The Frozen Prince

Noc, the leader of the assassins of Cruor, is living on borrowed time. If he fails to kill his final mark―Leena―his own life will be forfeit. With the dark magic of Curor's Oath testing his control, Noc has to fight with everything he has to keep the woman he loves safe while the exiled beast charmer would do anything to help Noc overcome the oath. When she hears of a beast rumored to have the power needed to save Noc's life, she is quick to embark on an expedition to the frozen north but what starts as a hunt for a magical beast quickly turns into Leena and her trusted band of assassins as prey. Right off the bat, ‘Frozen Prince’ continues where ‘Kingdom of Exiles’ left off with the original crew―Noc, Leena, Calem, Kost, Ozias alongside new guild recruits and we can’t forget the mystifying beasts. The author stayed true to the original novel and didn’t do anything drastic to push me away from this which is a recurrent problem with me. I tend to always love the first installment of any series but when it comes to the sequel release―dun dun dun. Additional to that, this time around the author incorporated other characters―Kost, Oz, etc.―POV’s into the mix which was a great add-on to the story. Seeing the perspective of the other characters who played a major role in finding the beast to prevent Noc from succumbing to his oath, helped create a more well-rounded story and the fact that it centralized amongst my favorite characters was a plus. It was a nice change I wasn't expecting. There were just so many good things I liked about this read―Calum struggle with his beast, Noc and Leena relationship bring pushed to the brink, a possible romantic interest in the horizon for Kost, Noc’s oath effecting his glamour and the past segments that gave us a in depth peek at Noc’s past life. Though it’s not to say this was perfect. For the beginning portion of this fantasy novel, it was a bit slow and the back and forth, I trust you but won’t tell you what I am hiding between Leena and Noc was repetitive enough to have me rolling my eyes. Nonetheless, the series did start to pick up ¾ of the way. It definitely had a Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin's Creed vibe to it as there was more action, fighting, new beast sightings, and a near life changing event that will forever change the course of their journey forever. Needless to say, after reading this in one sitting, I look forward to reading the conclusion of ‘The Beast Charmer’ series. 2021 can’t come fast enough.