Charlotte Kersten

So What’s It About?

Melina lives a harsh life on the edge of the woods, forced to care for her cruel uncle’s every whim. Only the books of daring adventure she reads by
candlelight and the sweet solitude of her forest treks help soothe the
hollowness of her days.

Until rumors begin to spread of a demon, brutal and seductive, that lurks
beyond the tree’s edge. Melina has been warned about demons and she has no desire to ever come into contact with one.

Until she meets him.

Kaemon lives an isolated life, always watching out for the hunters that target him, the very ones who murdered his family. Keeping everyone at arm’s length has served him well and kept them safe from those who would harm him. But when he stumbles upon the captivating Melina, running for her life, he doesn’t stop to think, he saves her.

As he is finally forced to let another person in, the dangers of being hunted
grow, along with his feelings for Melina, and the danger of losing another
person he loves.

What I Thought

I had a great time with this for the first ¾ or so. Granted, the characterization was not especially nuanced and the writing was a bit clunky, but it was a deeply earnest hurt/comfort slice-of-life story with two good-hearted people who slowly bond and transform each other with their trust and kindness. There was a sort of whimsical-fairy-tale-meets-Dungeons and Dragons feel to the world and lots of cozy little details of the couple’s daily life together.

Tragically, my enjoyment plummeted when the book took a steep turn in the Sarah J Maas direction at the end. The male lead, Kaemon, is a demon with shadow powers and bat-like wings who comes from a misunderstood culture that is thought to be evil but actually isn’t. This was certainly a little derivative but it didn’t bother me too much until the sex scenes kicked off with mating frenzies and all the growling aggression/possessiveness a girl could (not) want to read about. Then at the very end, Melina gets captured and Kaemon rescues her by massacring an entire group of humans with his shadow powers. The tonal shift with all of this was very awkward and abrupt, and the characterization didn’t gel with the previous 75% of the book. All in all I will never forgive Her for the criminal damage that she has done to the genre of fantasy romance and I will never rest until balance has been restored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!