What a beautiful relationship these two have!

Ashe and Katsu had some struggles in the first book, but it felt so much worse this time. Especially since some of these struggles were sort of between them, or at least about them, not something from the outside they were fighting against together. Also, I said it in my last review and I’ll say it again here: Poor Ashe! He just cannot catch a break! I want nothing but good things for him from here on out! That is genuinely not a complaint about the book, it was great, but I just felt so bad for him. Seeing him so down was especially bad because he’s the sunshine one of the grumpy/sunshine pair.

But (as the reader, I don’t know about the characters) the struggles were worth it. Because what they went through made them grow and realize what they really wanted and needed. And their relationship was so beautiful, and they got the beautiful ending they deserved.

I feel like the sex got even hotter too? Maybe because there was more intimacy and love and meaning behind it. This wasn’t just sex, this was beautiful sex. It was the way they viewed each other, just as much as it was the sex itself.

Ashe and Katsu were both great characters who felt unique and have managed to stand out in my mind. Katsu was so cranky and grumpy and oftentimes a jerk to people, he definitely had his flaws, but he did want to help people, and he loved Ashe and ultimately was there for him. Ashe was spirited and enthusiastic and loved more openly, and he just wanted to have adventures and travel around with the little family of mercenaries he’d found.

The dragon may have been my favorite character though. Ok, that does a disservice to how wonderful Ashe and Katsu were as characters, but this dragon! She was like a child-sized, particularly bad-tempered and disgruntled cat that could also fly, but her antics were hilarious, and she had her sweet moments, especially as the bond between her and Ashe strengthened.

This was another collection of shorts, but I listened with a screen reader, and it didn’t read the story titles, so I honestly didn’t even know when one ended and another began. To me, it all flowed together just like any book would.

The story had parts that were slower and more focused on emotion and relationship and inner things. And it had parts that were focused on action and danger. But even the action and danger never lost that important emotional/relationship element, the growth or the stakes that made the action and danger matter so much beyond just risk of pain/death.

To be honest, I’m a little sad there won’t be more books about these two. But overall, these characters were wonderful, their relationship had struggles but also so much love, and I’m glad I got to join them on their journey!

Trigger/Content Warnings: *SPOILER* Miscarriage / still birth, and it gets fed to a dragon (all off-page but briefly talked about). *END SPOILER*

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2022 // Format: Ebook via TTS*