romantasy – Louise Reads

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone – but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

This one is really different from what I expected out of a fantasy romance, which is undoubtedly a good thing. It was way darker, for one thing, and didn’t rely on a commanding all-powerful vampire as the heroine’s lifeline. I think the worst thing a story of this genre can do is have bland characters with zero chemistry, and that is absolutely not this book. I very unexpectedly fell in love with Raihn, who, despite how he is described in the synopsis, really wasn’t an aggressive man at all. The scenes between him and Oraya were actually really hot. Again, chemistry and characters are the most important to me in any kind of romance.

Unfortunately, the remaining elements of the story fell a little flat for me. I wanted just a bit more world building and maybe more insight into both Oraya and Vincent’s character. The pacing was a little off for me, too. I think the story would have really benefitted from throwing us right into the Kejari, with some backtracking to fill in Oraya’s history with Vincent. I would have loved to understand the history of the different vampires and why they are against each other.

I should reiterate that this story really nailed what I needed it to–the romance and character building was impeccable. It just could have been that much better with some added detail and fixed pacing. I’m not sure if I’ll pick up the second book yet to finish the duology, but I’m leaning toward yes just to see how Oraya and Raihn’s relationship plays out.