The Reaper

Lady of Darkness #4.5

by Melissa K. Roehrich

Before he was the Fire Court Third, he was the Reaper.
And before he was the Reaper, he was her Ash Rider.

Moranna. The Baroness of a colony hidden away on the Southern Islands. She works tirelessly to keep some of the most powerful Fae of the realm safe from those who seek to use them for their gifts.

Or that's what Rayner has always believed.

When he learns the Baroness's darkest secrets, he finds nothing is as it seems, and he realizes he has more to fight for than he ever thought. Vowing to put an end to her and everything she has created on the islands, he finds himself the center of a curse as punishment for his rebellion.

The path back to vengeance is wrought with violence, grief, and unexpected allies, and Rayner knows better than anyone: Some nightmares never end.

This novella is Rayner's backstory. To avoid series spoilers, it should not be read until AFTER reading Lady of Embers, book four in the Lady of Darkness series. This novella is dark! Please protect your mental health and be sure to read the trigger warnings at the beginning of the novella.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Fantasy Romance, Fae, Novella, Romance, Dark Romance

99 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2022

About the author

Melissa is a dark fantasy romance author who loves coffee, dragons, and constantly rearranging her bookshelves. She spends her time writing, reading, and homeschooling her three boys in the Middle-of-Nowhere, North Dakota, where she lives with her boys, husband, dogs, multiple barn cats, and chickens on a small farmstead. She is constantly trying to convince her husband they need to add goats and ducks to the mix, and one day, she'll succeed.

She's not here much, so if you're looking to connect, check out the following:

*Facebook Reader Group: Melissa's Dragon Cave
*Discord: https://discord.gg/GTY757MCXF
*Instagram: @melissa_k_roehrich
*TikTok: @authormelissakroehrich

Reviews

[✩ Yaz ✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

let the Reaper die here with me.
Only let him rise again to save your family.”

I did not expect this to be as painful as it was,
but here we are.

[Feyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I never had a clear picture of Rayner but now he made his way into my heart just like the other characters in this series have done. We get a little information on how this novella goes from Lady of Embers but there are still surprises and it's been so good to read this!

[Mel Lenore · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Brooke Kathrene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ouch. But also awwww. This simultaneously broke and healed something in my heart.

[RubyTrev · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed learning a little more about Rainer. He's never been my favorite because we didn't know as much about him, so this was nice. Of course my favorite part was the end, which had nothing to do with Rainer. Lol

[marynareads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I’m not a fan of short novels🤷🏻‍♀️ It was okay to read for the backstory, but this book wasn’t anything special to me.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating- 4 stars
(Kindle Unlimited)
It was great to have this book so we could learn more about Rayner. It really made a lot of things clear about why he was attached to Tula. The last chapter was heartbreaking and really pulled at the strings 💔

It was lovely as well to see the Inner Court when the war was settling down and saw how they became to become the Court that they are in Lady of Darkness Series. I have to say that both Rayner and Cyrus are like Scarlet even being decades apart 🤣 Overall it was a great novella and made me understand and appreciate Rayner a lot more.

[Jordan Miner · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25☆ “you did save me, rayner. you got me out. now let me be free. please.”

now melissa why tf would you do that to me?! I wasn’t expecting a novella to stab me in the chest tonight…

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ouch, my heart was not ready for this emotional rollercoaster!

This novella promised to be dark, and it damn well delivered. I'll admit that I almost skipped this to go straight into book 5, but now I am so glad I took the time to take a glimpse into Rayner's past to learn about how he became the guarded broken soul that we know in the main series.

Not only did I come to understand Rayner on a much deeper emotional level, but I also just really enjoyed seeing some favourite familiar faces in a much different light. I mean, I wasn't expecting to see the inception of the beloved Inner Court found family here, but I enjoyed very second of it.

The main highlight was Rayner's personal revenge quest though, and that was just as brutal and bittersweet as I had guessed (and hoped?) it would be. There is so much raw human emotion packed into these few pages, and by the end I was emotionally drained in the best way possible.

Definitely don't miss out on this gem of a novella, it will keep you in a chokehold from start to finish!

[saralouisereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

0🌶️ i was excited for this novella but idk why cause it was absolutely fucking heartbreaking 😭 i love him so much omg. seeing the inner court in their early days together made me happy though, it was what this dark dark past story needed. ugh i can’t believe the next book is the last one. i’m not ready for this series to be over!! 😭

[Chezza's life · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you need to read this? No, but if you love this world and want to prolong the inevitable then YES please do. If you love the quiet and mysterious ash rider then YES you do.
This is his story and gives an insite to why he is the way he is AND also a little insite into how and why Sorin and his inner court work well together.
I loved it and ate it up and love Raynor even more after reading this.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novella and incredible insight into Rayner's character and history. It is more than worth the read.

[Kristin Voyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s twisty and dark and absolutely necessary. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[Courtney Vandergrient · Rating 5 out of 5]

"'Do you know what a dreamer's lie is?'
- 'That all nightmares have an end. Some never do. I didn't know if mine ever would.'"

Oh Rayner. More Rayner book five plz!!

[Nikoline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly. You can skip it. It was fine, it showed some more evil, it gave us a bit of Rayners story, but not much more than what we already know. It did not bring anything new to the story, so if you feel like you are in a hurry, just skip to Lady of Starfire 😘

[andi [under construction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

[Emily Johns-Sargent · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Do you know what a dreamer’s lie is?” he asked, picking up his cards. “Do tell,” Cyrus murmured. “That all nightmares have an end. Some never do. I didn’t know if mine ever would,”

This was a perfect piece to the series that I didn’t know I needed. It told Rayner’s tragic story and how Sorin had found him. But it was just Rayner that Sorin had found here he had found them all and tied them together. It gave the glimpse into them all meeting and how Rayners story had started that story. It was tragic and sad but they all bonded together with their nightmares and worked through them. Rayners back story was placed perfectly in the series as book four ended with mention of his past.

[chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

i knew by pg 8 that this novella was going to wreck me 😅 please check trigger warnings before reading, this is DARK, but also so incredibly moving. rayner quickly became one of my favorite characters in this series, and this novella definitely cemented that. the slightly ominous reveal surrounding a fairly new character was so intriguing, and the glimpses of eline, sorin, and young talwyn were so sweet. i loved reading more of the backstory surrounding how my favorite members of the fire court found each other 🖤

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a heartbreaking little novella 😭 I’m so glad we got more insight into Rayner’s past — after discovering what he went through I fully understand why he is this quiet and mysterious character, and why he is so protective of a certain character in the series. Rayner deserves the world 🖤 and I loved that we got to see some of the backstory on the fire court members 🥹

Once again, Melissa did a phenomenal job of writing something that truly makes you feel all of the emotions as a reader!

[Lisa Maxey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little novella. Explains a lot. Filled with love and vengeance and heartache. And explains a bit on Sorins court.
I did some sobbing as well, of course. A nice break before reading her final book where I know my gear will get ripped to shreds again.

[Jae Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Rayner is one of my favorite characters in The Lady Of Darkness Series. Learning about his history and how he became the third to Sorin in the Fire Court was heartbreaking and moving. Truly enjoying everything about this series.

[Kali Balducci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rayner ❤️🥹 this story was tragic and beautiful all at once. thank goodness for sorin taking all the strays into his court and giving them the family they deserve! if only our other favorite spy master azzy could get a little backstory novella like this.

[Kayci Strous · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ i love rayner. he deserves every good thing in this world. and getting to see the fire court before they were the fire court… i love them all so much. i’m telling y’all the found family in this is just too good.

[Whitley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sobbed through this one

[Zen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars

This was a great addition to the series. I love the insight into Father's history as the Ash Rider that was alluded to in book 4.

[Aarjavi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Laura Fusco · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

99 pages isn’t enough i need a whole book for rayner 😭

[ciana · Rating 4 out of 5]

rayner my shayla, i love him sm :(

[Alecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed getting Rayner’s backstory. Though it was a short story/novella, I thought it really packed a punch. Plus we love a revenge story!