The romance between Oraya and Raihn? Excellent. From super-di-duper enemies to lovers and a ‘how do we come back from THAT?’ ending in book one, book two’s romance plot didn’t cut any corners and this HEA felt.. “well-earned” doesn’t feel like a strong enough word but I’ll go with it 🥰

I loved that this book was dual-POV. I loved how neither MC morphed into a heroically perfect character (which happens all the time in fantasy series imo), instead their weaknesses and darker personality traits were explored even more with this book. Lots of character growth, lots of self-discovery, lots of pining, lots of feelings, lots of groveling. And we love a hero who begs 😉

Our vampire DILF, Vincent. Hmm. I loved the way this story didn’t attempt to resolve the morally grey-ness of his character—I was feeling all the feelings. But I disliked the way Vincent became a deus ex machina. Every time our MCs Oraya and Raihn got themselves into a bind, some element of Vincent’s backstory saved the day. And it happened so many times (like double-digit times) that the danger lost its oomph. It felt very similar to the way SJM plots her reveals (which is a valid and much-beloved way of telling a story) so I don’t think it will bother most people. I’m just a crank.

If you’re like me and you don’t like starting an unfinished fantasy series, have no fear! Books 1 and 2 are a now-completed duology, books 1.5 and 3 are standalones with different MCs, and the next book is supposed to be the romance of a character we know from books 1 and 2. Does that make sense? Basically, no surprise cliffhangers, you’re good to start this series!