The Shepherd King Duology
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Synopses
One Dark Window
Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.
But nothing comes for free, especially magic.
When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.
Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.
Two Twisted Crowns
Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.
If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.
And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth’s head. The Nightmare. And he’s not eager to share any longer.
Synopses source: Goodreads
What pattern is that?
Pictured with the book in this post is the Brookside Scarf, which you can find here!
Review
Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
HB&W Rating: One Dark Window – 4 stars; Two Twisted Crowns – 3.75 stars
View on Goodreads
Buy on Barnes & Noble, Amazon
I binged this duology back to back so quickly, I thought it would be easier to combine the reviews into one for the entire duology. If you’re looking for a dark romantasy with low heat (1 flame, 2 tops for each book – see how I rate books here), this could be perfect for you! They aren’t the shortest of books, but the plot kept me interested and I found myself flying through them.
The setting is pervasively dark, it’s got magic – which always comes at a cost, there are dashing men and strong-willed women, and, of course, romance. It’s all pretty PG rated, mostly angst and will they / won’t they, but it is done so well.
I really enjoyed the originality of the series but I found the first book to be better than the second. I really loved the banter between the characters, the folklore shared throughout, the idea of the Providence Cards, and I really liked Elsbeth and Ravyn.
Two Twisted Crowns was still very enjoyable but it departed from the structure established in One Dark Window. Where ODW focuses on Elsbeth and Ravyn, TTC gives us multiple POVs and insight into several other characters, taking the focus off Elsbeth and Ravyn in a way that felt insufficient. That said, I still found the storylines and characters that TTC focused on to be very interesting and I’m grateful for those new POVs. The ending to TTC felt a bit rushed, but it tied everything off nicely and was a fitting end for the duology.
If you enjoy dark fantasy romance, give this one a go!
Until next time,
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