Unlike the previous books in this series, you don’t need to read those in order to enjoy this book. The other stories were all one arc for Finley, Carrick, and her friends, a continuous story that was not resolved until book 5 in the series. While we do get a brief glimpse of Maddox and get to know Amell quite a bit more, this story isn’t about them and they were not main characters in the first books. Now, I’m personally glad I have the other stories under my belt because of the world-building so I’d still recommend you read them if you want the whole back story and to better understand the world in which these stories take place.

Where I felt the previous stories lacked the solid chemistry I’m accustomed to having in this author’s books, I was pleased to feel the air crackling between Thalia and Bastien. I wasn’t always happy with their responses to each other and grew quite annoyed with Bastien’s hot and cold attitude, but I couldn’t deny their connection.

This fantasy story has a mission, but that’s not really what the tale is about. There is the completion of the mission and all of the tension when things go awry toward the end, but the bigger story is Thalia and Bastien learning to trust themselves and each other once again. There is not much getting to know the villain, Ferelith. She’s talked about a lot and her minions wreak havoc, but she’s not shown in person until the end. That decision by the author really works out well in this story. It was a gamble, but the gamble paid off.

I really enjoyed this book being more contained to one story with a beginning, middle, and end with an HEA. It looks like the future books will follow a similar format, where we can visit some favorites and have some crossover but also have a self-contained story.

You can find more of my reviews at All In Good Time.