When is the last time you read a book that had you strapping on your knives and checking your poison stores? If it’s been awhile, you need to pick up Courting Darkness. Actually, even if it hasn’t been awhile, get this book. You need it! I DOUBLE STAB DARE YOU!!!

As you can probably tell, I am very excited to be part of this Rockstar Book tour. Their tours always make me giddy, and this one is no exception! Be sure to scroll down for an awesome giveaway. And don’t forget to check out their site by clicking their banner (above) or HERE.

“If either one of you asks me that again, I will prove how fine I am by stabbing you with my knife.”

Set in the same world as the series, His Fair Assassin, Courting Darkness is the first in a new duology. To call this book dark and delicious is to seriously understate how dark and how delicious it really is. I mean, did you see that cover 🖤😍🖤

From the very first paragraph, I was hooked, stabbed, and swooned. We meet the two main characters, Genevieve and Sybella, in the very next chapter. Oh hello, Daughters of Death. Beyond that juicy detail, we are thrown into a world full of scandal, intrigue, prisoners, and mystery. I couldn’t put the book down, and definitely need more!

In fact, this feels like a good time for a confession. I haven’t actually read the Fair Assassins books…

I KNOW!!! I know. In my defense, I now have Grave Mercy on my nightstand, and plan to rectify this grievous error immediately! I only admit to this unspeakable truth, because while Courting Darkness is part of this world, I honestly didn’t feel like I was missing anything in the world building or character development by reading this book first.

The book revolves around two incredibly stabby women. Sybella, who is from the other books, and Genevieve, who is new to all readers. I’m assuming characters from Sybella’s storyline probably make an appearance in the Fair Assassin books, and to be honest, I am really hoping they do! BECAUSE I NEED MORE SYBELLA AND BEAST!!! Also, Maraud. I need much more of him…

There were also hints of Sybella’s past, and the war that takes place before this timeline, that seem like they’re most likely explored in greater detail as well. The way it’s written, I feel like this duology is meant to compliment the other books, and vice versa. They aren’t reliant on each other, but serve more as an opportunity to dive deeper into the world LaFevers has built. This is all speculation on my part, but I can tell you this. I am seriously in love with her writing and these characters and will devour anything and everything else I can get my hands on!

While Sybella is probably my favorite of the two, that isn’t to say I didn’t love Genevieve. Because I did. She is very inventive when it comes to her weapons, and I am always here for a girl who likes to be prepared. I also feel like her storyline is the more tragic of the two, at least, so far anyway. And I am a consummate sucker for tragedy.

I loved the tension building in each storyline, with various villains challenging both Sybella and Genevieve in different but similar ways, even sometimes being the same villain! Their efforts were intertwined, but neither knows of the other, and that level of tension makes me want to scream in both frustration and delight! AND THAT ENDING!!!

Bottom line. If you love seriously kickass women, characters that are complex, writing that is achingly beautiful, all set in a world full of dark machinations working against everyone, go get this book! It haunts me in all the very best ways, and has launched itself up to one of my favorite reads.

Thank you Rockstar Book Tours and HMHTeen for including me on this tour and sending my a review copy!

Be sure to enter the giveaway, and check out the rest of the tour for more awesome content and chances to win!!!

Death wasn’t the end, it was only the beginning…

Sybella has always been the darkest of Death’s daughters, trained at the convent of Saint Mortain to serve as his justice. But she has a new mission now. In a desperate bid to keep her two youngest sisters safe from the family that nearly destroyed them all, she agrees to accompany the duchess to France, where they quickly find themselves surrounded by enemies. Their one ray of hope is Sybella’s fellow novitiates, disguised and hidden deep in the French court years ago by the convent—provided Sybella can find them.

Genevieve has been undercover for so many years, she struggles to remember who she is or what she’s supposed to be fighting for. Her only solace is a hidden prisoner who appears all but forgotten by his guards. When tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands—even if it means ignoring the long awaited orders from the convent.

As Sybella and Gen’s paths draw ever closer, the fate of everything they hold sacred rests on a knife’s edge. Will they find each other in time, or will their worlds collide, destroying everything they care about?

Title: COURTING DARKNESS (Courting Darkness Duology #1)

Author: Robin LaFevers

Pub. Date: February 5, 2019

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 496

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

See where it all began! Grab the His Fair Assassin Trilogy now! You don’t need to read these to read Courting Darkness but they’re amazing!

Grave Mercy- Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Dark Triumph- Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Mortal Heart- Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Robin LaFevers was raised on a steady diet of fairy tales, Bulfinch’s mythology, and 19th century poetry. It is not surprising she grew up to be a hopeless romantic.

Though she has never trained as an assassin or joined a convent, she did attend Catholic school for three years, which instilled in her a deep fascination with sacred rituals and the concept of the Divine. She has been on a search for answers to life’s mysteries ever since.

While many of those answers still elude her, she was lucky enough to find her one true love, and is living happily ever after with him in the foothills of southern California.

In addition to writing about teen assassin nuns in medieval Brittany, she writes books for middle grade readers, including the Theodosia books and the Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist series. You can learn more about those books at http://www.rllafevers.com.

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20 winners will receive His Fair Assassin character card sets, US Only

Aren’t they delightfully stabby?! Enter today! And check out the rest of the tour for more reviews, excerpts and chances to win!!!

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/21/2018- The Pages In-Between– Review

1/22/2018- Fiction Fare– Review

1/23/2018- YA Books Central– Excerpt

1/24/2018- Two Chicks on Books– Excerpt

1/25/2018- Tales of the Ravenous Reader– Review

Week Two:

1/28/2019- Colorimetry– Review

1/29/2019- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review

1/30/2019- A Gingerly Review– Review

1/31/2019- Moonlight Rendezvous– Review

2/1/2019- Novel Novice– Excerpt

Week Three:

2/4/2019- Lisa Loves Literature– Review

2/5/2019- Flyleaf Chronicles– Review

2/6/2019- Smada’s Book Smack– Review

2/7/2019- A Backwards Story– Review

2/8/2019- Jena Brown Writes– Review

Week Four:

2/11/2019- Nerdophiles– Review

2/12/2019- Book-Keeping– Review

2/13/2019- Eli to the nth– Review

2/14/2019- Do You Dog-ear?– Review

2/15/2019- Book Briefs– Review