The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia Book 2)

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In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn. When they say there’s a fine line between love and hate, these two encompassed that. The slow-burn romance between them was the sweetest kind of torture. Every interaction between them had me on the edge of my bed. I was tense. I was pining for them! I could not get enough of them.

plot-wise, this was left a lil open-ended in many areas so i'm wondering how everything is going to tie together now. and the ending gave me shivers. i'm super excited to know so many things now!! Raihn is now king but his nobles don’t want an ex slave, a turned human for king. He will not only have to fight the Hiaj for the throne with the help of the Bloodborn vampires but dissent reigns inside his own people. And there also is the matter of shaking off the Bloodborn’s hold on his house… Everything that I needed from Book One, I got in this instalment. I almost don’t mind that the author took a plot-driven route with the first book, even though I still feel like the balance between plot and the characters could’ve been better handled. They argued and bantered like they did in the last book and their romance was angsty and emotional but they also fought side by side against the bloodborns.

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The way he would move heaven and hell, beg to any gods, crawl to any place, set her free even if it killed him, just to see her happy. The GREENEST GREEN FLAG TO EVER EXIST IN THE HISTORY OF GREEN FLAGS, the only red flag here is Oraya herself, end of discussion. All of that in one name. One person. One soul I knew as well as my own, just as confusing, just as flawed. I dream about that sound.” His mouth was so close to my throat. I could feel his voice vibrate on my flesh, right against the scar that he’d left. “Do you know that?” Them slipping into human lands to drink bad beer and bond over murdering vampires will never get old.

this isn't a particularly interesting or all-encompassing review, i didn’t feel like writing one of those so it’s just a few of the thoughts bouncing around through my brain. So I choked out, “Raihn,” against his lips, a question, an answer, a plea. Because that name was all those things, wasn’t it? Raihn. My downfall and my most valuable supporter. My weakness and my strength. My worst enemy and the greatest love I had ever known. Raihn? What can I say about him?! This sweetheart of a vampire was all about Oraya. 😭 Seeing him walk his own path after his struggle of being a Turned slave was a delight. He deserved a kingdom to rule. In case you've read it already, don't care about spoilers and/or about the book in general, welcome to my review. The writing and storytelling was great, I felt like I was experiencing every event and emotion that the character felt. The writing was descriptive and easy to follow. The ending was so good! I'm glad that Oraya and Raihn got the ending that they deserved. I can't wait to read the next book!There's still so much left to Raihn and Oraya's story and I can't wait to see more of them as the king and queen of the Nightborn Kingdom. i highly highly recommend this entire duet, because the writing, the characters, the plot and VINCENT my love are what made this so different from other fantasies. 💗 The things you’ve seen here have so tainted your image of me? I meant to give this place all my greatest achievements, my greatest ambitions. Instead, it became a monument to all my greatest mistakes.”