Well, I am a bit disappointed that for such a futuristic book (the crew of the New Dawn have been in space for about 300 years and have another 200 years to go) had way too many patriarchal assholes. Men are the ones in power with women (mostly) in a helpmate/breeding role. Ick. 
Aries was born on the ship and had her job and husband all picked out for her. Barliss was chosen for her and all he sees in her is what she can do for him and give him. She plans her escape and reaches a desert planet Sahara 354. 
I thought that was interesting and wish more time had been spent on the natives there. Barliss (of course) comes after her and destroys what he sees as in his way. I wanted him to have either some epiphany that he was as asshole OR have something (bad) happen to him. He gets rewarded instead. I'm not sure how I feel about the ending with Tiff and Loot.
While the falling in love was fast, there wasn't much romance in this one. Overall, while I liked it, I'm not sure if I will continue on with this series. Book 2 has an overall higher average then this one, so maybe 1 more?

3,5 stars

This is the second book in a series but I haven’t read the first one and I thought it stands well as a stand alone.

I really liked the idea of minstrels who can take part on a battle with their harps. The music affects people and like a dream spells and stuff. I thought it was so cool.

I liked Valoria and she was a great heroine. She stood up to Brax, who is a battle hungry prince and only thinks about war, and cared for the common people. I liked Nathaniel and his relationship with Valoria but thought Brax a was bit too unappealing to make Nathaniel more likeable.

My one problem with the book was the ending. It just ended so abruptly that I wouldn’t have minded more pages. It’s pretty short book with 190 pages and so it easily could have been bit longer.

But otherwise I enjoyed it and I want to read the first book too.

****Full Review****

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Valoria is the princess of the House of Song and is betrothed to Brax the prince of Ebonvale. These two factions have been mistrustful of each other for years but with the army of the undead growing and getting closer and closer under the command of a necromancer, the two houses need to band together to fight. When Valoria and Nathaniel, Brax's adopted brother, meet they have an instant connection. Battling undead and attraction, Valoria, Nathaniel, and Brax must pull together to save the kingdoms and their people.
 
Orphan's Blade is the second book in the Ebonvale series and while it would be possible to start here, your best bet would be to start with the first (Minstrel's Serenade) in the series. There you'll be introduced and find more explanation to the magical world this series is set in, not to mention the importance of the relationships between most of the secondary characters and the introduction to who is our lead hero in this book. This story seems to start about 20yrs after the first book and while the wyverns (dragons) were the main villain in that one, the undead army has that role here. Everyone fears them and we get two battle scenes featuring them. There were a lot of similarities to the story structure from the first: a love triangle, a journey to acquire a special item that will defeat the villain, an orphan boy taken in, and a big ending battle scene. While the first had spark and charm, I felt this one was missing some heart.
 
In a love triangle with a very King Arthur, Genevieve, and Lancelot feel, Valoria is betrothed to Brax but finds herself drawn to Nathaniel (Nip from book one) his adopted brother. It's obvious from the beginning that Valoria and Nathaniel are our love interests but even then I felt the character of Brax was overdone in his harshness to make him more unappealing (until the very end where of course he softens to probably become future leading man bait). Valoria and Nathaniel think about how they need to avoid one another but never really take the actions to do so, they doth protest too much but still manage to always be together. Valoria was a good strong willed woman character who wanted to show her strength on the battlefield and fortunately had the skills to belong there. Nathaniel was a strong gentle soul who loved his adopted family deeply and never made the wrong decision. They were a soothing couple but won't blind you with their light.
 
The fantasy aspect, setting and magic, is done well, I could easily picture this magical medieval like world. The characters are all there but lacked the ability to make me really care for them. There is a death of an important character that should have had me shocked and saddened but it happened so quickly and without depth that I hardly felt anything at all. The ending also involved a great tragic love story but it was rushed and a bit confusing. That was the main problem I had with this story, I liked it but everything was just there. Whether it was the scraping of the surface feel, sameness to the first story, or the characters snapping through the story plots, I was never emotionally invested.
 
The magical world is interesting and the characters flow together nicely, if looking for a fantasy world with some romance, this would be a nice afternoon read.

3 stars

 

Orphan's Blade is the second book in the Ebonvale series and while it would be possible to start here, your best bet would be to start with the first (Minstrel's Serenade) in the series. There you'll be introduced and find more explanation to the magical world this series is set in, not to mention the importance of the relationships between most of the secondary characters and the introduction to who is our lead hero in this book.In a love triangle with a very King Arthur, Genevieve, and Lancelot feel, Valoria is betrothed to Brax but finds herself drawn to Nathaniel (Nip from book one) his adopted brother. Valoria was a good strong willed woman character who wanted to show her strength on the battlefield and fortunately had the skills to belong there. Nathaniel was a strong gentle soul who loved his adopted family deeply and never made the wrong decision.The magical world is interesting and the characters flow together nicely, if looking for a fantasy world with some romance, this would be a nice afternoon read.

Full review to be posted (Nov 6th) closer to publication date.

*ARC given through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I though I was going to love this one a lot more than I did. I think I could have liked it a lot more than I did if it hadn't ended so quickly. I felt like the story was just getting good and then all of a sudden Brax is saying "you're free" and then she's making out with Nathaniel on the ground. I was like um.. What the hell just happened?

Besides that I loved the story. I loved Valoria, She was a fantastic heroine. She knew how to kick ass and not let a gross prince boss her around, which I totally love. I love how Brax turns out to be a decent guy.

Like I said I loved the story. I loved the characters. I would have given the book more stars if it hadn't been for the ended. The ending is kind of a huge part of a book and this one was terrible. I actually went back and re read it because I was honestly like WTF.