Wendy reviews ‘Twenty-One Arrow Salute: An Order Series Novella Book 2.5 (The Order) by Kasia Bacon. Published June 11, 2018
Verhan Tŭrryés of Black Mountain is a handful.
Freshly enlisted in the Highland Regiment, he does all he can to steer clear of responsibility and commitment. Just not his cup of mead, that. Loose of tongue and even looser of morals, he rarely misses an opportunity to get into trouble—and into the other archers’ knickers, too.
In a unit composed almost entirely of Dark Elves, Hernan Seinnés, with his green eyes and auburn hair, is an outsider. When Verhan, up the creek again, is blackmailed into helping Hernan, he never expects to fall for him. But during the long hours spent training Hernan for the Honour Guard, feelings strike the Highlander right in the heart—and with the force of an arrow.
Unversed in relationships, Verhan finally plucks up enough courage to tell Hernan how he feels, only to drive the Asirhwӱnian away instead. If Verhan can swallow his pride, he might get one last chance to show Hernan what he means to him—and maybe this time he can hit the mark.
A copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
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I’m a HUGE fan of the Order series so I was especially excited when given the opportunity to review this latest installment.
To read the guest post for this release click HERE there are a few days left for the giveaways in that post as well so be sure to check that out!
The world that Kasia Bacon has created for this series is one of my favorite fantasy worlds. I love that these are novella length stories and that I can get a glimpse of so many different characters and their lives. Kasia is brilliant at giving us readers enough to fill out the story and yet still have us want it to continue in the next episode.
Verhan is such an interesting character. He’s quick with the wit and quips as well as getting himself into trouble. He was hilarious more times than I could count. He’s young and gets into all the angsty feelings that young people do. Having said that, I was impressed with how grown up he was in recognizing and admitting those feelings. He is true to his Highland heritage and I was delighted at the way the author snuck in her skillz at linguistics when he was teaching Hernan the Mountain dialect.
Hernan is a character that makes you cheer him on to the greatness you know he can achieve. Sweet, dedicated to his craft, young (and again with the feels much the same as Verhan). The difference being, he’s not one of the Dark Elves that make up the majority of the guard. His language is different, his stature is smaller than the Dark Elves and he has to work twice as hard in order to fit in. Yet somehow Hernan and Verhan become quick friends and awkwardly tip-toe around their growing attraction to each other.
This story is a great way to peek at more of the inner workings of the ‘Queens Gaurds’, their traditions and the way they work together. It is the story of a budding romance but it’s light reading. Nothing very deep happens but it doesn’t have to. It felt to me like one more piece of the puzzle that is the ‘Order’ world and its inhabitants.
10/10 Pots of Gold or 100% recommended
A linguist and an avid reader with a particular fondness for fantasy and paranormal genres, KASIA BACON lives in London with her husband. When not tearing her hair out over a translating project, she writes stories about the shenanigans of emotionally constipated assassins and sexy Elves. Otherwise, she can be found shaking her loins at a Zumba class, binging on anime or admiring throwing knives on Pinterest. She has a mild coffee and lemon tart addiction. A lover of MMA and Muay Thai, she also enjoys nature and the great outdoors. She dreams of becoming independently wealthy, leaving the city and moving into her wooden mini-manor—located in the heart of stunning forests resembling those of the Elven Country depicted in her tales.
Find Kasia online:
Rainbow Gold Reviews 