Am rereading the entire IAD series so I can follow along with the insightful Fated Mates podcast by the delightful Sarah MacLean and Jen Prokop. Ironically they didn’t cover this one (or will later for reasons) so the jokes on me. This is a spoilery discussion of the book more than a proper review, so ye be warned.
Myst is a valkyrie warrior, who in this world, all tend to have a special super power. Myst’s super power is using her sexuality to manipulate men. I guess if she was a better warrior she wouldn’t NEED all the sexual manipulations but I digress.
Myst is captured by Nikolai, a human turned vampire general, who is about to flay Myst alive for her secrets until BOOM BOOM BOOM – his heart starts beating because whaddya know, Myst is his eternal bride! Suddenly the whole “I was going to peel you like a banana” thing is soooo awkward.
Myst and Nikolai smooch then she flees leaving him with a 5 year boner, which only his Bride can resolve. I can only assume he wore large sweatpants for those 5 years. Or took great pains to never stand in the presence of others. Do you think he mentioned it to people or simply left it as this great awkward secret that everybody saw but never spoke of? But I digress.
Finally he tracks down Myst because they are fated mates but ugh she wants nothing to do with him. Ew vampires. Except she kinda sorta does because dayum he’s a hottie.
Nikolai cannot let her go and proceeds to make a whole lotta stalker statements that sound sexy but aren’t.
“I can’t let you go. I’ll never do that. not until I die.”
Dude. If the lady says no then yes, you will let her go.
Coincidentally Myst has an unbreakable chain around her waist, which Nikolai immediately breaks. The chain gives him total power over her, body and mind. I don’t remember if this chain is brought up in other stories (she’s been wearing it for eons) but I feel it’s a huge plot whole that “why is this chain here” is not covered.
Anyhoo – he does what any great romance hero would do with such an object – uses it to make Myst heel and have hot sex with him. And the sex is hot. Yes the premise is gross, but you gotta give Kresley credit, lady knows how to write a hot sex scene!
After 2 weeks of slave sex Myst actually falls for Nikolai who has agreed to give her her chain back. Only Nikolai fears she’s been faking to manipulate him and threatens to use the chain to make her forget her family and every man she’s ever met so her whole world is only him.
I know romances end with an HEA, it’s one of the many things I love about them. I love a romance novel where the hurdles feel impossible. I love a good redemption arc. This created an impossible hurdle – a manipulative hero who threatened to torture the heroine before using magic to coerce her compliance for sex, and then threatened to mind-wipe her of everything that means anything to her in the world.
How can these two possibly get their HEA given this hurdle?!?!
Did you guess he shows up and apologizes and la la la ok let’s bone?
Welp.
Kresley Cole books are my crack. Don’t judge me, you don’t know my life! But this one is weaksauce. The podcast is great though and much like Nickolai, I’m going to keep ploughing through.