Darkness and Light

Earth and Sky Saga #3

by Kaye Draper

Caron is the strongest preternatural in the world. Or, so he thinks. Divine like him are balanced, empathic, and semi-prophetic. He can manifest spirit wings, perform magic, and shift to any form, human or animal. Why then, is he so powerless to help those he loves?

Yun is a broken Shifter. Unable to control his powers, he puts everyone around him at risk as he loses himself to his beast more and more every day. What’s worse, he is doomed to love a man he can never have, one who loves him back but can only suffer as he watches Yun self-destruct.

Sylvi is a Fallen Angel with no powers. Her stunted wings and lack of magic make her a burden to her aristocratic family and a target for the stronger preternaturals around her. She has long been convinced she has no place in the world, whether among her own kind or the powerless humans—until she meets a beautiful Divine who insists she is missing part of her soul. And he knows how to find it.

Caron struggles to unite two opposing forces and re-unite two halves of a fractured soul. If anyone can succeed, it’s him. He is a Divine after all. But he soon runs afoul of a monster more powerful than anything he has ever seen. The creature Is the deranged result of a madman’s sick experiments. And he has plans for Caron and his friends that will make Caron question even his own place in the world.

***Books in the Earth and Sky Saga are stand alone novels, complete by themselves. Subsequent books center around different characters in the Earth and Sky world.***

455 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2017

About the author

Sometimes our greatest strengths come from our deepest challenges. I write magic and romance, starring a cast of creatures with feathers, fins, and teeth. My books include paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy romance--with the occasional steampunk or alien story thrown in just for kicks. My pan heart firmly believes love is love, so you'll see straight, LGBTQIA, monogamous, reverse harem, and poly relationships in my work. My favorite theme is overcoming our inner demons and the insecurities that hold us back.
I also advocate for self-development and mental health and dabble in non-fiction as time allows. I love the outdoors and still hope to be abducted by fae! (I may have more in common with my characters than I care to admit.)

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Reviews

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows the developing relationship between Caron the Divine, Yun the Shifter, and Sylvi the Fallen Angel. The writing was lovely, I liked the unique twists in the story, and I greatly enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers/friends relationship development between the characters, but I felt that there were too many loose ends in the book for a standalone.

The previous book introduced Caron as an all-powerful clairvoyant child, but he soon learns that he has limitations and that he isn't always perfect in his decisions. Caron is revealed to be a magically androgynous character, and he is the center of the menage relationship, rather than the female in the group. While the characters I think are all in their early 20s and have some jaded experiences under their belt due to the harsh world they live in, the character development reads more like a young adult novel with their first relationships and intimate experiences.

A few weak points I found in the story that weren't well wrapped-up or introduced:

* Yates appears as the psychotic villain of the novel out of nowhere in 55% into the book by kidnapping Caron. The story up until now was mostly focused on Sylvi repeated getting bullied, Yun struggling with this beastly control, and Caron trying to get the both of them to get along together because of his love for both.

* Yates's crazy Frankenstein-creation Knight, also abruptedly introduced while Caron is kidnapped, is not really developed in depth and is obviously set up to take the next book in the series after he regains some of his sanity by soul-bonding with Caron in the final pages of the book.

* Sylvi's parents and OPP were kind of just ignored in favor of hanging out with Caron's and Yun's parents and the villainous Yates instead. Maybe this preternatural-only racist society will be explored more in the next book?

* All that time Yun and Sylvi spent with the Flying Circus and developing an act together seemed a bit useless to plot development. We get the hint that Yun promised them a sponsor with Caron's parents/grandparents for their help, but we never receive any final confirmation, even in the epilogue.


Nevertheless, the book was a gripping read, and watching the three of them develop a relationship that worked for them gave me the fuzzies. I look forward to reading the next book when it comes out.