Date Night with a Book: A Touch of Stone and Snow by Mila Vane

 Date Night with a book is the new After Dark series of posts on my blog, books posted for Date Nights contain Adult  Romance themes and scenes. From now on I will keep my reviews of all books I read that have explicit scenes in them for Date Night posts for those of you who prefer to avoid them or easy to find for those of you who seek them out ;)

Read for: TBR/Fantasy Romance February/ Audio Book

Synopsis: "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..."

My Review: I read the first book in this series last year and while I really enjoyed it, I didn't remember a lot of details of the story, and I kept waiting for this book to refresh my memory but the link between them is so minimal that I really struggled. I was more looking for that connection than reading this story on its own, which would be the better option. They are in the same world and fighting the same evil but there was very minimal character crossover (at least for the characters I recall). With that said, once I gave up looking for that connection I was able to really settle in and enjoy this book. I loved Lizzan and Aerax, they have a complicated backstory that is revealed well into the story but I really enjoyed that past connection and the way their relationship had changed. Also, can I have a Caeb (I think that is how you spell his name) a giant snow leopard/sabre toothed cat thing that is super smart, I really want one! The action in this book is almost non-stop and it is a constant strain on your heart as you follow the characters through some really intense dangers and to an exciting conclusion to this book. I am really looking forward to when all these characters are hopefully brought together to battle the coming Destroyer.

My Rating: Even though I struggled a good portion of the book with how it fit with the previous book in the series, on its own this was a really good book. I loved the characters and their development throughout the book.  I give it a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag!