Slaying the Shadow Prince by Helen Scheuerer marks the final release in the five book Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series of stand-alone books.
Each book is written by a different author, and there is a strong lineup of authors that had me very much interested in reading all of these books as soon as they were announced. Funny enough with this being the final one to release, it’s actually also my first read of the five, because TBR problems am I right? Happily for this being my introduction of sorts into the series of books, it was very much an enjoyable read and only convinced me I wanted to read the others even more.
Slaying the Shadow Prince follows the story of Drue and Talemir through alternating POV chapters. A little tidbit I found very enjoyable was that it takes place in the same world as Helen Scheuerer’s new series Blood & Steel, another fantasy read that I couldn’t put down. As a result, there are a few nods to this book if you’ve read it, which brought even more entertainment to the book for me, particularly as there are some familiar faces that make appearances. Talemir and Wilder have come to investigate accusations of the special steel reserved for their warriors, Warswords, being tampered with, where they come across Drue, the accused in question. While investigating this, some villagers go missing and they set out to rescue them together, butting heads all the while after Drue discovers the secret Talemir is hiding from everyone, even his comrade.
They have to work passed there disdain for one another and a different kind of tension ensues which makes for some spicy reading that any enemies to lovers fan is going to want to pounce on. Slaying the Shadow Prince is such a fast paced, quickly enthralling read that I opened this book up and basically got through the majority of it in one shot without even realizing it. I really loved the combative nature of Talemir and Drue’s relationship with one another, being a huge fan of enemies to lovers I was such a sucker for it. And both characters are such badasses that I was immediately very much invested in both of them, as well as the bond that quickly formed between them. They are both such interesting characters to read POVs from so I loved every minute of this book and was sad to see it come to an end.
Slaying the Shadow Prince was a nice, quick read and served to amp up my excitement for both the next installment in the Blood & Steel series, and also to dive into more of these standalone books in the Mortal Enemies to Monster Lovers series. I can’t wait to see what the other authors involved came up with, because Helen Scheuerer knocked it out of the park!
