This third story in the ‘Warder universe’ started a little differently, since the two lovers were already together and the human partner tells us about how they met in a flashback. It was interesting to see all the tension come from a different source, but the story worked just as well. In fact, in many ways I thought it was more fascinating this way. It is fairly rare to see a romance story between existing partners, and I must say that I really liked it, especially since this is really well plotted and written.

Simon is the hearth of this story, and he definitely has a mind of his own. He loves Leith, his warden, and craves him – but mainly physically. When this story really takes off and the threat manifests, this love is severely tested. Interestingly, the physical side ends up sustaining him so that he can get around to working on the emotional and mental side of his relationship. Interestingly, it is up to him to save the day, and I totally loved this slight role reversal.

Not that Leith doesn’t have a role to play, but he is much more of a backup, a safety net if you want, than the two previous warders were. It’s very lucky he is there, and things would have ended badly without him, but it was great to see him share the power with Simon, support his lover through his presence as well as his special abilities. I thought that was very fitting, since Leith, as a warder is much more of a cerebral guy and more into sharing than the other two warders we have met in the first two books.

If you like hot men being tested, if a seemingly hopeless fight of good against evil is what you’re looking for and if you think you can stand the tension of almost non-stop action and surprises once the story really kicks off, you may like this book as much as I did. It definitely makes me look forward to the next volume!




NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Queer Magazine Online. ( )

4 stars. Really enjoyed this one! Think it's my favorite in the series so far. :) ( )