Reviewed by Heather C.

TITLE: Cloak & Silence (Book #6)
SERIES: The League
AUTHOR: Sherrilyn Kenyon
PUBLISHER: Sherrilyn Kenyon
LENGTH: 171 Pages
BLURB: One of the fiercest soldiers the Phrixians have ever produced, Maris Sulle has been an outsider the whole of his life. He grew up with a secret that cost him everything- His birthright, his family and his military career. In all his life, he’s only had one love and he has sacrificed his own happiness to see his best friend reunited with the woman he loves. But now that his good deed is done, he feels lost and adrift. Even though they do their best to include him in their new family, he’s once again on the outside looking in.

Ture has spent his life hiding from everyone around him while trying desperately to fit in. His family, the world, you name it. Badly hurt by everyone he’s ever known, he trusts no one except his own best friend. And honestly, he can’t understand why he trusts her. Nor can he believe her when she describes a loyalty between friends the likes of which he’s never seen.

But when he is in his darkest hour, he’s saved by a hero he thought only existed in novels. A man who is every bit as scarred and mistrusting as he is. One who has no interest in being dragged into another relationship with anyone.

Having spent his life as a living study of doomed relationships, Maris is well aware of the courtship and fiasco that invariably follows. Still, there is something about Ture he can’t resist. Something that won’t let him walk away when he knows he should.

But when old enemies return to threaten them both, they either have to stand together or die alone.

REVIEW:

I’ve been waiting for Maris and Ture’s story for soooooo long! I was so excited to read it, but also a little nervous because it is this author’s first male/male romance. In the end, I wasn’t disappointed!

Cloak & Silence begins during the Born of Silence timeline in the middle of the big climactic scene near the end and finishes before the epilogue.

For almost all his life, Maris Sulle, the effeminate lethal assassin, has been in love with is best friend Darling Cruel. Throughout the series, we all (except for Maris) have believed that Darling was gay, but all his secrets came out in his book Born of Silence when he married a woman, Zarya. Previously, the one and only person who has always been there for Darling was Maris, and vice versa. But now, Darling is married, and Maris is feeling very lonely. That is, until he meets Ture…who happens to be Zarya’s best friend. But Maris’s heart still belongs to Darling…for now.

I’m not going to go into all the specifics of the plot. If you read Born of Silence, then you know how Maris and Ture met and you know they get a HEA. If you haven’t read any books in this series, then I suggest you DO NOT attempt to read this as a stand alone…this is a complicated series with a lot of characters that even gets me a little confused at times.

Now, on to my impressions…

I really enjoyed this story; it still had the feel of reading any other book by this author and fit well with the style of this series. Of course, there were plenty of action/fighting scenes with another of Kenyon’s classic scarred and tortured heroes. Yes, Maris had a lot of secrets…these may have been revealed in the previous book, but I just can’t remember. He does have few shocking revelations about being a Phrixian! Wow, I never saw that coming! And he was able to trust Ture with this, which I thought was very sweet. There was a lot of sweetness in this book, and to be honest, it kind of felt like insta-love to me. Well, it was insta-love for Ture, Maris was the hold out til the end. Eh, but I still enjoyed the romance aspects.

I liked how the dynamics of Maris’s character were portrayed. Initially, I had trouble imagining him being this flamboyant, flirty guy one minute and then the scary, ass kicker the next. But once the details of his heritage and past were told…it made perfect sense; I still love Maris and all his inappropriate banter. And then there was Ture, not much I can say about him, because he’s not a very unique character. Ture saw and accepted Maris for who he was and didn’t judge his purely platonic relationship with Darling.

Now to the big question. How was the sex? Hmm, well on the hotness scale, I think it ranked somewhere in the middle. I was hoping for it to be a bit more explicit, but I think for the primary intended audience it was probably appropriate. There is one thing I was hoping for that I didn’t get… (keep reading)

My biggest compliant with this book is the length! There was so much going on that everything felt rushed. It was moving along at a decent pace, then BAM so much was happening crammed into the last 25%. Maybe I’m just being picky, but I wanted more, more, more of these guys! 🙁

My second complaint is that it was a bit predictable. There was no big, shocking twist that had my jaw dropping. 🙁

And my third complaint is that there was no sex in the water!! I was hoping to read that for most of the book after the heavy foreshadowing! But it never happened. 🙁

So, overall, this was a fun read, and I was mostly happy with the outcome. I’m really looking forward to Born of Fury which I believe will be Hauk’s story…maybe we will see more of Maris and Ture.

I recommend this to anyone who has enjoyed The League Series. And for those who haven’t read it and who enjoy m/f paranormal romance with a sci-fi influence…try Born of Night first.

Heather’s Rating:

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Heather C. is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: HEATHER’S REVIEWS
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