The Nightborn King of Vampires stumbles across a broken, abandoned girl in the ruins of a raging war. In a moment of weakness, he decides to save her and bring her home to his castle. He protects her, teaches her, fosters her growth of power and knowledge. The little girl carves a space within the Nightborn King’s heart that no other has been able to do in the past few centuries. The king did not know that this would later destroy him and his entire kingdom.

Oraya’s father, Vincent, King of Vampires, shows Oraya his two faces. A face of a father swooning over his beloved daughter and the face of a king who slaughters all those standing in his path to power. Oraya respects and trusts both of these personas, perhaps to a fault. Together, their biggest fear is Oraya’s weakness as a human. The risk of Turning her is too great, and Vincent will not risk it.

However, there is a tournament approaching that may very well solve their problem. If Oraya wins, Nyaxia (a feared goddess) will grant Oraya a single wish. This wish could grant Oraya the power she has always dreamed of obtaining and free her from the fear of her own mortality. Vincent and Oraya decide she will enter the tournament, and she will win.

Oraya prepares herself for the most brutal battles and tests of strength she can imagine. However, nothing will prepare her for what she embarks upon at the start of the tournament. She is forced into an unlikely (and quite foreboding) alliance with a dark and tempting vampire, Raihn. This alliance screams forbidden romance looming, and we love every minute of it. Oraya and Raihn carve their relationship into a strange form of comfort, attraction and reliance upon each other. Their flirtatious banter and witty sarcasm hint at the romance to come. Oraya begins to find her true strength through training with Raihn, and soon uncovers a stark truth that sends her world upside down.

As Oraya’s heart breaks and her world crumbles, we discover truths of her past none of us saw coming! We learn to understand Raihn’s position against Oraya’s father and begin to think their relationship is doomed before it is able to start.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is a wonderful first novel to start off the series. It had excitement, magic, a twinge of romance and great relationship archs. The relationship between Oraya and Vincent took the top of the list for me; I loved the dual-sided coin of father-daughter and Vampire-Heir. Vampires do not show much affection, even to their offspring (that is if they manage to refrain from killing their future heirs). Vincent finds a common ground to accommodate his human daughter, offering her bits of affection through training, safety and protection. Oraya’s growth and strength depends greatly on Vincent, but she has her own secrets that she chooses to hide from Vincent.

We get to know Oraya and Vincent together, but we also learn about who they are as individuals. Oraya is cunning, stronger than she knows and hungry to avenge the mass amount of cruelty to humans. Though, she does not consider herself a “normal” human, nor does she quite fit among the vampires. Oraya settles in a strange “in between” ground, that allows her to bind a bit more closely to Raihn, a Turned Vampire who has not quite lost his empathy for humanity. Part of his soul still clings to his former life and human heart.

Vincent is a King who killed his way to the throne (as is the case with all Vampire Kings). He murdered the former King and all potential heirs. He waged war against an entire nation of the Rishan to ensure no threats remained to his power. He fought his way to victory and received the blessing of Nyaxia in return. Vincent is also the protective father who winces and cringes at Oraya’s pain. Whose fear for Oraya blinds him of rational decision and distracts him from the present. Vincent’s affection for his daughter helps us relate to him on a slightly more “human” level.

The trio of relationships (Vincent-Oraya-Raihn) is engaging, exciting and full of twists and turns. I have already started the second novel of the series and am loving it!

I recommend it if you are looking for a flashback to the realm of Twilight or if you are missing Edward Cullen! Raihn will make for a nice substitute for the sulky, mysterious love interest in a Vampire setting.