Paladin's Strength is the second book in T. Kingfisher's The Saint of Steel fantasy romance series that follows the paladins that were previously dedicated to the god known as The Saint of Steel and now are adrift after the death of said god. Paladin's Strength follows Istvhan who was introduced in Paladin's Grace and who is one of the more light-hearted, snarky paladins in the group.

Istvhan has been tasked with hunting down a very dangerous killer who has been leaving a trail of bodies in its wake and to prevent panic, Istvhan's secret mission is to find and deal with this killer. In the process of this, he runs into Clara, a nun from a little known order who is on her own secret mission to find and save the other sisters from her order who have been kidnapped. Istvhan and Clara end up helping each other out but they're both harboring secrets that could lead to everything falling apart.

Paladin's Strength is probably my favorite so far of the series, in part because I adore Istvhan's humor (although there is a lot less of his snark in this one) and the careful way that he handles others and doesn't want to overwhelm or pressure anyone because of his size and strength. And I particularly love Clara, who is very straight forward and no-nonsense and dedicated to her fellow nuns. There is a ton of pining in this though and while both Clara and Istvhan have sexual thoughts, there is not a lot of acting upon that until pretty close to the end. I didn't mind that, but YMMV. I loved getting to see their partnership develop and it had the right blend of suspense, action and romance for me.