Darken the Trux

by A.J. Manney

Ameris is a servant. Darian is an Assassin. Somehow, they need to work together to survive the Trux. Every fifty years, the reigning king invokes the King’s Challenge. All the best warriors in the land are gathered and sent into the Trux, the forbidden forest, to find the coveted Regisflos flower for the King. Seventeen-year-old Ameris is thrilled when she gets hired to work at the castle; she’s been planning for this day her entire life. She has her mission—to work her way up the ranks and get close to the King. But nothing could have prepared her for finding out that she will have to accompany one of the warriors into the Trux, and not just any warrior. She finds herself assigned to the most feared warrior of them all—the Assassin. Darian comes from the revered Sicario Clan and became a Master at only twenty years old, the youngest ever to do so. Darian’s not happy about Ameris coming with him and isn’t going to make it easy on her. But she’s no push-over. She’s not about to let him stand in the way of the mission she has already embarked on. This is just a small setback in the plan that’s already been set in motion. She just has to survive the Trux and make it back to the castle. Their journey is not nearly as simple as she thinks it will be. Dangers and threats test them at every turn, and she soon discovers that her only hope of survival is to ally with Darian, but he’s doing everything in his power to keep that from happening. Will she be able to break down his barriers and get him to work with her? Only time will tell. She has forty days, and the clock starts now.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2021

About the author

A. J. Manney lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and four kids. Some of her favorite things to do include reading, family days, being a pastor's wife, and watching football on Sunday afternoons with her family

Reviews

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ćant wait to start book 2!
A.J. Manney writes to keep you enthralled and captivated in the story! You read and get involved in the story. You learn to love the personalities and traits of certain characters and reject others.
I was never a reader of fantasy but I think I could read every book of this author!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a YA book. The 17yo fmc (Ameris) is pretty good though. She's focused and strong. She's been trained by a Father in a Sacaraium (monastery?) since she was 5 when she was abandoned by her father to the streets. For the most part, despite some naive approaches to the Rebellion, things seem about right. Ameris becomes a servant in the Kingdom to try and find a way for the rebellion to start. of course, things go wrong from the start. About 1/3 of the book is about the assignment of the fmc to be the servant to the mmc (Darian) during a quest to find a specific flower and it's seed. Which extends the life of the (really bad) king. Quite a few twists and turns and a few YA emotional explosions later, when they are heading back to the kingdom, Ameris real secrets begin to be exposed. Darian protects her at times, but this is when the YA kicks in again. She is extremely emotional - some bad stuff does happen - and does the whole crying for hours and "I hate you" thing. Overall, the story is pretty fun. I guess the genre fit the emotional outbursts as well as TSTL comments to the higher ranking nobles as well as the king. I didn't dislike Ameris but could have done without some of the lack of patience and emotional outbursts. I did like Darian as well as the way he started to loosen up as the quest rolled on. Will I read book 2? Maybe, now that I understand the genre behind it.

[Nospicereads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't even know where to begin. There were so many plot twists happening during this book, I was deeply enthralled. In a kingdom where magic is outlawed, Ameris has to keep hers a secret. She has been raised by the church to take down the King.
When she gets taken to the castle to work as a servant, everything is going to plan until she gets chosen to be the servant to one of the Challenge Warriors. Ameris is tossed into a deadly fight along side the feared
"Assassin". As the days pass the two start to develop a kinship. I liked how Darian didn't show any emotion in the beginning but towards the end of the book you could really see him opening up to Ameris. The ending of the book has me shook! I cannot wait to read the next books!! There is no spice, but there are a couple instances of attempted sexual assault (nothing graphic, but it's there).

Tropes:
-Hidden Identities
-Morally Grey mmc
-Forbidden magic
-Forced proximity
-Grumpy x sunshine(ish)

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review incoming.

[Sheryl Tickell · Rating 5 out of 5]

can’t put it down!!

A storyline that keeps you reading to find out what happens next….THEN I did NOT see that coming!!!! Definitely going to book 2 and fast!!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

ouch

This has not been what I thought it would be. It was better! I’m anxious to start the next book!