I am enamored by how atmospheric both of the books in this series are. There is an absolutely perfect level of tension, mystery, romance, and dark undertones. This book was exactly what I needed the next installment of this series to be.

Chrysantha has convinced the world that she is daft, despite being anything but, and she has finally gotten everything she ever wanted. Her terrible husband it gone, and she is a duchess with an estate where she can escape from the rest of the world. Her perfect world is turned upside down when a man appears claiming to be her husband’s heir and threatening to take away the life she worked so hard to create.

I could not put this book down, I just needed to know what happened next. This was fast paced without sacrificing the story. I loved all of the characters, their relationships, and how every character and relationship developed and grew.

I will read absolutely anything Tricia Levenseller writes; she is an absolute auto buy author for me at this point.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily.

Tricia Levenseller's The Darkness Within Us is the companion novel to the authors The Shadows Between Us. This story features Chrysantha Stathos, the sister to Alessandra Stathos, the woman who will soon become the Shadow Queen alongside Kallias Meheras, the Shadow King. By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has gathered important secrets, earned her father’s constant care, and become a wealthy duchess—all by age nineteen.

Now, she is only one elderly, dying duke (Hadrian Demos) away from having all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted. Or so she thought. Turns out her little sister somehow snatched the true victory away from her by marrying a King. Meanwhile, after the death of Chrysantha’s no-good, lecherous husband, a man claiming to be the duke’s estranged grandson (Eryk Demos) turns up to inherit everything that should be hers. Chrysantha is enraged. There is no way that she’s going to let some man take everything from her.

Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive and alluring with mysterious powers. No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants. One could legitimately call this a retelling of Beauty and the Beast because of who Eryk is, and how many people are on his kill list for what they've done to him, and his own mother. Both of these characters are morally gray.

Chrysantha has no hesitation in putting a pillow over her husband, while Eryk has no hesitation in pushing her buttons which creates some interesting, and creative scenes between the characters. It's funny, Alessandra previous had similiar goals. Get close to the King. Have him fall in love with her. Kill him and take over the country. Also, as this is a companion, the story takes place at the same time as The Shadows Between Us which gives readers an update on what Alessandra has been up to.

Now, to the more curious aspects of Chrysantha. She is extremely kind to every member of her staff and grants them better lives once the duke has died and she is allowed to make the changes she wishes. She was not cruel to anyone and just wanted to achieve her goal and plotted for it. She does not want to be in love or ever get married again so any inconvenience is going to ruin her future. Until Eryk walks into her life, and turns it upside down. When she discovers his secret, she doesn't run away, she patiently works with him until she falls hard for him

first off. this book was adorable. the only reason i gave it four stars and not five is because i wish it had been longer. it was such an easy, cute, funny read. i didn’t read the first book in the series but i don’t think that hindered me at all with this one. the MC was witty, smart, and passionate. an absolutely easy romance read that i would recommend to pals for sure!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

For anyone that follows me, they know I’m a huge fan of Tricia. I absolutely adored The Shadows Between Us and then went into Blade of Secrets and loved it. I always said she could write a cookbook and I’d read it.

This book though, didn’t live up to her usual standards. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the book but after the stage was set on how awful Chrysantha was to Alessandra. Therefore one had to overcome that little tidbit very quickly. Of the two sisters I still prefer Alessandra.

The other thing I didn’t like was how no matter what, Chrysantha could not admit her own feelings and was extremely selfish. At times I rolled my eyes at her annoying ass.

The book did drag on at times. Though there was also a few times it felt jumbled. But overall I did enjoy the book. Eryx was such a dynamic character that developed so well. He was my favorite character. Their love story was so cute and the ending with Kallias and Alessandra was hilarious.

The best advice I can give in regard to reading this would be to read as close to the first one as possible. It has been years since I read the first one. This keeps everything in the forefront. But on that same foot, I recommend going into it with an open mind.

Chrysantha’s story had very similar vibes to her sister’s and I was here for those vibes. Spoilers ahead but I thought Chrysantha’s motivations were understandable. Not wanting to be controlled, wanting freedom. And she worked so so hard, plotting, hiding, scheming for that freedom but then, her actions sort of fell flat for me. She got her freedom and then mostly just used it to buy expensive stuff and sleep with whoever she wanted. I liked the conflict/banter/tension between her and Eryx.

I read this all in one sitting! It was very readable and kept my attention well. Thank goodness Chrysantha developed into this version of herself! I love that the characters are morally gray. I love that she wanted her freedom and to buck the system more than anything. I totally loved the romance and how it blossomed. Also the way the sisters relationship evolved - now I want more books with the two of them teamed up!

I ended up really liking this book. I think at first I really didn’t like Chrysantha at all- I got where she was coming from and I wanted her to be free as well but all the schemes and her being so mean to her sister was unnecessary. However I loved that she changed as the book went on and she finally fell in love and made things right with her sister. I was so upset that she didn’t read the letter first and almost got Eryx killed but it was sweet of her to jump between the two of them. I loved that they all got everything they wanted at the end.

This was one of my most anticipated books this year, and it did not disappoint. I loved the dynamic between Eryx and Chrysantha. It was so much fun to return to this world—I especially enjoyed seeing Kallias and Alessandra's wedding and catching up on their lives. It was also great to see Chrysantha and Alessandra reconnect and work on their relationship.

I hope this isn’t the last we see of Chrysantha, Eryx, Alessandra, and Kallias. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend this duology!

I really enjoyed the development of Eryx and Chrysantha's relationship - I do think the pacing was a bit off and felt rushed, and had a little more time been spent on building their connection, I think this could have been even more enjoyable.

I think an opportunity was missing leaving this as a single POV - the MMC is maybe too mysterious, and I would have loved the opportunity to get inside of his head!

I love and adore Tricia Levenseller's writing so I had really hight hopes coming into this and I WAS NOT LET DOWN! I adored this story. I really enjoyed Chrysantha as a character but for me that didn't happen right away. You get to see her grow and change as you read and that is part of the fun of this book. Eryx was NOT my favorite MC but for the story, it made sense for this book. Overall, a good time! 3.75 rounded to 4!

Included as a top pick in weekly July New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

Following Alessandra's sister Chrysantha in this one, we find out how she's doing with her new marriage. To a man on death's doorstep, who somehow still manages to mistreat and abuse her. Of course, she won't have long to wait, as he's been on his sickbed their entire marriage.

Finally, she is free. She is the dowager duchess and no man, or anyone else, will ever have power over her again. Until Eryx shows up claiming to be the proper heir to the dukedom. What. The. Hell. Chrysantha does her best to suss out what's going on and just who this infuriating man is. Of course, they can't wait to be rid of one another. Until she learns his secrets anyway.

What now? She knows too much, but will she share his secret with others? She is desperate to know everything about him, and she actually wants to help him control his secrets. But he must let her in. As they both fall helplessly and refuse to admit it to each other, more secrets and betrayals come to light. Will they survive it?

A fantastic follow up to The Shadows Between Us! I love Tricia Levenseller's work. Seriously sign me up for anything she writes--ever!

The Darkness Within Is is a variation on Beauty and the Beast. The beast is not locked in a tower, and the beauty is a noblewoman. Still, they end up in the same ducal residence, and slowly get to know each other. It’s an entertaining story, suitable for teens and adults.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

protagonist was much more nuanced than protagonists in similar genre books. I am very excited to read the sequel in just a few days!

I loved the first book and was so excited when I heard she was writing another book in the world. I loved reading the sisters POV book and I thought at times the enemies to lovers relationship worked especially in the beginning but towards the end I did not like the development and was very let down. It almost ruined the first book for me.

this was such a great book! Between the character development and the story line, I was sucked in by chapter 1. I will definitely recommend this book to others and purchase for my personal collection.

I loved this book! Chrysantha, the FMC was so intriguing and powerful in her own ways. I love books that have a FMC that is powerful, knows what she wants and is willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen. She’s not the good girl heroine, but deep down she does have a heart and cares for those around her. Erxy on the other hand is full mystery and inner darkness. I was so intrigued by his character and was itching to know who and what he is just as bad as Chrysantha. He was the perfect antagonist arriving to foil all of Chrysantha’s plans for his own secret schemes. Their energy and back n forth bickering was perfect, so much that I was sad when the book ended and there wasn’t anymore. Overall this book was a fantastic read.

I adored The Shadows Between Us. It was a villian story and I loved it. I have also read other books by this author. I have strayed from YA, as my fantasy and scifi tastes are changing. I just want more. I received an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I remembered my love for the companion novel and decided to give this a try. I'm so glad I did. I loved every minute of it and promptly ordered my own copy. These are books you can read again and again. I'd love for the author to venture in adult cozy fantasy one day. Really love the empowering of women themes in both books.

The story continues with the older sister! I loved the first book in the series and was really excited for her to continue the story line. How many books can you say that you read the opening line to be " My husband is taking too long to die."? I absolutely started laughing by the first page because her internal monologue is full of dark humor. I appreciate when the villain gets to be the main character and really shine. I also appreciate how Levenseller portrays her villains' as very one sided at first. She really does the work of making you think that this story is just going to be a basic villain gets the love interest and there is no depth to it. When you dig deeper into the story you really see how much character development she hides at the first part.
If the first line doesn't sell you to read this book then the banter between the two main characters will. The mysterious "nephew" that appears and just wants to get rid of Chrysantha by marrying her off to the next available man. It gives a very Bridgerton vibe with some magical elements to it. The nephew has secrets of his own that is almost like a game of clue. It kept me guessing for sure till the very end. I was kind of let down by the secret though. It felt very anticlimactic after we spent the better part of the book trying to know what is his secret. The only other issue I had was the end. We had made such good headway in developing these characters and then turn around and quickly fix the second act break up. Then all is good and everyone is happy. I wish we could have gotten a more developed ending arc where you really felt like the story was concise.