Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Until his Last Goodbye

SERIES:  Scythe

AUTHORS:  Kiki Clark and E.M. Lindsey

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  274 pages

RELEASE DATE:   January 20, 2022

BLURB:

When Death is your soulmate, finding love has never been so heart-stopping.

Having been a powerful medium for as long as he can remember, Elias knows his fair share about the afterlife.

Spirits are pushy.

Spirits are needy.

And they don’t respect personal boundaries.

Being a conduit between the living and the dead is exhausting but ignoring his gift isn’t an option. Even though embracing his calling has ruined nearly every relationship he’s ever had, Elias has learned to offer what comfort he can to those left behind, knowing his own time is limited.

So the day Death comes knocking, Elias is resigned.

Then intrigued.

And then enchanted.

He has no business falling for an immortal collector of souls. No matter how kind and surprisingly innocent he is. Or how the Reaper’s gentle nature soothes the hollow ache inside his chest.

There can be no way forward when you fall for Death…

…unless you join him.

Until His Last Goodbye is the first installment in the epic Scythe trilogy by E.M. Lindsey and Kiki Clark. It features an uptight Victorian reaper, a medium eager to corrupt him, witchy best friends willing to hex anyone who hurts the people they love, and a former Spanish pirate who doesn’t have time for other people’s nonsense.

REVIEW:

Tristian is a Victorian era gentleman who was offered the role of Reaper when he died at a young age as an alternative to passing through the veil to “the other side.”  He’s been reaping souls now for over 160 years.  He becomes fascinated with a medium named Elias who is within his area of care in Avalon Springs.  Pretty quickly the medium can tell that someone (a reaper) is there as a ghost he is communicating with tells him that he is seeing the reaper.  While Elias can’t see the reaper, he can tell when he’s there – because things become quiet for him and the spirits that normally surround him are gone.  Even when he can’t communicate directly with Tristian, he finds himself comforted by his presence.

Elias’s BFF Deion is a powerful witch and he’s none actually too happy about Elias communicating with a reaper.  Reapers are extremely powerful and can wreak havoc on the human realm with that power.  But he reluctantly agrees to help Elias.  In turn, Tristian learns about a way that he can communicate with Elias – in the dream realm.  So they begin meeting with Elias is asleep.  They can meet and talk and touch – but it’s not “real” which is what Tristian desires.  He died before getting to experience much of what he wanted.  As a gay man in Victorian times, he’d never been brave enough to try for what his heart desired.  He was very afraid of the consequences and thus had led a very solitary and lonely life.  That has continued much of his Reaper time and although he does have friends among the thousands of reapers, it’s not the same.

Elias also has some other issues he’s dealing with besides falling in love with a Reaper.  He’s craves more time with Elias, but their worlds don’t overlap all that well since they can only be together when Elias is sleeping and there is the pesky detail about Tristian being on call all the time to escort souls.  The both wish for more and it’s difficult for them to figure out what they can have together.  Elias’s bio family are also a problem as they haven’t supported him either.  Deion is afraid for him.  Tristian represents danger to Elias if he loses control of himself and his power.   Tristian is afraid to try for more, even if there is an infinitesimal chance that they both could have their heart’s desire.  They both have a lot to lose and everything to gain.

Well I just adored this.  I picked it up because of my love of EM Lindsey’s writing.  I hadn’t read any of Kiki Clark’s books before, but I’ll be rectifying that.  I’m not even sure I can describe just how much I loved this story and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.  Tristian’s longing and desire for Elias, his loneliness, his despair is just so perfectly written.  My heart just broke for him so many times.  Elias has also lived a somewhat lonely existence on some levels, but his life experience is definitely much greater and more vast than Tristian.  But despite Tristian’s inexperience and naivete about so many things, Elias cannot help falling in love with the man.  Elias’s desire for Tristian, despite the issues that he faces with his friends, his health, his gifts, etc., is not something that he is able to subdue.  They both fall head over heels for each other despite all the limitations of their situation.  They crave the company of the other and are sad when they cannot be together.  Despite the odds and the sacrifices and danger, they are both moving towards each other that cannot be denied.  Tristian’s guilt and Elias’s despair made me sooo sad.  I just wanted them to be together.

There are a lot of wonderful supporting characters in this story as well.  The other reapers especially were wonderfully written  They come from all different eras and backgrounds and that was fascinating and engrossing a well.  The “human realm” folks were also really well done and I loved seeing the reapers in action and the different reactions of the souls.  Finally, the world building was fantastic.  The whole Reaper, human, spirit, soulmate, realms concept were fascinating.  Plus there is a lot of awesome history thrown in 🙂  I cannot wait to see what happens next and who will be the star of the next book.  This is a wonderful kickoff to a new series that I feel certain will be come a favorite.  Highly recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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