3.5 out of 5 stars
E-book. Kindle Unlimited. 248 pages. Published January 21st 2020.
Blurb:
A battle is coming…
…and the immortal knights aren’t ready.
Will an orphan be the key?
For fifteen hundred years Lucan has waged war with the greatest enemy the world has ever known
…and fought the ancient curse that means loving someone with all his heart and soul might be the reason they die.
Tom wasn’t supposed to be born… twice.
How, as a young child, had he even heard the monsters at all?
How, as an adult, is he caught up in a deadly battle to fight evil, but cannot get one stubborn man to even acknowledge he exists?
Time is running out, not just to unravel the secrets of Tom’s destiny, but for Tom to show Lucan that loving someone with all that they have doesn’t mean breaking their heart.
Or does it?
Likes:
- Lucan got over his stubbornness quickly.
- The series plot moved forward.
- The book was fast paced and interesting.
- I liked the hints at what’s going to come next.
Dislikes:
- The plot is a little too convoluted.
- Tom and Lucan didn’t spent much time together.
- Lucan’s past, and thus the reason he acts the way he does, was hinted at for too long before it was finally revealed.
- I’m still not really invested in the series.
- The characters get interesting and then the book ends.
I’ll be honest, I’m still not totally invested in this series. I like it fine, but it hasn’t captivated me, and I’m not really sure why. The characters are good, the plot is interesting, and I’m curious about what’s going to happen in the next book. But at the same time, I could walk away from the series without looking back.
I think part of it is because of the world building. Which is crazy, because I love world building. At least, I normally do. Most of the world building in this book/series deals with things that happened in the past. As they are now, the knights are men with swords who fight the same monsters night after night and keep one eye out for their tressors. The knights aren’t very interesting in modern day. It’s their tressors – Mel and Tom – who are unique, special, and learning about their hereto unknown abilities.
On that point, Tom is an interesting guy. Not just his past, but his present and future. Watching him discover who and what he is was as interesting as watching Mel do the same in the last book.
I was happy that Lucan got over his stubbornness about the age gap relatively quickly. I was worried that things between them would drag on and on. I do wish that Lucan’s past had been shown earlier. I hate when minor things are deliberately hinted at but held back to create tension. It didn’t work well in this case because the explanation for Lucan’s behavior towards Tom rested in his past. Without that knowledge, it was hard to connect with Lucan.
I was disappointed that Tom and Lucan didn’t spend much time together as lovers. There was so much else going on in the book that the actual romantic buildup was cut super short. I know they’ve known each other for two years, but they didn’t do anything romantic outside of the bedroom.
I blame some of that on how convoluted the series plot is. There are so many moving pieces, and every character played a different role, that there’s a lot going on. It’s getting a little hard to keep things straight. There were a few times when I wondered if I was misremembering things or the author had forgotten a key detail. It makes me worried about future books.
Despite this, the plot moved along at a good pace. It kept my attention the whole way through. I was confused during chapter 7, but that was the point. I liked the hints at what’s to come in the next book. I wish there were short stories set between the books that fill out the romance and show the tressors using or exploring their newfound powers. It feels like the tressors become interesting, then the book ends.
I will definitely read the next books whenever it comes out. I want to see Kay and Gawain find their tressors as well.
Be sure to check out the review for the first book in the series, The Twelfth Knight.
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