The favorite uncle and chief advisor of Ylandre's monarch, Yovan Seydon was envied and desired by many in the kingdom. As dashing and handsome as he was rich and powerful, Yovan was of impeccable lineage, a member of the Ardan's inner circle and possessed of both brains and brawn. Had he not espoused himself early on, he would have been one of the most sought-after bachelors in the land. Society's grudging acceptance of his choice of mate ensured his marriage remained the subject of speculation and puzzlement to the present day.
Many could not understand why a royal-blooded aristocrat would wed a lowbred commoner however beauteous or moneyed Mered Cordona was. There simply was no wiping the social slate clean for his family whose dizzying rise to wealth and financial influence started in a moneylender's stall. Yet Yovan and Mered's decades-long marriage was the stuff that dreams were made of. A joyful and passionate union. A love match for the ages.
Or so it seemed until long-hidden truths came to light. Truths that were damning enough to shake Yovan's faith in his mate and cast doubt on their ability to rebuild the love and trust that had been the foundation of their once enviable marriage.
Comment: This is book #9 in the Chronicles of Ylandre series, featuring a hermaphrodite society in a distant future. I have enjoyed following the series, which is focused on a specific set of characters and all their familiar and political relationships.
In this new novel we finally have the story of uncle Yovan, one beloved character who has had a secondary role in pretty much all novels somehow and of whom we only knew the basics. Everyone knows Yovan, even though the son of a couple linked to the royal family but descendant from a misbehaving prince, is a well sought after party. Then, instead of rising in the ranks of the influential families, he marries instead the youngest son of one of those couple from a family in trade, not well accepted by those of purer blood. Yovan marries Mered knowing this and to honor his parents' word to that family but with time, he and Mered start to care for each other and their marriage has held for many years. However, now things are very shaky and Yovan feels he can no longer trust Mered. Will their marriage end or will they find a way to solve their issues?
Again, I was deeply immersed in reading about this world and the characters, as I have with the previous installments. I like this sense of family bonds and an incredibly complex world building the author has created. The themes might not work out for all (hermaphroditic characters, m/m romances and even mpreg) but somehow I have been delighted with the author's imagination and the only recurrent detail I would change is how sugary some wording is in regards to the sex scenes.
This is the 9th book so not the best way to start, even though it does go back several years in plot line, for it describes situations which happened before the first book, while the characters we meet there were younger. Nevertheless, I'd not start here anyway, because there are too many characters and situations referenced and a lot certainly barely makes sense. I should also say there is a lot of characters and titles and regions mentioned and it can be a bit confusing sometimes (it still is for me).
So, Yovan and Mered have been one of those consistently happy couples in the background but now it seems they are facing some problems. When the story begins we are shown a scene where they have a discussion and the vibe isn't a happy one regarding their relationship, even with the interference of their son Rysander. Then, a big part of the book is spent on explaining how and when they met, how their relationship begun and we jump through some key years, so we can also see them interacting with other characters, some of which are no longer alive in the "present".
I should say this is an understandable method to let the reader see and grasp things which telling alone might not suffice but, to me, is a little annoying. I'd certainly have preferred more present time situations and perhaps some allusions to past events, because this flashback kind of plot feels like we're spending too much time on things which can't change, which the reader can't truly follow, since it has happened already. In part, this is why lovers reunited is not the trope I like the best, it sets too heavily on past stuff.
Finally, after several chapters of watching things and seeing how their years together haven't been only sweet moments and, admittedly, we could see how they matured with time, we reach the present time of the main plot. I was looking for to follow the present events and how this would be related to what has been going on, especially if one remembers the past books. Yovan and Mered have had different professional lives and ow we can really understand how Mered's less than endorsed family has affected his behavior and mental state. It seemed that it wouldn't be such a big deal but it turns out life at work has not been that good for Mered, even though he tried to put it aside so his life and relationships with Yovan's side of the family could be easier.
One element the author seems to accomplish quite well is angst. All the stories have some silly moments, an exaggerated sugary end, but in between I love the complexity of the characters and their personalities and how angsty some situations can be, but then this is what makes the HEA feel even better, it's kind of deserved after what the characters face. In a way, this happened here for Yovan and Mered, and I've finished the book happy for their "reconnection" and even other secondary issues following that, but while I appreciated this, I could not forget a lot of the novel was spent on unchanging situations.
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