Erik the Tempered (Dokiri Brides Book 2) by Denali Day

5 Stars

The writing and editing in the ARC version of the manuscript was clean and lyrical, with no typos that I found and beautifully constructed sentences. The world building in this novel was even better than that in the first novel in this series, with the mountains, under dwellers, and other Dokiri tribes coming to vivid life. The characterization was excellent, with both hero and heroine being complex, sympathetic individuals with strengths and weaknesses. The development of the romantic relationship between the hero and heroine was better in this second novel than the first, with simmering attraction and sexual tension sizzling away in the background, even though there were no on-page sexy times. The tension between these two characters made their romance much more satisfying for this reader. The plot and pacing were exciting and quick, meaning I flew through reading this novel. There was little angst and very high stakes in this novel, which is one of my preferred narrative structures for a romance novel. This novel used the Accidental Bride trope. The world building, plot, and pacing were all five stars in this novel. The characterization and development of the romantic relationship were also five stars in this novel. I gave this novel a combined score of five stars, therefore. This novel was significantly better than the first novel in this series, which was already really good. This novel ends on a Happy Ever After ending instead of a cliffhanger, which is a big plus. I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys fantasy novels or romance novels. This novel has strong cross-genre appeal, in my opinion. I look forward to reading the next novel in this series when it releases, and I will definitely buy myself a keeper copy of this novel.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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