A Tormented Touch

by Kaven Hirning

The epic conclusion to A Forbidden Fate series, A Tormented Touch follows our party of bandits into a world of gold and lavender; where more secrets are unearthed, more challenges are presented, and more ale is poured.
With the fate of the world, the mysterious golden ring, and her heart on the line, Idalia Hyland must finally face all of her past to secure the safety of her future. What will time reveal? And will it be enough to save everyone from the Darkness? Join the merry characters you love and adore to see what might happen! Or, if our two star-crossed lovers can FINALLY touch!

Genres: Fantasy

745 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 4, 2025

Reviews

[Kaven Hirning · Rating 5 out of 5]

ATT FINALLY OUT LETSSS GOOOO MY MERRY LIL BAND OF BANDITS

[brii | brii (four months behind...) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jessie The Great · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay guys, I finally did it. I don't want the length of my read to concern you. I would start reading, then an ARC appeared - finish that and my reviews - start reading again, then my bookclub book had to be read. IT'S BEEN A THING. Sunday I said, eff everything else, I'm finishing this. I WANT TO KNOW IF THESE TWO CRAZY KIDS FINALLY GET TO TOUCH PRIVATES. I won't answer that for you, maybe you should freaking read it - then you will know.

Anyway, this was a good final installment for the Forbidden Fate series. It was very involved. Idalia and Braizen are both Martyrs. Cyra really just dealt them a $HITTY hand. That crusty wench. We do find out why she's such a hag, but man, it doesn't redeem her. She's jealous and prideful. She hordes power but doesn't give. She is the Dreaded because she couldn't handle rejection of her wants.

There, hidden within the trees. An older Cyra watches them together, her fingers twitching anrily by her side. A vicious scowl on her face."

Anyway, we get to see everything through a really cool door system. I very much liked how easy it is for a Noors to travel -- whereas when Idalia does it, she's ripped from place to place. I really don't think Kaven Hirning left a stone unturned. It was a very full story. I could have used more smut, but we can't all be winners. This story was great without it. I started these books because I enjoyed Kaven's tiktoks, I finished this series because it was good even moreso since she said that she wrote it under the heavy influence of wine.

Also, Novak's last words were absolutely devastating. I had to stop to cry for a bit there. Of course I was caught in the act and then had to explain the whole story to my husband - because it wasn't a quick "because this happened". It wouldn't have done it justice. Cyra really was awful. Again - not that I want to feel bad for a dude - but she was so terrible to him because he didn't follow through with the ramblings of a teenage, hormonal, boy. Also, THANK you for giving Lin some attention. That guy was yearning for so long. He deserved it (love - not to be stuck yearning). I'm also happy with The Shadow's story arc. The only one that kind of fell flat was Lachlan and his love for his dead wife. Like, I expected something to happen there and nah, he just decided to start a republic and live until he didn't.

Anyway, I meandered. READ THIS BOOK. Don't take a month like I did. Sit down and read it. It was very good.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🫑🫑

(bell peppers vs chili peppers because there were like 3 scenes - not closed door, but more like open window - I felt like T Swift peeping through peoples windows)

[abeer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series more than anything I had gotten into the past couple of years. I was so captivated by the world building and the characters were all likable (I usually tend to dislike the MFC in these type of books) but I actually liked Idalia. All the other characters were well explored (enough to know them well without feeling like a filler arc). Some moments were very funny and some were very sad - I think the narrators of the audiobook did a great job conveying these emotions.

Since I listened to the audiobooks it was maybe easier to retain my attention while I went on about my work day. As I saw some comments about how long the last book was - for me it was amazingly entertaining and reveals everything at a very good pace to wrap up the story without leaving any plot holes.
I also love how the style of writing was (at least for me) easy to follow for all the time skips/ POV changes, side stories etc. Not many writers of the genre are able to get that down well.

I am seriously wondering why this series is not more popular. That's all am gonna say - no spoilers but my recommendation is - do give the audiobooks a try!

[Melanie Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Tormented Touch had all the ingredients I wanted in a series finale—high stakes, lingering tension, secrets, and the long-awaited payoff between Idalia and Braizen—but it didn’t fully land for me. Reviews for the book have praised it as an epic, emotional conclusion with plenty of action and strong romantic tension, and I can definitely see why readers enjoyed that side of it. The world and the buildup across the series were there. 

That said, I spent so much of this book waiting for one specific moment: Idalia and Braizen accidentally losing their balance, touching, and discovering the curse hadn’t actually existed the whole time. I was so convinced that had to be where this three-book arc was heading, and when it never happened, I felt a little let down. For me, that missed possibility hung over the whole reading experience. I just wanted a bigger emotional or revelatory punch than I got. 

In the end, this was a decent finale with enough tension and momentum to keep me reading, but not quite the payoff I had been hoping for after all that buildup.

[Claire Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

AHHH.

Okay I went back and checked and I read the second book Feb-March 2025. That is a very long time between two books in the same series. So I really appreciated the journal entry at the beginning we can always count on Lin.

Something I do remember from the second book is temporarily forgetting that I’d finished it, getting excited to pick it up, and then being sad because I lowkey felt like I missed my friends. It was great to be reunited with them.

Yes, the ships are great (I’m not marking this for spoilers so I won’t expand on that guess you’ll just have to read for yourself if you wanna know) but something that has struck me throughout reading the trilogy (giant gaps between books or no) is how much I love the way Hirning writes enemies to friends/found family. We need more of that please.

[Emily Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in a slump before picking this up but honestly, I’m glad I did.

I often feel that when authors write battle scenes, they are rushed and over too quickly, leaving it feeling anticlimactic. I didn’t get that vibe with this book at all!
It was extremely detailed and held a good plot line.

My reason for giving 3 stars is because I felt like a lot of the book was Idalia visiting memories with information we already had and it felt repetitive.

The ending was super satisfying though and I was sobbing.

[Emily Petroski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series started out really good, but as I read the books, I lost interest. They became a little cumbersome/long to read. I think I would have liked them better if they were broken up into separate books. This final one took me forever to finish. That being said, they are a great fantasy series if you like world building, funny characters, and more closed door romance/scenes than explicit.

[Corinne Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaven 😭😭 I just finished this book and am a sobbing mess from it. I’ve never been more satisfied as to how everything connects to each other. This was such a perfect ending to this series, as much as it hurt. I’ll forever love my Cloaked ♥️😭

[Alysa Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 star series for me

The twists and turns of this series left me in a chokehold and i had this insatiable need to know. Upon its completion I was a balling mess and it was glorious. I will miss these characters.

[Madison | piercingreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Felt slow in the beginning but i did enjoy how this story ends!

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel. I need a couple days to think about this. I loved it but I also felt lost throughout the whole book. That ending though had me ALL in my feels!

[Kimberly Tincher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story but too long. Much of the stuff about Cyra’s backstory could have been left out.

[•• fateemz •• •• · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really tried i js couldn't bro
dnf :(

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous ending to the series

[Cali Galla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been a duology, I listened to the audiobooks, the narrators were great! Some instances of me noting how obvious the “twists” were.