There was a what comes after the happily ever after when the real work of maintaining a relationship has begun and how her past has shaped her and she must continue to reinvent herself with the new circumstances.Īnd, Genevieve, the second heroine, with her own separate plot thread, was an entirely new factor. Lots of proof of what a lethal female spy and assassin trained at that convent could do.īut, I was not expecting to see those dynamics for Sybella in her personal life as well as her relationship with Beast to be teased out and adding additional layers to the story. I figured lots of action and tension from the two powerful royal sisters and all the factions and because the sisters from the convent now moving into their new roles, but still very much trained spies and assassins. I wasn’t prepared for it to hit the emotions so much. I got a surprise once I started getting into this one. I was glad to know this was a duology going in so I was ready for the story building to a point and ending with half the story still to come and leaving an ominous feeling because of what I sense that is promising things to get worse before they get better. Genevieve has been undercover and separated from her sisters from the convent for so long that she believes she has been forgotten and must go it alone when she discovers a prisoner in the house she is in that she hopes to use for her own purposes. Sybella and Beast are working in the Duchess’ entourage and trying to figure out what the duchess’ sister the Regent is up to, but there is a new player in the game. Two different Handmaidens of Death are working from opposite ends. All sorts of political ploys are weaving in and around this event. So, yes, we are back in a world of dark, twisting intrigue and suspense as the Duchess of Brittany prepares to marry the King of France. I want to go back and finish the earlier series more than ever after meeting Sybella and Beast in this one. That said, I had no trouble listening to this story because the author gives the details needed for someone starting with Courting Darkness to do all right. I’ve only read the first book of that trilogy, Grave Mercy, so I probably wasn’t as impacted by Courting Darkness as I could have been since one of the two storylines is a continuation with Sybella’s story from the second book of the His Fair Assassin trilogy. The author surprised her fans with a follow up duology begun shortly after the resounding conclusion of book three, Mortal Heart. It feels like such a long time ago that I picked up my first His Fair Assassin book and immersed myself in medieval Brittany (France) where political intrigue, mysterious female assassins, and romance had me riveted to the story and devouring it at every opportunity.

Courting darkness by robin lafevers