The Winter King by C. L. Wilson

The Winter King (Weathermages of Mystral, #1)

by C. L. Wilson

An epic new fantasy romance from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author C. L. Wilson

After three long years of war, starkly handsome Wynter Atrialan will have his vengeance on Summerlea's king by taking one of the man's beautiful, beloved daughters as his bride. But though peace is finally at hand, Wynter's battle with the Ice Heart, the dread power he embraced to avenge his brother's death, rages on.

Khamsin Coruscate, Princess of Summerlea and summoner of Storms, has spent her life exiled to the shadows of her father's palace. Reviled by her father, marriage to Wintercraig's icy king was supposed to be a terrible punishment, but instead offers Kham her first taste of freedom-and her first taste of overwhelming passion.

As fierce, indomitable Wynter weathers even Khamsin's wildest storms, surprising her with a tenderness she never expected, Kham wants more than Wynter's passion-she yearns for his love. But the power of the Ice Heart is growing, dangerous forces are gathering, and a devastating betrayal puts Khamsin and Wynter to the ultimate test.

Reviewed by Leigha on

4 of 5 stars

Share
Two headstrong individuals will come together to stop an ancient evil in this awesome adult fantasy romance.

Now this is how I like my romance! Mix a feisty, headstrong woman with a stoic, headstrong man and watch the passion explode. Wynter and Khamsin’s relationship develops from wary strangers to passionate lovers over the course of the novel. Each of them develops and grows outside of their relationship in a realistic and satisfying way. Secondary characters could use more development, particularly the villains. In my humble opinion, villains should be as complex and interesting as the main characters. No mustache twirling villains thank-you-very-much.

The scale of the overarching plot and the engrossing setting more than make up for the flat secondary characterizations. Let’s have more books include a Nordic setting please! The magic system is interesting, if not all that unique. Plot twists were easy to guess, but they didn’t make the book any less enjoyable to read. The next book will feature another princess from Khamsin’s kingdom, Summerlea. Generally I’m not a fan of series featuring secondary characters, but I might give it a shot.

tl;dr A sexy romance featuring powerful, headstrong characters falling in love while fighting off an ancient evil.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 9 June, 2017: Finished reading
  • 9 June, 2017: Reviewed