By Blood & Magic (Dragon Portal #2)

But please remember, you're not those Fae, and I'm not those dragons.

Available at Amazon.com

By Blood and Magic
Jamie A. Waters
Dragon Portal, book two
Kindle edition, 403 pages
Audiobook, 14+ hours
Published March 26, 2020
ISBN 9781949524185
ASIN B07XYCBKMQ


A priceless treasure is hidden within the ocean's depths...Sabine barely managed to escape from Akros with her life.

But the ocean isn't safe for someone whose power stems from the forests.

When their ship is attacked on the high seas and one of Sabine's companions is taken hostage, only an agreement forged by blood and magic may save her friend's life.

The pearl of the sea is also the key to the gods' revenge...

With the dragon portal failing and the gods' magic threatening to destroy their world, Sabine must choose between following her heart or upholding a sacred oath.

The cost of ending a centuries-old feud may be higher than anyone expected.

All magic demands a sacrifice--even if it's hers.

A brief summary, with spoilers, rolling in...

Sabine escapes the Wild Hunt by joining Malek on his ship in a quest to find the lost Fae artifacts that powered the sealing of the portal. She is joined by Bane, the paranoid and overprotective demon. Also, Blossom the pixie, and Esme the witch.

Then the merfolk attack the ship and Esme and a dozen of Malek's men go overboard and become hostages. Sabine takes over, captures a merman, and they negotiate. If she finds their missing mermaid, Pearl, they'll return her people.

Malek transforms into his dragon form and flies the ship somewhere to get repaired.

Soon after, Sabine, Malek, and Bane are taken captive by raiders. Sabine and Malek alter their connection marks, and the goddess siezes the opportunity to use their power combination to smite the entire raiding party.

Bane then chooses to go back to oversee the work on the ship as he's also *finally* come to terms with the fact that Sabine has no intention of keeping distance from Malek.

Sabine, Malek, and their cheerleader, Blossom, set off to find Pearl. They end up in a village on the verge of their traditional burning ceremony in which they set fire to all magical creatures. In return for aiding the granddaughter of a woman with sight, Sabine is given a hint where to look for the lost mer.

Malek uses what's left of his energy to save innocents, and Sabine once again alters their connection to give him the strength to get out of the city. And when Malek finds out the details of that significant act, he's not happy. She's disrupted the balance between them. He can pull from her magic at will, void her glamour, leaving her vulnerable. He pushes her to change it back, but that's not possible. So he offers to make it equivalent. Which she accepts. Only, she can't handle the intensity of the flow of his dragon power and it burns at her. Suddenly, Blossom, is darting at Malek's back, poking and biting and stabbing with pixie dust and yelling at him to release her.

And as I laugh I wonder... did she just mate bond him?

A few revelations come to light. For one, although Malek believed Sabine to be about a century old, she's only twenty-seven. Secondly, Sabine's father and brother aren't the only ones that want her dead—her mother did, too. Malek can connect to Sabine's consciousness despite their distance. A couple more unseemly characters, and they end up in Faerie with a gong announcing her arrival and recognizing her as the rightful heir. It's a short visit, but it ends with Sabine spearing one of the True Folk for corrupting the treeheart.

They reunite with Bane, who all but instantly throws himself into an attack at Malek. Dammit, Bane! The demon senses how much their connection has altered Sabine's magic. It's bound her to the light and as she has both Seelie and Unseelie powers... this complicates her claim to the Unseelie throne. Too much light, and she becomes her Seelie father's subject.

Artifacts acquired, in addition to the chalice in book one: Pearl.

4 out of 5 stars. And I believe we could have a new drinking game for every time Malek pushes Sabine's hair behind her ear.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

In the Veins of the Drowning (Siren Mage #1)

Lady Imogen, I have eyes.

Available at Amazon.com

In the Veins of the Drowning
Kalie Cassidy
The Siren Mage, book one
Kindle edition, 377 pages
Published July 15, 2025
ASIN B0D1BMW3F3
ISBN 9780316587617


The monster is always slain…

Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain hidden beneath her skin.

When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save both their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen’s power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee the kingdom together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her own ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her—the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.

This book did not start out well for me. The first chapter alone was far too cryptic and downright depressing. Is the king her fiance? No. Is he her father? No. The captain is her fiance. King Nemea just adopted her, doing so for her inheritence after the death of her parents.

And the mysterious man atop the fortress walls is Theodore. The love interest? With that name. Gah.

The fiance, Evander, is... not awful. Except that his response to her being sick off the wine is to give her a chunk of bread and she's tired and short of breath, so his remedy is to take her to her room, remove her clothes, and have her dry mount his cock. What am I reading?!

I take it back. He's awful. But it's Imogen that disgusts me. And then she's going off on how Theo (Yes, Theo because Theodore is a chipmunk) has never done this and never done that. Uh, excuse you. You just met this man. You shared two whole conversations and a dance. You know nothing about him!

I haven't been this repulsed by a FMC since Feyre.

She's been resigned to this pitiful existence for years, had accepted the fate as Evander's bride, but now, now, that she wants out, well *snap snap* everybody needs to throw caution and reason to the wind, tempt war and whatever else to give the poor, unfortunate siren what she demands. Save her, because for some damn reason she can't save herself.

Oh wait, she can. And I can't roll my damn eyes hard enough. If that wasn't the most anticlimactic death of a 'villain' I've endured in a long while. A man being lured to drown by a siren.

Perhaps I'm being unfairly harsh. This is my first siren story afterall. But... it is what it is. This is an honest blog.

“You killed your fiancé,” he said in a brutal whisper, “and then you came here moments later to beg me to leave in the middle of the night and take you with me?”

“No.” I looked him squarely in the eye—I had nothing left to lose. “I came to bind myself to you.”

The air around us thinned. His voice was deadly quiet. “You’re out of your mind.”

“Perhaps.” I didn’t bother to hide the desperation in my voice. “But I have nothing left to armor myself in except your protection and you refused to give it.”

His gaze was filled with the embers’ light, with incredulity. “I did not refuse. I said I needed time.”

Out of her mind, or has the brain of a fish. Either way, I'm one hundred percent with Theo on this. And he did say he needed time. That's not a refusal despite what her twisted mind has concocted.

24% completed. And I'm done.

DNF

Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook

Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts #1)

I stood with her, only her, until the end of our stories.

(2025 cover edition)
Available at Amazon.com

Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent
The War of Lost Hearts, book one
Kindle edition, 520 pages
Published January 7, 2020
Hardcover, 512 pages
Published October 14, 2025
ASIN B082FRD429
ISBN 9781250405364


A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.

Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.

Tisaanah survived the catastrophies of war only to be delivered into slavery as a child. And eventually ended up with a master that promised her freedom if she could only afford the price: one thousand silvers.

And today, at twenty-one years of age, she's finally done it.

But, her master is a liar. And now Tasaanah is forced to flee with help from her best friend, Serel, who stays behind to give her time to escape and make it to the ships. She must sail to Ara, to the Orders.

Tasaanah's one hope is to learn to master her magic and return for her friend and for her people.

Max is a loner. He's done with the politics. Done with the wars. Buuuut Tisaananah's intentions are noble. Hopeful. Desperate. And so, he succumbs to Nura's insistence that he take on the role as Tasaanah's teacher. She becomes his apprentice and he begins to train her.

And despite the pretenses, Max is a sweetheart. As Miraselle said, he's just so nice. When he wants to be.

Tasaanah, Max, and Sammerin are recruited by Nura to be a part of a show of force against Pathyr Savoi who is refusing to abdicate now that his family has been removed from power following his father being declared a traitor and violently slain in the street. There was to be no bloodshed.

But then Pathyr decides to blow the place up instead and suddenly we're in a battle and magic is slinging up, down, and sideways. Tasaanah is wielding daggers. Sammerin is building a dam of dead bodies. Max is shaking, barely keeping it together. And I'm triggered enough to yell "Objection, Foundation," because where the hell is all this coming from?!

They're moving in sync, gaining ground as a unit, and still, where does a dancing slave from Threll get this training?!

But okay, I'm along for the ride.

Especially when Tasaanah slips into Max's mind to give him sight beyond what they could physically see from their standpoint. And then her mind is riding his flames, winding through the halls of what's left of the castle, seeking the enemy, intent on breaking their spell.

And. So. Much. Is. Happening.

Then Tasaanah's mind flashes back to her whipping and the twenty-seven lashes that preceeded the death of her master. And I can finally take a breath as everything goes dark.

Tasaanah and Max are absolutely precious together. His words often mirror her thoughts. They compliment one another and fit almost seemlessly as their relationship goes from strangers to mentor and apprentice and effortlessly into friendship.

I appreciate how this author doesn't waste paragraphs going on and on with descriptive nonsense trying to build some kind of atmosphere or scene. Somehow, with so few words, the reader is drawn into the mood, into the moment in this world, just by the characters, their actions, and their words. The focus is the conversation and somehow that alone gives light to everything else one could imagine around them. It's with every Clip, Clip, Clip instead of droning on about the flowers themselves, their colors and the size of their blossoms or the strength of their fragrance.

This is world building at its finest, for me. Leave more to be imagined.

And may we spare a moment to appreciate how these two characters can fall asleep beside one another in the garden and not wake up wrapped around one another? The innocence of these two war-beaten souls, I tell you. It's a whole other form of intimacy.

But the attraction is there. And the heat of the slow burn is sizzling while their friendship and subtle romance is just divine.

This isn’t what I want.

It all depended on the definition of “this” — whether those words were unshakably true or the biggest fucking lie I had ever told anyone else or myself.

If “this” was the sensation of her lips against my neck, or that little sound that I suspected she didn’t even know she’d made, or the way that she felt enveloped in my arms...

If “this” was the sound of her voice, or the way she saw the world, or her stupid jokes...

"I never expected this from you, Tisaanah,” I choked out. We were still so close. Our noses almost touched. I could barely focus on the words I forced out of my mouth. “Almost every single person in your life has used you. And I’m not— This isn’t—"

And I wouldn’t be another one of those people, unwittingly or not.

This isn’t what I want.

If “this” was her lips, her body, her kiss, her touch, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about those things. If I hadn’t had to shove them into a dark corner of my mind, never to be disturbed, never to be addressed.

But if “this” was her friendship, her companionship, her trust? Her happiness? Her safety?

Those things were worth more to me than anything else ever would be. Downright precious.

And for that, I would throw everything else into a box and lock it away never to be acknowledged, permanently, if that’s where they needed to be.

Spoilers ahead.

Tisaanah succeeds in her trials, only to be presented with a test greater than anything she or Max had anticipated. Because they (Nura and Arch Commandant Zeryth) have plans for Tisaanah. Plans that Max had unwittingly, and so foolishly, played into all along.

There is a magic strong enough to end any war. A sentient magic that selectively chooses its host, bonding itself to them. And they expect it to choose Tisaanah, just as it had chosen Max so many years ago.

And despite Max's pleas that she not go, that she not accept anything offered to her, there is nothing Tisaanah would not give of herself to save her people.

Tisaanah agrees with Zeryth's plan, albeit with well thought out conditions, and the story takes a turn as she awakens with a voice in her head. Reshaye. And not just a voice, but memories. Max's memories.

She's now basically possesed by Max's haunted past and his demon, a demon (my word, not the author's) that has been cast aside, abandoned, and tortured. Reshaye is a force that is no stranger to its anger, fueled by its repeated suffered betrayals.

And with its arrival, so, too, do we get a continuous pattern of Max's POV. Ascended above, what a POV it is! Just like The Silversmith, I found myself just about highlighting his every word. Oh, Maxantarius—the friend, ally, and battlemate that you are!

5 out of 5 stars. This is an extremely underhyped book. And of all the books I've read, this, if nothing else, deserves a film adaptation. The story is so simple but would be glorious on the big screen.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook (Not recommending this in audiobook)

Come For Me (Hunt #1)

Interesting. It seems murder is my love language.

Available at Amazon.com

Come For Me
C.J. Sweet
The Hunt, book one
328 pages, Kindle Edition
Audiobook, ~14 hours
Published October 4, 2024
ISBN 9798990912007

Alaina
He’s waited a long time for me, but I’ve waited longer for the truth. Not even the king himself could keep me from the only ties left to my identity. Then I meet him, and I’m stuck between uncovering who I am and discovering who I’m meant to be.

Dax
After seven years I finally found her, my true mate’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect. With the rogue and vampire attacks increasing in vigor, my kingdom needed a strong leader now more than ever. They needed us. Only together, did we have a chance. But she’s fighting her destiny, fighting me. It’s only a matter of time before my enemies plaguing my kingdom would see this and try to take what’s mine.

This book features a menu of over forty of the best (and what some may deem worst) tropes and kinks of dark romance. There's something for everyone, especially those with a healthy sense of adventure or those looking to unlock new kinks.

Everyone knows how mate bonds are severed: either the true mate is killed or a wolf is claimed by another before the fated mate can. Once marked, I would quickly lose my ability to recognize my mate, and he would eventually die of a broken heart.

Would I rather my mate be killed than live somewhere else? Would I choose his agony over my own?

Find your true mate or choose to bond to another.

But if you choose another, your true mate will wither and die.

Alrighty then. Ouch.

Alaina doesn’t want her true mate. Not if it means leaving the Bloodhound pack, the only pack she’s ever known and the only link she has left to a mother she never knew. A mother who had wandered into the pack’s territory, pregnant and alone, seeking refuge. The mother who had died giving birth to her.

When the alpha’s son, Caleb, her best friend and occasional lover, tells her that his father is forcing him to choose a mate at the next traditional mate hunt in order to secure his place as heir, he also informs her that he intends to choose her should he fail to find his true mate.

It’s a solution to both of their predicaments. And, would be a bittersweet full circle that started when they had first become friends with benefits back when Alaina was eighteen only to discover on her twenty-first birthday that Caleb was not her true mate.

The day arrives. The hunt begins. And straight away, Alaina detects a new scent. Her wolf responds Mate while Alana's eerie brain takes the 'Caleb needs to kill him' route.

Meanwhile... Dax had nearly given up on finding his fated. After the first five years of failure, he no longer joins the hunt. His last was three years ago.

As we near the castle grounds, my plans to take advantage of a willing subject are sabotaged by the sweetest smell of black raspberry and vanilla. Her scent infiltrates my plan and overcomes my darkest intentions. This dark lord’s storm is calmed by her aroma as I inhale further. As I drink in this newfound heaven, my [redacted]. Her natural fragrance alone, whoever she is, has caught this demon’s attention, and I won’t be satisfied until I’ve possessed her very soul. Tension and the weight of my duty to the throne rolls off me like sand recedes with the waves—for the first time in eight years. All because of her.

“Mate,” I mindlink to my beta.

Like a meerkat, Sam’s head pops up, wide-eyed and alert. “What?”

He never thought he’d ever hear the word. None of us did.

Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Arden! Anthony Palmini will always be my favorite reader, but Joe. Arden. The inflection. The emphasis. The growls.

Oh, Caleb. You in danger, boy.

And I should have read this before Raven Kennedy's Gleam because compared to Dax, Ravinger's a choir boy.

Alaina has every intention of allowing Caleb to claim her, but with her true mate's scent in her lungs, she finds herself fighting with her wolf. His touch revolts her, burning her, and her wolf snarls and whimpers to get away.

And then Dax arrives. A king that will have his queen.

Let the battle of wills commence.

“All you have to do is stake your claim.” I bare my neck to her, baiting her. “Take what’s always belonged to you, darling. Be my queen.” I growl the honorific.

Her heart skips a beat, lip quivering, and her canines descend unintentionally as she fights her wolf’s instinctual urge.

We know what this would mean. I can be calm in any battle, but she leans in, and it takes everything for my heart to not beat out of my chest. I’ve never wanted anyone more than I’ve wanted her. I fucking worship my mate.

Alaina leans in to mark me. I don’t move, more than ready for her to seal the bond officially.

Then moisture hits my cheek.

Did she just spit on me?

This book had me clutching my pearls and shielding my ears and eyes. I cringed. I laughed. I blushed. It is the be-all and end-all of wolf shifter smut. That's it. I need not one more book in this genre despite the cliffhanger end.

5 out of 5 stars. Dax is positively unhinged. Audiobook or nothing with this one.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

A Star of Darkness (A Scented Court Standalone)

There are devils and there are devils.

Available at Amazon.com

A Star of Darkness
A.L. Knorr
Scented Court standalone
Kindle edition, 353 pages
Published September 30, 2024
ASIN B0D62LBH8T


A warrior's honor meets a fae’s secrets.

In the scented court, where every bloom is power, Vesper—a member of the elite fae retinue that entertains the aristocracy with rare flora magic—hides her true identity while saving for her future. But when she receives a threatening message, Vesper realizes she can't run from her past forever. How far will she go to protect herself—and the one creature she holds dear?

Regalis, with his fierce raptor familiar, stands as a pillar of honor among the elite Fahyli soldiers. Yet beneath the warrior’s exterior lies a yearning heart. In a foggy twist of a murder, a kidnapping, and a dark generational mystery, fate throws them together.

Vesper must decide if she can trust Regalis with the truth she’s buried deep, while Regalis faces the ultimate test—can he forgive the web of lies spun in fear? As past sins collide with present dangers, one question who will make the ultimate sacrifice?

A Star of Darkness is an unpredictable, pulse-pounding romantasy adventure of intrigue, deception, and passion. One reader has coined it "Wuthering Heights meets LOTR". Dive into this twisty, gothic, standalone story where love battles the shadows of the past, and magic weaves a fate neither of these star-crossed lovers saw coming. Set in the epic world of The Scented Court but can be read as a standalone. Not YA, but suitable for readers aged 14+.

I'm tempting the devil with this read because this is a pretty book. A very pretty sixty dollar book.

“I’m sorry, but my botanical is a cactus, Gardener. I don’t mean to be prickly, but it is my personality.”

Portia’s expression turned skeptical. “You’re not really using that as an excuse, are you?”

“Why not? Gardenia cries if her elixirs are too alkaline. Hydrangea faints if she doesn’t get enough water, and Rose gets fatigued if she has too much water too close to sundown. Why is it so hard to believe that I’m better off alone?”

I'm not much of a gardener. My favorite plants to collect are Alocasias and my favorite flower to see, but not grow, are Dahlias, but this book might actually teach me some things. If nothing else, the flora concept is intriguing.

Note: This post will contain spoilers.

While this is a standalone in the Scented Court world, we do miss out on Vesper first meeting Regalis. They are already aquainted when the story unfolds as Vesper, a young Calyx, is sent a message meant to lure her out of hiding.

Regalis is a Fahyli that lives by the code of his oath to the king. He is focused, practical, and resigned to his solitary life since ending his last romantic relationship years ago.

Their friendship begins innocently enough as Regalis senses her uneasiness at the ball and, as a member of the Calyx's guards, approaches her with a request for a dance.

They cross paths again when she's thrown from her horse while hunting near Regalis' routine security detail and in the comfortable silence during the journey back, Regalis feels inspired to get to know Vesper a bit better and inquires of her life. Soon enough, they make plans for dinner and tour they're favorite places inside the castle.

Before halfway of the book, they've shared their first kiss.

Then the bounty hunters come.

Vesper is threatened by the first. An act that warrants the response of Vesper's familiar, Morpho. The seemingly innocent luna moth is actually a shapeshifting assassin that puts Regalis's hawk familiar, Ferrugin, to shame.

The next group manage to abduct Vesper. And while Regalis' mind races with all of the possible outcomes of the dire situation, he does make it to her in time. She's drugged, completely out of it, as Regalis turns to the leader of the band.

And the leader spills everything. Vesper's real name is Elara Darkstar. She is of a prominent Archelian family. And she is wanted for murder.

And suddenly, our by the book Fyhali is punching a prisoner in the face. Her lies, her deception, eats at him as his bias wars with the truth as he's come to know it.

Vesper is arrested, sent to court, given a handful of depressing choices, and subsequently exiled and abandoned at the border.

And that is where my spoilers end.

Vengeance, thy name is Elara Darkstar. This story was so much more than I had anticipated. Not only were the main characters absolutely frickin adorable together but never, ever, have I read a fantasy book wherein the main character gets accused of murder and her response is to seek out a lawyer.

And with that, my two addictions-romantic fiction and true crime trials-merged.

But it was Morpho, sweet little Morpho, that was the most unexpected.

He made my heart hurt.

4 out of 5 stars. This book is promoted as a slow burn romance. To that, I disagree.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Gleam (Plated Prisoner #3)

I stare at him, not in fear, but in recognition
as the beast in me rises up and answers to the beast inside him.

Available at Amazon.com

Gleam
Reven Kennedy
Plated Prisoner, book three
Kindle Edition, 674 pages
Paperback, 784 pages
Audiobook, ~19 hours
Published May 31, 2021
ISBN 9781464224430
ASIN B08XK8L1J7


King Midas made me the woman I am today. Notorious. Unattainable. His.

The thing about being confined is that you believe it’s to keep the bad out... Until you realize it’s about keeping you in.

I’m now in a strange kingdom surrounded by liars, with no allies of my own, but I won’t sit idly by and let myself wither. No, there’s something that’s bloomed from the pit of my repression. Something dark. Something angry.

But the last thing I expected was for my anger to call out to him. King Ravinger.

He’s sinister and powerful and entirely too seductive. I’ve learned my lesson with trusting manipulative kings, so why does my chest constrict every time he’s near? I need to tread carefully, or I’m at risk of losing much more than just my freedom.

Regret and revenge war inside of me, and I need to figure out a plan fast before I get tangled up in the schemes of kings and queens.

Because I won’t be caught in a cage again. No, this time, It’ll be me setting the trap... I just hope my heart comes out of this unscathed.

A moment to appreciate Kennedy's decision to have Rip with black eyes and Ravinger with green.

A second moment to express some love to Rip's inner circle because I neglected to do so in my last post. Osrik, Judd, and Lu are Rip's captains. His handpicked team. His most trusted advisors. They are, as Lu deemed them, his Wrath. Osrik, the former mercenary. Judd, the tricky thief. And much love to our lady, Lu, with her secret past, happy violence, and the power to be ignored.

Book three opens up just where we left off in Glint albeit with a slight rewind. Rip reveals his alias as King Ravenger and the two are throwing words at eachother in a heated exchange. And it's the best kind because neither of them is wrong and I'm stuck in this silent web of neutrality waiting for who will be the first to yield or deliver the final blow.

Gods, this man! Rising oh so quickly to the top of my list of favorite characters.

Then Midas himself adds to the tension and our girl Auren is done with the bs. She has woken up and is choosing violence. Woman is big mad. At everybody.

I am giddy over these female characters. Women who actually own up and take accountability. Both Auren and Midas' wife, Malina, willing to say the words: I let him. Men (and women, too) don't take or hold power alone. They are enabled. They are permitted and guided and encouraged. And while Auren and Malina once gave Midas power, they are now seizing it back.

Go ahead, gurl. Whip another pillow at his face.

Meanwhile, Ravenger still hasn't divulged how the nickname "Rip" originated but we do meet fake Rip. And, oh my pulse quickened at the scene as my mind leapt into the mass of fanart images filed away in my brain. Could this... be Ryatt?

Sir, you better get to stepping aside out of her way before the Rotter of Things has Lu take her hand to the back side of your skull.

"I chose you the moment you called me a prick, and your ribbons tried to knock me on my ass."

Could I swoon any harder over Ravenger's My Own Good speech? Could I feel second hand mortification any deeper at Auren's ribbons rolling around in Slade's sheets? Like hyper kittens indeed. She gilded the damn pillow! I was a rolling mess of laughter. Gurl, get out of his room!

I just told him I want him, told him bits of my life I don’t share with people, and yet...he’s saying nothing.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore. The silence, the scrutiny, the confessions lying at my feet like plucked fruit left to rot. “Are you going to say anything? I just admitted that I want you, and you’re just standing there.”

Slade blinks. “I was processing.”

“You process really slowly.”

His mouth hitches up. “What do you mean, exactly, when you say you want me?”

I thought I couldn’t be more embarrassed, but I was wrong. I wasn’t expecting this reaction, and it makes me feel...rejected. Snubbed. It hurts more than I can put into words. “You know what? Forget it.”

The second I move toward the door, Slade easily sidesteps in front of me, stopping me in my tracks. “You think you can say all of that to me and then just walk out?”

I shoot him an incredulous look. “Yes, because you’re not saying anything. If things have changed, if you don’t want me back, then…”

A frown tucks in, creasing in place between Slade’s brows. “Don’t want you? Is that what you think? You think I’ve been hanging around Fifth Kingdom because I’m excited to attend a ball?”

“I don’t know what to think!” I cry out, hands flinging up in exasperation. “I just said all of those things, and—”

“I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on you, Goldfinch. I was just waiting for you to catch up.”

Woman! She does this while the sun is up?! Mind you, they're not talking about sex here. She's choosing him. She chose herself. And she's choosing him for herself.

Gods, that chapter thirty. And I don't know how I expected thirty-one to be any less crass than it was. Great Divine, that man has a filthy mouth. How does a commander and king of so few words manage not to shut up in the bedroom?

Bright side? None. Absolutely none. Because I just turned his pillow solid gold from sniffing it like a lunatic, while he watched my ribbons dive into his sheets like fish in a Slade stream.

My favorite character could easily be Auren's ribbons. They are always slithering out to Slade and wrapping themselves around that man with a mind of their own.

Revelations and twists in this installment... aka Spoilers incoming... Auren's power only works during the day. I'm all for unique magic systems but I'm not sure how I feel about this detail. And again, a life is taken and body left to drop on the snow.

This series has set a new record for me for the amount of times I either mutterered, yelled, or voicelessly threw out the words This muthafucker here. Midas, I tell ya. The grace I gave you, you sum of a bish. I wanted to claw your eyes out—Digby?! You tortured Digby! And then you took a sword to Auren's ribbons! But the twist. That twist... with Barden East. You devil! The diabolical intent that spanned years. I was screaming.

And yet.. Respect. Horror, but respect.

And yes, it was Ryatt. And now the whole giving Auren a hard time and getting kicked out to the balcony in the snow makes sense, because, yeah... little brother.

"Better the whore to the man at my back than the favored to you."

4.99 out of 5 stars. Top tier power couple.

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Previously in the series: