Bethanie F. DeVors

*Full DISCLOSURE: While this is an honest review, the author is a longtime friend of mine.
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS AT LEAST ONE VIEWABLE SPOILER OF BOOK ONE in the first paragraph
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Rhys and Daeg are now king and queen of Seodrass and have defeated Malmuir and most of her army. All that's left are a few harmless remnants here and there...or are there? And what's this dream Rhys is having about her former world? This is the second installment of the Seodrassian Chronicles, and this made me change my mind about the first installment. I like this one better.

The positives: Story/Plot
A lot of times, a book sequel is usually better than the 1st because of the way a book has to build characters, a setting, set up conflict, etc. It's very much that way here. (It's almost the opposite with movies where part 2 is a letdown.) Now that we're familiar with these characters and Seodrass, the plot takes us to more familiar territory: modern-day Columbia, SC in the US, a southern city with a small-town feel after you get out of the range of the city lights. Great backdrop for major drama to ensue. Also, great backdrop to see our Seodrassians as comical fish-out-of-water and meet new characters with characteristic southern charm. Strong and entertaining plot here. Love Jeff and Charlie!

The negatives: Details
Here's one area that I think could be improved. A few of the details don't seem consistent when they go from Seodrass to the other world and back. At one point Daeg calls cars "horseless carriages"--not when he first gets into one but later--but then a few pages later Guinnen calls it a car. It's like the only time they use that term, and it's in the middle of their time in the other world.
Daeg and Guinnen lose the way they form sentences in places. In Seodrass, words in sentences are arranged to sound like Old English or The Queen's English, which is very different from Americans' sentence structure.
The biggest detail that actually threw me for a loop happened after the group returns to Seodrass near the end. (view spoiler on Goodreads)

Part of the detail confusion may have to do with POV. There are alternating internal POVs, in an effort to achieve an overall omniscient third person (we get to see through almost everyone's eyes in different points throughout the novel), so sometimes people's voices get mixed up, which in turn gets what they know and how they talk mixed up. It's a lot to ask of an author to do this 100% perfectly unless they have a team of editors working on this around the clock until final publication. As a writer, I probably notice it more than most readers would.

You decide: Tastes/ genre
I'm giving this a separate section because the heat level in a novel is a reader's preference. If sweet/cozy romantic fantasy is your thing, this is right up your alley. If you like the very "adult proclivities" of A Game of Thrones or Outlander (like me), then this is going to be a little too "sweet" for you. I found at times Daeg's forehead kisses annoyed the crap out of me, because I just imagine Daeg and his big alpha-male self all over Rhys. They're basically still newlyweds! She calls him "Big Dog" for goodness sakes! What do big dogs do? They jump on you! I mean this man is so in love with her he would die for her, so I was like "get it on already!" Instead, (view spoiler on Goodreads) Don't get me wrong, they do have marital relations, but it is definitely closed door. You know from Book One, though, The Seodrassians are pious to a fault, which is why you will never see them do more than kiss--and chastely at that. Guinnen gets maybe a tad racy at the hotel pool, and p. 62 (paperback vers.) showed Daeg's potential for being wickedly funny, but no one will walk around naked if this gets to screen. But again, this is my issue! In this aspect, I realize I'm not the target audience for this, but I know lots of people who are. Not everyone wants all the nakedness of a GOT or Outlander, which is why this genre is so vast!

Overall
Great plot, entertaining read, and an action-packed escape into a fantasyland!… (altro)