Official Description: Cheron, former rebel leader, and newly crowned king, comes to Wren Gardens on a holy mission to free his goddess from exile
and bring peace to his kingdom, but he’s distracted by an unholy and very beautiful concubine, Ekos.
Ekos may be more than a simple love slave, though. The King of Wren Gardens seems afraid of the strange and often blasphemous concubine and swears the man is cursed. Cheron agrees, especially when Ekos mocks and taunts Cheron’s sense of honor. But the urge to distance himself from Ekos can’t compete with the desire to remain close. Nor is it as strong as the urges in his body—urges he hasn’t felt in years.
As Cheron tries to refocus on his mission, Ekos throws him off again—this time by offering to help him in his holy quest. Cheron knows he shouldn’t trust a man who’s in the employ of a rival king, particularly not one who seems to know all Cheron’s deepest secrets. But he can’t ignore the signs from the goddess telling him to entwine his fate with this tricky, captivating man.
He prays the signs aren’t simply wishful thinking, manifestations of his very unholy desires. Time is running out, and Cheron is falling deeper for Ekos—and deeper into danger of another betrayal. One that could cost him his life.
My thoughts bit: This was fun! If you’re looking for a novel to read this summer and you love honorable rebels, dragons, magic, an evil nemesis, and a love story- this is the one for you!
Cheron is a rebel with honor when he arrives at Wren Gardens. He’s immediately thrown into a world of subterfuge and betrayal. His belief in his goddess if what helps to keep him on his path, even when he meets Ekos.
Ekos is quirky, odd, sarcastic and outspoken… even though he is a concubine to the King of Wren Gardens. Of course, Ekos has a secret, but I’m not giving that away because it’s such a fun reveal in the book. There’s something very surreal about him from the first moment he arrives on the scene. He was snarky and irreverent and I adored him. I loved his character and would like to see more of him.
It doesn’t take long before Cheron finds out just how evil The King is. One of the scenes that stuck in my mind was a horrendous garden of torture. The King has used magic to turn people into living garden beds. Rohrbach writes with such detail, that I felt like I could see the horror that was laid out in front of Cheron and Ekos.
The warnings bit: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: descriptions of torture and punishment, slavery, ritual sacrifice, bloodletting in magic, violence,
I received an ARC of The Dragon’s Rebel by Jacqueline Rohrbach from NineStar Press via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 