Cbr18bingo And (4th book in the Villain series) Bingo #1
Adversary to the Villain is the fourth book in Hannah Nicole Maehrer’s Villain series, with a fifth and final volume to follow next year. I read the first three volumes last summer and liked them very much. I had intended to do a re-read before jumping into book 4 but I never got around to it and I have some regrets about that. Perhaps if I had reread at least volume three I would have been a little less at sea when I started Adversary. It was okay but a bit unwieldy. There’s a large cast of characters and intersecting plot lines that get a bit complicated.
Evie Sage and her boss Trystan Maverine are the main characters in the Villain series. They live in a magical kingdom called Rennedawn, where Trystan has earned the reputation of “Villain” by robbing King Benedict, torturing and killing his men, and generally being a badass. In book 1, Evie inadvertently crosses his path and her life is forever changed. Evie lost her mother and brother in a childhood tragedy; she lives with her ailing father and little sister Lyssa. Desperate for a job, Evie becomes Trystan’s personal assistant. Trystan, a grim and glum (but handsome) 29 year old doesn’t know what to make of perky, lovely, silly Evie, but Evie doesn’t seem phased by all the torture and mayhem. Since this is romantasy, it’s pretty clear that Evie and Trystan are awkwardly but inevitably falling for each other. But over the course of the books, Evie, Trystan and the reader discover that much of what these characters believed to be true about their families and kingdom are nothing but lies. The other folks living at Trystan’s secret hideout (Massacre Manor) include an ogre, a dragon tamer, scary Becky from HR, and Kingsley the frog, who used to be a prince but has been cursed.
The main concern for everyone is that magic seems to be draining away from Rennedawn, and it is believed — at least by the King and other powerful magic users — that this is linked to an ancient prophecy. The prophecy involves a prince vanquishing a villain, but over the course of the previous three volumes, we all learn that who the prince and who the villain really are is a bit of a surprise. Along the way, some people learn that their families are really terrible, abusive people. Lots of family dysfunction here! But all the fun young people (Evie and Trystan’s friends) are pretty cool and there’s lots of falling in love all around. There are plenty of sexy scenes if that is your thing.
Evie’s story arc is important because she goes from being a cheerful weirdo who puts her family and friends above all to a young woman recognizing how she has been abused and betrayed by those she loved and needed most. She turns into a person who believes she is meant to cause harm and does not believe she gets to have a happy ending. In volume four, she and her friends are racing against the king and the clock to find a book, a key and some other magical stuff in order to save Rennedawn. I have to confess I got confused at times over what they were looking for and why, but I just let it go and enjoyed the ride. There’s plenty of hot steamy stuff for Evie and Trystan, and a couple of startling revelations at the end of this volume. I’ll be reading volume 5 whenever it comes out but I might try to do a re-read the entire series beforehand then.
