Anne Stuart never fails to surprise me. Once again, I was on the verge of despising Killian (Serafin). But I never quite make it to that point. She always manages to eek by and SMACK ME IN THE FACE with her emotionally unavailable but somehow endearing heroes. I don't even understand it myself. For 90% of this book, Killian is unemotional to the point that I truly thought that he would be irredeemable for me. Not so, turns out. I loved him, I LOVED HIM by the end. I do believe that I love him as much as Sebastian, and that is saying a lot. I have become attached to Isobel during the first three books in this amazing series. She is the ice queen, the leader of this group of the soulless. She does what needs to be done, sacrificing few to save many. I've watched her go from an obscure background player in Black Ice to the head honcho of the Committee late in Bastien's story. And during Peter and Takashi's books, she has been on a downward spiral. At the beginning of this book, she's close to the breaking point. The years of making these hard life or death decisions have finally become too much.The relationship between these two is tough to watch. Killian got a hold of Isobel when she was still young and innocent. He was basically her awful intro into this life that she now lives...and it broke her. Such a hateful, emotionless void he was. It just broke my heart. He's an easy guy to hate. But they say hate and love are similar emotions. This is true of my feelings for Killian. I think I got whiplash when I changed my mind, it was so fast. Taka's cousin Reno plays a prominent role in this book. I love him! He adds color and life to this group of stoic people. I'm definitely looking forward to his story now! Bastien (my love) and Peter also have major parts to how this story plays out, and their wives show up too. I love getting a little cameo from earlier characters. Sadly, Take isn't present but I'm hoping he comes out to play during Reno's book.This is my second fave in the series. I feel like a broken record, but I just adore this author. Her writing grabs me in a way that I can't even describe. It's raw and gut-clenching. She pulls no punches and therefore I feel every emotion that she is trying to convey. These are not fluffy romance, but they are powerful!!!
