Although there was a short novella since the Kurjans were defeated in Warrior’s Hope, it’s been a year and a half since that full-length book. It took my brain a minute to catch up to the story. Especially since the Kurjans were always seen as the bad guys (other than Vero). Now, we have Paxton as their king and Vero as his right-hand man, trying to ally his people with the rest of the Realm. I’ll admit it took me a minute to get into the adult, alpha, protector Vero. He was so etched in my brain as the more timid young man who tried to help Hope and her friends when they were young. I know he’s been shown as a grown-up, just not so prominently. So I had to get little Vero out of my brain and let this Vero take charge. There was a lot going on in this story. Not only is Vero worried about uniting the Kurjans under Paxton, there are also dead bodies popping up all over their land. There’s no telling who to trust, as not everyone is onboard with Pax being king or letting the humans go free. Then there’s Lyrica. A thorn in his side that he can’t stop thinking about. Lyrica has such a huge heart. She just wants to do right by the other human women, whether they were recently kidnapped by the bad Kurjans or have been mated to a Kurjan for centuries. The problem is that Lyrica has a hard time thinking outside the box. She knows how much she loves her freedom and autonomy and can’t understand why anyone would feel differently. This causes more than one tense situation with the Kurjan soldiers, and is a big bone of contention between her and Vero. I’m glad Lyrica didn’t back down when it came to things she felt were important. Sometimes she was proven wrong, but she wasn’t cowed by Vero or Pax. She slogged on with what she believed in until she could tangibly see it was the wrong course of action. And she also helped Vero find his softer side. He was such a kind child, but so much had been taken away from him through the years. Vero had hardened his heart to anything other than helping and protecting his people. These two were as fantastic a couple as I had hoped they would be. As always, the author sprinkles moments of humor to help break up the tension in this series. There are so many people I still want to see get their HEA, yet I’m unsure who the enemy is going to be when so many different factions have been brokering peace deals. I’m sure the author will think of something; she always does. **Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this book the day before it was released, but I had already preordered the book and hadn’t seen the email until after the publication date. What I’m saying is, I would have read this book regardless of receiving an ARC or not. As always, my opinions are my own and given freely.**