Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Graham was raised to be king. From an early age, he was schooled and trained to take over for his father, but a darkness crept into the kingdom and has poisoned his father’s mind and sent Graham running for his life. At age 11, he is forced into hiding, where he has only a magical unicorn as a companion. Graham grows to manhood alone, working in a quiet valley, stripped of everything, including his name.
Prince Emory lost his parents young and has been under the care of his aunt, who has steered him away from throne and into his studies. But when when his aunt suddenly instructs Rory to pursue a gang of troublesome bandits, he realizes she is laying a trap. He discovers Graham, now called Gray, and now they must join forces to stop a powerful threat to both their kingdoms. For Gray, it means becoming the man he was born to be, while Rory must embrace the burdens of leadership. Rory and Gray hope to finally bring peace to their kingdoms and to find some way to carve out a life for themselves. It’s no easy task, but as long as they have each other, they might just be able to manage the impossible.
Yours, Forever After is the first of the Enchanted Folklore series and offers readers a lengthy, well thought out romance with occasional pacing problems, a few unnecessary scenes, and a frankly irritating unicorn.
The romance in Yours Forever After is the heart of this book and it works on multiple levels. Rory and Gray work well together for the most part and we see their relationship evolve from a tentative fragile thing into something sturdy enough to withstand all weather. They aren’t always the most consistent in their behaviors, but I think a lot of that stems from their age and the unusualness of their situation.
This book is long, sometimes overly so. It tends to get bogged down in dialogue or side events that don’t really end up mattering all that much. In the end, while this allows for greater character development, it leads to some pacing problems as the book tends to drag in areas. Most of the time, these laggy moments don’t last long, but there are several instances (including a side quest for an object that isn’t even needed) where the things slow to a crawl. It’s frustrating, but in many other regards the book is strong.
Fact. I dislike Evrard the unicorn intensely. He’s one of those characters that serves as a puppeteer while dispensing half truths and minimal information to both the reader and the characters. He’s manipulative and pretty annoying. There are reasons for his actions, but those don’t lessen the often painful blows his behaviors create. That said, the next book is about Evrard, who can take a human form, so I’ll be curious to see if his character interests me more going forward.
Yours, Forver After was generally enjoyable. I appreciated Rory and Gray’s journey and felt their story had enough sweetness and angst to offer a nice balance. There were some pacing problems and Evrard wasn’t a favorite of mine, but I am looking forward to the next in the series, Yours, Everlasting. I think most readers of fantasy romances will enjoy this one.
