It has been a while since I posted. I would say I’ve been busy and on vacation but Kate was on vacation with me and she still managed to post things. I was reading Assistant to a Villain and then my preorder for this book came and I had to read it. When we last left Oraya and Raihn they had won the Kejuri, Raihn killed Vincent to become king and then forced Oraya to marry him instead of putting her to death also. It’s kind of messed up but let’s just go with it. They are not in a good place. Oraya, understandably is a mess. She is grieving her father and feeling betrayed by Raihn. Her people are on the run and those who are her enemy now occupy her home. Raihn is now King even though he never wanted to be and being a former slave is not exactly well liked by his nobles. It is a good thing that I read the novella, Six Scorched Roses because Vale and Lilith return in this book to help Raihn out.

For me, this book did start off a bit slow. While the other book went almost immediately into the action of the Kejuri. This one focused on the politics of court. Which important to building the world but also to show the difficulties ahead for both Oraya and Raihn. Once, they are overthrown things start moving again as they action starts to really gear up. I could have done without the mini horcrux missions they had to go through to find mysterious weapons that Vincent left behind. I know it was important to the story as it not only explained more about who Vincent was and his motivation but also an avenue to learn more about Oraya’s mother. The introduction of it was a bit clunky. Other than that, this was a satisfying sequel. I want to say that this the ending of their story but there is definitely a little cliffhanger with a Goddess that will eventually have to be resolved but I believe the next book will focus on Mische. Which I totally support. She could use some happiness.