Review: The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow by Annette Marie

The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow (The Guild Codex: Unveiled #3)
by Annette Marie

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
I’m learning to embrace who and what I am, but there’s one thing I can’t face: the night Zak betrayed me. But even with the mysteries of our shared past hanging between us, I can’t turn Zak away when he asks for my help.

Powerful fae are going missing, and when he tried to investigate, Lallakai vanished too. Now he wants me to venture with him into the territory of the Shadow Court, but its bloodthirsty courtiers don’t welcome meddling druids.

Danger is gathering around us, seen and unseen. As we uncover incomprehensible clues about the missing fae, we realize this nightmare runs deeper than we imagined, and unveiling it means delving into the past—our past.

If I abandon Zak now, he’ll never make it out alive. But if I stay at his side, if I face the truth of that night, it will destroy us both.

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow is the third book in the Unveiled series set in The Guild Codex world. While this series isn’t my favorite series set in this world, I like seeing Saber grow throughout the series and learning more about druid and fae. It has plenty of action and well paced story. And there are some reveals and interesting developments in this one as well.

This was another solid read in this series. After my struggle with Saber in the first book the later books have been easier to get into now that Saber has grown into her own a bit more and overcame some of her struggles, although she still isn’t my favorite main character. This book started a bit slow, but fit was interesting to see how this book has Saber meet some characters from one of the other series. Once Zak is back and asks for Saber’s help the story really got started in my opinion. After that it follows the usual progression for this book where they encounter a deadly enemy that they have to overcome in one way or another.

The pacing is quite similar to other books by this author, but I think that’s mostly because I have read quite a few of them now. This book also has the usual twists and turns I expect from an Annette Marie book. I thought there well a few well placed ones and I liked seeing the story play out. I am not a fan of the twist at the end, but that’s again my personal preference as it’s not a plot point I really like.

The big bad guy in this book was interesting the way it tied back to another plot point. I liked seeing how it all played out and especially seeing more of the fae, their courts and the way it all ties together. Saber really grows into her druid powers and I liked seeing her embrace that part of herself and becoming more comfortable with it. I also liked seeing more about Rikr. There also is a new fae we meet that helps Saber that I liked reading about.

In this book we finally get the last missing pieces of what happened 10 years ago when Saber and Zak first met. And to be honest I thought it was a bit anti climactic. After all the build up and angst around it, I had just expected something more. I also thought it was a bit annoying how they couldn’t have found a time before now to clear the air and discuss this, but that’s one of my personal pet peeves when things like this drag on too long. I can appreciate how them knowing this now finally clear the air and opens the space for them to decide how they want to continue now. And whether they can build a relationship together now. I feel like they made some great strides toward really connecting in this book.

To summarize: This was another solid book in this series. While I was on the fence about Saber in book 1 and while I never fully warmed up to her I enjoy following her story and seeing her develop throughout the series. I like seeing her deal with her past and coming to terms with her druid nature in this book. I thought the start was a bit slow, but besides that the story is again well paced with plenty of twists, turns and reveals. Some reveals and twists I could really appreciate and others less so. I thought the reveal of what happened 10 years ago was a bit anti climactic and I wish it had been cleared up earlier. I am also not a fan of the twist at the end, but again that’s a personal preference as I am not a fan of those type of plot points. I liked seeing how the story played out, there is plenty of action and more we see of the fae and druid powers. I look forward to seeing how book 4 wraps up this series.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.