Review: At Blade's Edge (Goddess With A Blade Series Book 4) by Lauren Dane

At Blade's Edge by Lauren Dane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marriage

This book is about the marriage of two people but also about marrying the cultures of two peoples. Clive is a 500-year-old born vampire, a Scion of the Vampire Nation, ruler of North America and Rowan is a 30-year-old human, a Vessel to a goddess, foster daughter of the First vampire, and Hunter of rogue vampires. They are two very different people, he is uptight and proper, she is vulgar and abrasive, and they shouldn’t work as a couple, but they do and it’s really lovely to watch that happening slowly through this book.

Defeating Enyo does not appear to have solved the problems of the Vampire Nation and Hunter Corp. Enyo was just part of the problem. Hunter Corp and the Vampire Nation both have bad seeds buried deep inside, feeding vital information to an unseen enemy that has got their own people killed.

This book follows Rowan seeking out the culprits from inside Hunter Corp and trying to decide if she can stomach continuing to work for an organisation that does not value her safety. At the same time, she has to settle into becoming a wife. She is marrying someone who has an extensive family and a history in London, where they are currently visiting. Meeting the family, trying to investigate and learning how to be a wife of a Scion is a difficult time even for the Vessel of a goddess.

The thing I really loved about this book was the subtle building of a connection between Clive and Rowan. The steps they take in order to fulfil their own needs and at the same time leave the soul of their partner intact. Clive in particular is driven to protect and shelter what is his and Rowan is never one for allowing to be hidden away and cosseted, but she learns to accept some of Clive’s needs to protect and treasure her at the same time he allows her to stand on her own and face her own battles without interfering. This is a very cleverly written romantic relationship. The romance isn’t effusive, not is it sweet, but it is real and deep and beautiful. The subtlety with which Lauren Dane writes about the love between these two people is superb and a joy to read.

The relationship aspects of this book rather dominate, but the plot moves on and the reader is once again left wanting to know what happens next.

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