An elven assassin. A dragon prince. Three days they had together. Three days was not enough. There’s a traitor among the elves. A traitor who will stop at nothing to see Eroan pay for the crime of loving a dragon, and Eroan Ilanea will pay with blood.Lysander has never been free to choose his fate. That is about to change. Finally, he learns what it means to be emerald, but knowledge is power, … emerald, but knowledge is power, and power whispers its seductive curse into the ear of a broken prince.
Elf and dragon.
Leaders, lovers, fighters.
Fates entwined.
But as the dragonkin rise under a new king, will Eroan’s and Lysander’s boundless love save the world or destroy it forever?
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The devastating and emotional bestselling Silk & Steel series concludes in Blood & Ice.
Silk & Steel is a m/m dark fantasy. The series has triggering content.
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This is the last book in the Silk and Steel trilogy, and what an emotional ride it has been. In this latest, Lysander knows he has to heal and know what it is to be an emerald dragon before he can be with Eroan, and Eroan must deal with the fallout of a traitor in the midst of the elves. As always with a book by this author, from the beginning to the end, there were so many moments that tore out my heart and stomped it to pieces. Then before I knew it, the pieces were put back together again just for the cycle to start all over again. This author knows how to play your emotions like a fiddle, and this one was great from beginning to end: tears, laughter, love, steamy scenes, great characters, and a roller coaster ride. I can’t wait to read more. Highly recommend! I was provided a copy and voluntarily left a review.
WOW! Talk about an epic story spread over 3 books, and you have the Silk and Steel series by Ariana Nash. Nash’s world building is exceptional, and her characters are breathtaking! They are beautifully flawed in the most perfect ways. Each damaged, and some broken, yet they each play a part in the conclusion of this masterfully crafted tale.
Nash is wickedly cruel, yet the end result is something full of hope and joy. Her characters are tempered with adversity, yet they each manage to find the grace to rise above and be something better.
I don’t have any more words to convey the emotional response Nash was able to create in Blood & Ice. I will say there were tears and a book hangover. I HAD to know what happened next, but I didn’t want the story to end – EVER!
I don’t want to give anything away, so you’re just going to have read the conclusion of Silk and Steel yourself.
This entire series grabbed ahold of me and refused to let go. Just get the whole series if you love dragons, wars, stealthy elves, romance, hot sex, tear-jerking moments, and are willing to not sleep until you finish reading all three books about Lysander and Eroan and their fight for freedom and acceptance in an unforgiving world.
When I got my copy of the book I was incredibly excited. My plans were to ignore the world and just read it all in one sitting. And then my need to know what happens with Eroan and Lysander started battling my fear of the ending. What if they don’t survive? What if only one of them survives? Or Lysander succumbs to whatever it is that an emerald is and becomes something evil and Eroan is forced to kill him? These questions made me want to hide from the world and to put the book down in the quieter moments (when Eroan and Lysander were together and happy) just so I could pretend that they’ll get a HEA. I know this author’s other works and a HEA is in no way guaranteed. In fact her characters usually don’t get one so the pressure was real. I kept waiting for the moment when it will all go wrong and won’t ever get right again. Will Eroan and Lysander get their HEA, will they even survive? You’ll have to read the book to find out.
Masterful! A deliciously dark conclusion to this fantastic fantasy series! I loved the twists and turns so unpredictable and exciting. The ending left the series open for more and I can’t wait to discover more from this world of dragons and elves.
Just – wow, this book is everything! Epic fantasy adventure with a sexy af elf and a devastatingly gorgeous dragon, some amazing supporting characters and some despicable bad guys.
The tension, emotion and lust that was poured into every interaction between Lysander and Eroan, that filled every paragraph, shaped every line and breathed life into every word between them was unparalleled. This pair of star-crossed lovers gave so much of themselves for others, again and again and again. They bled metaphorically and physically for those who didn’t understand nor always accepted them. And they never gave up. Not on their hopes and not on each other. I tell you this pair made Romeo and Juliet look like amateurs.
It felt like something strummed between them, an understanding, or maybe something more, something deeper than that, something soulbound.
I loved this book so much. Every. Single. Amazing. Word.
There are so many great characters, some you like and others you loathe. Two in particular needed to earn redemption for past actions. The dramatic difference between how each one of this pair accepted their lot, coped with their pain and chose which path to tread was so amazingly portrayed. One earned himself a second chance, he sacrificed himself for the good of others, he learnt new things about both himself and those around him. The other would never take any responsibility for his actions, instead seeking to place the blame elsewhere and wasting his what should have been on what might have been. That was some deep message there about owning your actions and righting your wrongs.
“What by Alumn are you all gawking at?” Seraph’s sharp bark delivered a startling amount of authority. “There are bodies to burn, you know.”
Eroan and Lysander are equally powerful characters, finally finding their own place in the world and the strength to be who their heart wants them to be. It is a journey fraught with pain, regret, betrayal, pride, hurt, hope, love and friendship. It’s a journey that will see your heart break and remake, probably more than once! Never have two men fought so hard for their HEA, and my word they deserve every single second of it.
“Is that really appropriate. You being undeniably dragon,” he gestured at Lysander and then made a show of sweeping at himself, “and me being exquisitely elf?”
Though I’m not sure how long their peace will last based on that final conversation, you wicked tease Ms Nash!
to hear that laugh a hundred times over. A thousand times, if he could. They had the whole day, the night too. Maybe this time, they had forever?
It wasn’t until I discovered Ariana (Pippa) that I ever truly understood the reader’s desire to save the characters from the author. Here we are now in the third and final book and I once again found myself pulled right back into Eroan and Lysander’s fight to save themselves and those they love. If you enjoyed the first two books you’ll absolutely love this one, after your heart has recovered from the death defying rollercoaster ride this book will take you on.
Finally, we get to see Lysander and Eroan fighting for each other and to be together. Yes, they fulfill their obligations to the elves and to the dragons respectively BUT then they throw all the naysayers the proverbial middle finger and demand that people either accept them together or back off.
Akiem, oh Akiem let me count the ways you broke my heart, I never thought after the first book, that I would ever cry for you, but I did.
I screamed at my Kindle, I laughed out loud, my poor dog thinks I’m nuts, but that is okay because this story, all three, have been worth having my heart stuffed through a meat grinder. 10/10 will reread at least twice more before the end of the month!
Disclaimer: Yes I did receive an ARC copy for me to review, I have also had this book on pre-order since it was announced and am happily paying for my own copy!