'Lady of Light & Shadows' by C.L. Wilson

From the BLURB:

Ellysetta Baristani and her betrothed Fey lord, returning hero Rain Tairen Soul, are days away from their wedding, but the wicked Eld lords are drawing ever closer to locating Ellysetta, whose magic they hope to use for their own ends. As the intrigues of the Eld plot ripple throughout the court, Ellysetta wrestles with personal demons and the mysterious power within her. Meanwhile, tensions on the country's borders mount as the specter of war draws nearer.

‘Lady of Light and Shadows’ is the second book in C.L. Wilson’s ‘Tairen Soul’ series. This book picks up right where ‘Lord of the Fading Lands’ left off, the timelines are literally side-by-side.

When Wilson left off in ‘Lord of the fading lands’, she hinted at dire things to come for Rain and his truemate, Ellysetta. I can’t give anything away without spoiling a huge plotline – but in this book much is revealed about Ellie’s origins. There was a huge build-up to this ‘big reveal’ concerning Ellie’s birthright, and I personally don’t think Wilson delivered a big enough pay-off.

When the truth about Ellie’s origins is revealed, as readers we expect there to be a huge tumult – and there is, initially – but everything is smoothed over and forgotten pretty quickly. Considering the fact that Ellie has been pretty blessed so far in this series (woodcarver’s daughter turned Fey Queen – ultimate rags to riches) I would have appreciated it if Ellie went through a period of real struggle and doubt, just to shake her up. That being said, Ellie does go through a lot in this book as she learns about her bloodline and growing powers – as well as dealing with her ever-evolving relationship with Rain.

He was her hero, the magic prince she’d dreamed of all her life, a legend larger than life. She was just a twenty-four-year-old woodcarver’s daughter, a nobody. She should not have the power to make a legend tremble, and yet she did. She didn’t want that power. She could not bear to see Rain humbled, especially not by her hand.

I must admit, this ‘Tairen Soul’ series is very romantic. Wilson certainly knows how to write a captivating romance with just the right amount of sizzle – and considering the fact that in this book Rain and Ellie still aren’t officially married, Wilson does an admirable job of writing some very hot scenes that make up for the lack of outright sex.

I really liked the fleshing out of secondary characters in this book. Bel is one of Ellie’s guards; he has the weight of death on his soul, but feels lightened because of Ellie’s powerful healing magic. I really love him and his rough exterior, and I hope he finds his own truemate in books to come. I also loved the introduction of a character called Gaelen, who was previously mentioned in passing as a sort of Tairen ‘boogeyman’, but comes to life in this second book. He is a fantastic secondary character – funny and charming with Ellie, bull-headed with her other guards. I can definitely see the potential for great things with Bel and Gaelen’s storylines.

Even though I firmly believe Wilson could have done a lot more with the reveal of Ellie’s origins, the series as a whole is progressing nicely; enough that I am looking forward to reading the 3rd book. The plot is thickening and Wilson’s villains are taking shape and showing themselves to be very disturbing and macabre bad guys – among the best villains I have ever read. I’m also enjoying the rough progress of Rain & Ellie’s romance (and in this book the romance heats up!)

3.5/5

'Lord of the Fading Lands' by C.L. Wilson

From the BLURB:

Faerie king Rain Tairen Soul, a man tormented by age-old grief: a thousand years ago, the woman he loved was slain in battle, and in his rage he laid waste to half the world. Now his people are dying out and the evil mages of Eld are rising again. When Rain hears the call of his lost soul mate, Ellysetta, he journeys to the neighboring kingdom to find her; when he claims a woodcarver's daughter as his mate, he scandalizes the nobility of her country and rouses the interest of Eld's wicked wizards, who come seeking her in order to get at Rain.

I don’t normally read fantasy, unless the word ‘urban’ is in front of it. I don’t have a whole lot of patience for mythological creatures that aren’t vampires and werewolves – and I tend to get frustrated with made-up fantasy worlds, languages and creatures etc. But Mandi of ‘Smexy Books’ fame recommended C.L. Wilson’s ‘Tairen Soul’ series, so I thought I would put my prejudice aside and give it a try… and I’m glad I did.

C.L. Wilson’s series is fantasy – but it’s more fantasy romance. The plot trigger in ‘Lord of the Fading Lands’ is Faerie King Rain Tairen Soul finding his ‘truemate’ after living a thousand years believing he would always be alone. Rain is a ‘tairen’ which is some sort of panther/bird hybrid (to be honest I wouldn’t have known that much if it wasn’t for the book cover’s depiction of Rain’s tairen). Rain is among the last of his kind, and the fey have always believed that tairen’s had no ‘truemate’ – but they are proven wrong when Ellysetta ‘Ellie’ Baristani calls to Rain’s soul.

It’s a very romantic premise – and feels like a fantastical spin on the ‘Cinderella’ fairy tale, as a woodcarvers’ daughter falls for a Faerie King.

The romance is pretty hot and heavy – but it’s also frustrating to read. There’s three weeks until Ellie and Rain’s wedding, and Rain has promised Ellie’s father that there won’t be any coupling until the wedding night. It does get a little bit tedious to keep reading about how much Rain’s tairen beast wants to claim his mate, and how both he and Ellie have to reign in their lust.

He gave a low, deep-chested growl, the warning purr of a stalking tairen, and invisible hands, hot and hard, cupped her through her dress. Invisible lips, firm and silky, tracked a burning path down her neck.

At times it also feels as though Ellie and Rain’s romance comes a little bit too easily. Much is made of the fact that Rain lost his wife a thousand years ago during the Mage Wars, and when he first learns that Ellie is his truemate Rain feels as though he is betraying the memory of his first wife by taking Ellie as his truemate. But that remorse is pretty quickly brushed aside – as is Ellie’s acceptance of the fact that Rain *loved* his first wife, but has no choice in taking Ellie as his truemate.

To begin with I thought the romance had a little too much smooth-sailing – but by books end it becomes pretty clear that in upcoming novels Rain and Ellie will have quite a few hurdles to overcome in their mateship. Because there is a hint at turmoil to come for these two, I was willing to forgive Wilson’s initially glossing over their relationship in this first book.

C.L Wilson is a beautiful writer. It’s a testament to her skill that even though ‘Tairen Soul’ is a series firmly grounded in fantasy, she writes her characters so vividly and makes their inner turmoil so intriguing that the human struggles balance out the heavy fantasy writing.

Battered and bruised, but still fighting for dominance, his was not the selfish, petty pride that made bullies of lesser men, but rather the quiet, determined dignity that turned men into heroes and made heroes crawl back to their feet from the bitter dust of defeat and stand tall once more.

Even when I thought Ellie and Rain’s romance was a tad false, Wilson’s writing was so captivating, and the plot so fascinating that I could forgive that small hiccup in favour of her master storytelling.

I really liked ‘Lord of the Fading Lands’, and fully intend to stick with this ‘Tairen Soul’ series – I have the feeling it’s going to be epic.

Thanks to Mandi for recommending!

4/5