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 

2025/07

The Emperor's Wolves (Wolves of Elantra #1)

Available at Amazon.com

The Emperor's Wolves
Michelle Sagara
Wolves of Elantra, book one
Audiobook, 17+ hours
First published October 13, 2020
ISBN 9781488056482


Multiple races carefully navigate the City of Elantra under the Dragon Emperor’s wing. His Imperial Wolves are executioners, the smallest group to serve in the Halls of Law. The populace calls them assassins.

Every wolf candidate must consent to a full examination by the Tha’alani, one of the most feared and distrusted races in Elantra for their ability to read minds. Most candidates don’t finish their job interviews.

Severn Handred, the newest potential recruit, is determined to face and pass this final test—even if by doing so he’s exposing secrets he has never shared.

When an interrogation uncovers the connections to a two-decade-old series of murders of the Tha’alani, the Wolves are commanded to hunt. Severn’s first job will be joining the chase. From the High Halls to the Tha’alani quarter, from the Oracles to the Emperor, secrets are uncovered, tensions are raised and justice just might be done…if Severn can survive.

Severn Handred was the first morally grey character I was ever drawn to. The first (and only?) character I ever fancasted. The one character that, with newly acquired book in hand, I would flip through the pages in haste to find any and all occurrences where “Severn” appeared.

So imagine my excitement when I learned that the Severn Handred was the center of Sagara’s newest (and I use that world loosely) installment in the world of Elantra—The Emperor’s Wolves.

I was obsessed with this character. This man who would slaughter two children to save his… hell, what was Elianne to him? His ward? His best friend? His family? His only would be confidant? His only anything?

When the deed was done and Elianne had fled, Severn finds himself being recruited by the Wolves. I expected an initiation. I expected training. I expected Severn’s story to finally be told.

But this wasn’t that. Not really.

I don’t know what this was.

Some of it was there… Once I dragged myself past seventy percent of the book.

And then came the audacity of this revelation:

I distinctly remember the scene where Elianne and Severn are reunited. It’s been twenty damn years since I’ve read that book but I still recall Severn saying he didn’t recognize her new name. But he did! He knew her name! He’d known it for years. Severn lied.

That sum of a bitch lied.

I didn't love it. I don't hate it. I'm just sitting here being the fool I am for having expectations because I have never been so disappointed.

3 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | paperback | audiobook 

Where it all began...

2025/06

Onyx Storm (Empyrean #3)

I live by you.

Available at Amazon.com

Onyx Storm
Rebecca Yarros
Empyrean, book three
Hardcover, Deluxe, 544 pages
First published January 21, 2025
ISBN 9781649377159

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty.

Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.

They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.

But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.

There are details in these Empyrean books that irk me in a way that truly isn’t worth the effort of putting onto digital paper but just know that my mental image of Violet is with her head on a constant swivel.

Be that as it may...

There are books a reader can’t bring themselves to put down. And there are books a reader must close and so very intently step away from in order to breathe again. To do so in order to think clearly enough to process the clusterfuck of emotions that drive the entire ordeal into a love-hate relationship. 

I am there with Onyx Storm.

The more I read, the longer the book became. 

And wtf was with Chapter 62? Why are we suddenly jumping into another character’s POV, and Rhiannon no less?! Don’t get me wrong, I like the gal, but being in her head was the last place I needed to be in that moment. Why not Ridoc? Why not Bodhi?? Why not anyone but Rhi???

"I am the second-largest dragon on the Continent and a revered warrior. My tales are legendary. My mate unparalleled. My feats unmatched-"

 

The unmitigated ego of Tairn... I love him so. Xaden. Andarna. Ridoc. Even Aaric and Bodhi were shining brightly in this installment. The way Ridoc tore into Violet and gave Xaden the what's what. The way Aaric showed Dain again and again how utterly worthless his presence was on their mission to find the irid. The boy was there to play fetch and I enthusiastically applaud it. Violet... She gets the most improved award.

"You don't owe me your friend's secrets."

Hallelujah, girl. Enough with arguing about secrets and the whole I-know-you-can't-tell-me-everything-but-you're-not-telling-me-everything whining. Ugh. These damn Iron Flame flashbacks.

Is it a cliffhanger ending? Yes.

Is it a damn good ending regardless of that fact? Hell. Yes. And if Yarros had stopped it at chapter sixty-five, I don't think we'd have that WTF response going viral through Tiktok. That last chapter... is much.

4.5 out of 5 stars. This series is exhausting. 

Available in ebook | hardcover | graphic audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/05

Shield of Sparrows

What if I was yours?

Available at Amazon.com

Shield of Sparrows
Devney Perry
Hardcover, Deluxe, 511 pages
First published May 6, 2025
ISBN 9781649378514

The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel. I’ve spent my life kneeling―to their will and to my father's.

As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king. I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.

But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life. Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him―bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know. Everyone wants me to be something I’m not―a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.

But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated?

And what if―for the first time―I reached for it?

It has been years since I picked up a story that was classic fantasy romance. This all but abandoned blog is evidence of that. But, that being said, this was a damn good book and with no news, or whisper of rumor, of when book two of this series will release, I'm going to attempt a bit of a recap. It will contain minor spoilers so click off and away if that's a problem. 

Odessa Cross is the eldest daughter of her father, the king of Quentis. But she is not his chosen to take on the fate of the Sparrow, the bride of one kingdom sworn to the prince of another. She is not his chosen spy. Nor his chosen assassin. That title, each of them, has always been held by her half sister, Mae―a worthy lead female character in her own right. 

Until the Guardian chooses Odessa, claiming her to fulfill the Chain of Sevens and also the treaty of the Shield of Sparrows as the prince's wife and future queen of Turah. 

 ::sigh:: 

I was enthralled by this book. Page after page, I struggled to put it down. 

The story is the journey. Odessa travels via sea and land, accompanied by her lady's maids, through a world plagued by monsters. The migration is coming, and with it, the worst of the worst of them will fly. They will hunt and they will savagely kill. 

Her protection lies with the Guardian, a prince, and men whose loyalty proves true again and again. 

But Odessa wants a sword. She wants to fight. She wants to save herself, and her people. Most of all, she wants to prove to her father that she is worthy. And, yes, she wants to kill the Guardian. 

 So who better to give her a blade and train her? 

Shit, my face was hot.

The Guardian's finger hooked under my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. "Need a moment?"

I swatted his hand away and took a step back, raising my fists. "No. Let's get on with it."

"Your wish." He mocked a bow, then slapped me in the face.

Oh that Guardian. "I speak on the prince's behalf," he says. Sure you do. You do that. Hell, I'm game. Let's play. 

"Praise is for the bedroom, Cross. Not the training field."

On to the spoilers... 

They will never make it to their destination: Allesariah, the capital of Turah. Odessa will prove herself a terrible spy and a worse liar. She will face betrayal. And she will not yet know why the magic of the Voster makes her skin crawl. 

But she will choose her husband. She will take a life. And she will save many. She will befriend a princess. And she will uncover the origin of the cursed Guardian. 

Never dull, but much is left unresolved. 

"Are you angry, Sparrow? Use that rage. Fucking. Fight."
I hate you.
If he could read my mind, I wanted that at the front. I hate you.
A slow grin streched across his mouth. "There's my queen."

5 out of 5 stars. And I will be preordering the next book immediately when it becomes available.

Available in ebook | hardcover | audiobook

2025/04