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erinarkin20
The Dark Days Deceit is the final book in the Lady Helen series by Alison Goodman and if you haven’t read the first two books yet, I’m not sure we can still be friends…just kidding…kind of. I really do wish more people I know would read these books because I love them, and they will be on my favorites shelf forever. For those of you reading who have not read the first two books, please know that I can’t promise not to spoil but no spoilers ahead for the final book…I promise! With that said, don’t hate me when I don’t tell you ALL THE THINGS.
This book picks up where we left off with Lady Helen and Lord Carlston now bonded as the Grand Reclaimer, but they are still trying to figure out how it works. Now in Bath, the Dark Days club are searching for the Grand Deceiver and oh yeah, Helen is preparing to marry the Duke of Selburn. There are just a few things going on in Helen’s life and things are definitely not easy.
I will truly miss these characters – of course Helen and Carlston are my absolute favorites and I can’t even tell you about all the things that happen with these two because Goodman put so many twists and turns into this book that just when she had me thinking one thing, something else happened to make me need to put the book down and regroup. Of course, since Helen is getting married, the tension between them due to their feelings for each other is something else.
Helen has been through so much in this series and she has grown so much since the first book. No longer is she the sheltered, young girl who only wants to make a good marriage match. She has a purpose and by the time this book starts, she is determined to do whatever she can to protect those around her. One of the keys to this story though is the people who surround Helen and help her because she never would have made it this far without them all. Of course, there is Carlston but from Hammond and Lady Margaret to Darby, Delia, Quinn, and even Pike – they all play key roles throughout the book and in Helen’s life and help shape her to become who she needs to be in this final book.
As Helen, Carlston, and the club get closer to figuring out who the Grand Deceiver is, things don’t always go as well as one would hope. I’m not going to lie, there are a lot of ups and downs for the characters and not everyone makes it out of this story, but you’ll have to read it to see just how things end up for everyone.
I would also like to call out that Goodman had to have done a crazy amount of research for this series as everything related to the Regency era and even the locations these characters inhabited felt real and while I’m not an expert, it felt authentic to me.
That’s it – I can’t say anymore without potentially giving something away, so I am going to stop here. I will close with saying that if you enjoy a book that is a combination of paranormal, magic, danger, and deceit, you need to pick this up as soon as possible. This book had everything I wanted in a final book and while I am sad this series is complete, I loved it. This will definitely not be the last book I read by Alison Goodman, that’s for sure. With this series she has made it on to my favorite author list and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
Thank you to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book picks up where we left off with Lady Helen and Lord Carlston now bonded as the Grand Reclaimer, but they are still trying to figure out how it works. Now in Bath, the Dark Days club are searching for the Grand Deceiver and oh yeah, Helen is preparing to marry the Duke of Selburn. There are just a few things going on in Helen’s life and things are definitely not easy.
I will truly miss these characters – of course Helen and Carlston are my absolute favorites and I can’t even tell you about all the things that happen with these two because Goodman put so many twists and turns into this book that just when she had me thinking one thing, something else happened to make me need to put the book down and regroup. Of course, since Helen is getting married, the tension between them due to their feelings for each other is something else.
Helen has been through so much in this series and she has grown so much since the first book. No longer is she the sheltered, young girl who only wants to make a good marriage match. She has a purpose and by the time this book starts, she is determined to do whatever she can to protect those around her. One of the keys to this story though is the people who surround Helen and help her because she never would have made it this far without them all. Of course, there is Carlston but from Hammond and Lady Margaret to Darby, Delia, Quinn, and even Pike – they all play key roles throughout the book and in Helen’s life and help shape her to become who she needs to be in this final book.
As Helen, Carlston, and the club get closer to figuring out who the Grand Deceiver is, things don’t always go as well as one would hope. I’m not going to lie, there are a lot of ups and downs for the characters and not everyone makes it out of this story, but you’ll have to read it to see just how things end up for everyone.
I would also like to call out that Goodman had to have done a crazy amount of research for this series as everything related to the Regency era and even the locations these characters inhabited felt real and while I’m not an expert, it felt authentic to me.
That’s it – I can’t say anymore without potentially giving something away, so I am going to stop here. I will close with saying that if you enjoy a book that is a combination of paranormal, magic, danger, and deceit, you need to pick this up as soon as possible. This book had everything I wanted in a final book and while I am sad this series is complete, I loved it. This will definitely not be the last book I read by Alison Goodman, that’s for sure. With this series she has made it on to my favorite author list and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
Thank you to the publisher for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Blood Spell is the fourth book in the Ravenspire series by C.J. Redwine and while I love all of these books, this one might be my favorite. It has everything I look for in a book, an interesting plot, great characters, and some swoony bits that make me sigh. One thing to note is that all of these books have different main characters so if you haven’t read the others (WHAT???) you can still read this one without missing a beat.
Blue de la Cour is the main character. She’s smart and strong and she loves her family – I loved her relationship with her father and grandmother so much. She’s also willing to do whatever she can to help the homeless children in her city and when I say whatever she can, that includes putting herself at risk by using the magic she has had to keep hidden away by trying to create gold. When a tragedy happens that puts Blue in the custody of the powerful Lady Chauveau, Blue’s situation becomes even more dangerous.
Kellan Renard is the crown prince of Balavata and after finishing school, has come back to take his place on the throne. The catch is that he also has to announce his betrothal to one of the daughters who make up the kingdom’s head families and he is definitely not excited about it. As he dives right into his responsibilities, we get to learn right alongside Kellan what is really going on with the kingdom and how he responds when things start to turn violent.
Blue’s family has always been close to the royal family. Her mother helped to trap the wraith that was endangering the kingdom, Blue tutors the princess (Nessa) in the ways of alchemy, and Kellan basically grew up around the shop. With all of that said, Kellan and Blue have never really gotten along. He was always looking for trouble and she has always been there to stop him. When he returns, their relationship is still the same, but it slowly changes, and I loved how Redwine moved their relationship from being adversaries to two people in love. It took time and was a slow burn, but it was completely worth it. The fact that they both recognize that they can’t be with each other regardless of their feelings made me want them to figure it out even more.
As Blue finds herself under the control of Lady Chauveau, she begins to uncover what she is up to and has to figure out a way out of the situation she is in. Unfortunately for her, Lady Chauveau really does fit the mold of the evil stepmother in this story. As Blue continues to face off with her, she becomes more and more violent…which doesn’t go unnoticed by Nessa and Kellan. I admit I loved it when Kellan told Lady Chauveau off and challenged her when he found out what happened.
I loved the fact that this was tied to the Cinderella fairytale although it wasn’t so close to the story that you know what will happen next. The world that Redwine has built out around the story is interesting. There is a belief in the fae and magic is seen as a dangerous thing because of what happened long ago with the wraith. There is still a great fear of magic and while Blue’s magic isn’t dangerous, it is something she definitely has to hide. I also appreciated how Redwine brought some diversity and social issues into this book by including a non-speaking character who uses sign language and having one of the main characters (Blue) have a lens on helping the homeless. It was a subtle add and well done.
As the story nears the end, there is a bit of a twist and I didn’t see it coming. Redwine did a fantastic job of bringing the whole story to an end and I loved everything about this story. If you are looking for a fantasy retelling that will grab your attention from page one and hold it all the way to the end, definitely check The Blood Spell out and if you haven’t read the others in this series yet, you should do that when you finish this one. I’ll definitely be checking out whatever Redwine writes next – I’ve loved all of her books to date and she’s become an auto-buy author for me because of that.
Blue de la Cour is the main character. She’s smart and strong and she loves her family – I loved her relationship with her father and grandmother so much. She’s also willing to do whatever she can to help the homeless children in her city and when I say whatever she can, that includes putting herself at risk by using the magic she has had to keep hidden away by trying to create gold. When a tragedy happens that puts Blue in the custody of the powerful Lady Chauveau, Blue’s situation becomes even more dangerous.
Kellan Renard is the crown prince of Balavata and after finishing school, has come back to take his place on the throne. The catch is that he also has to announce his betrothal to one of the daughters who make up the kingdom’s head families and he is definitely not excited about it. As he dives right into his responsibilities, we get to learn right alongside Kellan what is really going on with the kingdom and how he responds when things start to turn violent.
Blue’s family has always been close to the royal family. Her mother helped to trap the wraith that was endangering the kingdom, Blue tutors the princess (Nessa) in the ways of alchemy, and Kellan basically grew up around the shop. With all of that said, Kellan and Blue have never really gotten along. He was always looking for trouble and she has always been there to stop him. When he returns, their relationship is still the same, but it slowly changes, and I loved how Redwine moved their relationship from being adversaries to two people in love. It took time and was a slow burn, but it was completely worth it. The fact that they both recognize that they can’t be with each other regardless of their feelings made me want them to figure it out even more.
As Blue finds herself under the control of Lady Chauveau, she begins to uncover what she is up to and has to figure out a way out of the situation she is in. Unfortunately for her, Lady Chauveau really does fit the mold of the evil stepmother in this story. As Blue continues to face off with her, she becomes more and more violent…which doesn’t go unnoticed by Nessa and Kellan. I admit I loved it when Kellan told Lady Chauveau off and challenged her when he found out what happened.
I loved the fact that this was tied to the Cinderella fairytale although it wasn’t so close to the story that you know what will happen next. The world that Redwine has built out around the story is interesting. There is a belief in the fae and magic is seen as a dangerous thing because of what happened long ago with the wraith. There is still a great fear of magic and while Blue’s magic isn’t dangerous, it is something she definitely has to hide. I also appreciated how Redwine brought some diversity and social issues into this book by including a non-speaking character who uses sign language and having one of the main characters (Blue) have a lens on helping the homeless. It was a subtle add and well done.
As the story nears the end, there is a bit of a twist and I didn’t see it coming. Redwine did a fantastic job of bringing the whole story to an end and I loved everything about this story. If you are looking for a fantasy retelling that will grab your attention from page one and hold it all the way to the end, definitely check The Blood Spell out and if you haven’t read the others in this series yet, you should do that when you finish this one. I’ll definitely be checking out whatever Redwine writes next – I’ve loved all of her books to date and she’s become an auto-buy author for me because of that.
Loved this so much I couldn't put it down...full review to come.