In our arrogance, the high fae forgot everything that mattered.

I carved out a reputation as the Savage Prince for my brutality against witches, but unable to wield our magic, I couldn’t stop my kingdom from being torn apart by war and famine while the Fates demanded my patience.

The worst was still to come.

After almost a thousand years of waiting for my Fates-blessed mate, and thousands of witches dead by my hand, the Fates revealed their cruelest truth yet.

With silver eyes that sliced to the bone and a humility that defied all reason, the witch I’m bound to has tested every inch of my restraint, but that was only the beginning.

Everything I once knew as true has come into question.

Loyalties will be tested, treaties broken, treason committed, and only the strongest will survive.

I am Prince Soren Celestial.

The rightful heir to the throne of the Southern Lands.

Nothing will keep me from my Fates-blessed mate.

Not even her hatred for me.

Kindle | 683pg | 40 Chapters | 5 Hour Read

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I ended up reading this in short bursts over three days. It was five hours in total. This book is vastly different from the vibe of the characters and world building in the first book.

In the first book it was very much focused towards outlining the past problems and establishing the characters in a way that outlined what they must overcome to reach some sort of an accord. I called the first book ‘the way to do enemies to lovers’ and that holds true in this book.

At the end of book one we saw Soren change his opinion of Rooke and struggle with the situations he had put her through in light of his turnaround of his opinions. Rooke for her part, didn’t willingly accept his apology, she didn’t make it hard to get it but she didn’t fold either. It was through communication, learning, and understanding that the two characters made their way to the point that their bonding could take place. It was very interesting to see the shift between the two characters because Soren has a very short temper and Rooke is naturally cautious.

There was growth in Soren on a level that I hadn’t expected in this second book. It was growth I didn’t expect to witness till the final book in the trilogy but I can see how important the affect of his change was not only to Rooke and the surrounding characters but to the overall plot advancement.

Rooke, as a character, has such depth to her. I know that Bree has written prequals of this series that I might check out at a later date which follow Rooke and Pem from their departure from the Southern Lands to their time in the Northern Lands. Rooke is very complex with an overflowing river of emotion that consumes her and also focuses her. She can remain calm and steadfast in situations that should make one panic. In this book she slowly unveils herself to Soren, letting down her barriers and allowing for communication between the two of them that was largely missing in the previous book.

There is a lot of travelling in this book. With book one much of the story took place in Ygeris (which I know I’ve spelt wrong with my dyslexic brain!). This one sees them travelling to Yris and back, and then out again. So, there is more of an action feel to the book.

I hadn’t realised, till I logged into Goodreads, how much flack this book has been given by other people. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, I however, sit with the happy outlook of being thoroughly pleased with what I read.

The Rooke of book one was defiant, strong, sarcastic, calm, etc. She riled Soren up and challenged him at every step. Her character bartered with his in a way that pushed the narrative forward but that also proved there was something between them that was very much worth fighting for. To have her be the same character in book two wouldn’t have worked as efficiently. To me, I still see her as strong, defiant, and calm but if the characters had continued to bicker and if Rooke had continued her taunts, her sarcasm, and her demanding remarks, the story wouldn’t have been able to move past the ‘enemies to loves’ plot.

The fact that Rooke has had the ability to ‘soften her edges’ and that Soren has had a chance to ‘open his mind and learn’ shows how far their characters have come since the first book. It shows their growth and it shows the reader how their story will turn the plot in the final part of the series.

Outside of Rooke and Soren we have more interaction with the Goblin Kingdom. Prince Gage returns and we also meet Prince Gideon. Both are instrumental to the plot in this book and it affords the reader another aspect to the Kingdom the story is set in and how it is not just the uniting of Soren and Rooke that will satisfy the barren land but new alliances and acceptance.

The last third of this book works towards a finale that encounters Rooke’s past and present in spectacular fashion I did get a little lost at one point but it was my fault as I realised I’d been skim reading in my excitement. It felt like a natural ending of this narrative but still with enough adrenaline that made the final pages exciting.

I think, in the final book, Rooke is going to have to let down ALL her walls and bare her past to Soren in a way that ensures every party that her part in ending this war is justified and supported. But also, that everything she has endured, everything that haunts her, it has all been pushing her into this moment, this last stand. I think there is more to this plot than we as the reader have already uncovered. With so many parties involved I can see the plot twisting in several ways. It will be interesting when the final book comes out to see whether any of my predictions have come true or if the book goes in a direction I hadn’t even thought of.