Made with love
© Victoria Gryson 2024
A treacherous bride.
A heartbroken groom.
Is their marriage over before it’s begun?
Her deceit discovered, Faraine finds herself trapped in the Shadow Realm at the mercy of her new husband. She’s surrounded by enemies, far from any allies, and her best bet for survival is to convince Vor to send her home.
But to do so means to give up on the alliance. Which would spell disaster for her people.
With the tremors growing worse and poison spreading through his realm, Vor is more desperate than ever to find a solution. Only, it cannot involve his wife. Vor wants nothing to do with the woman he has inadvertently married. At one time, he thought he might love her, but now? How can love flourish where trust is broken?
When circumstances require them to spend more time together, however, Vor’s blood is stirred in ways he doesn’t like to acknowledge.
Can two lost hearts find healing and hope in one another? Or is their love already poisoned beyond recovery?
Oh wow, can you believe it’s been almost a year since I’ve read book one? Time flies!
Luckily, jumping back into the story was easy – it picks up right where we left off, with Faraine’s betrayal exposed and her life in danger.
As we dive deep into the second book, we learn a lot more about the insidious threat spreading not only in Mythanar but throughout the realm. Add to that the stirrings (earthquakes) that will prove fatal to everyone sooner rather than later. Yeah, things are looking pretty grim.
Faraine is under house arrest (for her own safety, they say). Finding it hard to stay put, she’s being drawn to the beautiful gardens with their crystals.
During this installment, she learns a lot about her god-gift and how to use it while also discovering some seriously disturbing things (no spoilers!).
While she still feels like a damsel-in-distress, she’s also finally taking action and growing as a person, though sometimes that means knocking out people when she doesn’t get her way.
Vor is a stressed-out mess in this book. His people constantly need him, his council is useless, and anyone could be the enemy – even his own brother! Add to that his confusing feelings for Faraine, we can safely say he’s not living his best life at the moment.
This book focuses heavily on character development and slowly reveals the dire threat.
Here’s the thing, though – it dragged in the middle. The pacing started well and ended strong, but the middle was a slog. Honestly, if I wasn’t determined to finish it (as part of a challenge and because I have the series on my ‘to finish this year’ list), I might have given up. That’s why it only gets 3.5 stars. 🙁
Overall, it wasn’t on the same level as the first book (which was an excellent read despite breaking my heart) and was too long.
But hey, I’m already halfway through the series, so I’ll definitely read the last book… eventually (even though it’s a whopping 596 pages!).
© Victoria Gryson 2024