Kaderin, the Cold Hearted, is a Kickass Warrior Valkyrie who hates vampires with a vengeance after they killed her sisters. Sebastian Wroth, a warrior, was turned unknowingly by his brothers centuries ago to save him. He left his ancestral home in anger and has never taken blood from a living source. He instead drinks animal blood. Sebastian is a nomad who has chosen to live off the grid, disgusted by his own existence. We all know where this is going right? So of course when Kaderin crosses his path she makes his heart beat again. The two share a hot and heated encounter before she takes off leaving him behind. The romance that unfolds is slow building and filled with sexual tension, humor and character growth.

Their story intertwines with a quest or "amazing race" type of event. Kaderin has won in previous years and is determined to hold that honor again. This year the prize will grant her her heart's desire and no one will stop her. Sebastian tags along, or pops in to aid Kaderin much to her annoyance. I loved the banter and snark. The two of them totally surprised each other, as did their reactions to things. The "amazing race" was fantastic. Cole's description of the challenges, creatures they encounter and lore were delightful. This race allowed the romance to develop slowly and be tested. It also gave Cole room to showcase and flesh out these characters. They felt genuine, and I connected on a much more personal level than the previous book.

Cole also gives us plenty of humor, updates on previous characters and hints of things to come. I adore the Valkyrie home in NOLA and the men who have fallen for these women. Conversations between them and our main characters had me chuckling. Such mischief.

Robert Petkoff once again narrates, and I love his voice for these strong, alpha male characters. Petkoff gave me a delightfully feminine Kaderin, while still capturing her fierceness. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Holy cheese balls!

Those Hie games were intense!

In this we see the love of a vampire and his bride. A vampire who's lost his family, and hates himself with a will to die, at the hand of his bride to be, who barges into his life but seems unable to kill him. Strange for her, as she's named the cold hearted after the ascension that took her two sisters. two of the triplets lives taken by a vampire, making a goddess take her feelings from her so she won't feel that pain. So basically, she's been walking around for 2000 years, feeling nothing. Then bam, meets this guy, who disposes what he is as much as she does. And the Hie begins. She joins. He joins, and from previous books, Bowen the werewolf joins. (He's fucking ruthless for his mate!)

anyway, the prize of the games is a key to the door that lets you go back in time for 10 minutes to change something in the past, twice. Who wins the key, you ask? Is it a man who lost his lover? Is it someone desperate to bring back a family member? Someone desperate to free their lover of pain? Is it someone who falls under all three of them?.. Ahh I'll never tell you who it is, but I will tell you to bring the tissues. I think even Kaderin the Cold-Hearted would tear up a little during this read!

Kresley really gets me with the 2nd book of the IAD series. A great heroine, well-fleshed out and believable. The adventure and quests in this one were really exciting to read. Sebastian has my heart, the vulnerable vampire that he is. Myst is there being the baddest bitch there is of course.

Ok so is Sebastian the most adorable of the MMCs so far? Yes. Yes he is.
I was a little anxious about this book because the FMC is literally unfeeling. However, Cole gave the MCs a lovely love story with just the right amount of the fated mates trope to pull it all together. Both MCs had different but valid motivators behind each choice they made.
I loved the latest installment (that I’ve read) in this series and look forward to continuing the series.

Spice: 4:5

Triggers: dubcon, violence, grief

THIS WAS REALLY FUN!!! SO MUCH BETTER THAN A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER!! I honestly recommend starting the series with this one because this was a completely different read/level for me than book one. This was a really fun, addicting read and I ended up loving how much Sebastian loved Kaderin. Completely devoured the audiobook in one day because I was just so invested in their adventure! Excited to continue on with this series!