Here on the first of June, I’ve decided to start making regular posts on this blog again. Starting with a book from a favorite author that releases today!

Although I was selected for the street team for this title and was supposed to have read the full book in order to share my review, I must admit that I have not accomplished that goal. This is a beefy book since it is the author’s first attempt at a standalone instead of a series. Even though I’m not finished reading it (or even halfway through the 538 pages), I can absolutely tell you that I love the writing and the witty characters. A quick warning that the story does start with the MC fighting a beloved canine companion that is possessed by a demon; HOWEVER, it does not start with the death of a dog. You’ll need to read it for yourself to understand fully, but trust me that it’s ok!

I don’t have much else to say right now except that my paperback copy should be arriving in the mail today. And I can’t wait to keep reading this one! (You know, once I get my focus back and can read more than 10-30 pages every couple of days. I feel like I’m saying that a lot lately, but ever since 2020 I find it incredibly hard to focus on reading long enough to finish a book in the short amount of time it used to take me. )

Summary from the author:

Eleven paladins walk into a monastery. Only one knows it’s a trap.

When Victorians Greenmantle is summoned to represent her paladin order in an unusual quest, she’s out of her depth from the very beginning. Victorian has only just been made a paladin and she has none of the resources or experience that the others have. On top of that, she has no idea how she will fulfill her orders — to find and claim for her superiors the God’s own Cup of Tears.

Her rivals are stronger, smarter, and more experienced. They want this just as badly as she does. And one of them might not be a paladin at all.

When Adalbrand Von Menticure arrives at the monastery with the other paladin representatives he sees the obstacles before him as one more way to dedicate himself to his healing arts. What he does not expect is murder. Or the young female paladin who keeps insisting that they have a traitor among them. Or how she makes him start to feel things that have long been forbidden.

Together, these two unwieldy allies must discover who the traitor is, how that one is killing the others, and whether the Cup of Tears is really worth the bloodshed and danger within the monastery walls before time runs out and they are trapped forever.

A complicated mission, you say? Oh, but it gets worse, because forbidden love is slowly stalking them both, complicating everything, and leaving them each more vulnerable than they can afford to be in the face of a danger worse than either of them ever imagined.

Will this pair find strength in their strict discipline and careful practice in time to escape, or will they fall before the twin daggers of a rogue killer and an attraction more deadly than the simple risk of death?

This adult romantic epic fantasy stand-alone novel features paladins in all their aspects and is perfect for lovers of T. Kingfisher, Tamsyn Muir and Danielle L. Jensen. Though this book is a part of a collection of books linked by the same world it is a complete story in itself and does not bleed out into the other books in the series.