Rating: 4 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Short Story


All My Crimes begins at the two year anniversary King Gidden Loristan’s defeat of the elves. Lord Teregryn Eve, warlock and former lover of the king, was captured and tortured by the elves just before the end of the war and then was held in a monastery for two years seeking treatment once he was free. He has only now been able to function in the outside world and feels a need to join the celebration in honor of the two year anniversary, albeit quietly and with a little attention as he can get away with.

While at the celebration, Teregryn begins to notice elven magic and runes. “First, Gidden Loristan, they say. Then you.”  But the elves were completely wiped out of existence during the Cleansing brought on after their defeat in the war. Taking the word of a friend that maybe he’s had too much to drink, Teregryn retires for the night. Upon waking in the morning, he finds the elven rune for death carved into the door of his room and he remembers the message in the runes from the night before. Knowing it can’t be a coincidence, he sets out to warn the king of the assassination attempt that was sure to be coming. Although Teregryn worries about not being seen by the king due to their history, that does not hold him back from trying to save the man’s life.

Throughout his journey, Teregryn has several flashbacks of his time in captivity, ranging from torture to conversations and understanding with the elven leader, Kalen. After one of the flashbacks, Teregryn is confronted by an elven warrior ghost who seems to steal his life force. Knowing the ghost is likely the result of the nearness of the elven assassin, Teregryn makes every effort to warn the king before the assassin can make it to the king first.

All My Crimes is an adult fantasy fiction set in a world where elves and magic live. Where kings protect the people of their kingdoms. And where love and seduction can be easily confused.

Teregryn Eve is a warlock who has had a romantic history with the king and, because of that, was targeted by the elven leader who wanted to learn more about the king’s tactics. I really enjoyed Lord Eve’s character. He was insecure when it came to the king but he also knew that he had to save the king’s life, if for nothing else but loyalty to the kingdom. He was determined to save Gidden even though he still had questions as to why he hadn’t seen or heard from the king in two years.

There were several flashbacks to when Teregryn was held by the elves. By the end of the story, I understood why the flashbacks were brought in during sporadic moments in the story. They helped to shape the story and brought together some of my unanswered questions at the end.

There are several questions that popped up throughout my reading but all were answered in the last few pages of the story. How did Teregryn escape the elves? Why did the king not make an effort to save Teregryn from the elves for three months? Why didn’t the king, and supposed lover, not visit Teregryn in the two years after the war ended? Why is this apparent lone elf assassin choosing this timing to attack the king? There are more questions but I don’t want to give away too much. All of the questions were answered, and answered well in the last few pages of the story.

The only real problem I had with the story was that it was too short. I wish there would have been more regarding the relationship between Teregryn and Gidden. And I would have liked the ending to extend past where it actually ended.

All in all, I really enjoyed this story. It was a trip into an imaginative fantasy world that was easy to picture while I was reading. I would have liked a little more description when it came to some of the characters, especially the main characters, but other than that I thought the characters were brought to life really well and were relatable.