Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Saffron Alley
SERIES: Sword Dance #2
AUTHOR: A.J. Dumas
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 270 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2021
BLURB:
A month ago, eunuch sword-dancer and spy Varazda collided with ex-soldier Damiskos at a seaside villa during a dizzying week of intrigue, assassinations, and a fake love affair that—maybe—turned real. Now Varazda is back home in Boukos, at the center of a family and community he dearly loves, and Damiskos is coming to visit.
Things aren’t going according to plan.
Varazda’s family members suspect Damiskos’s motives. Varazda grapples with his own desires. Add in a horrible goose, a potentially lethal sculpture, and yet another assassination plot, and any man other than Dami would be boarding a ship straight back to Pheme.
It’s going to take all of Damiskos’s patience, and all of Varazda’s strength, to make this new relationship work. After all that, solving one more murder shouldn’t be too hard.
Saffron Alley is the second book in the Sword Dance trilogy, the continuation of Dami and Varazda’s story from Sword Dance. It crosses over with One Night in Boukos, but you don’t have to have read that book to enjoy this one.
REVIEW:
I had a harder time with this one and I’m kind of sad about it. I love this series, and even this book. I love the characters, the complexity of each one. Especially Varazda. There are so many layers to him and I love every one. And the relationship with Dami. It has become such a special thing.
I also love the historical parts of this. I love history anyway and it feels like so many gods and goddesses are a part of it. Well, in truth they are. They are an important part of each of the lives in these books and of the towns they are in.
My only issue with this, really, is for me, it lagged in some places. And please, read for yourself. Don’t take my word as gold. It’s still a good book. There’s a mystery and a murder plot. A blossoming romance that is coming to be, which considering the circumstances, is very special indeed.
Overall, it’s still a good book and part of a great series. The characters are intriguing, complex and nice to see blossoming into what they have become. Despite all they have become. It just had some lagging parts for me that made it a bit harder than normal to get through. But see for yourself. Give it a go.
And I’m ready to see how this trilogy is going to end. I’m expecting good things from the last book.
RATING: 
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