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MY REVIEW

Kat lives a double life–an heiress to a fortune by day and a masked heroine walking the secret paths of the magical Wood by night. The queen and Kat’s greedy stepmother are both busy trying to marry Kat off, but Kat is busy herself, saving human slaves from their fae masters and bringing them back to freedom in the human world.

When Prince Rahk leaves Faerieland, tasked by his cruel parents with capturing a vigilante known as the Ivy Mask, he enters the human world near Kat’s home. Escaping from a match contrived by her stepmother, Kat disguises herself as a servant boy at the one place her stepmother will never look for her–at the home of the terrifying fae lord. Kat begins to develop feelings for her powerful, fierce, and strangely kind master, but once she realizes what his mission is, she knows she can never reveal her true identity to him. To truly show herself to Rahk means death, for he is bound by an oath with terrible consequences.

The second book in Blythe’s fae series, this book stands alone quite nicely from the first book. Rahk is a delightful hero–loyal, sharp-witted, and oh-so-very-humorous. Kat’s clumsiness as a servant is a little farfetched (given that she seems quite competent as an operative in Faerieland), but it leads to a great many hilarious situations. This book cements my opinion that Anastasis Blythe is the best writer of clean romantasy out there. Recommended.

He isn’t going to recognize me. He isn’t going to recognize me. It becomes a chant that I repeat in my mind to avoid being overtaken by the temptation to turn on my heel and run for cover.

Then he steps toward the chopping block. I scurry back several paces, too aware of how close I am to my own death. One of his broad hands lands lightly on the handle of the axe. The muscles of his forearm flex as he rocks it up and down until the head comes loose.

“That is how you get it out.” He lifts the axe and faces me, deliberately placing his hands along the handle. His right hand lands just below the head, his left near the base of the handle. “This is how you hold it. And this is how you chop.”

He turns, and in a swift, singular–and utterly terrifying–motion, he cleanly chops the wood. The two halves hit the ground with dull thumps.

That block of wood will be me if he discovers what I’ve done.

– Bride of the Midnight Prince by Anastasis Blythe

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