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Review

3.5 stars

An emotional and exciting urban fantasy with a second-chance romance that spans hundreds of years, this is a rollercoaster of a read! It’s the fourth book in the Irin Chronicles series, and a direct follow on from the original trilogy, a spin-off story for side characters Damien and Sari, and should absolutely not be read as a standalone.

I loved Damien and Sari in the first books of this series. They are bonded mates who are apart when we met them, both fierce, strong and stubborn warriors, and their story was screaming to be told. This book is split into four parts, showing us their meeting and falling in love over 400 years ago, the Rending which impacted their world so dramatically, the events of The Singer and The Secret (books #2 and #3), and then into the future to see them deal with the aftermath of all of those events.

It’s a wild ride for these two, and the story moves from the remote Orkney Islands where they meet and snark and bicker until they come to accept their bond and fall madly for each other, to Paris, London, Norway, Vienna, Turkey and the Czech Republic. As a follow on from the original trilogy, I knew some of the events that would happen in this book, and OMG, the anxiety! I read with a sense of dread, knowing what was coming, and though I knew it would hurt, I still wasn’t ready.

“She hates me as she loves me. Wholly and completely. Sari never does anything by halves.”

But the separation! OMG, whyyyyyyy? It seemed so unfair, and I was so mad, mostly at Sari, for letting it go on for so long. I could understand the reasoning behind it, but in a world where mates are sacred, and having lost so much, it just felt wrong in so many ways, and I was so frustrated. It made me feel like their love wasn’t strong enough for all that they’d been through, and it’s not what I wanted for these two.

Happy times do come though, and I loved seeing their reunion and where their story goes next. The Irin world is forever changed, and they’re navigating it as best they can, and I loved seeing them work through it and create a new life together.

“I can wander the world for the rest of my life. The only home I need is you.”

With the overlap from earlier books, we get to see all of the characters again, and there’s some good set-up there for more spin-offs, and I’m looking forward to reading more about these characters and this world.

I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Jay Britton, and my thoughts are mixed. While I think he did a good job with the story, the way he voiced Damien was really off-putting for me. It was so unnecessarily gruff with not enough emotion (and don’t get me started on his Malachi voice!). I think I may have enjoyed this one more if I had actually read it.

I did enjoy this book – though not the epic emotional romance I was hoping for, it’s still a good read.

3.5 stars.