Title: The Winter King
Series: Weathermages of Mystral, Book 1
Author: C.L. Wilson
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: July 29, 2014 by Avon
Wynter Atrialan, the Winter King, once lived in peace with his southern, Summerlander neighbors, but when the prince of Summerlea steals Wynter’s bride and murders his young brother, Wynter calls upon a dangerous Wintercraig magic called the Ice Heart and marches against Summerlea.After three bitter years of battle, a victorious Wynter arrives at Summerlea’s royal palace to issue his terms of surrender. The prince of Summerlea stole Wynter’s bride and slew Wynter’s Heir. He wants the loss replaced. The Ice Heart is consuming him. Wynter hopes holding his own child in his arms will rekindle the warmth in his heart before he becomes the monster of Wintercraig legend, the Ice King.
The Summer King has three very precious daughters whom he loves dearly. Wynter will take one of them to wife. She will have one year to provide him with an Heir. If she fails, he will send her to face the mercy of the mountains and claim another princess for his wife. And so it will continue until Wynter has his Heir or the Summer King is out of daughters.
The plan is perfect—except for one small detail. The Summer King has a fourth daughter. One of whom he is not so fond. And she is a fiercely passionate creature, with a temper as volatile as the forces of her weathergift, the power of storms.
Reviewed By: Monica
Why I Read This Book: I've had a deep and abiding love for anything C.L. Wilson deigns to write since I fell in love with her other fantasy romance series. C.L. Wilson went on a writing hiatus for awhile and this is her return book that doesn't disappoint.
What I Liked: *gets on soapbox* *clears throat* *taps microphone* This book is awesome. I know that is a wildly vague statement so here are some details. I love the fiery creature that is Kham. She is as fierce as she is beautiful and I love how she tames her Winter King. Next, I love that she gets to be the strong one. I don't want to put any spoilers but THE ENDING! It's magnificent and will make anyone disgusted with the lack of Disney princesses who can save their own butt.
Additionally the fantasy is accessible. For people who don't typically read fantasy there isn't a hundred pages of lore and language to get through to understand the story. Ms. Wilson jumps right into the story and allows the reader to be smart enough to understand. And for anyone who has read C.L. Wilson's other books...this book just reminds you all the reasons why you love her.
What I Didn't Like: Misunderstanding tropes are BY FAR my least favorite in all of romance. There were a few uses of that in the book...where the hero and heroine could have saved some grief by just talking. It wasn't the whole basis of the relationship so I didn't mind that much. Just annoyed me when I did see it.
Overall Impression: This is a long slow soak in fantasy land. It is a long book (around 600 pages) but I didn't feel the need to skip around. If you like romance this is for you, if you like fantasy this is for you. I loved the book and hope everyone checks it out.
Monica’s Rating:
Glad to hear it's worth the wait. I'm waiting until after I finish school to read it, so hopefully in December.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading it right now and am about 2/3 thru it. I'm loving it... beyond awesome. :-)))
ReplyDeleteThis is a book I've been wanting for awhile. I really like C. L. Wilson's fantasy writing. Good review!
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