Vows & Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr, # ) 2
By: Helen Scheuerer
Publication: September 21, 2023 by Alchemy
536 Pages
Genre: New Adult, Fantasy
Source: Personal Library (Thank you!!)
*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.
Goodreads description--Against all odds, Althea Zoltaire emerged from her trials as a champion. Now, she must train even harder and prepare herself to become a true warrior of Thezmarr.But Thea’s world is turned upside down as she struggles to navigate her newfound magic and uncover the secrets of her past. Slowly, she begins to untangle the truth about her family, her powers and the evil that threatens to engulf the kingdom.
When Wilder Hawthorne returns to be her official mentor, everything changes. Dark forces are gathering, and he will stop at nothing to prepare her for the challenges to come, even if it means breaking her.
As war looms and their quest for answers leads master and apprentice deeper into danger, the undeniable connection between them intensifies – defying all odds, but also threatening to tear them apart.
With secrets unravelling and evil closing in, Thea and Wilder fight to save the world, and each other. The fate of the realms rests in their hands – will they emerge victorious, or will the darkness consume them both?
Full of action, adventure and steamy romance, Vows & Ruins is the second book in the spellbinding epic romantic fantasy series, The Legends of Thezmarr and is perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, From Blood and Ash and The Witcher.
Whew guys! I don't even know what I'm going to say about this one.
I got Blood & Steel on audiobook for review and really enjoyed it. It ended with a little bit of a cliffhanger. But I knew I had to wait a while for the audiobook to release for Vows and Ruins or I would probably get the print version. Well surprise me, but not much time went by when nearly the entire series was released in print and the audiobook version for book 2 was released as well. When my birthday came up, I snagged the audiobook version as it wasn't that expensive at the time. Mollie Stark & Sebastian Grove narrate the same as Blood and Steel; they do an outstanding job. (*Side note: I often wonder what male audiobook narrators think of the books they're narrating.)
Vows and Ruins picks up with Thea training to be a Warrior of Thezmarr. But Wilder is MIA. She's still training, but she is angry. And she isn't taking good care of herself. She's recently discovered a significant piece of information about herself, and she isn't coping very well with the stress of it all. Wilder shows up just in time to help her get back into a more balanced headspace of self-care and training. He decides that they need to take their training on the road because that is where all Legends learn most of their training.
Wilder and Thea do this dance back and forth between trying to maintain a professional relationship and getting it on. They do good, and then they cave. The back and forth was a little much for me. But what was really much for me was the frequency and description they ended up together. If readers were missing this action from the previous book, Vow and Ruins ought to have made up for it. For my personal reading level, the on-page sex was a bit excessive. This was probably made worse for me by having the audio version where skimming ahead isn't as easy as the print version. Also, there was something about hearing these scenes out loud instead of reading or skimming them that gave me second-hand embarrassment.
As far as plot goes, Vows and Ruins had multiple plot twists. One plot twist was pretty obvious. And I think Helen Scheuerer was pulling a sleight-of-hand trick where she was keeping our attention on this flashy, in-your-face, twist all while sneaking a major blindside from behind our backs. Maybe other readers/listeners caught this plot twist, but I missed it. And I felt the emotions all the more because of it.
Vows and Ruins was really good. I wanted to keep listening until I finished it. I got a good bit of crocheting done during this one, and of course, dishes washed and meals cooked, as well. Wilder and Thea were a bit of a roller coaster. Their back and forth was a bit much at times. The on-page sexual scenes exceeded my preferences, but it's the plot that keeps me coming back for more. Yet again, we have a pretty major (even bigger than before) cliffhanger at the end of this book. I will be continuing this series to find out what happens next. Vows and Ruins gets 4 Stars. Have you read (or listened to) Vows and Ruins? What did you think? Let me know!
This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.
No comments:
Post a Comment