Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe

Lord of Rage by Jill Monroe

My rating: ★★★★

Lord of Rage is the second installment of the Royal House of Shadows continuity quartet/series, and my first book by Jill Monroe. This is the story of Breena, the second born, Princess of Elden. As with Nicolai she is filled with the thirst for survival and vengeance that their parents instilled in them before their deaths; she also wakes up in a strange place, with a hazy memory. She stumbles on for awhile and comes to a hut in woods, which, unbeknownst to her, belonged to the berserker Osborn, and his two younger brothers. Jill Monroe modeled her story after Goldilocks, and unlike with the first installment, I had no trouble remembering. Some of the scenes were classic Goldilocks, and they made me laugh.

Osborn is a berserker, the last of them, because his entire family and village were destroyed by vampires, save for his two brothers. He ekes out a living for them as a mercenary until he can't take it anymore, and flees to the woods (I am still not sure where/how the woods is in the mythology. Is it outside of time or just a secluded woods? I dunno) - and their hut is what Breena comes across.

Osborn knows Breena as the seductive girl who invades his dreams at night, and Breena knows Osborn as the warrior who she goes to in her dreams at night. Now that she's found him, she wants him to help her in her quest for vengeance.

I am still loving the mythology that has been created for this world, and I also enjoyed Ms. Monroe's storytelling. I was always present in the story, following the journey of the characters.

Three niggling issues -

1. The characters. I felt that for a good part of the book, Breena was a user. She just wanted someone to further her own ends, and nothing more. It's funny, since Nicolai, in the first book, did the same thing to Jane. But the difference as soon as Nicolai realized that Jane was a person, he felt conflicted about what he had to do. Breena - I didn't get that feeling from her, she was only selfish. So I do not like her as much as I could have. I also felt that Osborn (fitting name for a berserker, lol) was not as honorable a character as he might have been. I hated the scene where it looked like he was going to barter teaching Breena how to fight in exchange for her body

2.Breena's background was a bit confusing to me. From the parents Nicolai remembered, I found it hard to believe that these were the same parents who'd raise their daughter only as a princess to be married off. But then, double standards when it comes to sons and daughters is fairly common, so I guess it makes sense. But I still get the feeling that it was out of character for her parents as well as the world. Being raised as a dainty princess just did not fit right.

3. The continuity is kinda off. I felt the same with the previous book, but it did not bother me as much, I guess, because it was the first book. I can't figure out the timeline..or the ages of the royal kids. Were they all caught in a timewarp? I don't know. I can't tell. It's really confusing.

That being said, I really enjoyed the book. I liked watching Osborn and Breena fall in loved. Ms. Monroe has created another winner. On to the third!

*I received this ebook/eARC free from Netgalley; it had no influence on my rating/review*



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