By Carissa Broadbent

Oraya’s world was turned upside down at the end of the Kejari. Her father, Vincent, was murdered in cold blood right in front of her face. During this murder, she discovered Raihn had been hiding an enormous secret from her, for the entirety of their relationship. She also soon unraveled a slew of secrets Vincent had been keeping, and lying to her for her entire life.

With all of this to work through, while recovering from the Kejari and figuring out her new place in the castle, Oraya certainly had her hands full.

Now Queen of the Nightborn Vampires, Oraya must find a way to rid her kingdom of the evil forces attempting to overthrow her city entirely. She must do so, however, in the company of the man she trusts least in the universe: her husband.

Married to Raihn, against her will and with no other options at the end of the first novel, Oraya finds herself in an incredibly difficult position. The one man she feels she should never trust again already has her blood, her heart, her soul.

Raihn, in an effort to save Oraya in the final event of the Kejari, made a deal with the devil, or as close to it as he could get at the time. In the final moments of the Kejari, Raihn sealed an agreement with the Bloodborn vampires, one of the most ruthless races of vampires in the realm. Septimus, Prince of the Bloodborn vampires, always has something up his sleeve and a plan to regain his power. His deal with Raihn leaves the Nightborn kingdom at his mercy, which is to say, not a good position.

Together, Raihn and Oraya will fight to regain control of their kingdom. To do so, however, they must decide what they truly mean to each other and how far they will go to save their country, their friends and themselves.

I enjoyed this sequel to “The Serpent and the Wings of Night”. It was an easy read and full of unexpected events. I loved the relationship between Oraya and Vincent, even after Vincent’s death. It speaks to the complication of the death of a loved one, and all the things left unsaid. Vincent continues to invade Oraya’s thoughts long after his death, and we learn more and more of the secrets he kept and why. This was definitely one of my favorite aspects of the novel.

I enjoyed the relationship and romance between Oraya and Raihn, although I did feel that some of their story became a bit repetitive. There were instances that felt like we were moving backwards within the story arch. Oraya’s trust of Raihn, the attraction they feel for each other, the communication and plans of action, at times, feel a bit stalled.

I also felt like we could have learned more about some of the side characters. In particular, Septimus, who played the role of primary villain. We did hear a condensed version of his family history in a very unique encounter with Oraya in the castle library, but that felt forced. I feel some extra insight into his motivation would have added to the plot. Especially with the knowledge he will probably have a role to play in the series down the line.

I loved the ending of this book. I thought it was full circle regarding Raihn and Oraya’s relationship, and the help of the goddess to make it happen. I thought the closure with Oraya’s betrayal and feelings toward Vincent came to a nice end as well.

This is a good fantasy series – I don’t put it at the top of my list of favorites per se, but it certainly is somewhere in the middle.

Well-written, nice plot line, great relationship arch and very easy to read.