A royal wedding. A fiery heroine. And a brazen act of sabotage that could topple a kingdom.It has been five months since Clarabelle Weaver saved the life of the infamous Great Lord and happily accepted his unexpected marriage proposal. With their wedding less than a week away, she is finally stepping into the unfamiliar world beyond her village to face nobility she never knew existed.But it’s not … knew existed.
But it’s not only them who are interested in her presence.
The enemy is also stirring for this historic occasion. Their focus not on the man they see as their reviled “Dark Lord”, but on her as the young woman who supposedly carries his heir.
Clara must weave a path through attempted assassinations and poisonings whilst also proving to the court that she’s suitable to become their ruler’s Great Lady… all before taking their vows. But has her training prepared her for an attack that could send the kingdom into war?
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Dark One’s Bride by Aldrea Alien is an amazing story that I have read. This is book number two in this amazing series that I have read from the very begining and loved it. I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about fantasy and sweet romance.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Lucias and Clara’s journey continue in this book. I would say that I was half disappointed with this book, I thought it would’ve been better than the first. Well yes, there are some very interesting things happened but then again, overall it was just a bit letdown!
The plot still hasn’t changed from the first book, it was still the same. The story still focuses on Lucias’ life, Lucias’ mother, and then the whole thing about getting an heir. But this time around, the main target was Clara instead of Lucias. There is nothing so surprising on why Lucias’ mother sent her assassins to go after Clara, and why she specifically targeted Clara. It was the same reason as to why she wanted Lucias dead back in the first book.
The talk about the heir still continue even in this book, I get why it’s important but I just hope the author shortens it instead of expanding the subject. There are other important things to talk about too.
It was great to see the little changes the author made in this one, such as having the story taking place in Endlight and learning the traditions and cultures the Endlight people follows. Endlight was nice, but it wasn’t that great like the Citadel.
I feel like the Citadel is far more safer than Endlight. Too many assassinations attempt were made on Clara’s life there. It was supposed to be the safest place according to Lucias, well the story proved him wrong. They should’ve gone back to the Citadel, but then again chances for the assassins to attack them out there is high. I really miss the Citadel, that is the most safest place in my opinion compared to Endlight. I hope the third book will take place there again, but I had a feeling it will mainly taking place in Ne’ermore.
There was a lot of actions in this book too than in the first one which makes it more interesting. The pacing was slow, and some parts are just aren’t necessary to be included in the story. There are so many filler contents and that’s what makes me lose interest halfway reading it, but I still keep on going just because I want to know how it ends for Lucias and Clara. Also, the addition of Lucias’ new power was very delightful to see, it just shows how powerful he is, making him more intimidating to most people. He really lived up to his nickname the ‘Dark One.’ But I prefer the ‘Great Lord’ title than the ‘Dark One’ for him.
This book introduced some new faces, especially Thalia who is Thad’s wife. I wasn’t sure about her at first but I was glad that she can be trusted. As for Thad, he’d changed a little bit here. He was more resentful and just purely annoyed at Clara. So…I was wary of him the whole time, afraid that he will betray Lucias and Clara. And then there is Brenna, her appearance in the story is nothing major but she became a nice woman with kind attitude. I liked her little friendship with Clara, how she stood up for Clara during one particular scene, that was truly nice of her to defend Clara. I grew to like her, and hope to see more of her friendship with Clara in the next book.
Lenora doesn’t appeared at all in this book, which was a so disappointing to me. I expect her to show her face at least once, after all she is still a big threat to Lucias and Clara. She planned everything from afar, and I’m sure the author save Lenora’s major role for the final book. I hope to see a big showdown between Lenora and Lucias—maybe Clara can join too. Her motive still remain the same, so I’m worried what might happen to Lucias and Clara, especially Clara because of the ending.
Lucias and Clara both had their own time to develop. Lucias has become a very nice, caring man and Clara has improved a lot too. I really liked the development for Clara’s character, she’d become so much better than she was in the first book. She remind me a lot of my favorite female protagonists; fierce and brave, and didn’t like going out without her weapon. I was really happy seeing how much she has improved, especially her fighting skills. She may not be a pro like Lucias, but at least she know how to fight now, and always had her training.
As for Lucias, he has become more happy and nicer than usual, so it was kind of weird to see him smiling and be happy all the time. I much prefer this side of Lucias than seeing him frown, and giving people one of his best dark look that can basically kill people. There are parts where Lucias was shifting to his scary side and used his power to confront the assassins who tried to hurt Clara, that scene alone shows just how much power he has and that it won’t be easy for Lenora and her minions to kill him. But still, I’m scared for both his and Clara’s life.
Their relationship has a better development, but still I find it weird how Clara, a 17-year-old girl is already getting married to Lucias, a 26-year-old man. As much as I loved how sweet their relationship is, the age gap still makes me feel weird about it. Their romance was blooming in this one, at least here they had a lot of time to be together and spend most of their time exploring Endlight. I loved how protective Lucias was toward Clara and vice versa. And as for Clara, she has become so possessive of Lucias, that was a new side of Clara that the author showed in this book. It was nice to see these two become so close after what went down with them in the first book, and to see their relationship developing into something more was kind of beautiful. They have a better chemistry here and I’m looking forward to see what will happens to them next.
This book wasn’t as great as the first one, but I was hoping it will get better in the next installment. There are so many things that need to be solved, and the ending made me anxious because it wasn’t the ending that I expected. I have so many questions but I’m just gonna have to wait and see what the author will do with Lucias and Clara’s story next.
DARK ONE’S BRIDE continues where book one (Dark One’s Mistress) finished, with a five-month gap. We rejoin Clara as she travels to Endlight to be reunited with Lucias and prepare for their wedding. Attitudes need to be adjusted all round, as Lucias needs to realise he can’t just throw his life away recklessly, and Clara has to join in with the other noblewomen.
It was great to see Brenna had improved from book one. I found her to be a bit too obvious in that book, so to see this new side of her was delightful. I just hope she remains trustworthy in the last book.
There is a lot of action in this book, with many assassination attempts on Clara. There is also Thalia giving birth to Thad’s son, which freaks Clara out as it doesn’t go ‘normally’. I found this to be refreshingly honest! How many 17-year-olds do you know that would accept that sort of birth without it raising concerns and questions?!?!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I want Clara and Lucias to return to the Citadel. Endlight is good, but the Citadel is their home. This book does end on a cliffhanger so I’m hoping book three won’t be long to arrive.
Absolutely recommended by me.
I liked this book. It was interesting although it ended on a cliffhanger. I can’t wait to read the next one.