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Dark One #1
Dark One's Mistress
This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B01KEO4E3U
When you’ve spent all your life in the same quiet village, what is there to fear?
As Clarabelle Weaver passes her seventeenth year, she still lives under the protection and shadow of the Great Lord’s fortress. The lord’s men patrol the land and keep the villagers safe, but no one has seen or heard much from the lord himself for years.
Then the Great Lord passes and Clara is abducted and taken to the fortress that has overshadowed her entire life. Lucias, the new lord, is hunting for a woman to bear his heir and ensure the safety of the kingdom, and Clara is his choice.
With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Clara must match her will against a man with dark magic at his beck and call.
But is there more to Lucias than the darkness she sees? Could this quiet, patient man be enough to replace her longing for freedom?
When you’ve spent all your life in the same quiet village, what is there to fear?
As Clarabelle Weaver passes her seventeenth year, she still lives under the protection and shadow of the Great Lord’s fortress. The lord’s men patrol the land and keep the villagers safe, but no one has seen or heard much from the lord himself for years.
Then the Great Lord passes and Clara is abducted and taken to the fortress that has overshadowed her entire life. Lucias, the new lord, is hunting for a woman to bear his heir and ensure the safety of the kingdom, and Clara is his choice.
With nowhere to run and no one to trust, Clara must match her will against a man with dark magic at his beck and call.
But is there more to Lucias than the darkness she sees? Could this quiet, patient man be enough to replace her longing for freedom?
ebook
First published November 11, 2013
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163 people want to read
About the author
Aldrea Alien
17 books189 followersMother. Animal lover. Vampire. Fangirl.
Aldrea Alien is a multi-award-winning, USA Today Bestselling, bisexual and genderfluid author from New Zealand. She writes fantasy romance of varying heat levels and sexualities.
She grew up on a small farm out the back blocks of a place known as Wainuiomata alongside a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they're just as human as the next person (especially the cats). She spent a great deal of her childhood riding horses, whilst the rest of her time was consumed with reading every fantasy book she could get her hands on and concocting ideas about a little planet known as Thardrandia. This would prove to be the start of The Rogue King Saga as, come her twelfth year, she discovered there was a book inside her.
Aldrea now lives in Upper Hutt, on yet another small farm with a less hectic, but still egotistical, group of animals (cats will be cats). She still hasn't yet found an off switch to give her an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind, a list that grows bigger every year with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first. It's a lot of people for one head.
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Aldrea Alien is a multi-award-winning, USA Today Bestselling, bisexual and genderfluid author from New Zealand. She writes fantasy romance of varying heat levels and sexualities.
She grew up on a small farm out the back blocks of a place known as Wainuiomata alongside a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they're just as human as the next person (especially the cats). She spent a great deal of her childhood riding horses, whilst the rest of her time was consumed with reading every fantasy book she could get her hands on and concocting ideas about a little planet known as Thardrandia. This would prove to be the start of The Rogue King Saga as, come her twelfth year, she discovered there was a book inside her.
Aldrea now lives in Upper Hutt, on yet another small farm with a less hectic, but still egotistical, group of animals (cats will be cats). She still hasn't yet found an off switch to give her an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind, a list that grows bigger every year with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first. It's a lot of people for one head.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 28, 2018
This was part of Fantasy Book Review’s grouping, and has since been eliminated. This was a heavy romance book, and romance is sort of …. no, it’s way out of my wheelhouse. I tried my best with this review since I don’t read romance all that often – if you are big into romance and think it sounds like your thing check it out!
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Plot:
Clara is born in a lower class family in a pretty typical medieval setting. She’s the daughter of a seamstress, and the relationship she has with her mother is strained at best. Her mom is pretty abusive, very strict, and doesn’t show any affection towards her daughter at all. Clara is out running errands when she’s taken by nobleman and shoved into a carriage with other women from her town and whisked away to the Dark Lords castle.
She has to sit there and wait to be ‘picked’ or cast aside as the Dark Lord chooses which woman will be his new mistress. The Dark Lords of these lands don’t take wives, just mistress’s which give them the heir they need.
Clara is chosen, and the rest are sent back to the village. She’s, of course, worried about what’s going to happen to her and she tries to escape multiple times, but it doesn’t work. She’s caught every time and sent back to the mansion – and Lucias is losing his patience with her.
Lucias (the dark lord), is able to extract peoples souls and turn them into mindless zombies. Clara, during an escape attempt, stumbles into the ritual when he’s taking the souls of criminals, and she begs him not to hurt a young boy, who she knew was not a criminal. She thinks there’s been some kind of mistake, and that the boy should be let go. Lucias wasn’t having it until Clara makes a desperate attempt and says she’ll stop trying to run away if he spares the kid – so he lets him live as a page.
The rest of the book is these two working out how to get along with one another. The reason he needs an heir so badly is that his mother is hell bent on killing him. His mother was an unwilling kidnapee from of his father’s, and she resents the dark lord line and everything they stand for. She was separated from him at a young age, so they never created a real bond. She’s just killed his father, and is after him – so he has to have an heir soon to continue the line, or war will break out in the kingdom.
Final Score: 6/10
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Characters:
Clara is definitely feisty, she tried to escape every chance she got and rebuffed Lucias at every turn, telling him over and over she would never be a willing mistress to him. She has a rather warped view of family since her mom was so terrible to her, she doesn’t even see it abuse most of the time. She’s 17, and acts a little more mature than I would have expected out of a teenager, but considering the society and ‘time period’ she’s actually considered a little old to have not been betrothed yet. She does have a good heart and was deeply concerned for the well being of the young boy who was about to have his soul sucked out – she could have run at that point and maybe gotten away since Lucias was distracted. Then she gave up her chance at escape by promising not to if he spared the kid.
Lucias is a weird one, he’s grown up with a father who was power hungry and enjoyed punishing people. His mother was an unwilling mistress and eventually ended up killing his father and then coming after him – that will give you some issues. He doesn’t want to be associated with his father in any way and doesn’t want to turn into the person he was. A few of his advisors/friends told him he should just rape her and “seek forgiveness” afterwards like his dad did since he needs an heir ASAP. He goes kind of crazy… and hits the woman who suggested it. He also sucks out souls of “criminals” without second guessing if they really are criminals or not. He just assumes since they were brought before him they must be guilty, right? He reasoned that it was better to use criminals who are now his mindless slaves to use in the army, rather than force conscription on law-abiding men. He was an interesting fellow.
Final Score: 6.5/10
---------------------
World Building:
This is definitely a classic medieval type world with a “peasant” class and a noble class, quaint towns with bakers, butchers, seamstress’s etc. It does seem like literacy is pretty commonplace since Clara had enough money to buy a book and knew how to read. It’s one of the things her and Lucias had in common.
Magic is very mysterious and old school, Lucias is able to cast spells not just suck out the souls of people. He could command people to do whatever he wanted, like jump out of the highest window in the castle to their deaths. If he wanted to, and he did.
Most of the story took place in one location, but there were mentions of other realms and kingdoms and lands – it could come up in later books.
Healing magic can be cast over a location like the training grounds, which kept people from getting too injured and dying from wounds – which also kept the training more interesting since you could go all out.
Taking peoples souls starts to mess with the Dark Lord’s heads, many of the Dark Lords from the past went insane after a while.
Once a person is “soulless” they have no mind, and their body can no longer create life – which is one of the reasons the women aren’t just turned into mindless zombies for baby making.
Final Score: 7.5/10
------------------------------
Pacing, Prose, and Tone:
I’m not sure what the tone was for this, frustration? Anxiety? That seems to be what the character was feeling most of the time, the book felt claustrophobic since the main character was always trying to get out. It wasn’t a particularly dark book, there wasn’t a lot of bloodshed or monsters – def not a lot of gore and beheadings and all that. This is a romance book, so by the end of it, that is the tone of the book – happy.
This was a pretty steadily paced book, it wasn’t breakneck with tons of battles and wild things going on, but it didn’t drag. It was a pretty short book so there wasn’t a lot of filler, things kept moving along nicely. There were a couple overused words, but I didn’t catch many editing errors.
Pacing Final Score: 8/10
Writing Final Score: 6.5/10
-------------------------
Originality
I kick myself when I get to this section in a genre I don’t read much of, I feel like I have no base to grade off of – so I’ll go off the world building rather than the plot + world building.
Final Score: 7/10
---------------------
Audience:
Single POV
Female POV
Romance
Clean with no cursing
Little violence
Happy ending
“Good guy” main character (not grey)
-------------------
Wrap Up:
This will be a book for people who want a lighter quicker read, with a nice ending – I often need breaks from grimdark, or epic fantasy because I burn out easily reading too many of those in a row.
This will have more appeal to people who like slower burn romances where the two do NOT hit it off at first.
Final Score: 41.5/60 or 6.91/10 or 3.45/5
-------------------------
Plot:
Clara is born in a lower class family in a pretty typical medieval setting. She’s the daughter of a seamstress, and the relationship she has with her mother is strained at best. Her mom is pretty abusive, very strict, and doesn’t show any affection towards her daughter at all. Clara is out running errands when she’s taken by nobleman and shoved into a carriage with other women from her town and whisked away to the Dark Lords castle.
She has to sit there and wait to be ‘picked’ or cast aside as the Dark Lord chooses which woman will be his new mistress. The Dark Lords of these lands don’t take wives, just mistress’s which give them the heir they need.
Clara is chosen, and the rest are sent back to the village. She’s, of course, worried about what’s going to happen to her and she tries to escape multiple times, but it doesn’t work. She’s caught every time and sent back to the mansion – and Lucias is losing his patience with her.
Lucias (the dark lord), is able to extract peoples souls and turn them into mindless zombies. Clara, during an escape attempt, stumbles into the ritual when he’s taking the souls of criminals, and she begs him not to hurt a young boy, who she knew was not a criminal. She thinks there’s been some kind of mistake, and that the boy should be let go. Lucias wasn’t having it until Clara makes a desperate attempt and says she’ll stop trying to run away if he spares the kid – so he lets him live as a page.
The rest of the book is these two working out how to get along with one another. The reason he needs an heir so badly is that his mother is hell bent on killing him. His mother was an unwilling kidnapee from of his father’s, and she resents the dark lord line and everything they stand for. She was separated from him at a young age, so they never created a real bond. She’s just killed his father, and is after him – so he has to have an heir soon to continue the line, or war will break out in the kingdom.
Final Score: 6/10
----------------------------
Characters:
Clara is definitely feisty, she tried to escape every chance she got and rebuffed Lucias at every turn, telling him over and over she would never be a willing mistress to him. She has a rather warped view of family since her mom was so terrible to her, she doesn’t even see it abuse most of the time. She’s 17, and acts a little more mature than I would have expected out of a teenager, but considering the society and ‘time period’ she’s actually considered a little old to have not been betrothed yet. She does have a good heart and was deeply concerned for the well being of the young boy who was about to have his soul sucked out – she could have run at that point and maybe gotten away since Lucias was distracted. Then she gave up her chance at escape by promising not to if he spared the kid.
Lucias is a weird one, he’s grown up with a father who was power hungry and enjoyed punishing people. His mother was an unwilling mistress and eventually ended up killing his father and then coming after him – that will give you some issues. He doesn’t want to be associated with his father in any way and doesn’t want to turn into the person he was. A few of his advisors/friends told him he should just rape her and “seek forgiveness” afterwards like his dad did since he needs an heir ASAP. He goes kind of crazy… and hits the woman who suggested it. He also sucks out souls of “criminals” without second guessing if they really are criminals or not. He just assumes since they were brought before him they must be guilty, right? He reasoned that it was better to use criminals who are now his mindless slaves to use in the army, rather than force conscription on law-abiding men. He was an interesting fellow.
Final Score: 6.5/10
---------------------
World Building:
This is definitely a classic medieval type world with a “peasant” class and a noble class, quaint towns with bakers, butchers, seamstress’s etc. It does seem like literacy is pretty commonplace since Clara had enough money to buy a book and knew how to read. It’s one of the things her and Lucias had in common.
Magic is very mysterious and old school, Lucias is able to cast spells not just suck out the souls of people. He could command people to do whatever he wanted, like jump out of the highest window in the castle to their deaths. If he wanted to, and he did.
Most of the story took place in one location, but there were mentions of other realms and kingdoms and lands – it could come up in later books.
Healing magic can be cast over a location like the training grounds, which kept people from getting too injured and dying from wounds – which also kept the training more interesting since you could go all out.
Taking peoples souls starts to mess with the Dark Lord’s heads, many of the Dark Lords from the past went insane after a while.
Once a person is “soulless” they have no mind, and their body can no longer create life – which is one of the reasons the women aren’t just turned into mindless zombies for baby making.
Final Score: 7.5/10
------------------------------
Pacing, Prose, and Tone:
I’m not sure what the tone was for this, frustration? Anxiety? That seems to be what the character was feeling most of the time, the book felt claustrophobic since the main character was always trying to get out. It wasn’t a particularly dark book, there wasn’t a lot of bloodshed or monsters – def not a lot of gore and beheadings and all that. This is a romance book, so by the end of it, that is the tone of the book – happy.
This was a pretty steadily paced book, it wasn’t breakneck with tons of battles and wild things going on, but it didn’t drag. It was a pretty short book so there wasn’t a lot of filler, things kept moving along nicely. There were a couple overused words, but I didn’t catch many editing errors.
Pacing Final Score: 8/10
Writing Final Score: 6.5/10
-------------------------
Originality
I kick myself when I get to this section in a genre I don’t read much of, I feel like I have no base to grade off of – so I’ll go off the world building rather than the plot + world building.
Final Score: 7/10
---------------------
Audience:
Single POV
Female POV
Romance
Clean with no cursing
Little violence
Happy ending
“Good guy” main character (not grey)
-------------------
Wrap Up:
This will be a book for people who want a lighter quicker read, with a nice ending – I often need breaks from grimdark, or epic fantasy because I burn out easily reading too many of those in a row.
This will have more appeal to people who like slower burn romances where the two do NOT hit it off at first.
Final Score: 41.5/60 or 6.91/10 or 3.45/5
March 19, 2020
Dark One's Mistress is a novel that gives you a charming dark romantic story, and it also offers intriguing details that you'll want to know as you read it.
Clara lives an unhappy but straightforward life because of her mother's way of treating her. On her way home, she was taken by unknown men and was brought to a place where the Great Lord resides. There, she will discover that he needs an heir and to be able to do that, he needs to pick one who will be his mistress, which unfortunately was her.
This novel might be slow from the start, but eventually, it will pick up as soon as the Great Lord is introduced here. The plot and twist are very unique. I like how the Great Lord has such power to control and protect the kingdom.
The main character, Clara, is the kind of girl you'll like. She is brave, protective, and deep inside caring even if she doesn't show it much. Also, if she barely knows the person, she didn't think twice about helping him, and even if her mother always hit her, she didn't like her to suffer or get hurt.
And of course, the reason why I love this novel is that of Lucias! He is the kind of leading man that you'll enjoy, and you'll like to be with you every day. We also have the same favorite colors, which are black and red.
The characters' development was slow, but I like it though I want to know more about Lucias and the history of the other great lords.
Nevertheless, this one is an excellent and fast read as I finished it only for one day. I'm looking forward to reading the next book as it leaves me kind of hanging and wanting more at the end. Recommended for fantasy and romance lovers out there!
Disclaimer: I received a reader copy from the author via YA Bound Book Tours.
BLOG POST LINK: http://bit.ly/2f0Q5Xw
Clara lives an unhappy but straightforward life because of her mother's way of treating her. On her way home, she was taken by unknown men and was brought to a place where the Great Lord resides. There, she will discover that he needs an heir and to be able to do that, he needs to pick one who will be his mistress, which unfortunately was her.
This novel might be slow from the start, but eventually, it will pick up as soon as the Great Lord is introduced here. The plot and twist are very unique. I like how the Great Lord has such power to control and protect the kingdom.
The main character, Clara, is the kind of girl you'll like. She is brave, protective, and deep inside caring even if she doesn't show it much. Also, if she barely knows the person, she didn't think twice about helping him, and even if her mother always hit her, she didn't like her to suffer or get hurt.
And of course, the reason why I love this novel is that of Lucias! He is the kind of leading man that you'll enjoy, and you'll like to be with you every day. We also have the same favorite colors, which are black and red.
The characters' development was slow, but I like it though I want to know more about Lucias and the history of the other great lords.
Nevertheless, this one is an excellent and fast read as I finished it only for one day. I'm looking forward to reading the next book as it leaves me kind of hanging and wanting more at the end. Recommended for fantasy and romance lovers out there!
Disclaimer: I received a reader copy from the author via YA Bound Book Tours.
BLOG POST LINK: http://bit.ly/2f0Q5Xw
November 13, 2019
DARK ONE'S MISTRESS is the first book in the Dark One's Trilogy, and we start with Clara being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She lives in a village called Everdark and rumours abound that the Great Lord has died, and his heir now rules. If this is the case, then a new mistress will be called upon. Clara is one of those taken and she does everything she can to avoid being the one chosen, but to no avail.
This is a slow-paced book, with plenty of interaction between Lucias and Clara as he tries to prove to her that he is a man of his word, and he won't do anything before she is ready. She, of course, doesn't believe him and spends the first part of the book constantly trying to escape.
Interwoven with that is the constant threat of Lucias' mother and her barbarian bodyguard who want to kill Lucias because of who his father was. Trust me, that actually becomes acceptable the more you learn about the father.
I loved the attitudes of both Lucias and Clara and found it definitely to be a case of if you love someone, set them free. Clara is not a doormat, but is definitely set in her ways and has trouble seeing things from different perspectives.
Due to the emphasis on Lucias and Clara, I did feel that I missed out on some of the other characters. There were also questions raised to which I received no answers. However, this did not infringe upon my enjoyment of this book, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
This is a slow-paced book, with plenty of interaction between Lucias and Clara as he tries to prove to her that he is a man of his word, and he won't do anything before she is ready. She, of course, doesn't believe him and spends the first part of the book constantly trying to escape.
Interwoven with that is the constant threat of Lucias' mother and her barbarian bodyguard who want to kill Lucias because of who his father was. Trust me, that actually becomes acceptable the more you learn about the father.
I loved the attitudes of both Lucias and Clara and found it definitely to be a case of if you love someone, set them free. Clara is not a doormat, but is definitely set in her ways and has trouble seeing things from different perspectives.
Due to the emphasis on Lucias and Clara, I did feel that I missed out on some of the other characters. There were also questions raised to which I received no answers. However, this did not infringe upon my enjoyment of this book, and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
December 11, 2019
A lot more fun than I thought it would be!
June 9, 2017
Started out promising, but plot and characterisation problems bogged it down later. Despite all the things I found annoying I thought this book was interesting and the author had potential, it just needed a bit of improvement in the writing. The relationship between Clara and Lucias managed to tread the line between the beginning of a genuine relationship and Stockholm Syndrome well enough, and was definitely the highlight of the book for me. I was having fun and thinking about checking out the author's other books... But then the last fifty pages happened. Everyone gave up rational thought and nothing made any sense. Not the plot and definitely not any of the reasoning behind several key decisions made by the characters. An okay beginning, a surprisingly good middle, and a less than one star ending.
September 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. I have to agree with the blurb that it has a lot of elements of the original “Beauty and the Beast” and hits some Grimm Brothers fairy tales. I would have liked to have seen more of the world, since I found the premise quite interesting, but I did enjoy how character-oriented the story was. Clara is likable and her interactions with Lucias are also believable. The dialogue is snappy and witty, which really brought the characters to life.
I highly recommend “Dark One’s Mistress” for those looking for a clean, gothic romance!
I highly recommend “Dark One’s Mistress” for those looking for a clean, gothic romance!
November 1, 2017
If you like your romance swathed in Gothic themes, you'll love this book. I do enjoy gothic romance from time to time but I found this one very heavy-handed. While superbly written with the proper amount of historical accuracy, I found it too dramatic.
My Rating: 4 stars
My Rating: 4 stars
September 24, 2019
Anyone who knows me knows that Beauty & the Beast is my favorite (Disney) fairytale (have not read the original — should probably do that at some point).
I had never read or watched a Beauty & the Beast retelling outside of watching the Disney version, but I know that fairytale retellings are popular af right now so I was excited to read this one.
As with the Beauty & the Beast that most everyone knows, this story follows a Stockholm syndrome type plotline in that the main character, Clara, is forcibly taken from her home and is expected to fall for the Dark Lord (or “the Beast” in this scenario) — or, at the very least, she is expected to bear him a child.
...This is where I got a little uncomfortable with this book.
While there is no explicit sex or rape in this book, I did feel wary in that it did kind of... blur the lines of consent in this “relationship.” The “Beast,” Lucias, states time and time again that “he will not conceive a heir until she (Clara) is ready,” but... he seemed, to me, to have intense anger management and control issues. Clara CONSTANTLY narrates that she is afraid that Lucias will just “lose patience, throw her down, and rape her.” She attempts to run away a number of times (but, naturally, is caught or thwarted every single time) and seems so afraid of this man that... I still have no idea where the fear ended and the consent in the romance began.
Because by the end of the book, a lá Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, Lucias is saying “I love you,” and Clara seems to accept it. However, unlike Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, I fail to see where the turn in the relationship even started.
I’ll be honest. I reached a point in this book where I was hesitant to read much more, and, though I did end up reading all the way through, I ended up reading, like, three or four pages at a time. That’s why it took me so long to get through, and this review so long to put out. Perhaps that’s on me, but, as a result, I failed to see the turn in the relationship. I know Clara was sympathetic because Lucias didn’t exactly have the best familial relationship, buuut... that’s about it. Other than that, I don’t even know.
I WILL say that I enjoyed the medieval world-building and the dark settings. I liked learning Clara’s backstory, which also delved into the relationship with her mother. I liked finding out how dark magic intertwined with this medieval world, and I think the dialect and the attitude of the characters — including the commoner village folk — fit the era and the setting perfectly.
It was just... the romance itself that I could not connect with.
Overall, I will still say that anyone who’s a fan of fairytale retellings should still check out this book. It’s very possible that another reader can understand the characters and the shift in romance better than I can. As I said above, this book did have qualities that I *do* like, such as world-building, that I do think the author did a good job in.
It could totally, 100% be my misunderstanding of when and how things changed, it just... left me with a funny feeling.
I had never read or watched a Beauty & the Beast retelling outside of watching the Disney version, but I know that fairytale retellings are popular af right now so I was excited to read this one.
As with the Beauty & the Beast that most everyone knows, this story follows a Stockholm syndrome type plotline in that the main character, Clara, is forcibly taken from her home and is expected to fall for the Dark Lord (or “the Beast” in this scenario) — or, at the very least, she is expected to bear him a child.
...This is where I got a little uncomfortable with this book.
While there is no explicit sex or rape in this book, I did feel wary in that it did kind of... blur the lines of consent in this “relationship.” The “Beast,” Lucias, states time and time again that “he will not conceive a heir until she (Clara) is ready,” but... he seemed, to me, to have intense anger management and control issues. Clara CONSTANTLY narrates that she is afraid that Lucias will just “lose patience, throw her down, and rape her.” She attempts to run away a number of times (but, naturally, is caught or thwarted every single time) and seems so afraid of this man that... I still have no idea where the fear ended and the consent in the romance began.
Because by the end of the book, a lá Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, Lucias is saying “I love you,” and Clara seems to accept it. However, unlike Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, I fail to see where the turn in the relationship even started.
I’ll be honest. I reached a point in this book where I was hesitant to read much more, and, though I did end up reading all the way through, I ended up reading, like, three or four pages at a time. That’s why it took me so long to get through, and this review so long to put out. Perhaps that’s on me, but, as a result, I failed to see the turn in the relationship. I know Clara was sympathetic because Lucias didn’t exactly have the best familial relationship, buuut... that’s about it. Other than that, I don’t even know.
I WILL say that I enjoyed the medieval world-building and the dark settings. I liked learning Clara’s backstory, which also delved into the relationship with her mother. I liked finding out how dark magic intertwined with this medieval world, and I think the dialect and the attitude of the characters — including the commoner village folk — fit the era and the setting perfectly.
It was just... the romance itself that I could not connect with.
Overall, I will still say that anyone who’s a fan of fairytale retellings should still check out this book. It’s very possible that another reader can understand the characters and the shift in romance better than I can. As I said above, this book did have qualities that I *do* like, such as world-building, that I do think the author did a good job in.
It could totally, 100% be my misunderstanding of when and how things changed, it just... left me with a funny feeling.
January 10, 2020
Synopsis:
Clara is just a normal weaver's daughter until the day she is kidnapped by the Dark Lord's men. The Dark Lord has died and now she and 4 other girls are stolen away to be mistress candidates to the new Dark Lord, Lucius.
Clara's life is turned upside down when she is chosen. Now she must contend with escaping Lucius and his horde of soulless servants, but is everything really as it seems? Could a man who rips men's souls from their bodies and kidnaps women not be the monster he seems to be?
2.5 stars
My only grievance against this book is the way Clara, the main character, is written.
I really liked the character of Lucius. He's mysterious, funny, and I was left wanting more after every scene with him. His character has flaws, namely that his communication can be lacking and that he sometimes has a skewed view of things, but, and this is a key difference between his character and Clara's, the reasons behind why he is the way he is are clear and upfront.
I love the overarching plot of this book. It's got a Beauty and the Beast vibe and a great mystery. Lucius's family magic is interesting and I still want to find out what is going to happen regarding the soulless servants, his powers, and the kingdom. I normally wouldn't buy the second book in a series where I only gave the first book a 2.5, but I was so invested that I did.
Here are my issues with Clara:
It was difficult to connect with Clara. At first this difficulty came from lack of background information and no explanation of her motivations. We (the readers) are told that her mother is stricter than her deceased father and that her mother yells. There really is almost nothing that tells us what her life is like before she is kidnapped, which makes understanding her idea of "freedom" almost impossible to comprehend. She uses her desire for freedom as her incentive for all her thoughts and actions, but it's actually incredibly vague what she means by freedom and what she actually wants.
Clara's character is so generic for the majority of the book that I was wishing that Katharina (a different girl who was kidnapped) had been the chosen one whose story we followed. Clara is not the feisty one, not the timid one, not the kind one, she's just there. She tries to run away several times, and running away becomes her entire personality for the first half of the book. I think perhaps if the reader was more in her head initially she would have been easier to understand and empathize with.
Once her character started to take form, it was dominated by the characteristic of being singularly immature. Not the loud or dramatic immature, but her thinking process and assessments of situations were seriously lacking. I kept wondering, "Why does she think that? Why did she just assume that's what's going to happen/ what people mean?" I don't want to spoil too much, so I'm being vague, but most of her assumptions come WAY out of left field and she doesn't incorporate any new experiences or knowledge she gains into her thinking until the book is almost over. To be fair, she is only 17, so immaturity is to be expected, but it wasn't enjoyable to read her continual misunderstanding.
When everything goes down at the beginning, I would have expected her to ask all sorts of questions about her situation, but she doesn't start to communicate and ask questions until the book is nearly over. She also has no sense of humor, which might not matter if it wasn't juxtaposed with Lucius's teasing demeanor which makes her just seem very wooden.
About 70% into the book, out of the blue, we learn that Clara just assumes all men are ruled by their desire for sex. She insinuates all men would sleep with a woman just because "He is a man, she has a pulse." What? When did this personality quirk happen? So far into the book and it's the first the reader is learning that she basically thinks all men are pigs. There is still no background showing us why she would hold this belief; she only ever really mentions her father and there is no indication he was a bad person or ruled by desire, but her low view of men would have been convenient to know at the beginning of the book so that her complete mistrust and constant misunderstandings of Lucius made more sense. You may say being kidnapped would be enough reason to start her out with trust issues, but the actual situation and what follows really doesn't justify or explain her feelings or thoughts at all. She also indicates several times that she is suspicious Lucius will trick her into getting drunk so he can have his way, which is more and more frustrating every time she insinuates it because he spends most of the book proving that he doesn't believe in doing things like that.
The one thing that kind of saved Clara's character for me was when the book acknowledged that her thought process was immature. In a small but pivotal moment, Lucius asks,
"Tell me, Clara, do you enjoy being a martyr?" and follows with, "You clutch your grievances to you like a child's blanket, forgetting you are not entirely blameless for your current situation."
For whatever reason, when the book confronted the fact that her thoughts and actions often don't make sense, I felt vindicated and less annoyed.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I was invested enough in the actual story to purchase the second book. The characters, including Clara's, are better written in book 2. She's much less obnoxious and hard to understand. That being said, despite the improvements I don't think the 2nd book was worth $5. It's 90% filler that doesn't move the story forward and doesn't cast any light on the mysteries introduced in the first book. You could skim large portions of the book and not miss anything. I'm pretty disappointed because I want a conclusion to the initial story, but I'm not about to keep shelling out money for more filler.
Clara is just a normal weaver's daughter until the day she is kidnapped by the Dark Lord's men. The Dark Lord has died and now she and 4 other girls are stolen away to be mistress candidates to the new Dark Lord, Lucius.
Clara's life is turned upside down when she is chosen. Now she must contend with escaping Lucius and his horde of soulless servants, but is everything really as it seems? Could a man who rips men's souls from their bodies and kidnaps women not be the monster he seems to be?
2.5 stars
My only grievance against this book is the way Clara, the main character, is written.
I really liked the character of Lucius. He's mysterious, funny, and I was left wanting more after every scene with him. His character has flaws, namely that his communication can be lacking and that he sometimes has a skewed view of things, but, and this is a key difference between his character and Clara's, the reasons behind why he is the way he is are clear and upfront.
I love the overarching plot of this book. It's got a Beauty and the Beast vibe and a great mystery. Lucius's family magic is interesting and I still want to find out what is going to happen regarding the soulless servants, his powers, and the kingdom. I normally wouldn't buy the second book in a series where I only gave the first book a 2.5, but I was so invested that I did.
Here are my issues with Clara:
It was difficult to connect with Clara. At first this difficulty came from lack of background information and no explanation of her motivations. We (the readers) are told that her mother is stricter than her deceased father and that her mother yells. There really is almost nothing that tells us what her life is like before she is kidnapped, which makes understanding her idea of "freedom" almost impossible to comprehend. She uses her desire for freedom as her incentive for all her thoughts and actions, but it's actually incredibly vague what she means by freedom and what she actually wants.
Clara's character is so generic for the majority of the book that I was wishing that Katharina (a different girl who was kidnapped) had been the chosen one whose story we followed. Clara is not the feisty one, not the timid one, not the kind one, she's just there. She tries to run away several times, and running away becomes her entire personality for the first half of the book. I think perhaps if the reader was more in her head initially she would have been easier to understand and empathize with.
Once her character started to take form, it was dominated by the characteristic of being singularly immature. Not the loud or dramatic immature, but her thinking process and assessments of situations were seriously lacking. I kept wondering, "Why does she think that? Why did she just assume that's what's going to happen/ what people mean?" I don't want to spoil too much, so I'm being vague, but most of her assumptions come WAY out of left field and she doesn't incorporate any new experiences or knowledge she gains into her thinking until the book is almost over. To be fair, she is only 17, so immaturity is to be expected, but it wasn't enjoyable to read her continual misunderstanding.
When everything goes down at the beginning, I would have expected her to ask all sorts of questions about her situation, but she doesn't start to communicate and ask questions until the book is nearly over. She also has no sense of humor, which might not matter if it wasn't juxtaposed with Lucius's teasing demeanor which makes her just seem very wooden.
About 70% into the book, out of the blue, we learn that Clara just assumes all men are ruled by their desire for sex. She insinuates all men would sleep with a woman just because "He is a man, she has a pulse." What? When did this personality quirk happen? So far into the book and it's the first the reader is learning that she basically thinks all men are pigs. There is still no background showing us why she would hold this belief; she only ever really mentions her father and there is no indication he was a bad person or ruled by desire, but her low view of men would have been convenient to know at the beginning of the book so that her complete mistrust and constant misunderstandings of Lucius made more sense. You may say being kidnapped would be enough reason to start her out with trust issues, but the actual situation and what follows really doesn't justify or explain her feelings or thoughts at all. She also indicates several times that she is suspicious Lucius will trick her into getting drunk so he can have his way, which is more and more frustrating every time she insinuates it because he spends most of the book proving that he doesn't believe in doing things like that.
The one thing that kind of saved Clara's character for me was when the book acknowledged that her thought process was immature. In a small but pivotal moment, Lucius asks,
"Tell me, Clara, do you enjoy being a martyr?" and follows with, "You clutch your grievances to you like a child's blanket, forgetting you are not entirely blameless for your current situation."
For whatever reason, when the book confronted the fact that her thoughts and actions often don't make sense, I felt vindicated and less annoyed.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I was invested enough in the actual story to purchase the second book. The characters, including Clara's, are better written in book 2. She's much less obnoxious and hard to understand. That being said, despite the improvements I don't think the 2nd book was worth $5. It's 90% filler that doesn't move the story forward and doesn't cast any light on the mysteries introduced in the first book. You could skim large portions of the book and not miss anything. I'm pretty disappointed because I want a conclusion to the initial story, but I'm not about to keep shelling out money for more filler.
December 3, 2017
Interesting
This story as interesting. The ending leaves room for more but not a cliffhanger. The characters are well developed and interesting.
This story as interesting. The ending leaves room for more but not a cliffhanger. The characters are well developed and interesting.
July 25, 2017
This is the first time I have read anything from this author and I was rather pleased. The first part of the book was a little slow for me but it did pick up. I loved Clara's attitude as it wasn't as horrible as Penny's but she wasn't a sniveling submissive either. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
January 30, 2020
Good idea but could have been written better. Still worth reading the sequel
February 9, 2017
I have to say I was surprised by this book. While I'd rate this as slightly past YA, it possesses some YA vibes that I'll label it there for this review. Anyway, I've been profoundly disappointed with the YA genre and have nearly given up on it altogether. Having read Cruel Beauty, which I have my own quabbles with, I saw a lot of parallels plot-wise, but this might be also due to the drawings from Beauty and the Beast. For me, while both have strengths and weaknesses, Dark One's Mistress triumphs in creating more well-rounded characters that made the romance more believable.
Yes, the book began rather slow, but we actually have a heroine who ISN'T THERE TO JUST GO HEAD OVER HEELS OVER THE BAD BOY. Yes, her pigheaded intentions to escape can get redundant, but THIS was realistic, not to mention gave her actual backbone. She wasn't, as TV Tropes likes to say, "distracted by the sexy", like many, many authors of this genre like to pull on these female characters towards their darkly handsome male protagonists. She is genuinely afraid of him and fights what attraction she does feel, which she ought to be considering her position, although towards the middle this gets a tad drawn-out. Still, Clara actually had rational/believable thoughts throughout, only truly getting pulled under his alluring spell , which is quite understandable.
I also think the dialogue helped in this endeavor, especially for Lucias. His witty, sometimes caustic remarks really rounded his character, and you easily have a portrait of him from the words he doesn't say but we know he wants to. Despite his actions the author does well in making him sympathetic. I think me really liking his character is what got me to want to rattle Clara into ending her pigheaded bout and realize the poor guy was lovesick over her. But meh.
My only criticisms, and what keeps this book from getting five stars for me is coherence and worldbuilding. The world didn't come alive for me, so centered was the setting on Clara and Lucias. Heck, this applies to other characters as well, as practically 70% of the book is filled by scenes with them and other characters pushed to the periphery. I wanted to know more about the other towns and villages besides Everdark, about the other kingdoms, and this could have easily been rectified with holding off on Clara's rather abrupt abduction scene a little longer. As for coherence, some chapters end in a situation you would think would continue in the next, only for the next chapter to timeskip into another scene. I felt robbed of some scenes I thought could have been promising, but ah well.
All in all, an interesting and good book and my only remaining criticism now is why the next book is taking so long to come out!
Yes, the book began rather slow, but we actually have a heroine who ISN'T THERE TO JUST GO HEAD OVER HEELS OVER THE BAD BOY. Yes, her pigheaded intentions to escape can get redundant, but THIS was realistic, not to mention gave her actual backbone. She wasn't, as TV Tropes likes to say, "distracted by the sexy", like many, many authors of this genre like to pull on these female characters towards their darkly handsome male protagonists. She is genuinely afraid of him and fights what attraction she does feel, which she ought to be considering her position, although towards the middle this gets a tad drawn-out. Still, Clara actually had rational/believable thoughts throughout, only truly getting pulled under his alluring spell , which is quite understandable.
I also think the dialogue helped in this endeavor, especially for Lucias. His witty, sometimes caustic remarks really rounded his character, and you easily have a portrait of him from the words he doesn't say but we know he wants to. Despite his actions the author does well in making him sympathetic. I think me really liking his character is what got me to want to rattle Clara into ending her pigheaded bout and realize the poor guy was lovesick over her. But meh.
My only criticisms, and what keeps this book from getting five stars for me is coherence and worldbuilding. The world didn't come alive for me, so centered was the setting on Clara and Lucias. Heck, this applies to other characters as well, as practically 70% of the book is filled by scenes with them and other characters pushed to the periphery. I wanted to know more about the other towns and villages besides Everdark, about the other kingdoms, and this could have easily been rectified with holding off on Clara's rather abrupt abduction scene a little longer. As for coherence, some chapters end in a situation you would think would continue in the next, only for the next chapter to timeskip into another scene. I felt robbed of some scenes I thought could have been promising, but ah well.
All in all, an interesting and good book and my only remaining criticism now is why the next book is taking so long to come out!
November 4, 2016
Actual Rating: 3.5
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for honest review.**
A gothic kidnapping by a soul-stealing Dark Lord? Whoa...
Clara has a serious case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. An abduction and carriage ride later, and she finds herself locked inside of a tower in the Dark Lord's fortress along with several other young women. Not exactly how she expected to end the evening.
Why was she taken? Because the old Dark Lord has died and his son, Lucias, is looking for a mistress to bear his child. His servants were only supposed to take one girl from the village, Katharina. But once Lucias gets a good look at Clara, he decides that she is the one he wants, instead.
Clara, however, adamantly refuses to agree to his proposal. Very adamantly. Very, very, very definitely and absolutely does not want to stay there. Of this, there is no mistaking her position on the matter. She protests with a passion. And quite often, too.
Lucias might have been able to wait out Clara's anger and try to win her affection, if not for the fact that his own mother, Lenora, is on her way to his home. Oh, and she wants to kill him... This is one complicated family dynamic. And I haven't even gotten into the fact that Lucias has magic and can steal souls. Yikes!
I found there were things I both liked and disliked about this story. I liked the dark and mysterious worldbuilding. From the descriptions, I got a Sleepy Hollow vibe with a dash of Penny Dreadful. And I easily paired this book with my haunting Lana Del Rey reading playlist. It was like Halloween all over again. *wink*
I also liked Lucias. Quite a bit, actually. I could see his struggle and understand his pain after he suffered through such a troublesome childhood. I was able to connect with him more than Clara and I thought he was a lot more patient than I probably would have been in his situation.
With Clara, though, I had some trouble understanding her actions. She wanted her freedom so much that she couldn't see the opportunity in front of her. Her protests were plentiful and after a while, I began to wonder how she would ever develop feelings for Lucias when she was only ever cruel to him.
I would have liked to see a few small moments of intimacy between them to make their relationship more believable. The change in Clara's feelings was so sudden that I'm not entirely sure I believe her affection is real. She will have a lot to prove to me in the next book.
In closing...
An eerie tale of magic and mayhem! A good read with a little extra. 3.5 suns!
Full review on blog: http://uptildawnbookblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/review-tour-dark-ones-mistress-by.html
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for honest review.**
A gothic kidnapping by a soul-stealing Dark Lord? Whoa...
Clara has a serious case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. An abduction and carriage ride later, and she finds herself locked inside of a tower in the Dark Lord's fortress along with several other young women. Not exactly how she expected to end the evening.
Why was she taken? Because the old Dark Lord has died and his son, Lucias, is looking for a mistress to bear his child. His servants were only supposed to take one girl from the village, Katharina. But once Lucias gets a good look at Clara, he decides that she is the one he wants, instead.
Clara, however, adamantly refuses to agree to his proposal. Very adamantly. Very, very, very definitely and absolutely does not want to stay there. Of this, there is no mistaking her position on the matter. She protests with a passion. And quite often, too.
Lucias might have been able to wait out Clara's anger and try to win her affection, if not for the fact that his own mother, Lenora, is on her way to his home. Oh, and she wants to kill him... This is one complicated family dynamic. And I haven't even gotten into the fact that Lucias has magic and can steal souls. Yikes!
I found there were things I both liked and disliked about this story. I liked the dark and mysterious worldbuilding. From the descriptions, I got a Sleepy Hollow vibe with a dash of Penny Dreadful. And I easily paired this book with my haunting Lana Del Rey reading playlist. It was like Halloween all over again. *wink*
I also liked Lucias. Quite a bit, actually. I could see his struggle and understand his pain after he suffered through such a troublesome childhood. I was able to connect with him more than Clara and I thought he was a lot more patient than I probably would have been in his situation.
With Clara, though, I had some trouble understanding her actions. She wanted her freedom so much that she couldn't see the opportunity in front of her. Her protests were plentiful and after a while, I began to wonder how she would ever develop feelings for Lucias when she was only ever cruel to him.
I would have liked to see a few small moments of intimacy between them to make their relationship more believable. The change in Clara's feelings was so sudden that I'm not entirely sure I believe her affection is real. She will have a lot to prove to me in the next book.
In closing...
An eerie tale of magic and mayhem! A good read with a little extra. 3.5 suns!
Full review on blog: http://uptildawnbookblog.blogspot.com/2016/11/review-tour-dark-ones-mistress-by.html
February 25, 2017
The character of Clara caught my interest from her mother's bellow in the first sentence of the book. The author's world building kept me curious and intrigued. Once we met The Great Lord and discover why he needed the girls, I had to keep on reading until I finished to see how it all turned out. Most of the book focuses on Clara's determination - no matter what - to avoid what seems to be inevitable. Lucias is a charming character, who wears his heart on his sleeve and who tries so hard to deal with the hand he has been given. I don't want to give away any spoilers here but suffice it to say, once you begin reading you won't be able to put it down! Look forward to reading the next book!
July 20, 2015
Reviewed on behalf of Readers' Favorite:
Dark One’s Mistress by Aldrea Alien is a clean, romantic fantasy novel. Clarabelle Weaver is minding her own business when a mysterious carriage sweeps in, and kidnaps her, taking her away to the Great Lord’s castle on the outskirts of Everdark. Within the walls of the castle, the Great Lord seeks a mistress upon which to sire an heir, to carry on the bloodline, and continue to protect the village below. Clara is stubborn in her resistance to the young lord, Lucias, because of stories she has heard in the past of the horrible ways of the Great Lords. Lucias is conflicted by his feelings for Clara, but more concerned with the impending attack on his person by his mother. Will Clara overcome her qualms and submit to a lord much different than those of her imagination? Or will Everdark be doomed to face a fate of no protection?
I was very interested in this novel from the initial reading of the synopsis, and I was pretty satisfied with the overall story. I thought the idea of a Lord ruling over a land where he kept order by employing the criminals was very interesting. I will admit, I did not like the character of Clara, but I was glad to see her come around in the end. I found Lucias's character to be very interesting, and I would look forward to hearing more about his past, or how the lords came to rule over the land. I hope that Miss Alien is planning another book, so we can find out what happens next. However, people who enjoy clean romance novels (not a lot of sexual description) will enjoy Dark One’s Mistress by Aldrea Alien.
Dark One’s Mistress by Aldrea Alien is a clean, romantic fantasy novel. Clarabelle Weaver is minding her own business when a mysterious carriage sweeps in, and kidnaps her, taking her away to the Great Lord’s castle on the outskirts of Everdark. Within the walls of the castle, the Great Lord seeks a mistress upon which to sire an heir, to carry on the bloodline, and continue to protect the village below. Clara is stubborn in her resistance to the young lord, Lucias, because of stories she has heard in the past of the horrible ways of the Great Lords. Lucias is conflicted by his feelings for Clara, but more concerned with the impending attack on his person by his mother. Will Clara overcome her qualms and submit to a lord much different than those of her imagination? Or will Everdark be doomed to face a fate of no protection?
I was very interested in this novel from the initial reading of the synopsis, and I was pretty satisfied with the overall story. I thought the idea of a Lord ruling over a land where he kept order by employing the criminals was very interesting. I will admit, I did not like the character of Clara, but I was glad to see her come around in the end. I found Lucias's character to be very interesting, and I would look forward to hearing more about his past, or how the lords came to rule over the land. I hope that Miss Alien is planning another book, so we can find out what happens next. However, people who enjoy clean romance novels (not a lot of sexual description) will enjoy Dark One’s Mistress by Aldrea Alien.
November 3, 2016
While I wasn’t overly impressed with this book to begin with, I wasn’t severely disappointed either by the end. It is a great concept and I really enjoyed the book for the most part… there were just a few things that made me rate a little lower than I normally would for a decent fantasy story.
I felt like it took longer than it should have to trust Clara as a character and I wanted so badly to fight for her freedom but it just didn’t click as soon as I wanted it to. That being said, I was a fan of Lucias almost immediately. I knew I could trust him right away, even though his darkness made him a bit creepy and set him up really quick as the villain of the story. I just felt like there could have been so much more story, connection, and content in the book. Some of the chapters were wasted on this worry about the dark one’s true intentions, when I wanted more conversation and growth between Clara and Lucias themselves. I feel like the connection happened way too late in the story and I wanted more.
I really enjoyed some of the secondhand characters as well...and the history of this land and it’s leaders, I wanted more backstory. I think this was a truly fantastic concept and most of it was done well enough to enjoy the story as a whole.
By the end, I really liked the development of Clara’s character and after all she went through, how strong she became. I just didn’t like that it took SO long to get to that point. It took literal chapters for there to be some true conflict in the story and finally some resolution…other than that, I really enjoyed getting to the heart of the story and I look forward to reading more in the series.
I felt like it took longer than it should have to trust Clara as a character and I wanted so badly to fight for her freedom but it just didn’t click as soon as I wanted it to. That being said, I was a fan of Lucias almost immediately. I knew I could trust him right away, even though his darkness made him a bit creepy and set him up really quick as the villain of the story. I just felt like there could have been so much more story, connection, and content in the book. Some of the chapters were wasted on this worry about the dark one’s true intentions, when I wanted more conversation and growth between Clara and Lucias themselves. I feel like the connection happened way too late in the story and I wanted more.
I really enjoyed some of the secondhand characters as well...and the history of this land and it’s leaders, I wanted more backstory. I think this was a truly fantastic concept and most of it was done well enough to enjoy the story as a whole.
By the end, I really liked the development of Clara’s character and after all she went through, how strong she became. I just didn’t like that it took SO long to get to that point. It took literal chapters for there to be some true conflict in the story and finally some resolution…other than that, I really enjoyed getting to the heart of the story and I look forward to reading more in the series.
December 28, 2015
SNS Rating: 4.0
~~~~~~~~~~Lindsey's ★★★★ Review~~~~~~~~~~
I love books that have an edge of fantasy to them mixed with historical romance. This book was dark, erotic, and intense. I couldn't put this book down. I wanted to know what Clara's choices would be and whether the kingdom would be saved. This story will have you on the edge of your seat until the end.
~~~~~~~~~~Lillian's ★★★★ Review~~~~~~~~~~
Clara has been kidnapped from her village along with some other women and taken to the castle of the great lord, Lucias. She hopes that she doesn't get chosen to be his mistress but all hope is dashed when he only wants her.
Clara will stop at nothing to get away and she will keep trying until she escapes but all is about to change and she will sacrifice herself for someone's else life.
Lucias knows that he is running out of time, his mother will make sure that the line dies without an heir, can either of them stop what is about to come? Can they both except that they both need each other even though they are so different.
The more time that Clara spends with him the more she learns about the family history and how Lucias is trying so hard to change his ways.
A well written book that started off well and just got better. Loved the descriptions of the surrounding and all what Clara sees and feels.
I loved how Clara stood up for herself and how Lucias just bides his time. Looking forward to reading more of Aldrea's books.
~~~~~~~~~~Lindsey's ★★★★ Review~~~~~~~~~~
I love books that have an edge of fantasy to them mixed with historical romance. This book was dark, erotic, and intense. I couldn't put this book down. I wanted to know what Clara's choices would be and whether the kingdom would be saved. This story will have you on the edge of your seat until the end.
~~~~~~~~~~Lillian's ★★★★ Review~~~~~~~~~~
Clara has been kidnapped from her village along with some other women and taken to the castle of the great lord, Lucias. She hopes that she doesn't get chosen to be his mistress but all hope is dashed when he only wants her.
Clara will stop at nothing to get away and she will keep trying until she escapes but all is about to change and she will sacrifice herself for someone's else life.
Lucias knows that he is running out of time, his mother will make sure that the line dies without an heir, can either of them stop what is about to come? Can they both except that they both need each other even though they are so different.
The more time that Clara spends with him the more she learns about the family history and how Lucias is trying so hard to change his ways.
A well written book that started off well and just got better. Loved the descriptions of the surrounding and all what Clara sees and feels.
I loved how Clara stood up for herself and how Lucias just bides his time. Looking forward to reading more of Aldrea's books.
November 1, 2016
This is a great fantasy story. Clara lives with her mother and it is a simple but not very happy life in her village. One day, she is taken off the streets and brought to the Dark One, Lucias. He needs an heir and must choose a mistress to be the mother. Lucias has unique powers that protect the kingdom and a child is needed to ensure the safety of everyone.
I really enjoyed the storyline and characters. It is a unique story and the author really created an interesting premise and strong characters. Lucias is an intriguing character. You are not really sure what to make of him at first. He is wrong to take Clara against her wishes but he has a real concern and needs a child to keep the kingdom safe from harm. He tries to give her time to adjust but won't let her leave. Clara is very young. She is used to running her mom's errands and being hit by her mom when she displeases her. There is not much joy in her life but it is the only life she knows. This new place scares her and she just wants her freedom. She is very protective and caring and she knows that Lucias is struggling with his feelings and the danger coming. I really enjoyed watching them develop feelings for each other and struggle with their concerns.
I am voluntarily reviewing a copy I received.
I really enjoyed the storyline and characters. It is a unique story and the author really created an interesting premise and strong characters. Lucias is an intriguing character. You are not really sure what to make of him at first. He is wrong to take Clara against her wishes but he has a real concern and needs a child to keep the kingdom safe from harm. He tries to give her time to adjust but won't let her leave. Clara is very young. She is used to running her mom's errands and being hit by her mom when she displeases her. There is not much joy in her life but it is the only life she knows. This new place scares her and she just wants her freedom. She is very protective and caring and she knows that Lucias is struggling with his feelings and the danger coming. I really enjoyed watching them develop feelings for each other and struggle with their concerns.
I am voluntarily reviewing a copy I received.
April 13, 2016
This was a realistic and deeply emotional book. I loved getting into the head of the main characters and the story unfolded. I enjoyed the fact that Clara was realistic in her desire to run away from the dangerous man she is trapped with. She wasn't meek, but rather fiesty which made her falling in love all the more enjoyable. Lucias is a dark character, haunted with the reality of his responsibility. Their relationship, though at times a little volitile, is thrilling and fun. On occassion it got slightly steamy, still completely clean, but perhaps not for my teenaged sister to read. A few grammatical errors, but not too many. Overall, excellent characters and a wonderful fantasy world made for a enchantingly romantic story.
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www.cleanromancereviews.com
November 3, 2016
This earned 5 stars from me. Clara is spunky. She's not a push-over damsel in distress. She works hard to try to free herself. I've got to admire that in the girl. And then she goes and acts selflessly. And the sweet romance just makes the heart pitter-patter. I'm looking forward to the next book in the trilogy, and you can bet your buttons I'll be picking it up and reading it as soon as I'm able to.
September 3, 2019
Clara is taken unwillingly to the Lord who oversees the kingdom. Lucias is looking for a woman to give him and heir to keep the kingdom safe. Clara doesn't understand and fights Lucias every step of their relationship.
I found this to be any easy read, i liked how Clara stood up to Lucias despite what she begins to feel for him. The characters are interesting and you want to know more, especially Luicas.
If you like Gothic romance books give it a try.
I found this to be any easy read, i liked how Clara stood up to Lucias despite what she begins to feel for him. The characters are interesting and you want to know more, especially Luicas.
If you like Gothic romance books give it a try.
October 28, 2016
Clara all of a sudden finds herself in the position of having to produce an heir, after she is kidnapped without too much chance of escaping. The Dark Lord has always taken care of his people, but now his death means his son takes over. He must produce an heir, but there is someone who doesn't wish to let that happen. Well written, fast paced, story
June 8, 2015
Simplistic writing -- if this is a early teen YA novel I suppose it'd work. Paula Volsky does a much better job with the premise in the Sorcerer's Lady.
October 15, 2016
This was an excellent read. I loved the slight twists here and there. kept my attention
December 10, 2016
A grear book with some twists that you don't see coming
November 2, 2016
This book was different, and I really enjoyed reading it! Yeah that it's a series!
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