First off, I was extremely skeptical of this book. In case you’re not aware of the background, this started off as an April Fool’s joke some years ago, since, honestly, who’d want a romance featuring one of the most hated villains from the Kate Daniels series? Besides killing off a beloved character, Hugh was also the dreaded Other Man in a love triangle with Kate and Curran. Not to mention, as Roland’s lackey, he was a bit one-note evil. I had a lot of doubts about how he could be believably redeemed while still acknowledging that he KILLED ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERs. Ahem. Folks, I was so, so wrong – I was rooting for Hugh after about three chapters.
“Roland discovered an unpleasant fact,” Lamar said. “We do not follow him. We follow you.”
After being cut off from Roland, Hugh is on the run with what’s left of his Iron Dogs, hunted by the Golden Legion. Starving and exhausted, they need a base to regroup. Elara, head of, well, a cult, needs someone to protect her people from her suspicious and unfriendly neighbors. And what better way to seal the deal than a marriage? Of course, while the main participants need to keep up appearances to outsiders, it’s quickly apparent that “My way or the highway” Hugh and “I’m called the White Warlock for a reason” Elara are immediately at odds. Even in the midst of it all, though, these are two smart people used to command, who will bicker and fight but in service of doing what’s they think is best for their people. I think what sold me on Hugh most of all was his commitment to both his people and Elara’s. The Hugh in this book is not the Hugh we’ve met before, for good reason, as getting cut off from Roland broke him completely. Watching him reform himself, while deciding which parts of himself he wants to keep and which to discard, was heart wrenching. Loyalty, though, it what makes both Hugh and Elara tick.
“If you betray us, I’ll make you suffer.”
“We haven’t even married yet, and I’m suffering already.”
“We have that in common,” she snapped.”
And, oh, Elara. She’s the perfect foil for Hugh, unfailingly loyal and committed to her people and what’s best for them, even a sham marriage to a man everyone calls a monster. She’s smart and fierce, and she’s shrewd enough to put Hugh and his starving commanders in a conference room next to the kitchens when they first meet. The authors have a great knack for being able to write from someone’s POV while only hinting at that character’s secrets, and it was fun figuring out along with Hugh’s people exactly why Elara seems to view herself as a monster. It goes along well with the romance, which is, of course, hate-to-love and deliciously slow burn, with plenty of the authors’ trademark witty banter.
“What do you want more than anything? Tell me what it is, and I’ll rip the world apart to bring it to you.”
While we’ve had novellas and other books not from Kate’s point of view, they’ve all been Atlanta-based Pack, so having POVs from both Hugh and Elara was a fascinating new view of the world. There are several plot lines that are left unresolved at the end of the book, including one major one that I was disappointed about, but it is the first in a series. Overall, though, I simply cannot fangirl over this book enough, and highly recommend it to anyone who loves kickass characters, smart and hilarious dialogue, and a tightly-paced engrossing plot!
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.