Casteel and Poppy come to an uneasy alliance in this action packed steamy fantasy romance.
Much like From Blood to Ash, this book starts off rather slow and exposition heavy. Poppy has lots of long talks with Casteel and the other members of his party as she learns more about the conflict between the Ascended and Atlantia. Time is well spent fleshing out the mythology and religion in the world, although the politics remain a bit murky.
While the beginning may have been slow, the rest of the novel is an action-packed and erotic escapism at its finest. Poppy and Cas’s romance is explosive as they come together to fight a common enemy. Their charade of happily engaged lovers to the public versus their private anguished romance is the perfect mix of sour and sweet. The ending, thankfully, resolves many of their romantic issues. Several times I wondered if this story would move into a polyamorous relationship with all the time Kieran spent with them during their intimate moments – as Cas would say, call me intrigued.
Finally, the ending. THE ENDING WILL KILL YOU. It sure as hell killed me. I stayed up until midnight devouring this book (considering my bedtime is 9 p.m. on the dot that’s saying something), and I was floored once it was done. I have, as Poppy would say, SO MANY QUESTIONS. I think this is the only time I will say I hope the third book actually starts with lots of exposition so I can devour it.
tl;dr This book kept me up well into the night with an action packed plot and a very steamy unforgettable romance.