Review: The Horse Mistress Book 2 by R.A. Steffan

Posted November 30, 2018 by Lola in Fantasy, Review, Romance / 2 Comments

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The Horse Mistress: Book 2 The Horse Mistress: Book 2 (The Eburosi Chronicles #2)
by R.A. Steffan

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: Polyamory/ MMF

Blurb:
Carivel, Andoc, and Senovo have defied convention by declaring their love for each other.

Carivel is a pariah—a female who has been quietly living as a man. Senovo has been hiding his shape-shifting curse, believing the wolf inside him to be a vicious killer. When their secrets are finally revealed to the village elders, they fear dragging Andoc down with them. Next in line to become Draebard’s tribal chieftain, Andoc risks his position by continuing with such an unorthodox relationship. When Senovo and Carivel are captured by the enemy, though—to save their lives, he’ll have to risk everything.

Perfect for open-minded fans of ménage and reverse harem romance, The Horse Mistress: Book 2 tells the story of forbidden love and loyalty against a rich backdrop of magic, history, and impending war.

Author’s note: This book contains sex. The sex is not remotely vanilla. Some of it is between two men who love each other. If any of those three facts made you go “Eww,” please do the author a solid and don’t purchase this book.

My Review

After I finished reading The Horse Mistress: Book 1 I started this one right away as I wanted to read more about this world, see where the story went next and spend more time with the characters. This was such a good sequel, it goes deeper and develops things more and brings the danger and other plot liens into more focus too. And there are some great side characters too. It was awesome. I hope I can read book 3 and 4 soon too.

In The Horse Mistress: Book 2, the characters are ready to leave the village of Meren to return to their own village Dreabard. They have news regarding the treaty, but also will have to reveal Carivel and Senovo’s secrets in the process. They are all a bit hesitant to return and afraid how their village will react. This book deals a lot with the fallout of their secrets, some politics in their village and a decision they are sort of forced into. There is some danger as the conflict with the mainland people looms closer.

It was interesting to see how the village reacted to Carivel’s secret that she is actually a women and Senovo being a shapeshifter. Carivel has to content with a lot of different reactions and I thought it was interesting to see how the different characters reacted and was pleasantly surprised by one of the side characters. But the more negative responses felt quite realistic too, even tough it made me sad. She is forced into a certain decisions to make the village accept her more as a female and the part made me a bit sad, even tough they really didn’t have a choice. And I did like how they handled it in the way that worked for them.

This book was quite a bit longer than book 2 and there is quite a lot that happens. Again the author masterfully balances the different aspects of the book. There is enough focus on the story, scenes with the horses, scenes with other characters and events and scenes with the 3 main characters and their romance. This book also has some more difficult and sad parts toward the end and I felt so sorry for what they had to go through. I did like how it ends on a hopeful note, but it’s also clear there is more danger to come.

There were so many great parts of this book. The story kept my attention and I liked seeing certain topics get explored more. There are some great developments. I also liked how we get to see more of Senovo and his wolf. There were some great scenes there and I do think Carivel has the right idea on how to handle this. Carivel’s struggle with her gender/ her gender fluidity also is part of the story again and we keep seeing how this impacts her and how she experiences things. I feel like this book developed and explored parts of the characters even more, which was great.

There are also some great scenes with Carivel and the horses. With the new horse she got in Meren and how she interacts with them, as well as her own horse and the herd of horses she cares for in Dreabard.

The romance again is one of my favorite parts. I just love how these 3 are together. They clearly love each other and care for each other a great deal. I like how they’re there for each other in whatever way they need. And also how sometimes they get a bit angry at the others when necessary, but it all comes from a good place and gets resolved quickly. And the way these 3 of them are together is just beautiful. And the gift Senovo gives Carivel was so perfect for her.

There are some sex scenes again in multiple parts of the book, nicely sprinkled throughout the story and they are some of the more happy and uplifting moments. It is pretty impressive how the author continues to vary things up and keep the sex scenes pretty unique and I enjoyed seeing how the 3 of them worked together in and outside of the bedroom. How they work with everyone’s preferences and likes and dislikes when it comes to the sex is great to read.

There is a bit more we learn about the world and people for the mainland, but the focus is more on the story than the world building. Nevertheless I enjoy the new pieces we learn and having a feel for the world. It was interesting to see how the people from the mainland thought of the Eburosi and the differences in their religions.

To summarize: this was an awesome sequel. Plot lines are continued, we learn more about the main and side characters and the romance continues to be awesome. I liked seeing how the story continued and how the people of their village reacted to the reveals surrounding Carivel and Senovo. There are some sad parts in this book with some of the events that happen. I also liked how we get to see more of Senovo’s wolf. And there are some great scenes with Carivel and her horses too. I also liked seeing the actions of some of the side characters and how they reacted to Carivel being a female. The romance continues to be one of my favorite parts as these 3 are just so awesome together, I love how caring they are. There are some sex scenes again in this book and I like how the author keeps varying things up and adds some unique scenes. The gift Senovo gives Carivel was perfect for her. All in all this was a great book and I hope to pick up book 3 soon as I am curious to see how the story continues.

4 Stars

Links:
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B&N
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You can also read my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

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2 responses to “Review: The Horse Mistress Book 2 by R.A. Steffan

  1. I’m glad to see that the series continues to be a good one for you. The fallout from their telling the truth, the issues caused by it back home and how it changes things, their ongoing deep love, and the overall world of the story do sound great. I love stories around horses so I think at some point I’ll pick these up.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…The Book Report November 2018My Profile

    • I think this is probably my favorite book in the series as it was great to see how everyone reacted to the truths they revealed. The horses are well done and an integral part of the story. Book 1 is free if you decide to give it a try and I think there’s even an audio version that combines all four books in one audio book.

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