Eressë

I read this all day and all night. I am so in love with this story, Ylandre, Lassen and Rohyr, and their lasting love story. But it was more than just a love story. This was a story of intrigue, of a complex world and its various political systems, of the machinations of evil and soured minds, of pain and longing and waiting, and of being rewarded for all the rest with everlasting love, with a long-awaited soul mate.

This was such a wonderful, extremely masterfully written, passionate book. show more This made my stomach hurt, made anxiety well up in me, made me smile and tear up and gape like a fish. I was so caught up in this story that I was acting out parts of it with Lassen and Rohyr. It was such a beautiful and complex story, that from chapter one I knew it would go on my "my all time favorites" list.

There is so much in this book, so many twists and turns, that I don't want to give anything away, but I just need to confer how it is so chock full of passion, that I highlighted many paragraphs and sentences because the emotion was just melting off the page, pulling me with it deep into the book. This story had everything that I adore: a man in power choosing and loving a man below his station, an alternate reality after the medieval style, beautiful characters that I absolutely fall for, mpreg (I have always loved and wanted kids, so I love them in my books too :D), pain, reincarnation, and love that lasts through births and deaths and time.

I have wanted to read this for many months, and have held off until it felt right and I had a unlimited time to read it cover to cover. So of course, I had high expectations for this book, and it surpassed all of them. This is by far my favorite mpreg/alternate world/aristocracy/historically political book. I am definitely going to read the rest of this series, cherish them all, and reread this one now that I know its secrets. I highly recommend this book. Just be ready to stay up all night and feel this story incredibly deeply. This is how it's done! show less

Not quite as full of the same magic as the first story--Lassen and Rohyr are still by far my favorite couple from this series--but this was a touching and wonderful story that showed even more of this world (which again had thorough and completely immersive world-building that I adored becoming lost in).

There were so many characters in Rohyr's circle in the first book, that I don't remember these two, but was very happy (and sometimes pained) to read their story. It really was a mirror held show more to our own world--showing the prejudice, the class distinctions, the insensate hatred that plague us and that separated these two for so long. Very accurate and well-done.

I love how their story was also drawn out and natural. Upon being reunited they didn't fall together easily; no, it was slow and convincing, and I wholly felt both Dylen's and Riodon's emotional roller coasters.

"He tightened his legs around Dylan's waist. 'Except you, Dy. I am yours when you want me, however you want me, whether you want me or not.'"

For me, this series is the paragon of mpreg. The ability of men to bear children is explained physically and is greatly imaginative. I will spread out and savor the rest of this series.

I highly, highly recommend this series. This world and the people who populate it are amongst my favorites. show less

When Rohyr Essendri, Ardan of Ylendre, claims Lassen Idana in exchange for offering protection to his provincial town, it's expected that he will serve the Ardan as a concubine and nothing more. But even in the moment of their first meeting, there was something that Lassen felt that he simply couldn't explain. But life at court isn't easy and when Lassen realizes his feelings for Rohyr, they're complicated by Rohyr's impending marriage to another, cementing Lassen's place as someone to show more merely keep the Ardan company in his bed while someone else holds his hand and bears his heirs.

I'm not much for mpreg stories, so I was a bit skeptical of this one. And even though that was a definite element of the story, it didn't distract from the parts that I truly enjoyed - high fantasy, nobility, betrayal, star-crossed lovers, etc. There is an element of dubious consent here (how does one really say no to the king even if he wanted to), but I think it is dealt with well and seems to be less dubious than one might first expect on the surface. show less

I'm torn between giving this story 3 or 4 stars. I enjoyed the storyline immensely but the story itself lagged in the middle and was bogged down but redeemed itself toward the end. I suggest to anyone that is going to read this story that they read the glossary at the end of the book. The world building was very well done and even went to a bit of an extreme with unnecessary cultural info dumps and extraneous characters that really played no part in the story other than to confuse the hell show more out of me. I enjoyed both Rohry and Lasssen and their struggle to over come the prejudices of the true blood and half blood. The subplots were interesting until I hit the middle of the story where there was too much information and too many characters that I feel were not necessary to the story. The author got back on track and finished up the story with style and a few plot twists. I recommend this first book in a series of five in hopes that the much of the introductory information is out of the way. show less