ALL THE DARK SOULS

A blend of dark fantasy and romance, this first installment of a trilogy features an executioner and a mysterious man she rescues after finding him beaten by the side of a road.  

Set in the same world as Dunnewin’s The Benighted Saga series, the narrative revolves around Jocelyn “Joss” Brevyn, a small-town “deathsman” who comes from a long line of executioners. With her family forced into servitude by a lord’s excessive edict, Joss—single with no children—is the last of her line to work as an executioner. Shunned by the townspeople and disturbed by the years of deep emotional trauma from her job of dispatching criminals sentenced to death by the blade of her ax, Joss—shockingly—still remains a compassionate person, as evidenced when she and her assistant, Henrik, find a battered man by the roadside. The man, unbeknown to Joss, is an assassin whose mission is to track down and murder a prince who has been missing for years. The assassin, named Aric Kayden, is having second thoughts about killing his target but understands that if he fails, his life will be forfeited. As Aric struggles to heal while in the executioner’s care, he realizes that if he isn’t successful in his assignment, the lives of Joss and her assistant could also be in danger. After Aric and Joss slowly begin falling in love, they must both make hard decisions regarding their duties and their futures. While the fantasy elements are decidedly muted, this novel’s real power is in the cast of deeply developed characters and, in particular, the dynamism between Joss and Arik. (At one point, Joss muses about Aric’s eyes: “She hadn’t met anyone with two different eye colors before, especially in those hues. The sun-lit green was attractive but compared with the light gray it gave his features an exquisite look that had made her lose her breath.”) Both players are realistic and emotionally connected, and their bond is palpable on the page. Additionally, the intriguing fusion of fantasy, romance, and (subtle) horror elements makes for an unpredictable and thoroughly satisfying read.

A winner—readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.