I cannot help but feel disappointed. I loved the first one so much, I've gushed to friends about it a lot in hopes of getting them to read the series, but this was a let down. There is so much miscommunication (or rather non-communication) in this book and it's irritating. This entire thing was just a stupid pissing match between two men with inflated egos and if people knew how to talk to each other, none of it would have happened. 

I disliked Tessa's character so much I started doubting why I even liked the first book of the series. She was dumbed down, naive and I absolutely despised how virginal she was made to seem. I mean, just take a shot every time she blushes at a dude and you'll be in a coma by the end of this. The characters just lived in their heads all the time and there were too many trips down memory lane. I just wanted the story to move forward, but we were forced to go to the past instead.

I assumed that the the disease was not natural, but I don't understand how neither Corrick nor Harristan know that moonflower is a poison, especially when Harristan was poisoned with it as a child. Nobody felt the need to share that knowledge over the years? Nobody knew that the stems are poisonous? I'm sorry, I just don't buy it.