Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Kalie Cassidy
Publisher: Little, Brown
Release Date: July 7th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The realm has a new queen… and a new monster.

Imogen can no longer hide. She has claimed her ancestral crown, and now the corrupted bond she shares with the ancient deity Eusia is stronger than ever. Though she is determined to sever it, doing so is no easy feat. The threat of war looms. Shifting alliances, a hunger for magic, and her feelings for Theodore, King of Varya, attempt to thwart her at every turn.

Meanwhile, Theodore is battling the strain of his own crown and commitments. When Imogen suddenly appears on his ship, every dutiful resolution he’s ever made threatens to snap. As they draw nearer to ending Eusia, lurking dangers and their perilous desire for one another prove more insurmountable than they could have imagined.

Will the chaos, ruin, and death that Imogen was prophesied to usher into the realm be the end of all things, or the beginning?

WORKED FOR ME.

I’m going to be completely honest with you, I do not remember a thing from book one. Did that stop me from going ahead with this book? Nope. And it worked out. I think Kalie Cassidy did such a great job of bringing the energy in the first few chapters that I was locked in and really liked this follow up.

I wish there would have been more chapters from Theo though!! I liked this POV and getting more of his dynamic. There’s definitely a lot of longing and yearning and the push and pull of the story beats worked well. I loved the siren vibes and how that magic worked in this world. And I liked all of these characters a lot. The different types of relationships and the unlikely friendships were all great.

I’ll definitely be looking out for Kalie Cassidy’s next book!

Overall audience notes:

• Fantasy Romance
• Language: mild
• Romance: 3ish open door
• Violence: moderate – high

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