The Necromancer’s Bride (Gaslamp Gothic, #4)
by Kat Ross
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: May 31st 2019
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Retelling
Lo
ved It
Synopsis:
Content Rating: Adult content including sexually explicit content and violence.
Forgiveness is not Gabriel D’Ange’s strong suit.
A self-appointed soldier of God with a penchant for ruthlessly punishing his enemies, he vanished after Anne Lawrence stabbed him with his own dagger.
The smart thing would be to let him go.
Unfortunately, Anne’s life isn’t just lonely without Gabriel. It’s insufferably boring.
Determined to heal the rift between them, she goes in search of her tempestuous former lover, black parasol in hand and daeva magic crackling at her fingertips. But Gabriel has his own plans afoot and Anne finds herself drawn into one of his tangled webs, much against her better judgment.
Gabriel’s nemesis has reappeared in Brussels, a vile slaver who’s plundering the Congo Free State with the blessing of King Leopold. Gabriel might be willing to give Anne a second chance, but not until Jorin Bekker’s head is lying at his feet.
Back in London, the quasi-reformed necromancer Balthazar sets his sights on the same quarry. He holds a very personal grudge against Bekker — and killing him might be the only way to keep Gabriel D’Ange from Balthazar’s own throat.
When the hunters collide at a lavish gala thrown by the king, Anne learns just how far she’ll go to save the man she loves.
Note: The Necromancer’s Bride is the sequel to A Bad Breed (read my review), which should be read first.
Review:
- I received this book free though Xpresso Book Tours.
First of all a big “Thank You!” and shout out to Kat Ross, who over the course of reviewing her ten other books has become like a friend, for giving me a heads up on the graphic sex scenes in this book so that I could skip them. I’m not into erotic scenes… at all, so knowing where to skip really helps my enjoyment of a book. If you are wondering, the scenes to skip are the wedding night, which is the middle of Chapter 12 and a few pages into chapter 14 after the opera.
A little extra note for Kat Ross: “the next book returns to Harry & John in New York so it will be quite clean 🙂 I went the somewhat more explicit direction for the last two books, but it’s not a trend for the series in general.” Which is good news indeed!
Now, on to the review!
The Necromancers Bride is an absolutely satisfying conclusion to the story from A Bad Breed.
Doesn’t the cover just scream gothic moodiness? The inside doesn’t disappoint either. For those who love a good moody gothic book this is for you.
For those who love mad necromancers and revenge this book is for you.
It’s also for those who love super powered women who don’t need a man, but fall in love with one anyway.
Or for those who always knew that the strings of power in Victorian Europe were being pulled by evil immortal billionaires.
I almost feel like I’ve run out of good things to say about Kat Ross’s writing.
She does a great job writing deep complex characters. So many of the characters here are multilayered, adult characters (as in mature not YA type characters.) Balthazar has been a great character to watch evolve over the millennia from a villainous necromancer to a man willing to sacrifice himself for redemption. (Read more about Balthazar here. He’s so cool he gets his own blog post!)
She writes great world building. You feel like you are in the jungles of Bermuda, or the sewers of Brussels, or a Necromancer’s dungeon (one place you do not actually want to find yourself.)
She write compelling plots. After about halfway through this book I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know how it was all going to work out. I probably drove my husband crazy talking to him every night about the characters doing this and that. Good necromancers this, evil necromancers that… blah, blah, blah. I couldn’t get enough!
She write satisfying endings. I have been disappointed so many times. After spending volumes with characters and stories I’ve come out of it feeling majorly let down (I’m looking at you the Dark Tower 🤮 and at you Rendezvous with Rama 🤬.) The Necromancer Bride wrapped up the story line in a way that was just gratifying. I may not have been able to guess at all the outcomes, but I enjoyed them. I felt the same way about how the Forth Talisman series wrapped up.
Bottom Line:
Kat Ross is a instant read for me because of all the thing I mentioned above. I just can’t recommend her books enough, the Necromancer’s Bride included.
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“You won’t be laughing so hard when my wife get here,” Gabriel said…
Gabriel waited, stone-faced, until their breathless wheezing subsided.
“You haven’t met her yet.” His smile made the hair on Balthazar’s neck rise up. “But you will.”
