Sunday, August 27, 2017

Review: Into the Fire (Night Prince #4)

In this explosive finale to Jeaniene Frost's Night Prince series, Vlad is in danger of losing his bride to an enemy whose powers might prove greater than the Prince of Vampires. In the wrong hands, love can be a deadly weapon.

Into the Night, by Jeaniene Frost, is the fourth and final novel in the Night Prince series. For nearly 600 years, Vlad Tepesh (famously known as Dracula but do not dare mention that name in his face) cared for nothing. Essentially, he had nothing to lose. His brutal reputation ensured that all but the most foolish stayed away from him. However, falling in love with Leila has put him at the mercy of his passions. His enemies see his love as a weakness worthy to exploit. As a result, one adversary indeed has found a way to use Vlad's new bride against him in the most tormenting way possible.

A powerful spell links Leila to the necromancer Mircea. If he suffers or dies, so does she. Magic is forbidden to vampires. While this spell backfired for the necromancer, it also means that Vlad cannot torture the man who tried to hurt his bride. Worse, Vlad has no idea where the necromancer is hiding. So Vlad and Leila seek the most unlikely guide (fans of the Night Huntress series with Cat and Bones will get a kick out of this character) to search for a way to break the spell. But another ancient enemy is upon them, capable of turning Vlad and Leila's closest friends against them and finally tearing the lovers apart forever.

This novel concludes the NIght Prince series. As the previous novels mentioned, Vlad and Leila’s man mission is to find Mircea and break the bond that is between him and Leila. When either one is cut or inured, the other feels that pain too. Mircea has been nothing but a thorn in Leila and Vlad’s side and now the overprotective Vlad is determined to find a way to break the bond so that he can kill Mircea. The hunt kicks into full gear once they learned that Mircea has been kidnapped by an ancient cult of magic users. Vlad turns to Mencheres and--shocker--Ian! Much to his dismay, Vlad does not have a choice as his usual ruthlessness does not work in the magical realm. Ian! Much to Ian’s own dismay, his love for Mencheres has him doing his bidding. Unfortunately for Vlad, the trio run into unexpected guests (and tragedies) that makes the journey even more dangerous. It also doesn't help that Vlad continues to harbor secrets and do things without consulting Leila. Whatever Vlad does is always out of love for Leila Still, the humor and cameo appearances are the main highlights of this novel. However, I felt like Frost did not define any resolution between Vlad and Mircea. Besides the cliché fatherly talk, I wonder if Frost is saving this cliffhanger for a future story.

Stay tuned for the next likely series on more side characters in the Night Huntress Universe, especially Ian! He played a large role in this book, and I am thrilled he's finally going to get his own story! He's hard to ignore once he opens his mouth and spews his raunchy sense of humor. He does something drastic in pure Ian fashion and the consequences are dire. And we also get to see who will be starring alongside him in his book, a fact that is confirmed at the very end of the novel! Which only makes me more excited for Ian’s book, something I’ve been longing for ever since Jeaniene ventured to Mencheres' and Spade’s books! I also highly recommend the entire Night Huntress series, which has been covered previously on this blog, starting with the exciting first novel, Halfway to the Grave.