RAVEN UNVEILED is the third offering in the Fallen Empire series by marvelous author Grace Draven. Draven is one of my favorite paranormal fantasy romance authors. This series is set in a fantasy world of magic, demons, and dragons, with plenty of adventure and derring-do. I loved book one, Phoenix Unbound, but I was not a big fan of the second book in the series, so I was happy to have my fandom validated with this great third book, RAVEN UNVEILED.
This is an enemies-to-lovers trope with a very slow-burn romance. Siora is shade speaker, a person who can see and speak to ghosts. Siora was previously the nanny to Gharek's disabled child before she fled his household after what Gharek believes to be a terrible betrayal. Siora is such an honorable person, and I adore her integrity and her generous heart. She remains steadfast and loving despite the grim world around her.
Gharek was once the cat's-paw for an evil empress, acting as her assassin and right-hand man. After her rightful execution by a dragon, Gharek is now freed of his service but is hunted throughout the kingdom because of his terrible acts under the dead empress's command. Gharek is pursuing Siora through the country, and she believes he is going to kill her. In actuality, Gharek wants to capture Siora and drag her back to apologize to his daughter, whose heart she broke when she betrayed Gharek and fled his household. Gharek becomes more sympathetic and humanized as the story progresses. Draven does a great job with this anti-hero, and I was cheering for him shortly into the story, falling in love with him myself as I turned the pages.
Enemies Siora and Gharek are thrown together into an unexpected partnership. Sent by a general who is intent on conquering the empire, they must successfully complete a quest in order to save Gharek's beloved daughter. Along the way, they must also defeat a monstrous and ravenous being who devours ghosts and threatens thousands of the dead, including Siora's deceased father. There's a great epic quest feel to the book and fantastic world-building. Draven's creepy and fantastical world in RAVEN UNVEILED is delightfully atmospheric and hair-raising.
Siora has been on the run for longer than she cares to remember, from her past and her gift. Born with the ability to see and speak to ghosts, she has heard their desperate pleas as an otherworldly predator stalks the dead amid the fertile killing fields of the collapsing Krael Empire. The creature’s power and reach are growing with every soul it consumes, but Siora is preoccupied with her own troubles: namely an assassin who has sworn an oath of vengeance against her.
Gharek of Cabast was once the right-hand man of the reviled empress but is now a wanted fugitive. Although his reasons for hunting Siora are viscerally personal, what Gharek can’t anticipate is that when he finally does find her, she will hold the key to saving his world, or what’s left of it. To make good on old debts and protect the vulnerable dead from a malevolent force, Gharek and Siora will both need to make an ally out of an enemy—and trust that will be enough to save each other.
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