Book Review: A Taste of Winter By Laila Blake

A Taste of Winter

(Lakeside #2) 

Laila Blake 

Pub October 28th 2014 

by Lilt Literary

Mature Content
ARC for Review 

Summary 

Picking up where BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON left off, A TASTE OF WINTER is the second book in a romantic paranormal fantasy trilogy, set in alternate history medieval times. It follows the life of young Moira, a half fae noblewoman who fell in love with her shape-shifter guard and ran away from her ancestral home. 

Traveling the country, searching for a safe place to stay, the two of them soon realize that life is not as kind to them as they might have hoped. They feel the sting of prejudice and bigotry in each town they visit, and the reality of poverty and winter begin to erode Moira and Owain’s blossoming love. 

In the castle they left behind, darker plans are afoot. The fae spy Brody is slowly taking over, and he has no love for humans. He needs to be stopped before he can seize power and trigger another war between the races. But Moira and Owain are long gone, and Brody always seems two steps ahead. 

Winter is Warmer With the One You Love

OMGee! Y'all have no idea how long I have been waiting for this release! 18 months 15 days o_O egads talk about torture! Well A Taste of Winter was spectacular. Nothing short of greatness which is what I’ve come to expect from Ms. Blake. All of the characters are back full of mayhem and deceit. One thing I wished could have been better was a bit of a recap in the beginning. There where times I felt a bit lost but by the end I was totally up to speed and didn’t feel lost at all. Several mysteries are revealed with great explanation so that was great. Moira does a lot of growing in this installment and we get to know more about Owain. This has been a great series thus far so I’m definitely looking forward to continuing it and seeing how it all ends. 

A-tone, Maeve’s biggest weakness has been her heart not knowing how to take care of those she loved she now faces the mistakes of her past. 

T-ruth, Maeve has only loved once being face to face with the person who loves and haunts her she must make a difficult decision. 
A-lone, Moira knows she made the right choice but sometimes she wishes Owain would open up to her. 
S-truggle, Owain knew things would be difficult but they are proving to be much worse than anyone imagined. 
T-urmoil, things between humans and Blaidyn have always been sketchy in light of recent events they have become hostile. 
E-vade, keeping their heads down is key. Owain must protect Moira at all costs he will do what it takes to see her happy. 

O-bsession, Brock’s plan is coming together nicely his pursuit to personal power is fueled by hate.
F-ear, Moira is gripped by something unexplainable all she knows is Owain needs her she will risk her life to see him safe. 

W-ithering, Owain has always been strong and confident his current situation pushes him to doubt the decisions he’s made. 
I-ris, Moira’s sister knows something must be done about Brock’s plan she will enlist the help of Bess to see things through. 
N-iamh, powerful and a lake away she holds Maeve and Moira’s fate in her hands. Offering protection is not nearly enough for the sins she’s committed in the past. 
T-axing, Moira and Owain’s love has been tested coming out stronger than before they begin their new lives filled with hope and love. 
E-vil, a vicious mastermind’s plan is close to being completely turned upside down. The price of justice may come too high for Maeve the last thing she is willing to do is risk Moira’s safety but it may be too late.
R-eunion, Bess and Moira hold the fief’s future and Owain knows there is another tremendous shift in the air. 

Wow talk about a killer ending there isn’t a cliffhanger or anything like that but definitely more questions that need answering and some of our fav characters find themselves in trouble. Throughout this book we see Moira grow she starts off as the meek “Lady” who always felt like an outcast, by the end she is quite the opposite. Winter was hard on Owain and Moira it was nice to see them overcome the judgement and hate. The love these two share is pure and complete I wan’t for them to have their ever after so much it hurts! I’ll be cheering for these two and hope they overcome their last hurdles. We found out a lot of characters histories and why they are the way they are, I hope in the last installment those that need to change do. 

My Rating 

4.0 Winter, Cold, Glow, Lyre, Cabin, Nightmares, Connection, Pillow, Drunks, Love, Fire, Wolf, Hut, Week, Earrings, Halla, Mother, Sister, Conspirator, Fae, Blaidyn, Lake, Lord, Maid, Cabin, Love filled stars!

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About The Author

Laila Blake (lailablake.com) is an author, linguist and translator. She writes character-driven love stories, co-hosts the podcast Lilt and blogs about writing, feminism and society. Her work has been featured in numerous anthologies. Keeping a balance between her different interests, Laila Blake’s body of work encompasses literary erotica, romance, and various fields in speculative fiction (dystopian/post-apocalypse, fantasy, paranormal romance and urban fantasy) and she adores finding ways to mix and match. A self-proclaimed nerd, she lives in Cologne/Germany with her cat Nookie, harbors a deep fondness for obscure folk singers and plays the guitar. She loves photography, science documentaries and classic literature, as well as Doctor Who, Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory. You can find her across the web. To stay up to date with her most recent publications, please consider signing up for her spam-free newsletter.

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