*3.5

I've been wanting to read this since it was mentioned from previous books about Aidan's reincarnations and Regin are destined to be together but ended up in tragedy every damn time so what if... it doesnt this time? What if he wants to kill her instead? Of course, Kresley Cole did it again so she decided that this is the angstiest book in the series!!! I couldn't put it down until I savored everything within the pages. Got me down so baaaaaad 😩

Content Warning - there's a lot of stuff going on in this story, and if you haven't read or discussed IAD, I'd not start here. Okay, still with me? I loved this book! I'm a sucker for books where fate or a curse drags lovers apart, but I also crave knowing there will be a HEA at the end of the road so my poor little heart can take the wild ride. We've met Regin the Radiant in many of the other IAD books, and as a huge fan of the Valkyrie in general, I've been eager to get her story. As far as I knew up to this point Regin is kickass, she exudes a beautiful glow, is thousands of years old, and has a fated mate who has been tracking her across the centuries in different reincarnations. Catnip for me. We meet Regin as a 12yo, having just left Valhalla to help her sister Lucia defeat the evil Cruach (read more about this in Pleasure of a Dark Prince). Hungry and looking for some shelter, she stumbles upon Aidan the Conqueror's court. He's 30ish, a "Berserker," beautiful, and a total womanizer. Until he sees Regin and recognizes her as his fated mate. Yes, this is gross. Regin is a child, but I didn't feel Aidan sexualized her at this point. He simply realized who she was and offered her, albeit in a condescending way, a place to stay, a place to learn. So, yeesh, but I guess Stephanie Meyer already desensitized me to this (also yikes, but whatevs). Eventually Regin grows into a beautiful, powerful warrior, reconnects with Aidan, who promises he will make her fall in love with him after two months. He resists allowing her to fight, keeping her in bed chamber as he tries to achieve Ohalla (immortality granted from the Norse Gods). SEven months in she hasn't yet fallen in love with him, but they've been doing all the bed stuff besides penetration. Lots of lust between them. Alas, when they finally complete the act while Aidan is in a BeserkRage (sp??), he is murdered immediately after they finish. Yikes. Turns out Regin is cursed to find the reincarnation of Aidan through the years. When she kisses him, he'll remember Aidan, and then he immediately dies after they have sex for the first time. We again meet up with Regin as she is kidnapped by the Magister, Declan Chase, who we hate from Demon from the Dark. She recognizes him as Aidan, and thinks she can help herself and the other Lore who are trapped with her on Torture Island escape by kissing him, by making him have sex with her. But, as it plays out, Regin was never truly in love with Aidan or any of the other reincarnates. She, through some very clever and hard won machinations from Kresley Cole, falls in love with Declan. Despite his torturing of the Lore, the vivisection, her capture, her own torture. He's an addict, he's tortured himself, he's imperfect, but he turns out to be perfect for her. I had a really hard time with the vivisection parts, especially when Declan has to hold Regin as she is repaired from the hack job done to her. SO GROSS. I'm so squicky about this stuff. Ugh. I didn't think I could ever forgive him. And while I did want him to crawl even more than he did, I did believe in their HEA. This is such a great book, and it is so long, and I was intrigued to know this is ultimately a huge prolouge for Lothaire, which is NEXT. OMG. Lothaire was hilarious in this book, along with the rest of the cast of characters. I'm eager to read more about poor teen baby Thad, he of the back pack of beer, condoms, and cologne. Dead. Loving the Fated Mates Podcast!