Jeaniene Frost - Into the Fire

For nearly six hundred years, Vlad Tepesh cared for nothing, so he had nothing to lose. His brutal reputation ensured that all but the most foolhardy stayed away. Now falling in love with Leila has put him at the mercy of his passions. And one adversary has found a devastating way to use Vlad’s new bride against him.
A powerful spell links Leila to the necromancer Mircea. If he suffers or dies, so does she. Magic is forbidden to vampires, so Vlad and Leila enlist an unlikely guide as they search for a way to break the spell. But an ancient enemy lies in wait, capable of turning Vlad and Leila’s closest friends against them…and finally tearing the lovers apart forever.

Comment: Here's finally the last installment in the Night Prince series, a spin off of the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. This book took some time to be released, by reasons explained by the author in a note in the beginning of the book. Still, no matter exterior facts, the reality is this book, to me, wasn't as amazing as others by her have been.

In this book, Leila and Vlad are almost catching up with Mircea, Vlad's nephew and their enemy for the past books. There is a necromancer spell connecting Mircea and Leila and if one dies, so does the other, so out couple wants to find a way to break the spell and a clue takes Leila into finding more about her heritage and what she finds out will have interesting repercussions...

But will the path towards finding a solution be without its own risks? What about the price demanded of them and their friends?

I mostly didn't think this was a perfect story because despite the adventures, despite the acceptable drama that a situation like Leila's could provoke, I still think their relationship wasn't well portrayed and if it had been, then everything else would have felt better too.

Their connection just didn't seem very strong in this book even considering the love acts they dedicated to one another. I guess I needed them to interact more often or, at least, in a way that would be more obvious showing their love and devotion. Their interactions felt a bit too cold at times and even the intimate moments between them seemed rather clinical.

The plot had its moments. Of course finding a way to solve the curse while discovering a bit more about Leila's ancestors was interesting but these actions led to a path I confess I'm not overly fond of, namely because we get to see some choices I find to be expected but still not necessary.

I can understand why certain actions took place. I also can understand why we would have the need to know a stronger base when it comes to follow some of the characters' choices and that definitely happens when we have Leila meeting someone from her family and why the conversations with her sister go the way they do but... I just can't help thinking that all the new knowledge we get isn't very linear or easily inserted into the story. It's like different parts of the whole thing were given step by step but not in a continuous way. I feel almost dissociated from the general plot and that sort of ruined the reading for me a bit.

I mean, I can't really complain because there is drama, emotion, fun scenes, key characters we care about and even one or two clues about things to come, which, by what happens to Ian, will be a great starting point for the next spin off, featuring him and Veritas, a character we've met before but that here got a slightly more important role.

But overall, things simply didn't go as smoothly and romantically as I imagined, considering this is the last installment in a series that features characters inserted in a romance genre too.

I think that, after four books, this story had its moments but I definitely expected more romance. More brightness than just Leila's personality. Because at the end of the day, no matter plots and ideas, this would be about redeeming Vlad and seeing him become a happier person because he found the perfect mate and there were times that it wasn't obvious.

Grade: 6/10