I remember reading the first book in this series and liking it, and I like the sequel just as much. Talia has nearly completed her Herald training, and all that's left is an internship where she and an older Herald patrol the border regions, keeping lines of communication open and meting out justice and doing all the usual Herald things. And it's all enjoyable enough, but it does seem like marking time - a series of episodic events that don't move the larger story forward any. I don't know that there is a larger story, to be honest. I know this is a trilogy, and that the first volume felt like an extended introduction, but if this is a long middle it ends almost exactly where it began. The one through-line here is that Talia is having real problems controlling her magical powers, but again - she ends the book in the same state of control as she has in the beginning. The one thing I do like, though, is that she's allowed to have a no-strings attached sexual relationship that both parties know isn't going anywhere. They're friends (with temporary benefits) and that's it. Which is refreshing to read after so many young adult books where the first love is the only love, and they're stuck with each other for life. And though there's a possible hint of love triangle, Lackey moves firmly away from it by the end, thank goodness.