Title: Crow and Crown
Series: Sequel to Crow and Firefly
Author: Sam C. Leonhard
Genre: Fantasy, Shifter
Length: Novella (84 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-62798-426-3
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (22nd January 2014)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Four years after Ari and Dagur’s forced marriage, not many know the man at the future king’s side. Dagur, the king’s nephew, is convinced secrecy is necessary for Ari’s safety. Ari, on the other hand, doesn’t mind that not many know of his existence. Let alone what he looks like. But one day, everything changes. The king dies and Dagur is called to court—alone. When he’s attacked on the way, it’s up to Ari to find out who the enemy is. And if that’s not enough, he also has to figure out who wants the king dead, deal with a wayward healer, and find a missing fiancé.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4640
Review: This story is part of a series and must be read in order. Even after four years of marriage not many people know that Ari is Dagur’s husband, Ari doesn’t like it and isn’t sure of Dagur’s reasons for keeping it quite but accepts them. Now though everything is about to change, Dagur disappears without leaving a message and Ari heads out to find him and uncovers a plot against Dagur and his uncle, the King. Ari has his hands full when he finds that Dagur is being lured into a trap, the king is being poisoned and Ari has to track down a missing fiancé for a fellow two-colored (shape-shifter).
So the story of Dagur and Ari continues with this new installment which starts four years after the previous story finished, and I will begin with a brief recap. Dagur and Ari are two-colored, shapeshifters with two different colored eyes. Dagur is the nephew of the King and was touring the country looking for a suitable spouse when he met Ari, a fellow two-color. Ari reluctantly married Dagur believing Dagur was a monster who abused people but found a very different person in the man underneath the image of a tyrant. Now they are happy together, but Ari’s identity is hidden because of the enemies that target Dagur and Ari discovers that Dagur’s caution was well founded.
This story has a great opening scene of Ari flying desperate to find his missing husband and we are quick to discover why Dagur fled from his home without escort, it then flashes back a couple of days to Ari making a promise to one of his fellow villager’s and Ari finding Dagur gone. It then progresses smoothly as we see Ari discover the truth of the summons and the plot falls into place with the missing fiancé playing a large part in helping Ari and Dagur out.
I really do love this series and I can’t stress enough that the Crow and Firefly has to be read before this story. There is no recap of previous events or the world building that was in the first story so you would be at a loss for explanations. Now, this is a great story that is easily picked up if you have read the previous book, Ari and Dagur are still wonderful characters although Ari feels a bit lost that Dagur keeps him so well hidden as his spouse. The plot for this story is really good and although this is only 84 pages long it fits everything in brilliantly without being overly complicated, it’s a very simple storyline that does a cracking job of entertaining us.
I recommend this to those that love shape-shifters in a medieval setting with a solid background story, great characters, a well dodged trap, uncovering a sinister plot and a great ending.