I received this book for free from Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Ruthless by Gena Showalter Series: Immortal Enemies #2
Published by HQN on August 9, 2022
Genres: PNR
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
Source: Advance Reader Copy
Goodreads
Forbidden. Powerful. Ruthless.
Micah the Unwilling, fae King of the Forgotten, can tame even the most violent of beasts. Forged on the battlefield, this iron-willed warrior considers his soldiers his family, and he will stop at nothing to reclaim their dispossessed land. Gearing for war with a sadistic enemy, he is disciplined and focused—until a feral beauty he encountered long ago wanders into his camp.
Viori de Aoibheall wields a terrifying ability to sing monsters to life. Having spent her childhood in a forest, raising herself and her frightening creations—the only friends she’s ever known—she’s ill prepared for the scarred royal and his fearsome brutality. Not to mention the ferocity of their connection and the carnality of his touch. But the real problem? Her brother is Micah’s greatest foe. And though the sensual king makes her burn, she must stop him, whatever the cost.
This is the second book in Gena Showalter’s Immortal Enemies series, a new Paranormal Romance that she’s working on. I have lamented about not having enough PNR and really missing it. I love that I can always count on Gena Showalter to keep me happy with PNR.
Here we have Micah, a king whom most of his subjects dislike. His very presence makes them feel creeped out. He’s a chimera; a fae with two powers (glamaras). Chimeras are considered by the fae to be unnatural, but he ignores that and takes care of his people. He wants them to be successful and to thrive. But he also wants love, knowing he’s forever unworthy. However once as a teenager, he saw a girl sleeping, covered in moss, and surrounded by sentient trees. He brought her jewels, and wanted to save her. He didn’t realize that the trees were her guardians, not her captors. And for years after that he searched for her, never seeing her. Until one day, she walked into his village.
Viori is Kaysar’s sister from the first book. She as a young child, wanted to use her power to save her very sick parents. Her big brother had gone out to hunt for them, and told her not to use her glamara, not to try to save their parents, since it could go wrong. But she was so young, and so scared, that when she tried to save her parents, it killed them. The glamara she had was tied to song, so from that point on she never spoke again, out of fear she might hurt someone else. And one day she and her brother are separated, and she discovers she can create monsters. These, she calls her children. But creating them takes so much out of her, she has to sleep, sometimes for years. When she wakes up, she’s starving, and looks for a village to maybe pilfer food from. And that village happens to be Micah’s.
I love Micah. I love him a lot. He’s a fantastic hero, and he totally gets that Vee is practically a feral cat in human form (I say this with love because the author herself mentioned something similar). He has never thought he could deserve the love he gets with his wild and prickly woman, but after spending time together, Vee is completely in love with him. But he is her big brother’s sworn enemy, and she can’t tell him that. And she can’t save her brother…how can she reconcile both of the men she loves?
But Vee is smart and quick, and she and Micah get their deserved happy ending, and I can’t wait for the next book. I love a good Paranormal Romance, and Gena Showalter’s name is synonymous with good Paranormal Romance.
***ARC courtesy of the author
