I received this book from Orbit in exchange for an honest review.

Bloody Rose is exactly what it says on the tin - a sword-wielding, flame-haired adventure led by a mighty warrior who you do not want to meet on a bad day! Tam Hashford is working in a pub when she suddenly gets the chance to become the bard for legendary mercenary gang Fable, led by her heroine Bloody Rose. As Tam joins in on the adventures, she learns more about who Bloody Rose really is - and they all end up on a path on which they’ll probably have to save the world, again.

Just like Kings of the Wyld, Bloody Rose is a a fast-paced, unputdownable adventure with characters whose antics will make you belly laugh, and also cry out in fear for their safety when the going gets tough. Bloody Rose is set a few years after Kings of the Wyld but some of our favourite characters have some cameos like Slowhand, Golden Gabe and Moog.

I really enjoyed learning all the new characters in book like Cura and Brune, as well as Rose and Freecloud who we only met briefly in Kings of the Wyld. Tam was a great character to follow as she ended up in the middle of everything basically. I found it very interesting to see some of the turns Eames took about the arena tours, and how it was easy to see that the monsters were becoming the victims, and the mercs were becoming the monsters. It makes me excited for the third book to see how things go in that direction.

This book did break my heart by the end of it, though it was always inevitable really. I definitely had to just tough it out, and keep reading without having an emotional outburst though I couldn’t stop reading to get upset because I was too hooked on everything happened. The fight scenes in this are great, and the epic battle at the end was TRULY epic to say the least. I love the blend of toughness, comic relief and great fantasy writing in these novels - the only thing they’re missing is a map.

I cannot wait for the next book!