4.0 StarsThis is Kristof's and Hakon's story and it precedes Book 1, chronologically. I enjoyed this installment in the Princes of the Blood series. As per usual, Megan Derr did a wonderful job weaving a suspenseful plot within the intriguing world she has built. Kristof was awesome; although Hakon was a prick, he redeemed himself by the end. I love this series and the characters but I kinda wish the stories appeared in chronological order. Regardless, this was a solid read.Bottom line: I'm hooked! Onto book 3! I really enjoyed this. Slightly more than Of Last Resort. I say slightly because even though I found Hakon infinitely more interesting than Raffe, and while I did like Kristof, Alrin is still the most awesome of them all (and who made an appearance in this book!).For anyone who read the first book which had a fair bit of smut, this book has none. Just getting that out of the way. Yes, this has an m/m romance in it, but it's not the focus of the story. This is more like a fantasy novel that just happens to have an m/m pairing.I liked Hakon and Kristof's hate-at-first sight. And while they never got down and dirty, they did have a couple of very sweet/hot kissing scenes. It was a shame the book ended before they got married though... I kind of want to re-read Of Last Resort as I remember Kristof being in that one a fair bit.I don't know if I should warn people about the gore? There's a necromancer in this story and he's extremely vile. Reminded me a lot of Hannibal Lecter. You know, that scene where he opened that guy's skull and started picking pieces of his brain and cooking it in front of him? Yeah, that but add more blood.Certain aspects of Hakon's backstory mirror Raffe's. They both had brothers who were supposed to undertake the Blooding instead of them, but due to (tragic) circumstances both brothers couldn't meet their obligations. I would have given this 5 full stars except for the fact that it had editing issues in the form of repeated or missing words, stuff that usually happens when a writer decides to rephrase or use a different word while writing and then forgetting to remove the original, that kind of thing. Nothing major, but threw me off sometimes.I'm looking forward to the next book in the series which I've already preordered.
What do You think about With Pride (2014)?
Amazing as always. The plot had me on the edge of my seat till the end!
—VaneneManuel
I liked this one more than the first book.
—blackcat
