Lord of Gold and Glory

Fae Isles #2

by Lisette Marshall

“There’s no taming a fae like the Silent Death …”

Emelin has escaped the Crimson Court and saved Creon from the Mother’s chains. But her newfound allies bring dangers of their own. Thrown into a world of old feuds and thorny grudges, she needs all her ingenuity to keep the Silent Death safe from his friends-turned-enemies.

And the political games of the Alliance are the easy part …

Haunted by shadows of his past and magic he never wanted to wield, Creon is slowly losing control of his powers. The only solution may be found outside the buried halls of the Alliance’s stronghold – back within reach of the Mother and her armies hunting for him.

Soon Emelin can no longer hide from the war looming over the archipelago. And when her quest for Creon’s safety reveals glimpses of her own mysterious origins, she has no choice but to claim her place on the battlefield … or lose the male she loves forever.


Lord of Gold and Glory is book 2 of the Fae Isles series, an epic fae fantasy romance perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Raven Kennedy.

Note: like the first book of the series, Lord of Gold and Glory is an adult fantasy romance and features plenty of scenes intended for a mature audience.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Fae, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Magic, Adult

503 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2022

About the author

Lisette Marshall is a fantasy romance author, language nerd and cartography enthusiast. Having grown up on a steady diet of epic fantasy, regency romance and cosy mysteries, she now writes steamy, swoony stories with a generous sprinkle of murder.

Lisette lives in the Netherlands (yes, below sea level) with her boyfriend and the few house plants that miraculously survive her highly irregular watering regime. When she’s not reading or writing, she can usually be found drawing fantasy maps, baking and eating too many chocolate cookies, or geeking out over Ancient Greek.

To get in touch, visit www.lisettemarshall.com, or follow @authorlisettemarshall on Instagram, where she spends way too much time looking at pretty book pictures.

Reviews

[Malikha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much whining for a man with no voice🙄

[Silvy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i literally can’t remember a time when it took me almost an entire month to read a book. high school, maybe? but that was me procrastinating — lord of gold and glory i genuinely tried to devour. i wanted to blow through this one the way i blew through the first one. and yet, here we are, almost a month later, finally having crossed that finish line.

and it’s not because this isn’t good — because it is! it's written well, it’s interesting, it moves the plot forward in a meaningful way, and it’s got some truly lovely, moving romantic moments between our main characters, along with the added benefit of a found family trope.

my gripe is that i can only handle so much brooding from our MMC. creon’s constant pouting and fleeing dramatically and waiting for emelin to find him is insufferable to me. once, ok! we’re all entitled to the occasional dramatic irish goodbye. but this happens frequently, between book one and book two, and i just….need him to pull it together, you know? it triggers my fear of abandonment.

it’s hard for me to enjoy a romance when i find the MMC irritating, but it’s compounded by the utterly impulsive, poorly-thought-out clownery emelin constantly gets herself into. this woman has absolutely no speed other than 100. she just barrels ahead, with little-to-no-regard for other people, herself, plans, common sense, etc etc. i had to grit my teeth and bear it through a huge chunk of this book. there’s a not-even-that-fine-of-a-line between fiery and reckless in a fun way, and just utterly thoughtless, and emelin toes the line in the wrong direction.

there were some deeply sweet moments, however, between a lot of the characters, including a bevy of new ones that bring a sort of inner-circle dynamic to the series that makes this a much richer, more interesting read. 3 stars, though, and that’s being a bit generous with how frustrated i was through this entire book. i’ll definitely read the next one, but emeleon are on thin ice. 😤

[Joy Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not have been more delighted to get this book in my hot little hands as the first book in the series ‘A Court of Blood and Bindings’ had me completely enamoured with Emelin and the Silent Death (Creon) because the dynamic between these two characters was just *chef’s kiss* - It was everything you want and more in the first book of a romantacy series.

Fast forward to me excitedly starting ‘Lord of Gold and Glory’ and absolutely FLYING through it, by which I mean I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! I absolutely DEVOURED it in a weekend, and I have to tell you I couldn’t have had a better time doing it!

I hate to spoil it so I’m going to tell you vague things to wet your whistles and then you’re going to listen to me and add the Fae Isles series to your TBR:

- The weight Creon carries on his shoulders is enormous, sincere, and beautifully layered.
- Learning more about powers in this world made it even more exciting than the first, and really heightened the stakes.
- One of the BEST things great romantasy authors do is plant glorious threads for side characters to follow as the series progresses. [I’m thinking Nessian in ACOTAR because they are my personal pinnacle of this, feel free to share yours!]
- Not only do you finish this book with heart explosions re: Creon and Em but you will be aching to see how things are going with the ever-growing cast of side-characters. I finished thinking about how much I cannot wait to get more of their stories!

This book delivered that incredible ACOMAF feeling of, “Okay I loved the first book, but holy hell do I LOVE this second one!” and I am so grateful for that experience! I’m even excited to go back to the prequel novel and first book in the series, just to do a re-read and re-live the beginnings of this amazing story! (I guess I just miss them already).

I devoured it over the weekend, could not put it down and it was the most excellent company. Add it to your TBR, like, YESTERDAY!

[Jamie Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 72%….I tried, I really did. Book 1 was so good. But nothing happened in this book! I lost any feeling of connection to the characters. Emelin’s inner monologue is so rambling and over analyzing and immature I wanted to scream. And the author totally ruined Creon. He became a brooding, whiny, emo baby. Overall, I don’t think Lisette Marshall’s writing is for me, which is a shocking disappointment because this series was highly recommended by everyone on bookstagram 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Anja H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4 STABBY STARS*

“Do not ever forget what I would do to keep you safe.”

I couldn't wait to get my grabby hands on this book after devouring Court of Blood and Bindings and falling head over heels in love with Emelin and Creon.

And that was the main problem I had with this book: there was not enough of them interacting! The fact that the interactions they do have are entertaining (and steamy) as fuck, is beside the point lol. I just wish they didn't spend as much time apart, but I do get why it was necessary.

This started off pretty slowly, and due to that, it took me a while to get back into the story and the world, but it got much better after a while, and I was completely hooked by the second half!
I still adore the color-based magic system and the fact that the swoon-worthy Silent Death is still mute, but he still has a distinctive voice.

Can't wait for book 3 in this series!

[jessie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would literally die for the morally gray, emotional disaster, complete and utter drama queen that is Creon.

When the hell are we getting book three I am dyingggggg.

[Divya · Rating 5 out of 5]

marketed as an acotar rip off but that’s such a disservice this so much better

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to the author Lisette Marshall for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

As this is the second book in a series, there are going to be spoilers for the first one. Still, I'm going to make it as spoiler free as I can.

Lord of Gold and Glory begins where the first book left off. We find ourselves in a new place full of new people, some of who we heard about in the first book and some new one.

I really enjoyed my time in the Underworld and especially it's people. I laugh a lot with them.

In this book we are explained more about the different types of magic and we learn many secrets.

The new characters give the story a more relaxed but tense atmosphere at the same time that I really enjoyed. I appreciated it even more as we learned more about the demon powers.

I loved learning more about what happened in between the prequel and this book.

We also get a glimpse at the battlefield of the Last Battle, which it's not what you may think.

We also have some wonderful training sessions, and a huge library.

The return of someone from the prequel does really shake a lot everything and might be the one thing that changes everything in the next book (maybe?).

We also see the love story of the protagonists develop in new ways and the conflicts they have and how much they want to be with each other no matter what. And beyond that, the simple fact that they love each other as they are, even when they can't be the other's salvation they can be there for them anyways (I can really relate this personally as I've felt that way for only one person and as the love has been there, the pain and the hurt as well).

[Yama · Rating 2 out of 5]

This protag has the emotional range of her lover’s dick and needs a reality check. And another one. And another one… I feel like she’s had so many in the book and reality is still not clicking for her. The story has made it clear she’s reaching near psychopathic levels with her lack of empathy. It’s really jarring to have these really long lived characters that experienced history first hand, which has left them forever changed and traumatized, and then have the protag continuously bulldoze over them emotionally (and sometimes physically) even though they’re her so called friends and allies.

Speaking of friends (family?), I’m lost as to how and why Tared and Lyn like her on that level. Like I get she's kind of a baby bird to them that needs guidance, but beyond that I'm not seeing it. It’s a very forced relationship. Emelin hasn’t earned nor deserves with the way she lashes out at them for holding a grudge and being wary of Creon (which they are more than entitled to). They have been doing so much tiptoeing around her and her feelings, but the thoughtfulness and care isn’t reciprocated. It really blew me away when even after Tared took Emelin to that battlefield/graveyard, where she was literally stepping on dusty skeletons and breaking their bones, it still wasn’t clicking for her. She still had the audacity to chastise her friends and allies for feeling a certain way with regards to Creon throughout the rest of the book even though they were constantly begging her to understand their pain. It was honestly kind of sad.

The fight with Edored was ridiculous. At this point the writing is too weak to even suggest that the protag has enough training under her belt to be able to pull off a win. And also it’s kind of strange to have a character with hundreds of years of real experience with war to lose this way. I think having Edored win that fight would have honestly been a better choice for the protag’s character development. Instead, it just shows that, once again, she lacks emotional intelligence and resorts to hitting people or threaten them with hitting them when they say something she doesn’t like. And it happens over and over again throughout the book to varying degrees. So many pages and chapters and she’s still so static.

She keeps getting called a child for being childish and then wacks them back or threatens to, which literally proves the original point of her being childish? It’s not endearing or cute, but annoying and had me eye rolling every time it happened. Edored was incredibly ridiculous at times, but at least he had several hundred years of reasons to make his actions make some sort of sense. I just don’t know what else Emelin winning this fight was supposed to prove or gain aside from driving home the point (yet again) that she doesn’t care about the struggles and feelings that Edored, and many other of the Alliance feel towards Creon.

Emelin’s little throw away speech about how she had a hard life later on in the book was way too little and way too late. Especially when the whole book was grinding out just how hard life has been for hundreds and hundreds of years for everyone else and her refusal to acknowledge that because it hurts her lover’s feelings. She’s someone who is fighting for herself and her lover, and everything/everyone else comes last.

Also, I’m so sorry. But there is no way the whole Alliance didn’t know there was something going on with Emelin and Creon beyond just friends…. Please… Especially Tared. Like I really was not buying that bit.

And as for steamy, romantic, sex scenes... The protag literally talks about her daddy issues and imagining him catching her and Creon in the middle of fucking in a dungeon, which was a choice… One I wish I never read.

TLDR: The main character is dickmatized to an incredible degree that makes her unlikable. Writing falls short when it comes to building the main character, but the side characters and world-building are still pretty fun, dramatic, and interesting for the most part. This seems like a love can fix it all type of story, but the transgressions that have been made by the love interest are just too egregious to justify a redemption with the way the story is currently going about it. Mostly just kept reading to see how the side characters’ stories would unfold and the history they would reveal, but don’t know if I'll finish the series.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the moment I am adding this to my DNF list out of choice. I loved the first book in the series and I was excited to see where the story went, however it just wasn’t as enjoyable for me.

I find the relationships between Em, Tared & Lyn really forced and unconvincing. I feel like the author is skilled but she is potentially trying too hard to force banter (inner circle trope attempt) and it just is SO BORING. If I had to read through another boring conversation I was going to scream.

I skipped ahead after reading 60% and got the gist of what happened for the rest of the book, honestly feel like I didn’t miss much.

[☀︎El In Oz☀︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5


Although a bit slow for me, I adored this! Em and Creon get better and better, the side characters are fleshed out perfectly, the magic system becomes even COOLER, the plot twists are perfectly planted, and the writing is super solid

[onthebooksel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d pull a Gideon from the end of Gideon the Ninth for Creon. 😭

[Lucía Cafeína · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bua. Mira que el primero fue estupendo, pero este se ha superado: la emoción, la trama, los personajes secundarios… Ha sido emocionante y divertido, a la par que dramático.

[BookGoddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has truly become one of my all-time favorites. I absolutely inhaled and consumed the two books in the past 48 hours. Where to even begin??

First, the writing is great. The author perfectly captures adventure, action, with moments that require emotional depth or levity.

Creon and Em have my heart. Their relationship is so beautifully written - its layered, evolving, emotional, SPICY, funny/full of banter and inside jokes and just so heartfelt and real. I love how the author is able to give each of them their own depth and also how the two are able to help each other grow, and evolve without being the only thing either of them live for. These characters truly embody the journey of self-love, amidst all their trauma and have so much more to learn as they unravel past hurts and re-learn how to love, communicate, manage conflict, etc - it just felt so realistic and yet magical at the same time in a way so many fantasy romances fall short. Creon’s love for Em is just…awe-inspiring. Seriously, one of my favorite book boyfriends. I also really respected how the author wrote about how his inability to speak and how it only added to the intensity of the romance and their love.

I’m enjoying this evolving cast of characters, with a found family that feels also genuine. Relationships that are also evolving and deepening in an organic and natural way - unlike so many books where a found family is instant or gratuitous. Here, the relationships build over the fraught histories, complicated truths, and past animosities. I’m so excited to see where these relationships go, and especially to see how Creon’s relationship with the Underground cast of characters grow. If he’s even able to forge a tenuous friendship with any of them, it’s only going to make it that much more meaningful and heartfelt. I’m really intrigued to keep reading about Agenor as well.

Also, going back really quickly to Creon and Em - their love just continues to have moments where my heart just bursts and flutters into a million pieces. PLEASE READ THIS SERIES.


I want to give this series 10000000 x million stars and books like these continually show me why there are many indie authors deserve so much more recognition, with expansive stories and writing that rival well-established published authors. I’ve been blown away by many indie authors the past few years and Lisette Marshall earns a top spot among them all (also: see Carissa Broadbent and Frankie Diane Mills). Need the next installment now!!!!

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You make me feel like the world´s biggest idiot and the most brilliant of souls at times, and I´m well aware neither of us is close to perfect, but every time you shatter my doors and windows, I can´t help feeling we might just be quite perfect together. So don´t ever worry about anyone else - there´s no comparison. You´re incomparable. And tell me if you ever doubt that, because it will be my pleasure to remind you a hundred times more."

This is a one POV book, told by the POV of Emelin.

I loved how Emelin (Em) evolved in this book. You get your typical training sequences in here where she goes from being a bit shy and sceptical to getting fierce and learning how to fight and being more brave in general and I loved that for her. I kind of loved how Creon was a little drama queen sometimes in here. It seems like a funny side to an otherwise stoic and grumpy warrior and I loved how he gave off "hate everything but her" vibes.

With side characters I´d love to learn more about Naxy, she seems like such a fun character to me. I also love how all of the characters are a bit more complex, even the "smaller" side characters like Edored for example. I have to say some of the names need a bit getting used to (How the F do you say "Edored" out loud!?) but I love to learn more about their backstories.

Plotwise this does suffer a teeny bit from second book syndrom, so the pacing sometimes felt a bit off to more. There are a bit less action scenes in here than the first book, and I´d say this focusses more on character development. The book is still fast paced in the beginning and the ending, only felt a little off/slow for me towards the middle. I loved the world building and how we got to see more places. The romance is the most delicious slowburn and I am definitely eating it up; you can also expect spicy scenes in this one. I love Creon´s and Em´s storyline and how they develop their relationship but also heal each other in a sense. I´m excited to see where the story will go in book 3.

Overall it was a great read and I hope the story will continue further (and pick up the pace a bit) in book 3.

trigger warnings: attempted murder, loss of loved ones/grief, bullying (to a degree), mentions of war

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a terminal case of second book syndrome.

the first half of this was like pulling teeth. it was super dense and difficult to get engaged with anything that was happening. especially considering that nothing was happening. emelin and creon sit around doing a whole bunch wandering around the underground and moping. creon hates it and emelin hates it too since creon is being miserable. lots of arguing and thats pretty much it.

whereas in the second half basically all of the plot happens. they finally leave the underground and do something other than argue with random side characters. emelin was trying to figure out who her parents are which was great. everything aergon-related was also super interesting. creon was serving some good entertainment at this point with his demon abilities, his prison moment, and general slaying.

this book should have had 200 pages less of the underground stuff and instead had way more conflict with crimson court. hoping the next book pulls through

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

900 pages of inner monologue

This story has real promise, the execution was not to my liking... From the last two books which is about 1000 digital pages, about 900 consists of em's internal dialogue. After reading these two books I know what super power I do not want to have (the power to hear people's thoughts). I can now see that would be exhausting. Listening to someone think through the simplest of questions or decisions. To listen to someone question how everyone would react to even the simplest of greetings.
Wow, exhausting. That's what I felt about these books, they were exhausting.

[Trupti Dorge · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read half of this book and I give up. I just can't continue reading it. At this point, the "Silent Death" just sounds like a whiny teenager and I was not enjoying it. The world and the secondary characters are good but the 2 main characters are very annoying. I was waiting for the story to move forward, but it isn't and I have no patience left.

There are many better books left on my TBR to read.

[Jenn (The Book Refuge) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was so slow for me.

It picked up later but honestly, it was hard to pay attention during some of this. I'm sure I missed some important things..

3.5 stars
2 on the spice scale

[Alessa ✪ ( on semi hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨Lo mejor de ACOTAR y The Cruel Prince TOGETHER✨
❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧
REVIEW SIN SPOILERS
Rating
★★★★★
🌶️ level
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Troupe grumpy sunshine, Cardan Y Jude

Es la 1 de la maniana, terminé de leer este libro hermoso, me iba ir a dormir pero acá estoy sentada frente a la compu con un café escribiendo mi review porque esta saga es LO TODO.
Me gusta hacer analogías para mis reviews comparándolos con libros que me encantan, y no puedo dejar de hacerlo con este. Comencemos por los protagonistas

En el título de esta review comparo este libro con "The Cruel Prince”, yo se que para muchas no es lo suficientemente"romántico" pero dejando de lado esa discusión, el desarrollo que tienen los protagonistas se puede comparar con este libro. Emelin es tan badass como Jude. La autora no cae en el cliché de hacer power up con su personaje femenino como en "From Blood and Ash" o en "A Court of Thorns and Roses" sino que Emelin tiene falencias y le cuesta todo igual que a Jude.. Y bueno..Creon.. es tan EMOOOO LO AMO!! No es perfecto y no pretende serlo y como Cardan, NECESITA de Emelin. No son pocas las veces que Emelin sale en su auxilio, no porque esté en problemas per se, pero al igual que en "The Cruel Prince" sucede porque uno necesita del otro...( bueno quizá Creon necesita mas de Emelin hehe )..

"..because who in her right mind would ever fall in love with gods-damned demon brood like me?

En este libro siguen intentando comprenderse y aceptarse, cada uno con mil traumas y eso los hace perfectos.
Gracias a que existe una trama principal sobre la que se basa la historia de romance entre Creon y Emelin es que esta segunda entrega no decae ni aburre..., cuando no hay romance estás leyendo pensando qué va a pasar con la trama principal, cómo se resolverá, y los nuevos personajes que se van presentando están tan bien escritos que es la primera vez que quiero leer un libro sobre ellos ( si, va para vos Nesta en "A ​Court of Silver Flames que no me puede chupar más un huevo tu historia).

Otro aspecto de esta saga que me encanta es el HUMOR que tiene. Como ya mencioné en mi review del primer libro. Es esa ironía, los comentarios de los personajes con un dejo de sarcasmo o cómo se relacionan entre ellos, me encanta y me alegra ver que en esta segunda entrega sigue la autora manteniendo ese estilo

"It would have been helpful...if there were any books to be found with titles such as Ten Ways To Quietly Get Rid Of Murderous Alves or The Lady´s Guide To Dealing With Dejected Demons"

En fin...podría seguir y citar mas pero quiero que LO LEAN..

Lo bueno
→ Cardan and Jude vibes
→ Creon ♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎
→EDOREEED necesito un libro sobre el
→Batallas bien escritas
→No hay power ups estúpidos
→Capítulo 25 ...just..WOW

Lo malo
→ Esperar para el último libro ( ya tiene fecha sale en mayo de 2023 si non me equivoco).

Conclusión
Esta saga es increíble, léanla, tiene todo. No aburre, es NA. Un placer leerla y se convirtió en una de mis favoritas.

[Kel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I broke down and got KU JUST SO I COULD READ THIS BOOK!!

I love everything about this series. The characters, the romance, the court intrigue, the secrets and plot twists. Ah, it's fantastic.

This book tackles the rebellion moreso. We meet more major players in the rebellion against the Mother and we finally get to see Creon in battle! I loved the character development that happened during the time at the other court. The revelations of who people are in relation to each other and the snarky banter Creon had with the other fae. My favorite part was reading about the other fae witnessing Creon interacting with Em. Her calling him name, him smiling, her blaming his bad manners... And somehow the men have no idea. It's hilarious.


The next book is going to tackle some big stuff. Breaking the bindings, fighting the Mother and maybe even discovering who Em's mother is/where she's been.

Overall
Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice 🌶️🌶️
Audio 🚫 read on KU. The author hinted that audio might be coming out in June 2023 but I was too impatient.

[Emily ⋆˙⟡♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 35%

This book really lost my attention after I really loved the first :(

[Fiebre Lectora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reseña completa: https://fiebrelectora.blogspot.com/20...

Emelin consiguió atacar a la Madre, salvar a Creon de sus garras y escapar, pero ahora sus nuevos aliados no están tan dispuestos a aceptar a Creon entre los suyos. Por si eso no fuera suficiente, Emelin se verá expuesta a su propia verdad: su origen, que la empujará a reclamar su lugar en el campo de batalla o a perder para siempre al fae de quien se ha enamorado.

BUA, si ya el primero había sido trepidante, este ha sido incluso mejor. Y eso que iba yo con algo de miedo porque, ya sabemos todos, en ocasiones el segundo volumen de una saga flojea, pero en esta ocasión estábamos a salvo: se ha desarrollado mucho más el mundo, los personajes, contamos con muchos más personajes secundarios, y un desarrollo en los protagonistas y su relación. De todo, todito.

[lucia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining and enjoyable continuation for this series!

Whilst I would have wished for some aspects to be different - I was not that much a fan of that whole Underground meets Creon thing - i still had a fun time and I’m excited for the finale of this series!

Emelin still is an entertaining lead to read about. She’s witty and doesn’t hold back some snarky comments, which I love for her. But she doesn’t feel that relatable to me. It’s probably a me thing, but she’s not among my fav persons to read about.

And let’s be honest here - her and Tared carried this book single handedly with their adorable big brother-little sister-dynamic

Whom I do love too, is Agenor. That man was a desperately needed appearance. Love that Lord. He can own me, if he wants to.

…But my man Creon? He was vulnerable and emotional and all that stuff, which is a generally good thing. He annoyed me in this book, until the very last 20% when he finally got his shit back together.
I get why the author wrote it that way. But for me personally it’s a throw off. He suddenly lost about 40% of his sex appeal with that whiny behavior.
(yes I know I’m an asshole for saying that. Poor man was going through a phase, appropriate for what he had to endure in his life)
(still not sexy to me)
(I won’t apologize, I’m a bitch)

Things also developed kinda draggingly and like I said, not only did Creon disappoint a bit, but the entire Underground setting with the people was annoying to me at times. To be fair - there were also tons of scenes I did enjoy. But the overall vibe was not my kind of thing.

So overall a good follow up!
Kinda lost a bit of my investment that I had in the first book, but I’m still excited for the next book and see how things will continue for the entire gang! (I’m a tad worried that we have two books left. I’m praying there’s enough plot to justify four instead of just three books…)

3.5🌟

[Laure · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emelin has managed to escape from the Crimson Court and save Creon from the Mother’s torture. But her friends with the alliance aren’t happy when she insists that they offer Creon sanctuary along with herself. Unfortunately, old hatreds and long held grudges by the Undergrounds residents will soon make it nearly impossible for Creon to control his magic, so he will leave and go back to the islands of the archipelago in an effort to find others of his own kind that want the Mother removed from her throne. After weeks with no contact Emelin will go in search of the man she loves, and unexpectedly, get some answers to where her origins begin, which will force her to realize that she can no longer hide from the war that will free the islands of the archipelago from an insane ruler.
Wow, I love these characters. They are all well written, and utterly fascinating. Emelin and Creon are particularly compelling, and the development of their relationship is absolutely riveting. Exciting action, magic, bloody battles, intriguing character interactions and unexpected twists in the plot make this a must-read fantasy romance. I highly recommend this book.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

[Amy]

DNF @ 25% because I simply couldn’t bring myself to care

[Alexandra II the nine lives of my library · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st reread 2025: Can I just gush about how much I love Creon in every review? Cause I cannot think of anything else to add to be honest. I love that every usual trope is met with a twist that makes this book quite unique in my eyes. You never know what to expect or how long to expect it. I’m glad I remembered this series and now I can finish it in one go.



Creon has a place in my heart forever and ever. I actually like Em a lot too. Why haven’t I read this series before??

[🌙henny✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

How can an mmc be the most whiney insufferable little shit when he can’t even talk??? 😭😭 tell me why this man threw a tantrum and locked himself in his room for WEEKS, refusing to speak to anyone or even eat, because he was surrounded by people who don’t like him?? That was not cute. Especially since the people who don’t like him actually had extremely valid reasons to dislike him. It turned out to be invalid because their reasons were based on incomplete information but how tf do you expect people to know everything when you keep it all to yourself??? He did NOTHING about it!!! He just sulked!! Didn’t try to fix anything. Just left it all up to the fmc. Very uncool.

I enjoyed the first book a lot. It wasn’t a 5 star read, but it was fairly close. There was something about it though that just put me off and I couldn’t figure it out, and I think I was right to be somewhat sceptical about this series because it absolutely TANKED in enjoyability during this book. I’m so disappointed.

So for starters, nothing happens. And I mean that so literally, for the first half of the book, absolutely NOTHING happens. Mmc is, as previously stated, sulking in his room. Fmc is wandering around being depressed and feeing hopeless about mmc isolating himself. I can only read so many boring conversations with uninteresting side characters about plot that happened over a century ago when absolutely nothing else is going on. Someone DO something!!! Stop establishing backstory and world building that should have been outlined in book 1!!! I’ve spent time with the characters now, I want the plot to happen. But alas, it didn’t. Until about halfway that is, but by this point the book had lost me and I was barely paying attention. Don’t ask me to describe how it ends. I should have dnf’d before this put me in yet another slump.

I just…. Ugh. The romance is what I read these books for, right? No two ways about it. I read for the tension, the yearning and the eventual culmination of all of that tension and yearning into a love I can fantasise about. That is the single most important thing I look for in books, prioritised above all else. I do like some plot with my smut, don’t get me wrong. I generally want there to be something going on. But I need the romance. It’s essential for me to enjoy a book, and I do not want to read books without romance. I don’t care what that says about me, I’m a lovergirl. So, having established that so everyone knows how vital it is for me, the romance in this book (book, not series, because book 1 was enjoyable) was extremely unsatisfying. There was just no growth!! Even if the mmc hadn’t been the most annoying fucking manbaby ever, it felt frustrating as hell because it’s like he wasn’t even trying. Fmc kept saying that she couldn’t save him and that he needed to save himself etc etc, or some variation of those words, and he kept saying he would try, but I just found that so fucking tedious. Don’t tell me you’ll try. JUST TRY. MAKE SOME EFFORT!! I read these books to escape from how disappointing real life men are, and this man was just giving emotionally constipated manchild weaponising his incompetence. Maybe I’m being too harsh. He clearly has a lot of complex self esteem and ptsd-related issues, and he’s really not a bad guy. He’s just does not meet the standards I’ve come to expect from a book boyfriend.

The fmc was actually fine. I did find her grating at times, more so in this book than the first, because in book 1 her anger and frustration at mmc’s complete lack of communication (and not because he literally can’t talk, he just refuses to communicate at all. He learns sign language AND has a notebook and pencil. They ‘speak’ the same language. Don’t give me bullshit about how you don’t know what to say, sack up and COMMUNICATE!!!) felt justified. But now it’s like… girl come on. Why are you still so unequivocally dickmatised over this man?? He’s extremely annoying and he’s not improving in the slightest. Have some self respect atp idk.

Anyway this book pissed me off and yes this review is harsh, but I put time into this. I bought the audiobook because it was so fucking boring that I couldn’t physically read it without zoning out every 5 sentences. But please don’t take this review as an objective ‘this book sucks, don’t read it’ kind of thing. That’s never what my reviews are about. This just really did not hit for me personally, and I’m annoyed about that. Good thing personal taste is incredibly subjective!! This might be fantastic for many of you. Not for me though 😮‍💨 I do not want to continue this series, because it will put me into a slump. I can feel myself slumping hardcore after this because it was such a slog to get through and I really don’t want to be there again, it’s miserable. Reading is basically the only thing that brings me joy these days. I do not want to force myself to finish a series that upset me this much, but I do want to see if mmc ever gets his shit together and/or his voice back. So I’m undecided. For now though, I’m keeping the rest of this series on the tbr and I’m going to read something I will actually enjoy.

[Kate | FocusOnYourShelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Really enjoyed, but kinda got annoyed with Emelin’s never ending sympathy for Creon.

I listened to the audiobook and i swear i heard “oh Creon” like 30 times.

[Janire Rodríguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Librado. Me ha encantado el libro. En mi opinión, es mejor que el primero, el cual ya es bueno. Podemos conocer mucho mejor a los personajes y adentrarnos más en este mundo mágico y su sistema. Desde luego merece la pena totalmente y ya quiero el siguiente jajaj