May
I received this book for free from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Crown of Crimson by Karina Halle Series: Underworld Gods #2
on May 23, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 359
Format: ARC
Source: Social Butterfly PR
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The next thrilling instalment in the Underworld Gods series. Perfect for readers who want high steam Hades/Persephone and Beauty and the Beast vibes with a dark Nordic folklore twist.
All Hanna Heikkinen wants is to be reunited with her father again. After all, that's why she ventured into the dark and dangerous fantasy world of Tuonela, the Land of the Dead, in order to save his life. But this time her devotion to her father comes at a cost---her growing relationship with Tuoni, the God of Death himself, who held Hanna captive in exchange for her father's life. The last thing she expects is to feel remorse at how she left things with Death, yet the dark and sexy God is all she can think about.
Death has always prided himself on never trusting the living, but Hanna's apparent betrayal has left a scar fathom's deep. Vowing revenge on his future bride, and making sure she upholds her end of the bargain, Death sets out across his realm to steal Hanna back, which only fans the flames between them. But Death and Hanna aren't just fighting each other---malevolent Old Gods are rising to power within the realm, magic is being poisoned, and buried secrets are brought to light, secrets that may cause Hanna to lose everyone she loves dear once again.
After absolutely devouring the first book in this series ‘River of Shadows’, I simple couldn’t wait to get my hands on book two. I’ve been waiting patiently (not really) for the moment the book arrived on my kindle. The Underworld Gods series is a fantasy, romance series that definitely blows your mind. And I for one.. Can’t wait to get my hands on some paperbacks.
In ‘Crown of Crimson’ we continue right where ‘River of Shadows ended. Hanna disappears to find her father, at expense of her growing relationship with Tuoni, a.k.a. Death. Although Hanna can’t feel sorry to take the chance to find her father, she also feels remorseful to know that Death will not understand why she left. Now Death is determined to find Hanna again, and make her pay for leaving him behind. But their battle is not the only one being fought. And soon they have to forget their differences and make a plan for what is to come.
From the very first page in this book, I was completely sucked back into the world of Hanna and Tuoni. I’m always a bit afraid that it will take me some time to remember everything from the previous book, but somehow it instantly came back to me and I was right back into this world. And what a crazy wonderful world it is.
‘Crown of Crimson’ is written through both Hanna and Death’s point of view. And I loved that. I was just amazing to read this story through both their eyes. And it made me love these characters more and more. While Hanna is running away from Death, Death is doing everything in his power to get her back. And when he finds her, things are definitely tense. But also good.. Well.. you’ll just have to read it.
This book is filled with action, suspense and mystery. I loved all aspects of this story and enjoyed every moment of being back into this fantasy world. But above all the connection between Hanna and Death was intense and simple amazing. Their chemistry is flying of these pages, and I simple couldn’t get enough of them. There are plenty of sexy, toe curling moments. And one slightly disturbing, but still pretty interesting moment.. That I promise you’ll never think you’d read. I mean.. wow.
Just like with ‘River of Shadows’, this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. And although I mostly really find those frustrating, I’ll have to admit it is the perfect ending of this book. ‘Crown of Crimson’ was an amazing and easily given 5 star read. I can’t wait to read book three!!
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Check out my review of book one in this series:
About Karina Halle
Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist & screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling author of over 55 bestselling novels, ranging from horror and suspense to contemporary romance. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, and her adopted pitbull Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.
Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette & Montlake. Her work has been translated and published in 20 languages.
I received an ARC of this book by Social Butterfly PR.
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Maureen is a mom, wife, nurse, and Ravenclaw living in the Netherlands. She spends her days juggling mom-life, reading, blogging, planning date nights with her husband and working as a nurse. Maureen also is a big Anglophile, loves cooking, Gilmore Girls, Bridgerton and Harry Potter.. Always! Facebook | Instagram
I have heard great things about this author but don’t remember seeing much of this series around. This sounds like a great book!
It really was a great read. Very different from other books I read by her though.
I love the cover and the premise does sound very intriguing!
I enjoyed reading this enthusiastic review of yours, it makes me want to go and check out the series!
Elza Reads
Thank you Mareli. It really was a great read I’d definitely recommend.