Red-Haired Ash Reads

LAPD witch consultant Sophie Ross has been recovering from a shooting and decides to take a vacation to the U.K. to find answers about her childhood. What she doesn’t expect is to encounter the Daoine Sidhe knight of the Dark Court, or to become entangled in the ancient war between Light and Dark Courts. 

I love that we are getting more books in the Elder Races universe but featuring different races/couples. From the very beginning, I was hooked on Sophie and Nikolas’ story. Sophie is a spunky, determined, and brave woman who isn’t afraid to stand up for those in need or stand up to grumpy and old fashioned men. From the very beginning, she stands up to Nikolas and doesn’t let him push her around or control her. I loved her so much. 

Nikolas Sevigny is a knight of the Dark Court and has been trying to return home for years. The Queen of the Light Court has blocked all passageways to Lyonesse and has been actively hunting him and his men for years. Nikolas is a capable fighter who struggles with the fact that he has been losing men for years and he still doesn’t know how to return home. He suspects everyone and doesn’t know how to really laugh or have fun anymore. Meeting Sophie is a shock to him and he struggles with understanding her and he drives to help others. 

These two had a very intense relationship that started with them hating each other but quickly changed to attraction and love. Sophie and Nikolas’ banter was just so much fun, especially since Sophie was always calling him out for making decisions for her. While I don’t normally like heavy antagonistic banter between couples, I enjoyed these two a lot. Their romance built while they dealt with being hunted by the Queen’s Hounds, Morgan Le Fay, and dealing with a betrayer. It was just a great blend of action, danger and romance. 

While this is in the same world as the Elder Race series, this focuses on the crossover passageways and the Dark Courts warriors that have been trapped on Earth by Isabeau, Queen of the Light Court. I really enjoyed learning more about the fae courts and the continued animosity between them. This had been brought up in the Elder Race series, but there wasn’t any real focus on it, so it’s great getting a whole series about it. I am very curious to learn more about the Light Queen, her reasonings behind these attacks, and about her right hand, Morgan Le Fay. 

Overall, this was a fantastic start to a spin-off series and I can’t wait to jump into the next one. Sophie and Nikolas were surprisingly wonderful characters and a great couple. I also really enjoyed the side characters in this a lot, especially Robin, and can’t wait to learn more about them as the series progresses. 

TW:  death, violence, and torture; trafficking of children discussed; gun violence and injuries discussed; death of teammates and comrades discussed; toxic adopted family discussed;

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