The Strategist (WaterFyre Rising Book 5) by Nadia Han – Review by Ayla Phipps

The Strategist by Nadia Han
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Everything and more. This is the first book I have read by the incredibly talented Nadia Han though I have several of her books on my tbr, this was the first and I was over the moon with it. Yes, this is book five in the WaterFyre Rising series, but each book can be read as a standalone. I wasn’t confused or lost on anything, and it was explained what the previous four couples did to warrant the Trogyn being after him and his friends. Dual perspective of Arrow Holt and Vivian Vo.
Arrow has many accomplishments and interests including wine and video games. The one thing he wants is her. Vivian Vo is an accomplished pediatric dentist and martial arts master. Her childhood led her to mastering self defense and teaching others. So much in her life could be different if she and her mother knew those skills back then. After uprooting her entire life and putting it on hold to move across the country to find a kidnapped nine-year-old girl the unexpected shows up along the way. Seeing Arrow makes her have a flutter and spark of something she long thought was lost, something she could never get back when the scars were burned into her body long ago. Arrow thought he could have anything and everything he wanted until he found someone that matched his scarred soul, that awakened a part of him he never knew was there and only there for her. Thanks to Kaylee, the thirteen-year-old girl that Vivian is the guardian of, things progress faster in some ways than they could have. Vivian is forced to feel and not judge with her eyes as she begins to fall for “Bullseye” Arrow, while also battling herself about their actual encounters. Arrow falls for “Tulip” Vivian quickly and goes the distance to prove he is all in. When her past comes knocking, she worries more about how Arrow and those around her than herself.
Will Arrow run when he sees her scars as others had? Can Vivian let her walls down and finally trust someone again? This world is outside, maybe not in my personal experience but with how the world is I feel at least one person has lived this life or is living it now. The characters burrow into your heart, you feel their pain and their fear, but the author also makes you feel their hope and love as they break down their walls. Knowing up front from the tropes on that they get there happily ever after builds suspense and fear on how they will reach it. I cannot wait to see whose story comes next in book six, The Protégé, October 29th, 2024. Now to go back and dive into the other four books and see how his friends found their happily ever after.

View all my reviews