SidheRating: 4.5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

 

This book is the third and final installment in The Incubus Saga and, as a result, there are some mild spoilers for the first two books.

Nathan Grier has been brought back from his time in the Veil, but what has only been a week in the human realm has felt like a year to him. The things that he’s seen, the things that he’s done, weigh heavily on him and he keeps having flashbacks. He’s not sure what’s real and what’s not, and though he knows his boyfriend Sasha, and his brother Jim, love him and want what’s best for him, he snaps and takes off. But it’s on this road trip to nowhere that the dark fae lord Malak shows up again, and tries to get Nathan to side with him. Malak also reveals the truth that Nathan is his already, but Nathan needs to choose him three times. Nathan has already chosen him twice, and this that final time that Malak is waiting for. But Nathan is stronger than that, and resists.

With a little divine intervention, Nathan is set on a path the save the world. With Sasha and Jim at his side, he knows he’ll be fighting a war. He begins to rally any of those around him that can help. Nathan’s Spirit Guide Walter has been made flesh, and he gives them what information he can in order to help them prepare. Nathan, it seems, is the key on which this whole thing revolves. They have no hope of winning without Nathan. But Nathan doesn’t have the confidence in himself to believe that he special enough. When Nathan is temporarily made an incubus, and Sasha is turned human, Nathan thinks that’s the answer to several of his problems. But ultimately he knows it’s not, and he knows he needs to change back. Before he can, tragedy strikes, and it’s that which sets the last battle into motion. And it’s only by working together that they can hope to overcome the enemy and get their happily ever after.

A year ago, I read Changeling, and I’ve been hanging on the cliff ever since. The author has done such a wonderful job building this world and making me care for the characters that waiting to find out Nathan’s fate was a hard task. The lead up to the end of that book was so intense, and Nathan actually losing through a technicality and getting taken through the Veil was heart wrenching. This book picks up immediately after the end of the last one, and all three book definitely need to be read in order. This is a saga of epic proportions, reading like one tale split into three parts.

What I really loved about this book was the consistency of the characters, even as they grew and changed. Nathan, in particular, showed the most inner growth. In the beginning, he was all about protecting Jim at all costs. He was self-sacrificing to a fault. And he still is, to some degree. But though he has his moments where his confidence wavers, he’s grown into a strong, confident man. Now that Jim has fully come into his powers, and as long as he has Sasha by his side, he can do what needs to be done to save the world. I’ve loved Nathan from the very beginning, and I was completely and totally invested in him. Nathan went through a lot, and my heart just broke for him at times, but he’s solid and strong underneath and he’s got two of the best guys in the world at his side and fighting with him and for him. The dynamics between the three men has always been one of the things I loved about this series, and it’s shown wonderfully here.

This is a big long book, and there is a lot going on. A great deal of it is completely necessary. This is the last book, the one where it’s all been leading. And after the set up in the first two books, it had to be epic. And it was. It is an action-packed tale, one event happening right after another with only a little time to stop, breathe, and explain thrown in.  We got to see and hear from characters that appeared earlier. The author did a great job of tying up loose ends, and of showing us the seeds she planted early on that are now coming to fruition. It had everything, absolutely everything, a final book should. That alone makes this a worthwhile read.

But I will admit to just a few tiny quibbles. I said that it’s long, and there were a few points in the narrative where I felt things were dragging just a bit. I had to take a break in the middle of reading this, just because there was so much going on and so much yet left to read that I felt a little overwhelmed. I honestly think it all needed to be there, but it’s a lot to take in one go. Also, the POV switched at one point and we got a taste from several other characters after spending much of the book, and the series, in Nathan’s head. I completely understood why it had to happen that way and agreed with the author’s choice, but I still found it a little jarring suddenly be elsewhere.

Ultimately what it comes down to for me is that this is an excellent series. The world building is intricate and wonderfully done, the characters are well drawn, consistent, and relatable, and the plot weaves seamlessly throughout all three books. This is an epic tale of love, family, good and evil, and saving the world. Nathan and Sasha are on my list of favorite couples, and they are only one aspect of this tale. Do yourself a favor and read The Incubus Saga.

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