A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane – a Review

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Description:
Danger lurks in the western realms. The Destroyer’s imminent return has sent the realms into turmoil as desperate citizens seek refuge—but there’s no safety to be found when demons and wraiths crawl out from the shadows. Even Koth, a northern island kingdom left untouched by the Destroyer a generation past, is besieged by terrors spawned from corrupt magics.

When Lizzan leads the Kothan army against these terrors, only to see her soldiers massacred and to emerge as the only survivor, she is called a coward and a deserter. Shunned from her home, Lizzan now wanders in solitude as a mercenary for hire, until she encounters a group of warriors seeking new alliances with the northern kingdoms—a group that includes Aerax, the bastard prince of Koth, and the man who sent her into exile.

Though they were childhood friends, Aerax cannot allow himself to be close to the only woman who might thwart his treacherous plan to save their island realm. But when a goddess’s demand binds them together, Lizzan and Aerax must find a way to overcome their painful pasts. Or there will be no future for the western realms…

Review:

A Touch of Snow and Stone by Milla Vane is the 2^nd book in her fantasy series, A Gathering of Dragons.  Though they are mentioned a few times, the heroes of the first book do not play a part in this one, but I am sure in the next book we will see them all together in trying to defeat the Destroyer.

Lizzan, our heroine, is one of the best warriors for the Koth kingdom; but when she was the lone survivor of a massacre, they accused her of running away and not helping her soldiers.  She was shunned and exiled, with her name removed from the Kingdom.  Over time, she becomes a lone mercenary for hire to help those in need of protection.  Lizzan comes across a group of warriors from different kingdoms seeking alliances to fight the Destroyer.  She makes friends with some of them, until she learns that the man she always loved, Aerax, is part of the group with other Kothans.

Aerax, our hero and a prince of Koth, has been trying to find Lizzan, since he has always loved her; but he knows when she was accused of betrayal, he did not offer to help her, as he knew of her innocence. Aerax is determined to destroy Koth, and knew Lizzan would try to stop him; but now all he wants is to make amends.  I absolutely loved loved his snow leopard, Caeb.  The cat, who was loyal to both Aerax and Lizzan was a fantastic addition to this series, and all scenes with Caeb were wonderful.  There is more to what Caeb is, but I guess we will learn more in the next book.   

What follows is a wild, exciting, action packed adventure, filled with myths, magic and gods.  When Lizzan goes to the god Vela for help, she is sent on a quest to protect the first person she sees, which does end up being Aerax.  They both will join hands with some of the other groups, as well as our wonderful Caeb to try to stop a demon.  It was great to watch Lizzan and Aerax begin to resume their relationship and love. It was funny to see Caeb push both of them together often.  Cute.  Knowing that if they can’t defeat the demon, their lives could be lost, they make the most of their lust for each other, which was sizzling.

A Touch of Snow and Stone is an epic fantasy at its best, with intense nonstop violent action, excitement, fantastic characters (some from the previous book) and a wonderful romance. There is a lot of details throughout as they head to Koth, keeping us on the edge of our seats to see who will survive.    If you enjoy fantasy, a great world building, with monsters, such as wraiths, and magical elements, I suggest you read this series.  Start with the first book A Heart of Blood and Ashes, and then continue to A Touch of Snow and Stone.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher