BLOOD & HONEY

Author(s): Shelby Mahurin

Stand-alone or Series: Serpent & Dove #2

One of the things that first caught my interest in Serpent & Dove is its unique title, and the title for the sequel doesn’t disappoint! It’s so different than the usual titles. We don’t often get “honey” in the title. And the cover? Breathtakingly gorgeous!

I really liked this book, and fortunately it didn’t suffer from second book syndrome. It was entertaining with high stakes, and a lot more development and depth than the first book. I liked it the first time around and don’t have to reread it to enjoy it like I did with the first book!

Lou and Reid were once again fantastic characters. We got to see more of their personalities and personal troubles as they fought through their grief, magic, evil, and more. I honestly stopped shipping them halfway through the book because they really needed to work through their issues but by the end it was solved for me and I shipped them again.

Second books usually have the couples breaking up and creating unnecessary drama, but Lou and Reid’s troubles weren’t forced. It felt instead like a natural progression of their relationship and like something that needed to happen so they could be stronger. I quite enjoyed that!

I really loved that we got more characters in this book. Everyone from more Beau/Coco/Ansel/Madame Labelle time to the new characters of La Voisin, the werewolves, and Claud and co. There were more character interactions, more banter and fun moments between them that I really enjoyed.

The ending left me shook, to say the least. I expected [redacted] death, because it was hinted at so I wasn’t that surprised but still sad. The absolute ending though . . . I can’t wait to see what will happen! I’m not a very big fan of this trope, but when done well it proves for a very good, frustrating (in a good way) reading experience.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would defiantly recommend it for those who read and enjoyed Serpent & Dove!

My final rating is:

Thank you for reading and see you next time ❤