Evie was almost seduced by the life that Death offered her - until Jack was threatened by two of the most horrific Arcana, the Lovers. She will do anything to save him, even escape Death's uncanny prison, full of beautiful objects and stolen glances from a former love.
Uncertain victory.
Despite leaving a part of her heart behind with Death, Evie heads to the frozen perilous post-apocalyptic wasteland to meet her allies and launch an attack on the Lovers. Such formidable enemies require a battle plan, and the only way to kill them may mean Evie, Jack and Death allying. But convincing Jack and Death to work together may be an impossible task.
Two heroes returned.
There's a thin line between love and hate, and Evie just doesn't know where she stands with either Jack or Death. Will this unlikely trio be able to defeat the Lovers without killing one another first . . . ?
The Arcana Chronicles:
Poison Princess
Endless Knight
Dead of Winter
Day Zero (Novella)
Arcana Rising
The Dark Calling (2017)
Visit Kresley Cole's website or The Arcana Chronicles website for more information
Review:
I love Kresley Cole's Arcana Chronicles so I've been waiting over a year to get my hands on Dead of Winter and I couldn't wait to start reading it. One of the things I love about this series is how easy it is to dive back into the world, the author does a great job of reminding readers about important events without spending a huge amount of time recapping previous books and I never once felt lost even though it's been such a long time since I read Endless Knight.
At the end of the previous book we saw Evie escape from Death's lair because she found out that Jack was in trouble and the story picks up pretty much immediately in Dead of Winter. Evie has been travelling for days to meet up with Matthew, Selena and the others so that she can help them rescue Jack from the Lovers who are holding him captive. Things get off to a pretty explosive start as we see a daring attempt to free Jack but we also discover just how depraved the Lovers are and I don't think we even know half of what Jack went through as their prisoner.
I missed Jack in the last book so I was thrilled that Evie was back in his company here, I just love the two of them together - the banter and the scorching chemistry between them always makes me swoon. Death did grow on me during the last book but I'm still not sold on the idea of him and Evie as a couple and I'm definitely sticking on team Jack. I have to admit that I started to get a little fed up of the love triangle here and I'm really hoping that this doesn't continue to play such a major part in future books. I've never been a fan of triangles, especially when it takes time away from the rest of the story and in a world as fantastic as this one I think I would have preferred spending more time with the other characters and learning about the other Arcana.
Dead of Winter is still a fantastic read though, the series just gets darker with each book and the Lovers are a truly creepy and terrifying enemy. There are some quite gory torture scenes that turned my stomach in places but the action was fantastic and I loved seeing Evie and her allies working together against a common enemy. It gives me some hope that they'll find a way to end the game without everyone dying! One warning I have to give you is about the ending, if you thought the cliffhanger at the end of Endless Knight was bad you have no idea what you've got coming in this one, I was literally flicking back and forth on the last couple of pages trying to magic up a few extra chapters because I'm DYING to know what happens next. I don't think the next book even has a title yet but I do know that it will be jumping to the top of my to read pile the very second I can get my hands on a copy and I can't give this series much higher praise than that!
Source: Ebook received from the author in exchange for an honest review, I was also sent a print copy by Simon & Schuster.
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