Antonia Bernardin

The 14th book I read this year was ‘A Soul to Keep’ by Opal Reyne, book 1 in The Duskwalker Brides Series.

A brief summary

In a world where demons roam the earth and humans live in fortified cities and villages, or they die. One town has a deal with a Duskwalker, something not quite a demon but not quite human, they sacrifice one soul to him every ten years, in exchange for his magical protection. Reia survived her whole family being slaughtered by demons when she was a child, so when the Duskwalker comes to claim his bride, her town decides to rid themselves of her, ridding themselves of girl they consider to be a bad omen in the process. Reia isn’t afraid of the Duskwalker, she is pissed off, held captive her whole life and now ‘given’ to the Duskwalker, she plans to escape as soon as she can.

The Duskwalker has spent hundreds of years trying to find someone to share his long life with, giving up all hope of gaining a bride, he now just wants someone who will be his companion. When he meets this strange girl who doesn’t seem to be afraid of him at all, he begins to hope he may have found the person who will want to stay with him and end his isolation.

My thoughts

Right, okay, given that this is a story about a creature with a skull face, wolfish features, fins and a you-know-what that is covered in tentacles and human girl… it is a really sweet romance! Like, I didn’t expect to find it so romantic, the Duskwalker is kind, attentive, constantly worrying about Reia and how he can make her happy and feel good. This book has a really readable narrative style, very easy reading but still a little bit of fantasy, mixed with romance and spice. The world building is really rich, as are the characters, honestly, I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I’ve not really read any monster romances before but I might be a convert now… at least, I will definitely keep reading the series!