Red-Haired Ash Reads

I don’t know what it is about Aiken’s books, but she always does a wonderful job at creating fantasy romances that are action packed, humorous, have great storylines, and have a bit of romance thrown in. This series isn’t just romance or world building focused, but a great blend of both. Also Aiken does a wonderful job at creating a detailed world that is still very enjoyable and fun to read, especially since there are also great characters within it. 

This book focuses on the third Farmerson sister, Ainsley. She is the archer, is known to spend most of her time in trees, and is constantly fighting with her sisters, especially Gemma. Ainsley is a strong warrior and protective sister. She does everything she can to take care of her family, but Gemma and Keeley frequently prevent her from helping or thinking she isn’t up for certain tasks. In this book, we see her finally find her place in Keeley’s kingdom. I really loved Ainsley. She was fun, sassy, deadly with her bow, and sometimes a bit clueless. 

Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan is known as the holder of grudges. He is grumpy, rarely speaks, hates humans, and yet finds himself falling for Ainsley. Gruff was a wonderful hero. He was protective of Ainsley but recognized she could take care of herself. He let her fight but tried to always be there to protect her back, which I loved. I just really enjoyed Gruff and his unique clan. 

A lot happened in this book. Keeley’s kingdom finally meets the dragons and Annwyl. Annwyl is my absolute favorite heroine from the Dragon Kin series so I was so excited to see her pop up in this book. We see most of the main dragon family throughout this book and it was great seeing how they haven’t changed at all. Beatrix also starts to make her move against her family and it gets bloody quickly. I love that with each book we are seeing a lot of character and story development happening together because it makes these books so hard to put down. 

Overall, this was a wonderful blend of action, worldbuilding, humor, and romance. I loved both Ainsley and Gruffyn, and all their friends and family. Reading this book made me want to reread all of Aiken’s books again because I just love this world so much and hate that I have to wait to find out what happens next. 

*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*

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Previous books in the series:

1. The Blacksmith Queen
2. The Princess Knight