Review
The Monster Lady  

Book Review: “Lady Night” by Rita A. Rubin

It’s book review time! Yay!

About the Book:

Derek Draco is finally learning to put the past behind him and enjoy life with his friends and as a Guardian. But when news of a string of recent murders reaches them, Derek finds himself having to return to the place he had hoped to never set foot in again—Windfell. The town where his parents died.

Meanwhile, Jared, the Prince of Aloseria and Derek’s best friend, finds himself helping to uncover a sinister plot brewing in the shadows. It soon becomes clear that not only could the fate of their world be under threat, but that dark plans may lie in wait for his friend.

Lady Night will be the second instalment in the Chronicles of the Guardians series.

Lady Night

Book Title: Lady Night

Author(s): Rita A. Rubin

Series (if applicable): Chronicles of the Guardians, #2

Thank you for joining me on my stop for the “Lady Night” book tour organised by the lovely folks at Escapist Book Tours. If you’ve been following me for a while, you may remember that I reviewed the first book in this series (“Amulet of Wishes”) last year, back when I wasn’t so lazy and I actually streamed/recorded videos.

I really enjoyed “Amulet of Wishes” as I’m a sucker for a ‘found family’ tale and dragons, and “Amulet of Wishes” had both, so I was really excited for book two!

Characters:

We get to catch up with our three dragon-shifting friends from the first book (Derek, Jared, and Arabelle) here as well as new faces and some returning supporting characters. It had been around 6 or 7 months since I’d read “Amulet of Wishes”, so I read the first page of this thinking “who are these people?” and “What is going on?”, but Rita A Rubin quickly brought these characters to life again, giving each one clear motivations and a clear personality. The only thing I struggled with a bit was the ages of the main characters. Sometimes they seemed quite young, but at other points they were doing/saying things that were quite mature. I guess as late teens they’re at that ‘in between’ age, but my brain had a few confused moments (to be fair, that happens a lot).

I love a baddie, and Draken is fantastic. I loved reading about him and it was interesting to see what was driving him forward. He’s not the only antagonist in “Lady Night” (we’re treated to a few – Rubin was really spoiling us!), but he was my favourite. My dark little heart lit up whenever he turned up on the page. I can’t wait to see what happens with his character. I also hope that something awful happens to him, because he deserves it. 

Plot:

While “Lady Night” does continue on from “Amulet of Wishes”, it’s very much a story in its own right. Our three main characters are split into two groups, with Derek and Arabelle going off to solve some murders in Derek’s hometown, and Jared (and some other very interesting characters!) start by tracking down some escaped prisoners.

I thought Rita A Rubin tackled Derek’s reaction at being back home again really well, dealing with a sensitive topic in a well thought out way.

As for the murders… Near the beginning, I guessed who the murderer was, but then changed my mind towards the end, only to find that I’d been right to start off with! So now I’m not sure whether I should be proud of myself or not.

Not only does “Lady Night” feature dragons, magic, escaped convicts, and some murders, but Rita A Rubin also manages to include some more of my favourite fantasy creatures/people, such as werewolves, vampires, and gargoyles. 

Pacing:

I read this in one day. I couldn’t put it down! I guess that means the pacing was spot on!

Other thoughts:

While I loved “Amulet of Wishes”, I think “Lady Night” was even better. It really feels like Rita A Rubin has found her voice and knows the world she’s created inside and out.

Give it some stars:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Want to visit the author? Here’s a good place to start…

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ritarubin9
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ritarubin9/

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