Dark One’s Mistress (Dark One’s Trilogy #1) by Aldrea Alien

Dark One’s Mistress
by Aldrea Alien
Genre: NA Gothic Romance
Release Date: October 31st 2016
Thardrandian Publications

For centuries, the people have lived under the protection of their so-called Dark Lord. Now, with news of his death reaching the quiet village of Everdark, rumour whispers that his son, Lucias, is hunting for a mistress to beget him an heir.

Clara doesn’t put much stock in village gossip, until she finds herself forcibly taken to the Lord’s fortress. Escape is not easy. She has no way out and, against a man with magic, little chance of fighting back. But the Lords are still men and the death of Lucias’ father is proof that they die just the same. And yet, if Lucias dies heirless, his army will be free to terrorise the land.

Such is the goal of Lenora of Ne’ermore, an old enemy and ex-prisoner of the kingdom. She is sending a man to slaughter Lucias and, to ensure there’s no chance of an heir, his mistress must die as well.

Caught between regaining her freedom or losing it for the good of the kingdom, Clara struggles to decide her path before certain death breaches the gates.

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Review:

Dark One’s Mistress was really an interesting read.  I think what I loved most about it is the amazing story potential that was there not only in terms of Clara and Lucias but also in the setting and the general events surrounding the couple as a whole.

I will tell you that the book reads really quickly, due to work interrupting my fun I finished it in 2 sittings and like I was really very much excited of all of potential that is there.

However, as book 1 in a series the story in itself did not move as much as I would have liked.  I felt like we were going round and round and round without too much progress, but again you guys know me well to be aware of how much action hungry I usually am.  I would have loved more though I wonder if Aldrea was proceeding with caution.

Again, I don’t like it when I feel that way because at the end of the day I know that I could not write anything half as good even if my life depended on it, but as I said I hoped for more.

Now it is very much possible that I will get my heart’s desire of battles and fights and face offs etc… in the next book depending if it is a duology, trilogy or even more… but I mean Lucias’ own mom wants to kill him….  like I said major potential plot points there!

Now that I said that, it hit me that maybe the now common PoV switcharoos would have been quite cool here. I really was curious about what the heck was going on on mommy dearest’s head and also have more insight into Lucias.

Frankly, and I do not think I ever said that before ever but Clara got on my nerves. I had to remind myself that she is only 17 and is quite frightened so maybe I should cut her some slack.

Clara is not Katniss for sure… but again she has a lot of potential and I would love to explore her growth.

I liked it and I am excited about what comes next more and I hope some questions of mine will be answered in the next volume.  I really enjoyed the originality of the story that is for sure.

There is a lot I can work with here for sure, and I hope we get the next book soon, this is a quick easy read and if you love a bit of Fantasy and magic you will not be disappointed.

Excerpt:

An errant tussock, pinned under her other foot, wrapped over her boot. Shuffling along the ground to free herself, she’d almost gotten the toe free when her ankle gave, dropping her face-first onto grass still wet with dew. Rolling unto her back, intent on appraising her throbbing ankle, she slowly became aware of beginning the cold and subtle glide downhill. Her speed increasing with the incline.

Clara scrabbled at the ground, tearing up fistfuls of grass and dirt as she tumbled and slid down the mountainside. One tuft held long enough to slow her down. Another brought her to a stop. She clung to the fragile strands, carefully trying to get her legs under her.

The blades released with a sudden and loud rip, throwing her into a clump of bushes waiting on the slope below.

Hurling the underhanded grass to the ground, she glared up at the towers. Her fingers ached and her knees, no doubt scraped, stung. She wouldn’t have felt less sore if someone had whipped her. Granted there’d be more bleeding, but not by much. It’s all his fault! If only he’d let her be, as he’d done with the others. She didn’t want to be anyone’s mistress, let alone his.

Branches snagged on her hair and clothes as she struggled to free herself. Gritting her teeth, she plucked at them, snapping off what she couldn’t remove to be dealt with later. In any case, Katharina was a far better fit for such a life than her. If he’d just deigned to look at the woman instead of stopping at Clara, he would’ve seen it too.

The steady thud of hooves marching along hard ground reached her over the muted rustle and creaking of branches. Halting all movement, she waited for the sound to fade, hoping the plainness of her skirts would blend with the bushes.

“Quite the tumble you took there.” The owner to the smug voice soon came into view as Lucias nudged the horse to stand before her. He leant forward, an arm resting on the black beast’s neck. “Are you whole?”

Clara glared up at the man. Whilst she’d been attempting to flee, he’d come after her on horseback. And, judging by the sweat-free coat of the animal, quite calmly. The nerve.

About the Author:

Mother. Animal lover. Vampire. Fangirl.

Aldrea Alien is a New Zealand author of romantic speculative fiction of varying heat levels.

She grew up on a small farm out the back blocks of a place known as Wainuiomata alongside a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they’re just as human as the next person (especially the cats). She spent a great deal of her childhood riding horses, whilst the rest of her time was consumed with reading every fantasy book she could get her hands on and concocting ideas about a little planet known as Thardrandia. This would prove to be the start of The Rogue King Saga as, come her twelfth year, she discovered there was a book inside her.

Aldrea now lives in Upper Hutt, on yet another small farm with a less hectic, but still egotistical, group of animals (cats will be cats). She still hasn’t yet found an off switch to give her an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind, a list that grows bigger every year with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first. It’s a lot of people for one head.

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