Flame and Crystal Thorns by Kay L. Moody
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I first started this book, I was unaware that there was a previous series that explained more of the back story of Chloe and Quintus’s relationship prior to the beginning of this book. As I read on, the information the author shared gave me a clear picture of the relationship and definitely made me want to read the original series to get even more information. The author was able to summarize and recap the previous book without it feeling like a recap or rehashing old information. When we meet Chloe, she is living a quiet life in the mortal realm with her family. She still has some access to magic, as she brought a book back from Fairie that helps her in her role as the apothecary, and her brother is a fae, who has masked himself to look like a mortal. She is trying to combat a strange illness that has broken out in her village, one that is similar to an illness she finds in her book from Fairie. As she is trying to save lives, Quintus arrives, demanding she return to Fairie to help the fae fight against the mortals who have attacked them, including her sister. Initially she refuses, she isn’t a fighter, she doesn’t like Quintus and distrusts his motives, and she has people to save from the illness. Unfortunately she realizes that the poison the mortals are using against the fae is poisoning Fairie and it has seeped into the mortal realm, making them extremely ill. If she wants to save her people in the mortal realm, she is going to have to go to Fairie and help fight against the mortals. Despite her physical attraction to Quintus, she doesn’t trust him and doesn’t like him. She just wants to save the fae and go home. Unfortunately the mortals are far more dangerous then she realized. . As they continue to work together and face new dangers, Chloe starts to recognize not only changes in herself, but in Quintus as well. As she starts to trust him further, she starts to realize that some of her core beliefs about herself might not be what she thought they were. The pacing of the story was excellent and the author did a great job of balancing the emotional scenes with action. I devoured the book in one sitting as I wanted to see how things ended. I can’t wait to continue the series and see how things will grow between Chloe and Quintus as they continue to fight for Fairie and the fae in it.

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