After saving Crescent City Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar want to enjoy a normal life. When they get drawn into the mystery of finding a little boy who’s in danger they discover a rebel faction who is fighting against the very tight leash the Asteri hold over Midgard. Normalcy was never their thing, right? They get drawn into the war of good against evil only the bad guys don’t seem so bad anymore and the good guys? They may not be so good.

Narrated again by Elizabeth Adams, who does a danged good job, this 28 hours went a little slower than the first novel in the series. I think I spent a month getting through all the plots, conflicts, heartbreak, and romance that I really only wanted to fast forward to find out how the book ended since I spent so much of my life dedicated to listening to this story. It wasn’t all bad though, seriously. There were a couple of exciting moments, interesting character developments, and romantic entanglements but I think this book could’ve once again been cut by one-third. There were a lot of laying the groundwork chapters that just made the book seem too long, but the last few chapters almost made up for the boredom I felt earlier in the novel. The conclusion was great!

One of the best plot lines was bad boy Fae Prince Ruhn’s turn as a secret agent and his telepathic relationship with the mysterious Day. I know a lot of people guessed who she was but I was totally surprised and this is one plot that I can’t wait to see how it turns out. I’m kind of interested in Ethan’s werewolf princess but that was dragged out and didn’t reach a conclusion in this novel so I’m left feeling ho-hum, but Bryce’s character arc at the end is one of those cliff-hanger’s that will make you read that third book even if you stumbled half brain dead to your bed after trying to get through this beast of a novel. It was surprisingly good!

I like Hunt and Bryce ok as a couple. I like that they are two different races but I feel like they’ve gone full circle and I’m not sure what else is out there for the two of them. Yes, they are mates, but are they doomed for failure like everyone believes? I almost hope so. I am looking for something different out of that third book so we’ll have to wait and see if we get it.

Did I like this book? Yes. Did I love it? No. It was a typical second book in the series that moved the plot forward but took too long to do it. I am invested enough after 54 hours of listening to read the third book when it does come out. When is that again? Next month? I have time to fit in a few books before my calendar fills up with the next beast of a novel.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to order this book!* House of Sky and Breath

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

Bryce Quinlan was a party girl and then her best friend was murdered leaving Bryce to spiral into the darkest of places. Hunt Athalar a fallen Angel, was once a fierce warrior and is now slave to the Archangel. He is tasked with partnering with Bryce to find the killer. As the two of them search out the killer they dig through Crescent City’s underbelly developing a trust for each other that draws them out of the darkness.

This novel was a commitment at over 800 pages. When you translate that to an audiobook, it is 27+ hours of your time. I’ll admit that was a bit daunting but Elizabeth Evans, the narrator, did an excellent job of bringing these characters to life and embuing them with different voices so that I didn’t have any trouble following each character and piecing together the story. The world this author creates was fascinating and strange. Filled with angels, demons, fae, were, mer, sprite’s, etc. There was every fantasy and paranormal race in this novel that it could have been a bit much, but somehow the hierarchy all made sense and we were given a path to follow with two great characters in Bryce and Hunt.

Bryce was my favorite kind of heroine. She was sassy, layered, emotional, loyal, and most of all easy to love. As half-fae, she dealt with discrimination but was strong because of that difference, and in fact that strength is what carried her through her investigation. She had balls and didn’t back down from a challenge and she was given several in this novel. As her partner, Hunt was kind of the antithesis of Bryce. He was once a deadly warrior, able to bring lightening down on his enemies. As a slave to the Archangel, he has to do his bidding. Luckily he is partnered with Bryce, who brings a little light into his life despite also driving him crazy. Their chemistry was amazing and I loved how they grew into each other throughout this novel.

In an 800 page novel you aren’t going to be able to keep the plot going full speed ahead the entire time. Yes, there were chapters that could’ve been cut to shorten the book, but if you stick it out to the final third the culmination of their investigation reaches a catalyst that had me on the edge of my seat. It was so worth the 600 pages I had to read to get to that point. Such a great conclusion and it had me immediately reach for the second novel. I wasn’t scared to jump back into another 800 page story (or 27 hour audiobook!). ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* House of Earth and Blood

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.