Published By: Canelo
Pages: 368
Released On: 17/09/2026
Now Empress of Hael’stromia, Cahra is supposed to be ruling the three kingdoms. But Ozumbre is seceding, Kolyath’s nobles sow division, and King Thierre of Luminaux is lost to grief. Her only solace is Hael, their bond growing dangerously romantic despite being forbidden.
When Kolyath and Luminaux are attacked by an unknown enemy, Cahra dispatches Hael, leaving her powerless and pining for his dark magicks. Hael never returns, and Wyldaern is granted a vision: Hael, beaten within an inch of his immortality, has been captured.
Cahra must master her own dark magick if she’s to save Hael in time…
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This is the second in the Fated for Hael series after A Kiss of Hammer and Flame. I had recently read book one of the series when I was sent this sequel. The first book was great and definitely got better it went along but it wasn’t the strongest romantasy I’ve read. But I was looking forward to book two. But this one didn’t quite match.
I would love if it series – particularly fantasy ones – had little reminders at the start as to what happened previous. Now, I had only just read book one so I was fine, but I know if I’d had to have waited a year I would have definitely forgotten. It’s going to be a trilogy I believe.
The romance book of the romantasy took a turn I didn’t expect, which was interesting. Although I did find it a bit forced, like Amy was trying to be different and edgy. I’m not sure if it worked. I much preferred the romance story in the first book. This felt almost jarring for me.
I felt it focussed too much on skirting around the will-they-won’t-they romance and forgot about creating a capturing story and interesting characters. I found the story weak in comparison to the first. It focussed so much on the romance that all logic went out the window and I fee the trope has been done to death and this didn’t really add anything new to it.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say there’s a sex scene – I mean, it is a romantasy and that is part of the genre. Now, I am not a prude in any sense, I’m happy to read sex scenes, tame or explicit. And the one in this…I don’t know, it just felt a bit forced, like she thought “Oh damn, I’ve nearly finished two books and there hasn’t been a penis yet, best throw one in”.
I know we met the characters in the first book so the character building is done, but I would still would have liked more depth to them in this sequel.
I rarely say this but I think this one would work better in visual form. It’s so complex with so many characters and so many settings and plot points that it’s hard to keep on top of everything, whereas if it was on the screen I think it would be easier to follow.
Overall it was alright. It got better as it went along and it’ll be interesting to see how this trilogy ends. But this one lacked the oomph the first one had, with flat characters, a predictable romance plot, and quite a lacklustre story – everything other than the love story seemed unimportant. When giving this a star rating I was conflicted. 2 stars seemed too harsh, but I gave the first book 4 stars and it wasn’t as good as that. So I’ve settled on 3 but I’m going to say a low 3.
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