Queen of Ashes and Scars

Throne of Shadows, Book 2

De: Anya J Cosgrove

Narrado por: Addison Barnes, Brendan Robert Kane

A grumpy human servant.

An arrogant bodyguard.

The scoundrel that broke my heart…

I'm queen of the ashes... Now what?

My kingdom is in ruins, and I have to find my way back to my throne and my people.

To take back control of the night court, I need my men by my side. All three of them, though they're not exactly on board...yet.

The crown of shadows doesn't care for love, only blood.
Love...is dangerous.

Queen of Ashes and Scars is the second and final book in the Throne of Shadows series. It's a fast-paced, sizzling romance duet set in the deadly Delacroix night court. You’ll love this story if you like sexy vampire bites, enemies-to-lovers relationships, and heroes who love to share.

This duet is set in the same world as Magnetic and Shadow Witch, but it stands alone. Pick up your steaming-hot copy now!

©2023 Anya J Cosgrove (P)2024 Anya J Cosgrove

Great audiobook

This is a great audiobook I really enjoyed both Narrators the author did a great job with this novel and the Narrators did a great job telling the story very much enjoyed listening to this audiobook.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Queen

We have action, suspense, twist and more. We have Arielle, Sebastian, Lucas, Alec, Leo and Keenan. Cans she get the men to help her find out who wants her family dead? Can she get control back with or without her men? Really, you know the men won't let her do it alone, Right?.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Continuing saga of the vampire princess

This picks up right after the first book and continues the saga of the vampire queen and her “first blood”, bodyguards and some new characters. I like Keenan, the angel. Fun story, well-written. I like the narrators because they differentiate between the characters.

I received a free copy from the author via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Needs to Be More than a Duet!

As I stated in my review of the first book of this series, I found that book confusing until the end. Happily, this book did clear up my confusion about who the characters are and what they mean to each other. The first part of this book resolves the cliffhanger set up at the end of the last book, and it's clear that much more is going on than meets the eye. Who is the person (or persons) pulling the strings? We hear about another royal death at the beginning of this story. Are there larger forces in play than just what the princess is dealing with at the start? Aspects of the cliffhanger echo until the end. The team moves from imminent danger to having a space to where the princess-now-queen can think out their next moves and start to put them into action. But danger and intrigue are not done with the queen and her men! They return to their country to confront those they believe may be against them, hoping to discover the villain(s) and put the murderous intent danger behind them. Who is behind it and why is surprising.

Like the other book, this one is also highly sexualized, with multiple partner groupings and even a menage scene. Yes, in this book, the queen has gathered her reverse harem, and they begin to play around with its dynamics. I wasn't wild about the “power play” aspect of one scene, as I do not find that remotely interesting and actually a turnoff whenever it shows up in a book. In the other book, I felt the sexual scenes overshadowed the greater plot line too often; that wasn't so much of an issue here, though a mild element of that here and there still existed.

By the way, the book description, at least as it was on the book review site I got this from, is nothing like the book itself. I despise it when authors try to make a book sound like it's something that it is not, which certainly happens here. Thankfully, the betrayal and lack of trust mentioned regarding her men in the description are not an aspect of her relationship with her reverse harem. It's weird the author chose to focus on this, when it has ZERO to do with the story! Another odd thing is that the description also focuses on her wedding to a different man, not one of these three. That wedding didn't happen at the end of the LAST book and is certainly not a part of this one beyond the repercussions of what happens to the runaway bride and the men who are protecting her. It's almost like the book description is for a completely different book! Grrr! Authors shouldn’t mislead their readers!

As with the other book, I thought the narrators did a good job, but the male narrator's voicings of the villains were a bit over the top and melodramatic, giving visions of them twisting their nonexistent mustaches!

The book ends on a cliffhanger and promises of what the future will be for the queen and her men. I was disappointed when I went to make this review and discovered this series wasn't a trilogy or longer; it is a duet, just these two books. This book leaves too many plot holes and promises; the story has not been completely told. After all that happened in this book, we certainly should have seen the teased-at final scene with the bad-guy former almost-groom getting his just desserts. This book also promises a new and better future for the Queen’s dominion where she, her husband, and her other mates plan to change the way things work in their realm and the outside world in conjunction with other magical and nonmagical beings. The transformation we've seen in Leo, the Queen's First Blood, hints at so much for his character and even the destiny of the realm. For the author not to show us how these possibilities come to fruition in the next book or another series is just wrong! Don't tease at complex, multi-faceted possibilities if you will not deliver them, as it makes for a very unsatisfying reader or listener experience.

Queen of Ashes and Scars

4.5 ⭐️3🌶️

This is the second book in the Throne of Shadows duology and picks up straight after the events in Princess of Thorns and Ruin. It is full of action with plenty of twists and turns and kept me engaged to the point I listened to it in one sitting.

The narrators of this audiobook are excellent and did a great job adding to and enhancing the source material.

Highly recommend!

Reverse Harem
Demons
Vampires
Paranormal
Fast paced
Great narrators.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Great Conclusion!

This is the second and final book in the Throne of Shadows Series, a steamy fantasy RH romance. Ariel, Alec, Leo and Sebastian's story continues where the first book left off. The story is filled with passion, and twists and turns. The world building is intriguing, and fascinating. Addison Barnes and Brendan Kane did an excellent job bringing these characters, and this story to life. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Queen of Ashes and Scars!

I enjoyed this "Throne of Shadows" story. It is intriguing, interesting and captivating. It is a dark and very steamy paranormal romance was full of surprises and twists. These need to be read or heard in order. The story is full of turmoil with murder, betrayal, power, upheaval and much more. I enjoyed the story and thought the narrators did a good story bring the characters and plot to life.

Eh...whiny

I still love the narrators.

The first book was great and I was excited to get to the sequel - the finale. However, this book seemed rushed or maybe not everything was flushed out? The characters seemed different than the first book - and a lot of whining, with some forced bi-awakening.

So...it was interesting, I guess.

Queen of Ashes and Scars

The last of the series and it was really good. The male narrator grew some on me but there times his delivery was too full angst and over the top. The story was engaging but I think I'll still read the book to get a better understanding of the male characters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Needs a 3rd book

I’ve got mixed feelings about this one, but let me start by saying: Addison Barnes and Brendan Robert Kane? 5 stars, hands down! Their narration completely brought these characters to life. Addison’s delivery of Arielle’s emotional journey was fantastic, while Brendan’s range with the male characters (especially that over-the-top villain) was super entertaining. Honestly, the audiobook is what made the story so easy to get into and hard to put down.

This book picks up right where Throne of Shadows left off, so if you haven’t read the first one, you might be a little lost. Right off the bat, we’re dealing with cliffhanger fallout, and it’s nonstop action and steam from there. Arielle, now queen, is still trying to figure things out, and her men (all three of them) are not exactly on the same page. There's tension, political intrigue, and plenty of steamy scenes.

Would I Recommend It?

If you're into dark, sexy paranormal romances with a reverse harem twist, yes, I’d recommend this book. However, you might want to adjust your expectations: the story wraps up pretty fast and there are still some lingering plot threads, which is why I’m knocking it down to 4 stars. It really felt like this series needed a third book to fully resolve everything. If you’re okay with a Happily For Now (HFN) ending but still having some questions, then dive in.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.