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Review
4 stars!
Book 11 in the Immortals After Dark series brings us the long-awaited story of Regin the Radiant – Valkyrie, smartass, jokester, and badass extraordinaire. Regin has appeared in a number of books in the series so far and I have loved her in each and every one, so I was so excited to finally get to her story.
Regin’s backstory is a complicated one. As a plucky 12 year old she met a berserker warrior known as Aidan the Fierce. He instantly recognised her as his destined mate, and when she came of age they came together. He trained her and cherished her, and when he finally claimed her as his own, he was brutally and tragically killed just hours later. Four times since then Aidan has been reincarnated into four very different lives, and in each one he and Regin are drawn to each other. He doesn’t remember her until they kiss, but as soon as he claims her once again, his death follows immediately after.
Aidan’s latest incarnation is as Declan Chase, Magister of The Order, a militant organisation dedicated to capturing, researching/torturing and wiping out immortals belonging to the Lore. Declan witnessed the brutal murder of his family by immortals as a troubled teenager, and has been driven by his hatred and need for vengeance ever since. He was taken in and trained by The Order, and has risen through the ranks to his position of power where he oversees The Order’s isolated ‘research’ facility.
This book takes place during the same timeframe as the last book in the series Demon from the Dark. Regin is one of many of the Lore who has been captured by The Order, immediately recognises Declan as her reincarnated lover. He has no idea who she is, seeing her only as an immortal abomination.
She sees him as her best chance for escape and plans to reach Aidan’s buried memories by talking about their complicated history together and attempting seduction in her own unique way….
“Lemme guess,” Regin said. “You had your introductory spiel all planned, but rational thought deserted you when you saw me stroll in braless.”
“Tell me, if I take you to my room and put you in my bed, what do you think would happen?”
“I can draw you a diagram. Hint: I’m slot B, and you’re tab A.”
OMG I love Regin! She is brash and sarcastic and totally filterless. I laughed out loud so many times as she went head to head with Declan. But more than being completely hilarious, she’s also incredibly sensual and Declan can’t deny his attraction to her and as she slowly starts to break through his walls, he realises that he is falling for the beautiful Valkyrie and begins to accept his complex ties to the Lore.
But when as all hell literally breaks loose on the island, can Declan be trusted to protect her as he says he will. Will they be able to ignore their incredible pull to each other, and with Regin falling for the damaged Declan, does she want to risk losing him to Aidan’s inevitable return?
This is another fast-paced, funny, sexy and romantic story with fantastic paranormal action and excitement that had me sucked in from start to finish. The romance is intense and unfolds perfectly alongside everything else happening in the story, but the highlight as always is the characters – Regin is brilliant, of course, and Declan is a wonderfully complex character, and together they are absolute dynamite! Their chemistry is sizzling, I adored their love story, and Declan’s impassioned declarations had me squeeing out loud with glee.
“It’s me. I will never be your perfect Viking, Regin! I’ve made unforgivable mistakes. I’ve no family or friends, and my men hold no love for me. I’m scarred inside and out. And I’m bloody askin’ for you anyway!”
“Can you see me? See the man that I am? Accept me, Regin, because I’m holding onto nothing but you.”
With this book taking place as the same time as the last, I knew what was coming, but it didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the story at all. The events are the same, but it’s all happening from a different perspective, and I found myself just as enthralled as I was the first time it all unfolded. Nix is a hilarious highlight as always, and I particularly loved that we got some chapters from the POV of Lothaire – ‘the Enemy of Old’ – and I’m really excited for his book up next.
And, as always, audiobook narrator Robert Petkoff does an incredible job bringing this world to life. The man is pure listening awesomeness!
I loved it – 4 stars.
For full series info, see our Immortals After Dark series page.