A Dawn Of Gods & Fury is out today! I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What a stunning conclusion to an epic series!
I’m going to keep this review short, because I cannot talk about the plot without spoilers so I will just say I loved it! It was everything I wanted it to be.
Told in many POVs, we finally get the answers to the questions that have been building throughout the series. We also get action and adventure, humor and sadness, love and war.
It is a thick book, with a lot of chapters, but it moved really quickly for me as I was dying to find out what would happen.
I’m not a romantasy fan in general, but I’ve honestly enjoyed this journey so much and I will happily read whatever KA Tucker writes!
Well, KA Tucker has done it again. She’s masterfully woven a complex and magical tale that is both epic and intimate at the same time, full of love and war, twists and turns, and enough intrigue to keep you guessing.
This book picks up right where book two left off, but with the addition of the POV of more characters. The stakes are as high as ever, the opposing kingdoms are on the brink of war yet again, and everyone can feel the electricity of change in the air.
This book made me laugh, cry, and had me on the edge of my seat. Though their reality is a bit dark and scary, I still appreciated that love could still find a way (and not just Romeria and Zander this time). There was humor in the face of danger, and Jarek has cemented himself as my favorite character of the series.
Though this did start off a little slowly for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it once I remembered what was going on and the plot hit its stride. I hate to be the person that begs for the next book before the current book has had its chance to shine but I’m dying for book four now! I can’t wait to see where this stunning series goes.
What do you think the sexiest (… or should I say hottest 🤭) profession is? I don’t know but firefighter has to be up there! There’s something about a man who’s willing to put his life on the line to save old ladies and kittens, you know? Plus he can carry me.
From the international bestselling author of The Simple Wild and Ten Tiny Breaths comes a new second-chance, hate-to-love romance.
The Player Next Door by, USA Today bestselling author, K.A. Tucker, is now live!
My Take:
Truly can’t remember the last time I read a book in one sitting but I couldn’t put this baby down. This is a lighter book for KA Tucker … not super lighthearted but not as emotionally charged as normal, for better or worse. Scarlet returns to her hometown to accept a teaching postion, and is shocked to discover her high school ex, single father firefigher Shane lives next door. The spark is still alive, but can they overcome their past?
I loved the connection between Scarlet and Shane, the small town aspect, the supporting characters. I even liked the baby mama drama, as annoying as she was, I’ve certainly had friends go through similar drama so it felt real and familiar.
I just didn’t connect with the main characters. Scarlet was okay, I didn’t hate her but I didn’t love her either. She justifiably has a chip on her shoulder but its a chip nonetheless and hopefully at 30 she should be over her high school drama, as egregious as it was. Shane was harder to like. He was an absolute turd in high school and didn’t seem to learn his lesson.
I really liked the book overall though, as I said I read it all in one sitting and that’s rare for me.
Blurb:
Scarlet Reed has returned to Polson Falls, convinced that twelve years away is long enough to shed her humiliating childhood identity as the town harlot’s daughter. With a teaching job secured and an adorable fixer-upper to call home, things in her life are finally looking up.
That is, until she finds out that Shane Beckett lives next door.
Shane Beckett, the handsome and charismatic high school star quarterback who smashed her heart. The lying, cheating player who was supposed to be long gone, living the pro football dream and fooling women into thinking he’s Prince Charming. Shane Beckett, who is as attractive as ever and flashing his dimples at her as if he has done no wrong.
Scarlet makes it abundantly clear that old wounds have not been forgotten. Neighbors they may be, but friends they most certainly are not. She won’t allow herself to fall for the single father and firefighter again, no matter how many apologies he offers, how many times he rushes to her aid, or how hard he makes her heart pound.
But as she spends more time with him, she begins to fear that maybe she’s wrong. Maybe Shane has changed.
And maybe this time she’s the one playing herself—out of a chance at true happiness.
I sigh as I sip the last of my cold, burnt gas station coffee. This is a fresh start, even in an old world full of familiar faces. Besides, it’s been more than a decade since I last roamed the halls of any school here. Those painful years and cruel people are far behind me.
The peaceful midday calm is disrupted by the chug of a garage door crawling open, followed by the deep rumble of a car engine starting. A long, red vintage muscle car backs out of the garage next door and eases into the open space beside a blue Ford pickup. I can’t tell what kind of car it is, but it’s old and in pristine shape, the bright coat of paint glistening in the August sun.
I never asked Iris about the neighbors. The two times I’ve been here—once during the open house and once after I’d signed the paperwork for the offer—nobody was home on either side. Both properties look well maintained, though. The bungalow with the muscle car has new windows and a freshly built porch off the front. There isn’t much in the way of gardens—some shrubs and trees—but the lawn is manicured.
I watch curiously as the driver’s side door pops open and a tall man with wavy, chestnut-brown hair steps out, his back to me as he fusses with his windshield wiper. Coffee pools in my mouth as I stall on my swallow, too busy appreciating the way his black T-shirt clings to his body, showing off broad, sculpted shoulders, muscular arms, and a tapered waist. He’s wearing his dark-wash jeans perfectly—not so baggy that they hang unflatteringly off his ass, but not so tight that cowboy boots and a wide-brimmed hat come to mind.
Damn.
I hold my breath in anticipation, hoping my neighbor will show me a beautiful face to match that fitness-model body. What a stroke of luck that would be, to live next to a gorgeous man. A single, gorgeous man, I pray.
Finally, my silent pleading is answered as he turns and his gaze drifts my way.
I struggle not to spew coffee from my mouth as my keen interest turns to horror.
Oh my God.
Someone, please tell me this is a mistake.
Please tell me I’m not living next door to Shane Fucking Beckett.
About K.A. Tucker:
K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.
She is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 books, including the Causal Enchantment, Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, and The Simple Wild. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, First for Women, and Publisher’s Weekly. She has been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance 2013 for TEN TINY BREATHS and Best Romance 2018 for THE SIMPLE WILD. Her novels have been translated into 16 languages.
K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her family.
Romance Reviewed 