The key would unlock his future and the safety of his kingdom, but he never imagined the sorceress would unlock his heart…
The two years Prince Caedmon suffered in the dungeons of Seviere’s keep left him with more than just lash marks lacing his back. He now retains the secret behind the key, and is the only one who understands its grim connection to his beloved Rowena. Torn between telling her the truth and risking their future, he agrees to join her perilous quest. But their enemies to the north are not the only menace determined to see them fail and, to prove his love, he must conquer the demons of his past.
Join Caedmon and Rowena as they rediscover a love bound by fate, and struggle to unravel the significance behind Caedmon’s Curse, Book III in The Golden Key Chronicles.
The Review:
Rowena has escaped the castle and the dangers that lay
within, only to find that beyond the castle walls lie more threats than she
could have imagined. She's also yet to escape Caedmon's grasp, but perhaps that
is not such a bad thing. The two journey together, reconnecting in more ways
than one, as Rowena seeks the key to unlock her memories.
Caedmon’s Curse is the third book in the Golden Key
Chronicles, so if you have yet to read the first two, stop reading this right
now and go read the earlier installments of this fabulous series. You can find
my reviews for them here: Rowena’s Key (Book 1) – Book Review / Candra’sFreedom (Book 2) – Book Review.
I absolutely adored the first two in this series, with Rowena’s
Key being one of my favorite romance reads of 2013, so I had high hopes (read:
desperate cravings) for Caedmon’s Curse – it did not disappoint. While Candra’s
Freedom took a more melancholy turn, Caedmon’s Curse ramps up the Golden Key
Chronicles into an action-packed fantasy journey.
The world of the Golden Key Chronicles develops more and
more through each book, as Nuest eases us into her elaborate fantasy by twists
and turns, and in Caedmon’s Curse the fantasy world building really comes to
fruition. There are more fantasy creatures in this third novella and the
magical elements of the story become even more significant. Just as much as I
liked the fact that Rowena’s Key began in the ‘real world’, I love that the
series has slowly pulled us into a magical world with more increasingly high
fantasy elements.
While Rowena and Caedmon were at odds for most of Candra’s
Freedom, leaving me itching for them to kiss and make up (and then kiss some
more), I am pleased to say that we have plenty of satisfaction in this area in
Caedmon’s Curse. And then some! The series really heats up in this installment,
with our oh-so sexy hero and strong, sassy heroine finally getting down and
dirty.
Of course, like the first two novellas, Caedmon’s Curse also
ends with a cliff-hanger – ARGH! I must admit, though, that this one was
slightly less scream-inducing than the first two, mostly because I was too busy
grinning like a fool to care.
With Caedmon’s Curse being the third installment of four, I’m feeling rather divided about the release of the final installment, Braedric’s Bane. On the one hand, Nuest’s wonderful writing,
incredibly paced action-romance and the inevitable cliff-hanger have me
desperate for more, but on the other hand, it will all be over once I finish Braedric’s
Bane, and then what exactly am I to do with my life?
Caedmon's Curse by AJ Nuest was published by Harper Impulse on January 9, 2013, and is available from Amazon.
This book was given to Love Reading Romance in exchange for an honest review.
