn was left at twelve years old to care for her mentally ill mother and raise her newborn sister, Saela. She began picking fights with older boys in the alleys on a self destructive path that would have led to her death had Igor not taken her in under his tutelage and trained her properly. When her inherited job at the Laundry barely paid the bills, afforded her sister's tuition, or covered her mother's very necessary medication, Meryn turn to fighting professionally for the extra coin. She gained herself confidence, survival skills, and even a romantic partner that stood ready to patch her up once the fight was over.

That would be Lee. He works in the castle as a Messenger. He's a good guy. He supports her. He helps her take care of her family. He has zero apparent red flags. Which caused me to side eye the hell out of him because this is a fantasy romance so, obviously, he needed to go away.

With her mother's delusions worsening and the Nabber's strike closer than ever before, Meryn begins to train her sister and the local children in self defense, weighing the option of selling her skills to those of wealth and privilege in the Northern Quarter so that she may finally have the funds to get her family further out of harm's reach.

But then Saela is gone; taken in a moment of distraction. And when Meryn finally pulls herself out her depression and seclusion, she takes the only path left to her: she enlists in the army. Her goal is the front lines and a chance to make it past the border and recover her sister. 

Her timing is impeccable. For she enlists, unbeknownst to her, on the eve of the Bonding Trials. 

Bonding a Dire Wolf? Not the plan. Despite the magic she could tap into by doing so. She survives the Ascent, makes a few allies, and gets herself claimed by Anassa, a she-wolf far older than any of the other direwolves. It's the first time Anassa has ever bonded to a human and Meryn's ungrateful ass likely convinces Anassa to make it her last as well. 

Within this army are four packs that are separated based on their designations. The Phylax are the guardians. The Kryptos are the spies. The Strategos are the leaders and tacticians. And the Daemos are the warriors. Wolf determines pack. Anassa is Strategos so Meryn goes with the leaders.

And here we are offically introduced to the alpha of the Daemos: Stark Therion, and his dire wolf, Cratos. To which I respond: No.

No… no no. Nononono. Not this guy. This guy? This is the potential love interest? The guy who disemboweled a deserter in the middle of the street and, before the heart even stopped beating, threw the body to his direwolf as a snack? This guy.

But okay... Trust the process. 

And then there it was—the red flag.

I have never slammed my kindle shut so fast.

His name is Killian.

Crown. Prince. Killian.

And he would not be going away.

The absolute savagery. And it’s not just the wolves. Although… oof. But don’t fuck with Meryn. Unless you want your offending hand severed and shoved down your throat.

Oh, well. Earned herself a tat at least.

He leans down, his breath now hot against my neck. And his tongue streaks over my skin.

The alpha warrior, or the prince? The one that shoves you into battle, or the one that patches up the wounds when you return?

The man that delivers an all out attack the first time you’re alone together, or the man that watches over your ill mother and sees to the repairs of your dilapidated home?

Two very strong contenders. Both with their charms and their faults.

Stark, or Killian?

His Princess, or his Kitten?

Anassa certainly had an opinion.

I wasn’t feeling Stark at first. Not that he gave me much to work with. He’s basically skirting the light for half of the book, every so often serving as Meryn’s tattoo artist. But then Sorensen gives him a library.

And there I go slamming shut my kindle again. Because how am I anywhere but in Stark's corner after that?

But next I'm fighting the urge to throw the book across the room. And by the end, I had dropped it twice because: Mind. Blown.

Sure, any reader would have suspected the call was coming from inside the house. But the depth and breadth and length that these two men had traversed… The horse. The deserter. That dress. The dress that made her heart sing. The room, of all the rooms. You fucked up, Stark! And well played, Killian.

Well done, Annie and Eliza.

Make me your instrument of vengeance.
Let my hands act out your every savage, depraved thought.
Use me. I’m yours.

Hands up. Knees down. I submit.

5 out of 5 stars. This is the kind of book you want to flip back to the beginning and experience again.

Available in ebook | paperback | hardcover soon to be released