She was raised to hate him. Now she shares his bed.
Princess Mayah of Tundrayn isn’t allowed to want. Not freedom. Not love. Not even her own future. Instead, she’s spent her life healing others’ pain and swallowing her own. But when her father strikes a fragile alliance with enemy-kingdom Arbinj to crush a rising rebellion, she is bartered into a marriage she didn’t choose for a crown she doesn’t want.
She expects a prince. She gets the Dark Commander.
Zevayr is ruthless, unyielding, and a stormwielder with a reputation soaked in blood. He is everything Mayah was taught to fear. Yet as they race across rebel-torn lands, the less certain she is of where the monster ends and where the man begins.
In Arbinj’s glittering courts, the Rebellion surges and dangerous secrets stir from Mayah’s past—secrets that could shatter her kingdom, and her heart, if she lets them.
The question is not if Mayah will betray, but who: her people, her love, or herself?
Available on Kindle unlimited
Review
You know the kind of books that catch you from the first page? The ones that drag you into the pages and have you ignoring the rest of the world around you? And most importantly, the ones that surprise you with twists that have your jaw dropping? This is that kind of book. I loved it!
Our FMC is strong and determined to help her people. As Princess of Tundrayn, she is willing to go to the enemy Kingdom of Arbinj and marry the Prince. Despite what she has heard about that kingdom and how ruthless they are in the war, her people need peace. She is a healer and is always trying to help her people. I enjoyed her willingness to speak up and not take her Father or the Dark Commanders words as final. I really liked Mayah a lot.
The trip to Arbinj is not made with the Prince but the Dark Commander. A Prince can’t go across enemy lines! Trust me, no one wants him to. I was not a fan of the Prince at all. But the Dark Commander? He caught my eye. He is a stormwielder and can bring down lightening, which is an issue for Mayah. She doesn’t like lightening. You can read the book to find out why. And you do need to find out why! It’s very important. But our Dark Commander leads the army and fights the war with lots of lightening. He is a monster and his reputation proceeds him. However, there is much more to him than that and we get to learn all about it as they journey to Arbinj. I so loved the journey. I was sad when it ended but then something else happened that captured my attention. So there’s that.
The magic system is interesting. It is based on the elements. There are stormwielders, firewielders, waterwielders and earthwielders. There are also healers and a couple other interesting ones. Then there are the nonwielders. They are treated as second class citizens. This is something that really bothers Mayah. She grew up with two children who were nonwielders or commoners. She believes they should be treated as humans and not deprived of healing or food just because they can’t wield magic. It is a point of contention between her and her father. I really liked that about her. She hasn’t sat in her ice castle and grown to feel better than everyone else.
Oh yes, I didn’t tell you about her ice castle. The people of Tundrayn live in the cold and ice while Arbinj is in the more temperate part of the land. Tundrayn lives off the sea and they struggle for food. Arbinj has earthwielders who can grow food in a few minutes. They have an abundance.
The plot is intriguing. This author takes you down a path that is enjoyable and interesting and just as you think you know what’s happening…BAM…everything changes. I love those kinds of books. I’ve read hundreds of books over the years. It’s hard to completely surprise me the way this book did. That was very enjoyable.
I also loved that this is a stand alone read. There is another book that tells the same story from a different point of view but this story is complete. It’s nice to not have to wait a year for the rest of the story. I can see some spinoff stories coming from this book but I really enjoyed that our main characters story was complete.
My first response to finishing this book was to send the title to my group of friends that are also readers. I only do that for the 5 star reads, the ones I love the most. So let me recommend you move this up your TBR to the top. I’m sure you won’t regret it. Enjoy.
Leave a Reply