The Reaper

Lady of Darkness #4.5

by Melissa K. Roehrich

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 story. 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, Magic

94 pages, Paperback

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 ✩]

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]

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!

[Amanda Marie]

Yep no one talk to me I’m sobbing

Rayner is one of my favorite characters in the Lady of Darkness series, but I knew his history was dark. I just didn’t know it would suck this hard. I teared up every few pages and was sobbing by the end. This hurt 🥹
I’m so glad he found his family.

5 ⭐️
🫑 but VERY GRAPHIC - gore, sexual assualt, emotional and sexual abuse, physical abuse, (fuck it just all the abuse), rape, murder, torture, coercion, forced breeding, lots of death
Just… be careful. Check TW. Please.
Love you (but I love Rayner more) 🩷

[✨Amanda ✨]

This was not the explosive backstory I was expecting. It was just meh. I was bored and frankly found myself not caring at all. This novella was lacking the usual magic Melissa puts in these Lady of Darkness books. Ready to move on to the final book

[Mel Lenore]

3.5

[Brooke Kathrene]

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

[RubyTrev]

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

[Julia]

4,5⭐
Володар Попелу мене сильно здивував. Так як мало приділяли уваги в основних книгах, ми мало що про нього знали. Така сила в нього, що навіть ширастоун не діє. Цікаво. Таке важке минуле. Дуже шкода його сестричок, так сподівалася що йому вдасться їх врятувати 🥺 Тепер зрозуміло чому він так прив'язався до Тули. А ще мені дуже сподобалося перше знайомство цієї сімейка Двору Вогню 🔥 Сорін, Сайрус і Рейвен 🥰

[marynareads]

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 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.

[saralouisereads]

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!! 😭

[anissa ⋆˙⟡]

4.5⭐️

”a dreamer’s lie is that all nightmares have an end. the truth is, some nightmares go on forever, and yours is just beginning.”

this novella dove really deep and dark into rayner’s past. i love him so much and understand his deep attachment and commitment to the people he loves after the horrors he has lived through. his nickname of the reaper comes at a cost for him. this was the perfect novella addition to the series 🥺

”if we can all learn to trust each other, to depend on each other, we can face those nightmares. if we can do that, we will be a force on this continent.”

[Maryna Skydarenko]

Коротенька історія як Рейнер зʼявився у дворі вогню і став третім Соріна. Нашо це робити окремою чекушкою я не розумію😐 Це потрібна інформація звідки він взявся, але все цілком можна було додати до 4 чи 5 книги🙄

[Jordan Miner]

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…

[Jamie]

I can not rave enough about this author and her books. I loved getting more background on Rayner. I love him in the series. He has this dark air around him, and now we know why.

I wasn't expecting to cry in this one, but maybe I should've because damn, my heart broke for Rayner. So much makes sense about so many things after reading this.

I also loved that we saw how the inner court actually became the inner court. Ugh, I love these characters so much.

[Esmay Rosalyne]

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!

[Nikoline]

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 😘

[Kristin Voyles]

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

[Chezza's life]

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]

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

[Maddie Vacca]

i read this in a few hours and it was really sad but gave so much context. i am not sure i am ready for the final book and novella 😭

[jiitter.bug24reads]

3.75 ⭐️

[Courtney Vandergrient]

"'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!!

[Christine Seder]

WHAT A GREAT START! This was a great novella and my first MKR book and I can't wait to keep reading.

[andi [under construction]]

4⭐️

[Amanda (A.NovelAdventure)]

✨B O O K R E V I E W ✨

📚 Short but certainly NOT sweet. We’ve always known that Rayner was a badass who was not to be messed with, but his dark part certainly makes that point even more clear. I love that our favorite Ash Rider got more page time: seeing where he came from, what he overcame, and knowing where he ends up made this novella easy to devour. I would like it if Melissa K Roehrich wrote a little novella like this for more of the side characters!

🌟 This comes after Lady of Embers - so if you’re on the Lady of Darkness track, be sure to add this to your TBR!

More about: The Reaper - Melissa K Roehrich

📖 This is a glimpse into the past of our favorite Ash Rider, Rayner. While we knew a little bit of his history, this novella dives deeper into his story and what has molded him into who he is today. Where he came from, what happened to him, and who he happened to.

If you want more trustworthy reviews be sure to give me a follow!

#BookReview #BookRecommendation #TBR #WhatToRead #LadyOfDarkness

|| Romantasy, Books to Read, Add to TBR, Fantasy ||

[Emily Johns-Sargent]

“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.

[peppers.library]

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]

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]

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.