Full disclosure: While I enjoyed this book, I’m pretty sure my enjoyment was enhanced quite a bit by Joel Leslie’s narration.
Many of the things I loved so much about the first book were present in the second in spades: the great world-building and learning more about how magic works in this world, great writing and fleshed out and interesting secondary characters that add depth to the narrative. Additionally, the book used multiple POVs, which gives an even greater understanding of the motivations and feelings of secondary characters, Isaac and Daniel and of the MC Simeon. On the downside, is the fact that even in Simeon’s POV, the reader still doesn’t learn much about him except for his extreme love for Angel. I hoped to learn more about Simeon’s character/history in the second book now that his and Angel’s relationship is established, and that he would become a character in his own right, not just the perfect vampire boyfriend. However, his POV focused almost exclusively on his mate bond and the feelings caused by it and by extension his affection for Angel’s "fledglings", and while Simeon’s additional POV illustrates how well matched Angel and Simeon are, both being men with big hearts but predatory natures that are realized fully when protecting people, Simeon remains underdeveloped as a character.
While I loved most of the story and dialogue, I was a bit put off by the large amount of mate-bond inspired, hearts-in-the-eyes dialogue, something I feel is a common stumbling block in mate-bonding stories. The metaphysical enhancement of love and desire becomes so important that it almost becomes its own character as it pops up in every interaction between the MCs, especially in a book that changes POV; this is the point that Joel Leslie’s amazing narration became so important to the story for me. His accent work and voice acting in all the scenes, from action to exposition is so engaging that it helps give the proper emotional weight to words that may have felt bogged down by more mate-bond gooiness if I were simply reading them.
Fortunately, most readers probably don’t share that particular hang-up and will unreservedly enjoy this new and dangerous chapter in Angel’s life, which definitely showcases how almost ridiculously powerful he is. I think SJ Himes does a good job keeping him from being ALL powerful even though he is EXCEPTIONALLY talented, quick-witted and skilled in battle, by making sure he still has to rely on his allies’ gifts and skills to survive most conflicts. The overall character beats and interactions and the story makes this a very enjoyable read. My own personal pet peeves and the reasoning behind the mystery at the core of the story (which I won’t discuss to avoid spoilers but did leave me scratching my head a bit at the antagonist’s logic) are what kept this from being an unqualified, solid 4 star read for me.