A Dark and Stormy Knight

I won't give this book a star rating because I have mixed feelings. There are some things I absolutely love about it and other things I didn't really like. But it's a very good book and I'm glad I read it.

I'm always reading m/m with exciting plots - mystery, fantasy, etc. - while wishing there were also a lot of f/f books primarily about couples facing outside adversity together, rather than being in conflict with each other. This is one of only a few f/f books I've read which I would place in that category, and I enjoyed that aspect of the story very much.

But although there is no real conflict between the main characters, there's still a major problem because Charaxus is from another world and they both know she will have to return. So, there are no fluffy moments. Everything about their relationship is very achy and emotional. It has a happy ending, though.

Also, the adversity that they're facing together does not get enough explanation, in my opinion. All of the fantasy elements are kind of fuzzy around the edges, which would work better in a book with a fairy-tale feel to it, whereas this book seems very immediate to me, especially with the first-person present-tense PoV (which I am not a big fan of, in general).

I really love the nature of their fated connection with each other. It's very different from other approaches I've seen to this kind of topic in romance novels. It's romantic and I felt pretty swoony about it. Both characters have had terrible childhoods, also, which means that their dream-bond has always been very important to them. I think the revelation of exactly what they've been through is handled well, without feeling like unnecessary character suffering. It's pretty matter-of-fact.

If anyone is curious, I haven't read the other books in this series, and this book seems to stand alone.