I dropped into this world cold, having not read book#1 (bad Nikki)!  However I was soon at home in this world of magic, shadows and epic adventures.  I soon felt that I had traversed the world with Wren, Finn, Elodie and co.  I soon new their quirks and habits and what buttons we should NOT push!

Learning about the various courts and politicking between witches and animosity but political niceties between kingdoms.  It was like medieval Europe had come to life on the pages - just with a bit more magic added! 

I really felt for Wren, she's so used to being free to do what she wants, she feels trapped in "her" castle.  But she still manages to undertake little rebellions to annoy The Maidens et al.  I did wonder how she'd react to all the royal retinue and she handled just as I thought she would, with huge disdain!

As in life nothing is completely black and white, good or evil.  You can see how both sides in this tale feel they are the good guys.  There is going to have to be a lot of compromise made to keep any kind of peace!

Spicy but not heavily so.  There are a lot of what I would call "hand clenching" Mr Darcy moments by Finn and to a certain extent Roland.  There is a big cliffhanger but the 3rd book is out soon so there won't be a huge wait to see where things go.