Thousands of pages later, and I am still not over these ten books. They gave me the worst book hangovers of my life, and I loved every second of it.

Rose Hathaway isn’t your average student. She’s a Dhampir (half-human, half-vampire) training to be a bodyguard for her best friend, Lissa, a royal Moroi princess. But outside their iron-clad academy gates, the Strigoi (the savage, undead vampires who kill for pleasure) are hunting them down. Think Twilight meets Gossip Girl drama, but with sharp teeth and actual weapons.

In the world of M-Day by D.T. Dyllin, pop culture had everyone obsessed with shambling corpses and brain-eaters. But when the end of the world actually arrived, it wasn’t zombies at all. It was a brutal, targeted virus that only affected men, turning them into something far worse. If you are a fan of dark, gritty dystopian fiction mixed with high-stakes survival and intense, slow burn romantic suspense, this post-apocalyptic series needs to be on your TBR list immediately.

Bad Moon Rising takes forbidden romance and ancient supernatural blood feuds between bear and wolf shifters to an absolute boiling point. Expect a masterclass in star-crossed, slow-burn tension, high-stakes combat, sharp-witted banter, and a love story that will literally shatter the rules of the supernatural world. If you like your urban fantasy gritty, deeply emotional, and packed with alphas who would burn down the world for their mates, this one is for you.

Bianca is cynical, sharp-tongued, and fiercely loyal to her two drop-dead gorgeous best friends. She knows she doesn’t fit the typical mold, but her world completely shatters when Wesley Rush (the school’s notorious, arrogant playboy) labels her the “DUFF” of her friend group. This isn’t your average, sugary high school romance. It is a raw, brutally honest, and hilarious look at self-esteem, complicated family dynamics, and toxic labels, wrapped in an incredibly addictive enemies-to-lovers story.

Ana Stone is a wolf shifter who has spent her life running from a dark, abusive past. She just wants a quiet, safe life under the radar. But her carefully built walls come crashing down when she crosses paths with Jaeger Morrison. This is the ultimate formula for a top-tier paranormal romance: a fierce but healing heroine, a fiercely protective alpha hero who respects her boundaries, electric fated-mates chemistry, and intense, action-packed suspense.

16 year-old Lex Bartleby is a delinquent teenager whose anger issues have officially spiraled out of control. Desperate to straighten her out, her parents banish her to the remote town of Croak to live with her eccentric Uncle Mort. But Uncle Mort isn’t running a farm or a typical small business. He’s a Grim Reaper. And it turns out, Lex’s explosive anger isn’t a flaw, it’s the exact raw energy needed to master the family business of reaping the damned.

Miranda Ellis is a woman living under a heavy curse. Born with a dangerous, destructive gift of fire, one single mistake has decimated her family’s fortune and forced her into a marriage of convenience with London’s most feared and secretive nobleman. This is like The Phantom of the Opera meets Beauty and the Beast, but heavily laced with gritty Victorian intrigue, intense magical action, and an incredibly passionate romance.

Sports reporter Charli Beaumonde’s latest deep-dive investigation into a massive football scandal lands her right in the crosshairs of some very dangerous people. Knowing that her brother’s friend used to be a CIA agent, she heads to Grant’s ranch, not knowing that it’s an exclusive, private BDSM resort in Texas. Watching Grant train others for the BDSM life triggers an unexpected, fierce curiosity. Grant is convinced the tomboy could never handle his world, but Charli is ready to challenge the Master and discover a side of herself she never knew existed.

Chloe Mills is just a few months away from finishing her MBA and breaking free from her corporate prison. The only roadblock standing in her way? Her devastatingly handsome, arrogant, and utterly insufferable boss, Bennett Ryan. They despise each other with a passion, but the thinner their tempers wear, the thicker the unresolved sexual tension in the office becomes. When a late-night presentation spiraling out of control completely breaks their restraint, their toxic hate-fueled dynamic explodes into a spicy office affair.

Following a devastating historical tragedy known as “The Reaping,” all magical, mythological beings have been stripped of their fundamental human rights. They are hunted, caged, and sold into slavery as grotesque entertainment for the public. Delilah Marlow is just an ordinary woman living an ordinary life, but everything changes when she visits a famous traveling carnival. Witnessing the horrific abuse of the caged creatures triggers a violent, untamed rage inside her, and a fierce, sharp-clawed monster she never knew existed breaks through her human veneer. This leads her to be forced into a cage as the circus’s newest exhibit. Her only hope of escape lies in her handler, Gallagher,  and a vengeance-fueled rebellion to burn the entire system to the ground.

Do we share any of the same favorite authors, or are any of these on your TBR?

All Mayumi ever wanted was to hunt Demons.

After being discharged from the Demonslayer guild, Mayumi chose to isolate herself within the forest. The best place to hunt and kill Demons. But, one night, she’s surprised when a different monster is lured by her baits.

Just before she unleashes an arrow that’s aimed to kill, Mayumi pauses. She realises she’s seen that skulled, feline face before and that it had once saved her life.

All Faunus ever wanted was her.

After the Demon King cracked his skull, Faunus returns to watch over the only human he has ever cared for. He knows what his future holds, she would never become his bride, but he wants to spend what remains of his life protecting her.

He never expected that she would ever befriend him, or that she would openly desire him. She’s as fiery as her burning passion, and he’s desperate to let her consume him.

But his time in this world grows short, and Faunus doesn’t know how he can be with Mayumi when he knows nothing will save him.

My thoughts…

I had to take a break from this series because Magnar’s book (2nd book) was such a massive disappointment, that I just couldn’t bring myself to read another book from the series. His book was so bad, that I not only didn’t review it, but immediately forgot about it. I disliked the FMC because she’s so selfish and self-centered. Magnar is so desperate for a bride and mentally underdeveloped that he literally latched on to an abusive wench of a woman. So, yeah, when I finished it, I took a while to revisit the series. I just couldn’t go through that again. However, Mayumi and Kitty… I mean, Faunus’ story was so interesting sounding, that I couldn’t help but dive back into the world.

Not only it is a romance between a demonslayer and a duskwalker, but it’s also a savior romance as well. Since Faunus saved Mayumi when she was a little girl, he’s been watching over her ever since. He makes a habit to pop into the human world from time to time to see how the human is doing. Mayumi doesn’t remember much from that terrible night, she does remember looking for her cat Kitty, and coming across what she thought was her cat. Only, it was Faunus whose skull is that of a cat. So I suppose I could see the confusion. Either way, this unlikely relationship blossoms because Mayumi remembers Faunus saving her, meaning that she can trust him not to harm her. This was one aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed because there was no back and forth with the FMC coming to terms with befriending and falling in love with a duskwalker. To Mayumi, Faunus is the whole reason why she is still alive today. So, to her, all she sees is a compassionate friend who will stop at nothing to protect her.

Now, there is an undercurrent of impending doom for Faunus. His skull was fractured previously, and we know from previous books, that if a duskwalker’s skull breaks, they die. So, the moment Faunus’ skull cracks, he knows, and we know, that he’s on borrowed time. Every altercation he has with a demon, every trip and fall, or even an accident with Mayumi could result in his immediate death. So, this is something that looms over the story the entire time as Mayumi tries desperately to fuse the fracture together and keep it from spreading.

I think I may have liked this more than Orpheus’ story. Orpheus tugged on my heart strings because he was lonely and just wanted a companion to live with, but there was just something about this immediate friendship and blossoming romance that just did it for me. At no point did I feel like any of it was unbelievable, or had a hard time connecting with the characters. Maybe it was because of the underlying first encounter that stuck with both of them, or the fact that Faunus was more mentally advanced and very much human-like in his mental stage. I don’t know what it was, but I really liked living in Mayumi and Faunus’ world, and I really hope we get to see them again.

Previous reviews from the Duskwalker Brides series
A Soul to Keep

To save my sister, I’ll marry a monster.

The orc mercenaries were meant to die. When Khal Drazha’s-son, their scarred, lethal leader, returns to claim his prize, a bride of noble blood, I know only one thing: my frail half-sister cannot be the one sacrificed.

I’m the bastard daughter no one wants, but I have street cunning, and a plan: I’ll deceive this golden-eyed orc warrior, taking my sister’s place at the altar and in his bed. If I can endure the wedding night, I can find a way to betray him. I can escape into the wilds beyond my father’s walls.

Now, we’re locked in a chamber together. I’m braced for the worst. But the warrior I’ve deceived believes I chose him…and he’s here to rescue me. He intends to bond us, soul and flesh, for a lifetime.

I came here prepared to survive a monster, but this green-skinned mercenary wants peace for his people, a peace he won’t win, because he’s married the wrong daughter.

My lies are about to tear his life apart. The bond we’ve forged in the dark might just shatter my heart first.

Excerpt…

Tiernan de Haas doesn’t care about anything anymore. The only child of a film producer and his starlet wife, she’s grown up with wealth and privilege but not love or guidance. Shipped off to boarding schools from an early age, it was still impossible to escape the loneliness and carve out a life of her own. The shadow of her parents’ fame followed her everywhere.

And when they suddenly pass away, she knows she should be devastated. But has anything really changed? She’s always been alone, hasn’t she?

Jake Van der Berg, her father’s stepbrother and her only living relative, assumes guardianship of Tiernan who is still two months shy of eighteen. Sent to live with him and his two sons, Noah and Kaleb, in the mountains of Colorado, Tiernan soon learns that these men now have a say in what she chooses to care and not care about anymore. As the three of them take her under their wing, teach her to work and survive in the remote woods far away from the rest of the world, she slowly finds her place among them.

And as a part of them.

She also realizes that lines blur and rules become easy to break when no one else is watching.

One of them has her.

The other one wants her.

But he…

He’s going to keep her.

My thoughts…

I’m sorry, but what in the WHAT did I just read?!

I knew this was going to be taboo… it’s Penelope Douglas after all. I knew it was going to be twisted. However, I did not expect THAT. I mean, I know… I KNOW… just reading the synopsis says it all but I thought surely that’s just the juicy worm baiting us to read the book. Only… it’s not… and I’m left not overly sure about this whole thing.

I understand Tiernan’s hang up. Her parents were SUPER famous and in love. So in love that when they had a baby, it cramped their style. It took away from their time together. So, they pawned the spawn off to all the nannies and establishments that they could so that they could continue in their own love bubble. Tiernan grew up in a loveless home, and not the kind of home that is abusive or throws insults at you. I kind of feel like hers may have been worse because they just flat out ignored her like she wasn’t there. Even in the room trying to talk to them, they would look over her and act as if she wasn’t in the room. So, that is going to do something to your mental development. The people who are supposed to love and nurture you act like you don’t even exist. So, of course when her parents die via murder suicide and she’s sent off to her estranged step-uncle’s house up in the remote mountains, of course she’s going to latch onto any crumb of attention given to her. Uncle Jake smiles at you? Your step-cousin gives you a hug? Well, surely that means they are hot for you and you need to push that booty out and back that thing up right onto their laps. I kid you not… she was like a cat in heat. Anyone who showed ANY semblance of attention or affection, automatically got her nether regions tingly. But, for her it made sense. She was starving for any sort of affection she could get and her signals and responses were all messed up because she didn’t have a normal loving upbringing.

With the cousins, I could kind of see it. They haven’t heard anything good about their dad’s estranged step-brother. As soon as their dad could leave the house he grew up in, he was out of there and never looked back. So there are no updates about that side of the family. So when daddy Jake shows up with a teenage girl in the truck, they get excited… in all the wrong places. However, they are still young themselves late teens to early twenties. Old enough to know better, but still maturing nonetheless.

HOWEVER… Uncle Jake…. I just, my head can’t wrap around that one. He is a grown ass man, and he has been charged with caring for his step-brother’s daughter until she turns 18 in a handful of weeks. It doesn’t matter that he hates his dead step-brother, she’s still viewed as his niece AND a girl who isn’t even an adult. You know what he sees? Revenge on his step-brother… or his brother giving her to him as an apology for the screwed up stuff he did to Jack. Either way, neither reason works for me. And sure… SUUUURRRRE he waited until she turned 18, but again… gross on so many levels.

Like I said, Tiernan I can understand, but the men in the house I did not understand. She was hopping from bed to bed in that house and everyone was ok with it as long as they got a turn. Then, the author wants to throw in that one of them caught legit feelings for her and the other two relatives just say “Ok” and back off immediately. The whole thing left me so confused and ragey that this book is going to stick with me for a while, and I guess at the end of the day it means the author won, right? Because, if I’m this amped up over her book, then clearly she did her job in provoking emotion from a reader. And let’s be real, Penelope Douglas is a great writer, and I will continue to read her work, because it’s engaging and brings out emotion, but this one… I just wish the uncle was left out of it because that just creeped me out AND I felt like it didn’t make sense for his character.

A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show’s millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.

An only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she’d been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister—a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family “minders” assigned to her on set, “Maoist struggle session”–inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, and regular counseling with “Leadership” were just part of the tactics used to keep her loyal.

Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a One Tree Hill superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith. Written with powerful honesty and dark humor, Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of identity and understanding what you believe.

My thoughts…

When your bible study turns into a cult…

This was a memoir I didn’t know I needed to hear, but thoroughly enjoyed. Based on the title, you know she gets stuck in a cult. When you picture cult, you think compounds where no one can leave, everyone has a job to do whether it’s teaching kids, making clothes, farming, etc. Everyone serves the head of the cult and views him as the conduit to God. However, that wasn’t her cult at all.

She didn’t grow up in this cult. In fact, she got sucked in by choice. During her acting career, she wanted to find like-minded people who believed in God. She found a bible study and made friends and connections. This then led to the cult, which was just a group of people who talked about God, and called each other “family”. Which isn’t overly weird, because we all say we have family outside of our family. However, this one was a bit different. They coerced her into investing in property against her legal teams guidance. They were effective in pushing her “bio family” (as they had her calling them) away because they just didn’t understand her “new family”. They even maneuvered her into marrying the son of the head honcho. However, they did it in a way of manipulating her religious beliefs against her. Invest in this motel because it will be used to help more people find god and save their souls. Don’t let others outside influence you and take you away from God. The devil is enticing you to follow him into damnation, you must be strong and come back to your family so we can help you. On and on it went.

Thankfully, she was able to get herself and her daughter out of there. Now, here’s where I’m lost. Her belief in God, her religion in a high power, got her into this mess. If I’m not mistaken, every cult focuses around religion. So, why, after getting out of this situation, is she still practicing? Did she really escape a cult, just to potentially end up in another one?

Twelve strangers. Six marriages. One year in Esperance.

Amryn has many reasons to hate the empire. Her latest is her forced marriage to General Carver Vincetti, better known as the Butcher. If he learns even one of her secrets, he will kill her. And Amryn has many secrets. Not only is she an empath with forbidden magic, she’s also a newly recruited rebel intent on destroying the empire—starting at Esperance.

Carver knows the rebels have infiltrated the remote temple of Esperance. His job is to hunt them down before they can wreck the emperor’s new peace. Despite the demons that haunt him, Carver is intent on his mission—but he’s not prepared for Amryn. From her fiery red hair to her surprising wit, his new wife has captured his attention. The attraction that flares between them is undeniable. Now he just has to determine if she’s the enemy.

When the newly married couples become targets in a violent game, Esperance becomes more dangerous than anyone anticipated. Carver and Amryn are about to discover that no one is exactly who they appear to be—especially each other.

My thoughts…

In order to unite the kingdoms, the emperor has decided to have each kingdom select a male or female to send to Esperance. There, they will marry a person chosen from another kingdom to be their spouse for the next year. They will have no correspondence with their kingdoms back home, and they must remain in Esperance for one year. The goal is to form a bond, and unite the kingdoms. However, there are rebels inside Esperance, and Amryn (the FMC) is one of them.

Amryn was tasked by her uncle and the rebels to use her time in Esperance to help the rebellion meet their goal. She is an empath, which would be a death sentence for her if anyone found out. Empaths are villanised for being able to control your minds, and therefor they’ve been exterminated. However, not all of them were killed, and Amryn is proof of that. So, it stands to reason that she would want to see the Emperor’s plans fail, when he has brought so much death and destruction to her people. All of this is easier said than done when Amryn gets to know the people she will be spending the next year with. From her husband, to the Prince (who is also participating) and everyone in between, she starts to form friendships with these people and soon she starts to second guess the rebellion.

One thing that I like is that we get both Amryn and Carver’s POV in this story. Carver is a general in the emperor’s army, and has the agenda to find the rebels and stop them, all while keeping the Prince safe. Since we get his POV, we are there as he digs for information behind the scenes, plots with the Prince and other trusted members in Esperance, and navigates being married to someone he doesn’t know, who appears to be afraid of him.

Not only is this story in dual POV, but because Amryn’s power is to feel what others are feeling, we get a bit of insight into the other characters through her. So, when Carver starts to develop feelings for Amryn, she can feel them. When someone is injured, or killed, she feels it, and it affects her. Her being able to read people like that was very interesting because it helped break up the miscommunication that would have otherwise happened in this story. She could tell when someone was being truthful or lying to her.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about this book because a lot takes place. What is supposed to be a one-year-long bonding, and unification between kingdoms turns into treason and death. Even though this book follows Carver and Amryn, we are around the other participants the entire time, that we get to bond with them, too. So when one of the is injured, or hurting, you actually feel upset for them. The author did a great job creating this world that wasn’t so focused on just Carver and Amryn. I really hope we get to see more of them in the next book.

Favorite quote…

“There is an unrivaled peace in a library. Surrounded by words, but enfolded in silence. Knowing that stories lie dormant on the shelves, but a little time with you and they would come alive.”

Yue may be the last of her kind. At night, she stalks the streets of the capital city of Longhao, luring in unsuspecting victims with the mask of a beautiful woman, then consuming them in her true form of the nine-tailed fox.

When she is captured by a powerful demon hunter named Sonam and banished to Hell, she manages one final act of dragging him—and two of his subordinates—down with her.

Now trapped in an abyss with unimaginable terrors, they’ll need each other’s help to navigate Hell and bypass the gods who preside over each circle, each of whom presents the group with a unique and deadly challenge. Forced to depend on one another as they claw their way out of the underworld, both demon and demon hunter discover that there might be more to the other than meets the eye.

Excerpt

Meet the author

KATRINA KWAN is a Canadian fantasy and contemporary romance author based in Vancouver. After graduating from Acadia University in 2017 with a BA in political science with honors, Kwan spent the next six years honing her creative skills as a freelance ghostwriter. With several ghostwritten romance novels under her belt, she’s ecstatic to finally be writing books under her own name.

Website | Instagram

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

My thoughts…

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. Haymitch’s story is what President’s Snow’s story should have been. Where The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes felt more like the author trying to ride the coattails of the Hunger Games success, Sunrise on the Reaping is book that was actually well thought out and planned. Finally giving the readers a look into how the older generations handled the hunger games. This also kind of shows you just how long President Snow has been interfering in the games whenever he feels slighted by a sacrifice, er… I mean contestant.

I don’t want to go into too many details, but faces from the trilogy make an appearance in this story in various ways as Haymitch is thrown into the chaos of the hunger games. The story line follows a similar arc that Katniss’ story does with being reaped, being groomed, meeting the game makers, schmoozing for sponsors, surviving the games, and ultimately the life after the games. We are witness to Haymitch making connections and allies, having those be torn away from him, and moments where you’d swear it was the end for him, even though you know he lives. Seeing his story play out is a really heartbreaking tale, and in all honesty, I would have ended up as a drunk as well if I were in his shoes.

This was a solid read that stands on its own. It was a heartbreaking read, but it was one that I think a lot of us readers wanted. We wanted to know how Haymitch survived the games. We wanted to know what caused him to downward spiral. Was it memories of his time in the games and what he had done in order to survive, or was it just mentoring dying kid after dying kid? I always wanted to know his story, because as Katniss’ story progressed, he became more alert and invested in life. So you just knew that there was something that tore him down to a shell of a person with nothing left to live for. I’m glad that we finally got his story.

Step into the Coliseum at the Spartan War Academy where monsters are made, immortality is won, and even a god can die…

Alexis Hert isn’t a hero, and she certainly isn’t a god. All she’s ever been is a survivor.

But the Fates disagree.

When a blood test leads to her admittance at the Spartan War Academy, she’ll have to do more than merely survive.

Alexis will have to claim her birthright: immortality.

But immortality is a privilege, one earned in the crucible of the academy, where the heroes are villains and classrooms battlegrounds. While gladiators Achilles and Patro, her demanding mentors, hone her into a warrior, Augustus and Kharon, her professors and the brooding heirs to the underworld, haunt her steps and her thoughts.

Because where there are gods, there are bound to be monsters, and there is more than one hunting Alexis…

My thoughts…

Alexis is not one of those “pick me” kind of female characters. You know, the ones that are just so bad ass and awesome for no rhyme or reason. In fact, Alexis is in the foster system, and is placed in an abusive home. Covered in scars, starved, and honestly, may as well be homeless, Alexis navigates high school. However, all of this changes when she pricks her finger in order to turn in her test for school. You see, her blood doesn’t come out red like everyone else’s. Which immediately sends everyone into high alert that there is a mutt (Greek God/Human hybrid) in their midst that should not be there. Alexis is whisked away and sent to the crucible to either die, or live and become an immortal. This story follows her journey in the crucible.
I will say that I did have a hard time getting into this at first. There was just something not fully clicking for me. However, once Alexis enters the Spartan War Academy, I started to get my bearings and really started to enjoy the story. You see, during her schooling, which lasts months, they spend 2 week increments going to classes, being tested, and sometimes running the crucible (a deadly gauntlet). During all of this, they are not allowed to sleep, eat, or drink anything. So, some of the story telling is disjointed and jumps around because Alexis, herself, is mentally struggling with the lack of sleep and food. However, it’s these rare out of pocket moments of delirium that had be entertained.

This story also has moments where we follow other characters in the book that play a large roll in Alexis’ story. It was interesting getting inside their heads to get a better understanding of them as a character. Now, I’m not going to say that I fully understand them, because I don’t. They are a bit twisted in the head and definitely schemed their way into certain things, which was less than admirable. Even still, their level of possessiveness was a delicious thing to read.

While this doesn’t necessarily end on a cliffhanger, Alexis’ story is only just beginning. Things are still developing, her world with the Spartans is only just starting, and there’s so much we don’t know about who she is at her core. All we saw was sleep deprived and starved Alexis trying to survive. I’m interested to see how she fares when she’s gotten sleep and is fed.

When it comes to dragons, there’s no such thing as safe.

I learned that the hard way when my kith and kindred were slaughtered right before my eyes.

Everyone thinks the wyverns and the sorcai did it, but I know the truth.

I’ve been hiding from The Horde ever since, existing under their radar, surviving.

And then one day, they find me…he finds me. Aeson Noctis, the king’s second son and my new captor.

Aeson thinks he can force me back to Paragon City. He thinks he can use me and claim my power for his own.

But the dragons should’ve been more careful about who they let inside their city. I’m not some weak little pawn. I’m here looking for answers.

I’m here looking for revenge.

When it comes to dragons, there’s no such thing as safe. I know because I am one, and now I’m going to make The Horde pay for what they’ve done.

They thought they killed all the Syphons.

They thought they hunted down every one.

They thought wrong.

My thoughts…

This world was full of dragons, wyverns, and magic wielders. Not only were their dragons, but there were sub-divisions of dragons. Each dragon’s affinity categorized them. So you had burners, thrashers, and other types based on their ability. Ever is a type of dragon that is thought to be extinct. She’s a siphon dragon meaning she can “suck” the ability of other dragons from them. Since someone in the kingdom betrayed them, and slaughtered (what they thought were) all siphons, Ever and the other surviving siphons have been on the run. That is, until Ever finds herself integrated into the Horde of dragons, under the watchful eye of the prince, and commander.

I really enjoyed the world this author created. There were a lot of things going on from the dragons, to the sorcai (magic wielders), and the wyvern. It appears that since the betrayal of dragons that wiped out the siphon race, the Horde has been a bit rocky on their public relations with the other species. So of course, when Ever pops up, it throws their world in chaos as they not only come to terms that she exists, but that there could be others out there. Not to mention, the intel that she gives them on what happened sends them into a frenzy that it wasn’t sorcai or wyvern that attacked their kind, but dragons from within the keep that were trusted. Which always leaves Ever exposed to more danger at every turn as you don’t really know WHO to trust in this situation.

While I did enjoy this story, Ever did get on my nerves. She’s supposed to be 60+ years old, even though she visually looks young. 60 years old…. and yet she’s impulsive, doesn’t think about her actions, and is convinced everyone is playing a game with her when it’s clear they are trying to help her. The things she did and said was more on par with a 13 year old than someone who has been around the block a ton of times already.

This story was really interesting to me and I found myself waiting to for a chance to pick it up and continue reading. However, towards the end, it just lost it’s spark. I was bored, and just ready for it to get to its conclusion, which of course turned out to a big cliffhanger.