Oh my days, I've been waiting for this one and it did not disappoint. My only next desire is to listen to the whole story again on audiobook, because the audiobooks are generally quite brilliant for this series. Delighted to have characters from pervious reappear, to re-acquaint myself with the Rat and to hear Shane's story. Please, please, please keep writing these and give everyone a happily-ever-after-ish. I want to know what happens next in this wonderful, funny, unpredictable world. ( )

I greatly enjoyed this installment of the Saint of Steel books. It was really nice to get to know some of the Saint's paladins we haven't seen much of before. (And I'm really looking forward to Wren's book, in whichever order that comes! But Judith, what have you done?) The side characters were really what made this book for me.

I liked both Shane and Marguerite, and thought that by the end they make a really good couple, but it took a while for me to accept them together. It wasn't really until their main on-screen sex scene 2/3 or so into the book—which was steamier than I had expected—that I was properly okay with them together.

This book had its own plot, which was wrapped up nicely by the end of the book, and I appreciated that. However, this is the middle book in a series and in many ways it feels like it. There were at least as many series plot points as book plot points, and (as you would expect) the series plot does not resolve here. I can't complain about that part; it's what you expect when you reach the presumed midpoint of a series, that there will be things that carry over.

CW: sexual content, violence, suicide attempt, animal death
CW details: The sexual content was consensual. The suicide attempt was very brief and not due to depression but was an attempt to thwart a demon. The animal death was also due to a demon. ( )

Excellent and amazing like the rest of the series. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/12/2023174-paladins-faith-t-kingfisher.html ( )

I love T. Kingfisher's damaged paladins, and this one was no exception, even though I felt a bit uneasy at the beginning with the espionage stuff. I don't like espionage stories, they feel sneaky and they scare me. But there wasn't much of it and the book was nice and heartwarming as always. And it ends on a very intriguing teaser for the future of the series. ( )