Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Format: Physical book
Rating:

Goodreads summary: Chrysantha Stathos has won.
By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has gathered important secrets, earned her father’s constant care, and become a wealthy duchess—all by age nineteen. Now, she is only one elderly, dying duke away from having all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted.

Or so she thought.

Turns out her little sister somehow snatched the true victory away from her: Alessandra is wedding the Shadow King, the most powerful man in the world. Meanwhile, after the death of Chrysantha’s no-good, lecherous husband, a man claiming to be the duke’s estranged grandson turns up to inherit everything that should be hers.

Chrysantha is enraged. There is no way that she’s going to let some man take everything from her. Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive and alluring with mysterious powers… No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants.

Review

When I saw that Tricia Levenseller wrote another stand-alone fantasy book in the same universe as the Shadows Between Us I knew I was excited to read it. And when the foreword included a quote from Damon Salvatore, I knew I was in for a treat.

But when the book opened with, “I’m waiting for my husband to die,” I knew I was about to read a 4+ deer-star book.

Chrsyantrha is living in her younger sister’s, also known as the queen’s, shadow. Determined to live a better life and show her sister up, Chrsyantrha kills her elderly husband, inheriting all his fortunes. Life is great until an unknown heir randomly shows up. Well this throws a wrench in Chrsyantrha’s plans. She’s not going to give up with out a fight though. She’s worked too hard and played dumb as if she was a simpleton for too long. It’s time to show people just how cunning she can really be. 

Something I liked about Levenseller’s writing style is that I felt immersed in Chrsyantrha’s mind. I really felt like I was Chrsyantrha and was experiencing her stream of conscious, and let me tell you, I enjoyed being in her head. I felt as if I could relate to her thought processes and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing, but I’m going with good. I also felt like she had so many funny one-liners, like “A man with an idea is a dangerous thing.” Her delivery was always spot on and I could just relate to her sense of humor.

If you’re looking for a book with banter between the FMC and MMC, then this is the book for you. I mean there are so many scenes through out the book, I was kicking my feet and giggling.

Here’s an excerpt of one of my favorites:

“But then he says, ‘So find a man you desire. Flip the tables. Fall in love. Change the game.'”

“‘Oh just find a sexy man, is that it? What happens when he opens his mouth? Seriously, it’s like you haven’t met a man.'”

Even though this is a YA romance, there’s a nice amount of tension and a couple of green bell pepper moments (you know, just enough to get your heart racing). Honestly, I don’t think the book needed more spice. The romance was still had me kicking my feet at moments, and I enjoyed reading how two true enemies turn into lovers.

I went back and forth with whether or not I would rate this book 4 or 5 deer-stars. I’m usually really stingy with my 5-deer-star reads, but why? I think I’ll be changing that in 2025. I enjoyed this book, looked forward to picking it up, the pacing was great, the plot was fun, I don’t have anything I would change, so I think it deserves my 5 deer-stars.