Book Review: Glow of the Everflame by Penn Cole

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Magic, Slow Burn, Found Family
Pages: 637
Format: Ebook
Rating:

Mild spoilers ahead

Let’s just skip the normal book review format and get right into it because I have things to say!!!! Five stars. FIVE STARS. I fear I need to take back every negative thing I said about Spark of the Everflame,  because Glow of the Everflame has more than exceeded my expectations:

• Character growth from Diem? Check.
• Multiple high points in the story? Check.
• Unpredictable plot? Check.

I was on my toes. I was obsessed. I was binge reading 200 pages at a time. I mean Penn Cole, you’ve really out done yourself. I was not familiar with your game.

The book immediately picks up after the events of Book 1. Now, Diem did have some denials in the beginning and I was like girl not again, but she quickly got over it. Look, Diem is my girl. She learned that court game QUICKLY. I love an FMC who is quick with the comebacks and knows how to not only battle physically, but also verbally. Diem being at court was one of my favorite parts ever. I loved her becoming friends with the Corbois cousins. Eleanor, TARAN, oh my gosh, Tarannnnnnn. Maybe the trope is over-done, but I don’t care. Taran is our perfect comedic relief side-character who is the brute, warrior on the outside but a COMPLETE goofball at heart. I was cracking up through out this book. The funeral scene? Hilarious. And, yes, I know those two words shouldn’t go together, “funeral” and “hilarious,” but ifyyk. Something I talked about loving in the first book was Diem’s relationship with her brother and father, and I’m glad that was continued on this one.

But the real man of the show here is, *drumroll please* Mr. Luther Corbois. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new book boyfriend. Sorry, Gideon, there’s a new man in town and his name is His Royal Highness Lord Luther Corbois, Most Honorable Keeper of the Laws, Warden of the Light, High General of the Guard, Esteemed Member of the Crown Council, Personal Advisor to the Crown and Prince of Lumnos, Realm of Light and Shadows.

The devotion Luther has to Diem needs to be studied by ALL men. And the words that come out of his mouth!! A few of my favorites:

• “But rest assured, my Queen, when I do kiss you, there will be no confusion. You will know that I have claimed you—and I won’t have any desire to deny it.”
• “What must I do to prove myself to you?” he breathed, sounding as desperate as he was furious. “Break from House Corbois, if you wish. It changes nothing—I will still serve you. Appoint every soul in the realm as your advisor but me. Marry your mortal. Worse, mate yourself off to that snake Aemonn.” His gaze turned dark as a moonless night. “Exile me from the realm. I will serve you from afar.”
• “I don’t care if he’s in the afterlife. If he hurt you, I’ll find a way to make him pay.”
• “Keep your hands off my Queen,” Luther snarled. “And you will address her by her title, or I will rip out your tongue with my hands and nail it to the door of House Hanoverre.”

I mean there’s so much and I could go on and on and on. He just has such a way with words.

But I felt like Cole’s writing really improve a lot in this book. There were so many similes she had that served as amazing descriptiors and really made me feel something:

• Like a moth to a flame, I was drawn to his glow, even as my wings burned and curled in the intensity of his fire.
• My heart was a fluttering songbird, beating its wings against the bars of its gilded cage.
• He looked at me like a flower raising its head to the life-giving sun.
• I had been crafted here. I was born a lump of molten metal, shaped by my mother, honed to a point by my father, engraved on the hilt by my brother.

THIS is peak writing to me.

I don’t think I read too many books with the found family trope, but wow, I really love it. Because like I said she has some of the Corbois cousins, and now her brother and the bound they all have together is just so much fun. But speaking of found family: SORAE. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH I adore her and their relationship. I don’t buy that Sorae is only loyal to Diem because of the crown,  they are soul mates I just know it. When Diem was riding on Sorae for the first time, wow I really loved that moment. And also the conversations they have and Sorae’s mannerisms to communicate. Love.

So this whole book was building up to something called the Challenging. When a new Crown is chosen, the other Houses have the opportunity to challenge if they think the selected Crown is unworthy. Diem has no control over her magic and the Challenging battle uses magic only, no weapons. So to be prepared for the challenge Diem has a month (I think) to train. Keyword: TRAIN. Girl, where was the training! There were lots of parties, and yapping going on but not enough training. She needed to be training day and night!!!. But girl, when we finally got to the challenging scene, it was worth all the build up. Jaw was dropped. I was like no way is this happening.

And then there’s the epilogue. Now what the hell was that. Chile, just go and read the book. I’m currently reading Heat of the Everflame and I’m just hoping I love this one as. much as Glow. I have a friend we says she didn’t finish Heat and doesn’t think I will either but I hope it’s not true. So far it’s good, but I’m barely 100 pages and she’s a chunky girl – a little over 1,000 pages. Stay tuned for my review of it, but until then, happy reading!