🌧️ A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 4.5 ⭐

How can it end like that?? I need answers, NOW!

Despite the heavy themes of war, betrayal and impending doom, this book got me smiling and kicking my feet because of Alaric and Talasyn.
The tension that simmered between them in The Hurricane Wars boils over here in A Monsoon Rising. So you're definitely in for some enemies-to-lovers goodness!

Not only that, but we get introduced to the wider universe of Lir as we spend more time in the Nenavar Dominion - seeing more islands, meeting more people, and salivating over more scrumptious dishes. For my 🇵🇭 friends, you'll notice a lot more of our culture represented, especially in the food and community dynamics. I LOVED the representation.

The action and pace of the plot picks up as Alaric and Talasyn prepare to face the Moonless Dark and the void that threatens to end the world as they know it. They know they can't trust each other, but they need to rely on each other because only the two of them can save the world from turning into nothingness. Will they be able to do it? Will they be able to resist each other even as they spend more time together? Will they be able to be together despite the secrets that they hide?

I loved Alaric's character here, as we get to know him even more - and we get to watch him fall in love with Talasyn. Aaaaahhh, this man 😍 He's wounded, vulnerable, with slightly questionable leanings, but so willing to risk everything for her. I was squealing and kicking by myself in the cafe 😫

Thank you @netgalley @harpervoyager and @theagwrites for an advance copy.

Read if you like:
🩶 Morally gray antiheroes
🌌 Forgotten links from the past
🌘 End-of-the-world / doomsday feels
☀️ Elemental magic
⚖️ Political intrigue and machinations

Other details and mild spoilers:
Open door with explicit details
Dual third person POV
CW: deception, end of the world, animal abuse, parental abuse, death, loss of loved ones

“Light and shadow couldn’t exist together without one destroying the other.”

I liked this follow-up to The Hurricane Wars. Talasyn has come a long way as both a lightweaver and a political leader. Alaric is slowly trying to move out from under his father’s control. It was interesting to see how Talasyn and Alaric’s powers grow and change in relation to each other. Not to mention their very complicated personal relationship. Much like the first book, it has distinct Star Wars vibes, but is still very much its own story. I was intrigued by the role the Nenavarene dragons played in this one.

The audiobook is narrated by Jeanne Syquia and Kaleo Griffith. I thought they both did a great job. I’m glad that it has separate narrators for Talasyn’s chapters and Alaric’s chapters. It made the listening experience a little more immersive for me.

Note: This is the second book in the Hurricane Wars trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. As far as I know, a publication date has not yet been announced for book 3.

THEA?!?! THAT ENDING?!?!? GORL

But I absolutely loved this book and I need the third book yesterday. This book met and exceeded my expectations and I wish I could reread it for the first time again.

If you love a broody man and a romance BUILT on tensions, I present: The Hurricane Wars trilogy

Also thank you sooooo soo much Avon and Harper Voyager for my first ever ARC!!! I’m on cloud 9!

A Monsoon Rising
Vol 2 of The Hurricane Wars
Thea Guanzon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series. I wasn’t a fan of the world building and set up, but once we got into the forced diplomatic marriage between Aleric and Thea, things definitely picked up.

The second volume starts where we leave off, as the two MC’s have to figure out what being married will be like when they still don’t trust each other, even while they have to work together to protect their world from a coming storm.

The story is a reworked Relo fanfic. The plotting still struggles. There are holes and inconsistencies to be sure.

However the tension between these two characters, the way they grow care for each other while the world around them is determined to stay at war. It’s a lot of fun to read.

The cliffhanger ending made left me wanting more, and you bet I will be reading the next book. This was well done entertainment, and this week that was exactly what I needed.

Thanks to @harpervoyagerus and @netgalley for access to an eARC.

Fantastic followup to The Hurricane Wars, which I feel is shaping up to be one of the most underrated romantasy series. As with the first book, this is one of the few fantasy romances I've read with true enemies to lovers (and does it well). This installment is more romance-centered than plot-centered with the first two parts of the book being focused on continuing the angsty slowburn of Talasyn/Alaric. Typically I prefer stories with more plot than romance but it worked here for me. I loved seeing their relationship build in spite of all the complicated political layers and the secrets they are both hiding (that can only lead to devastating betrayal).

In addition to the romance there's more expansion on the worldbuilding which I appreciated and the the plot picks up significantly in Part 3. The last few chapters were thrilling and the book ends on a major cliffhanger which part of me loves because it made for an exciting reading experience and part of me hates because I have no idea when Book 3 will be released (hopefully this year???).

The main weakness for this story, both in The Hurricane Wars and A Monsoon Rising, is that I want a bit more from the side characters (particularly Elagbi, Vela, Sevraim, Jie, and Surakwel). They have some great moments but not enough for me to be as invested in them as I would like (particularly because I think the stakes would feel higher if I was more invested in them).

I cannot wait for Book 3 - based on what was set up in this book, it has strong potential to be my favorite installment.

A Monsoon Rising is about Alaric and Talasyn navigating their new alliance and roles as heirs to their respective thrones. The romance between both of them develops, but at the same time, it still feels like a slow burn. At one point, the passion between them reminded me of Olitz (Oliva and Fitz from Scandal), but those two weren't enemies. I was surprised by the twist at the end. I expected what happened to happen, just not the way it did. The only thing I can think of that disappointed me was the fact that they are still keeping pretty major secrets from one another. So, I'm guessing those will be revealed in the final book, and we find out if they will be together or not.

This book had me so intrigued. Most books fall flat for the second installment, but this one was even better than the first! I really enjoyed the tension continuing to build around Talasyn and Alaric. This book felt a lot more mature in themes, and that continued into their relationship maturing. The theme of the night eclipse was such a fun idea, and yet, you could tell when there was so much book left that it wasn’t even the ultimate end of the book.
The author is so descriptive with the clothes and the scenery it makes it so easy to visualize the scenes. The sailing to the crater and everything that happened during the eclipse had me at the edge of my seat. The scene with the dragons escorting the ship was beautifully written.
I can’t believe I have to wait for book 3 now

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC, sorry for the delayed review!

Overall, I liked it--but not as much as I thought I would.

Positives:
- Alaric (his romantic tendencies, his ability to force communication between the two mains, his POV in general is a delight to read)
- The void sever surprise
- The "who did this to you" trope-flipping scene and the hurt-comfort scene that followed

Negatives:
- Tala's lack of communication and general cluelessness
- The cliffhanger ending that just opened up a new can of worms but didn't really feel satisfying to me for the other conflicts that had been building throughout the book
- The back and forth Alaric/Tala's relationship constantly went through. Maybe I am too impatient but I'm just Tired of their relationship taking two steps forward and one back, constantly (not to mention the frequent use of the miscommunication trope!).

Recommend for people in their early 20s, not so much for older adults.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, sorry for the late review!

Overall--I liked it, but I was again disappointed because I thought I would like it a lot more than the 3/5 stars I rated it as.

The "who did this to you?" scene flipped the trope on its head (and the hurt/comfort scene that followed was top notch!) AND had me VERY excited for the rest of the book--only for the rest of the book to be not as good.

I kept seeing people clutching their pearls over the book's ending cliffhanger--only to expect more when I got to it (I was like, "that's it? But where's the rest of it?"). I mean, was it surprising? Yes. Was I confused? Yes. Was I clutching my pearls? Not really.

Maybe I'm too impatient for a true enemies to lovers relationship, maybe I'm the kind of person who wants the couple to get together in book 1 and have the rest of the obstacles in the series Not be their relationship--whatever it is, this series isn't it for me, I've sadly had to admit. I was tired of the whiplash the two mains go through with their relationship in book 1, and book 2--while with less whiplash--still had them yo-yo'ing on a seesaw. They had one (1) good moment of talking through their feelings (that led to a satisfying smut scene), but otherwise the miscommunication trope was frequent through the rest of the book.

I have two beautiful copies of this and its predecessor and I've now made my peace with the fact that I probably will have to donate all because I doubt I'll want to reread them (besides maybe before book 3, just so I can see how it ends). :(

I really liked Alaric throughout this book, and Tala's growing desire to keep Alaric, but I grew frustrated with Tala kow-towing to her superiors (former and current) and the secrets both parties kept.

Also, there are way too many secondary characters to keep track of and we hardly interact greatly with any one of them in this second book.

Overall, maybe this book is for people in the their late teens and early twenties, because it just wasn't for me (mid 30s).

Good book.. perfect second book tp th first one. loved the characters and story line. I enjoyed reading it. I would recommend this to other readers.

After that final chapter of The Hurricane Wars, I was so curious where Thea Guanzon was going to take Talasyn and Alaric's story next, and I wasn't disappointed by A Monsoon Rising!

I'm usually wary of sequels, because so many books suffer from second book syndrome, but this one was a marked improvement over the first. It's plagued at times by the usual second-book-in-a-trilogy issues: feeling more like a bridge between Books 1 and 3 than its own fully plotted thing; jumping characters from place to place to make up for where the plot really doesn't go; being a bit too long for its own good. But, honestly? Those issues were in the fantasy part of the book, and this series is, at its heart, way more romance than fantasy.

And the romance, my friends, hit its stride in A Monsoon Rising. As Talasyn and Alaric navigate courtly politics and their new marriage, the chemistry between them sizzles even hotter. Despite them no longer theoretically being enemies, there is still plenty of the enemies to lovers vibes from the first book, and I just adore their banter. While Alaric tries to guard his heart from sunny Talasyn, Talasyn finds herself falling more and more for a man she's destined to betray. Since both have a common goal--combining their magic to protect against the deadly Voidfell--we get to see more of their bonding, and I loved every moment they were on the page together. From clandestine encounters in the library to a daring rescue mission (with a truly amazing spicy scene in a cave), this romance was beat for beat absolutely amazing. I am not sure if part of this was in Guanzon's original ReyLo fic, or if it's all original for this book, but I truly could not get enough. And did I mention the spice? It's definitely hotter than the first book, and I was here for every second of it. I also love the individual character arcs of Talasyn and Alaric, and the writing style is top notch. Even though the dual POV is in third person, I could tell instantly whose head I was in by subtle choices that Guanzon made. She's definitely a romantasy writer I will eagerly follow even after this series is done.

But the reason why this stops just short of a five for me is, like I mentioned, the fantasy elements were pretty much the same as Book 1.: a little info-dumpy, a little confusing, and more window dressing for the romance than a fully realized fantasy in its own right. I liked the romance so much that I didn't mind it so much this round, but by the end, I still felt like I never quite understood the magic system. There's dragons in there that I feel like will come into play in Book 3? Some magical creatures who can nullify Alaric and Talasyn's magic? A bunch of other things and names and titles and, oh boy, I would LOVE a little guide in the front like Fourth Wing has. I had a fun time, though.

This is a smart, well-written, and sexy romantasy series, and I eagerly look forward to the final book. Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Voyager, and Thea Guanzon for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

A solid followup novel to THE HURRICANE WARS. I largely had mixed feelings on the first in the series, but I felt as though the author streamlined more of her writing for this sequel and I felt more favorably toward that. I enjoyed the chemistry between Alaric and Talasyn. And with the explosive ending, I hope that there will be a third installment, which I would gladly pick up.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Woah! This started out slow to me, but then it really picked up! This book was more focused on the romance aspect of the story rather than the fantasy plot, but oh did it deliver!!
Talasyn’s and Alaric’s chemistry was off the charts and Chapter 20 was everything🤯😍
I’m obsessed with them and highly recommend this trilogy!
Now, that ENDING…!
I need book 3 ASAP!

🥀Enemies to lovers
🥀Forced proximity
🥀Slow burn 🔥
🥀Marriage of Connivence
🥀Wartime
🥀Sizzling Chemistry💋
🥀Dragons 🐉

Continuando de onde The Hurricane Wars finalizou, A Monsoon Rising nos traz de volta à aliança imprevisível feita entre Alaric e Talasyn. Seu casamento tinha como objetivo intermediar a paz entre suas nações devastadas pela guerra, mas as hostilidades persistentes e a desconfiança pessoal entre os dois criam uma parceria no mínimo diferenciada.

O relacionamento de Alaric e Talasyn é o foco nesse volume, mas nem por isso a história deixa de lado tudo que já foi apresentado. Talasyn está dividida entre suas lealdades e seus sentimentos crescentes por Alaric. Seu conflito entre permanecer leal à sua terra natal ou seguir seu coração torna a personagem mais real e interessante.

Já Alaric é lançado em território desconhecido devido ao seu casamento arranjado e agora precisa saber jogar um novo jogo de diplomacia. Seu exterior frio e "cruel" é apenas uma fachada para um homem que deseja mais do que ser uma arma de guerra, e sua proximidade em relação a Talasyn vai deixar isso bem claro.

O enemies to lovers aqui é cheio de tensão, vulnerabilidade, respeito mútuo e uma atração inegável. A proximidade forçada por conta do casamento aumenta os riscos de nascimento de sentimentos ~indesejados~ em Talasyn e Alaric. O crescimento dos dois personagens é bem perceptível durante a história, e o mais legal é que ambos sabem que nada poder ser tudo preto no branco. Inclusive, no que a autora nos poupou de cenas mais calientes no primeiro livro, aqui ela não se conteve.

O cenário inspirado no sudeste asiático continua a ser um ótimo destaque na história e a autora dá mais profundidade aqui ao explorar mais do seu universo. O ponto de vista duplo também deixa a leitura mais dinâmica e envolvente. Um ponto a destacar é que Thea soube equilibrar muito bem o foco nas questões políticas apresentadas e o romance.

A Monsoon Rising foi uma ótima continuação, entregando tudo do melhor em fantasia, romance, ação e com um final de deixar ansioso pelo próximo livro.

**4.5 stars

Oh look another hugely anticipated book that I miraculously got approved for...then accidentally didn't read til after release. My bad!

Anyway, I LOVED this one! It really cemented this series as a new favorite. The romance was definitely the main focus of the book, a bit more so than book 1 I think, and I loved every second of it. All of my favorite types of tropes and scenes were present and I felt like I was just kicking my feet and giggling the whole time. I tried to take notes on my favorite things in the book but it mostly just ended up being unhinged, so I'll try to summarize why I loved the book so much.

First, of course the romance. Loved seeing Talasyn and Alaric learn how to love/ be loved even if they were totally in denial the whole time. I loved seeing both of them in their leadership roles more in this book, too.

I also really enjoyed the last 20% of the book or so which was SO action packed. I think the author really did justice to this big event that we have been building up to and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest!

The only reason I took off half a star is because the romance is basically the ONLY part of this book. I completely understand that it's a romantasy and that's the point, but I think book 1 had a better balance with the overarching plot. Like, there's SO much left that needs to be fixed/ things that need to happen in book 3 (which I believe is the final book) that it kind of makes me nervous how it will be pulled off. I also wish we got more attention on secondary characters (like Sevraim, who is HILARIOUS) and more of their backstories. Again, though, I get that the primary focus of this book is supposed to be the romance anyways!

Overall, a really excellent followup for the Hurricane Wars and a new favorite series/ author. Definitely recommend these books!!

Hurricane Wars is one of my fav books! I shout it to the rooftops everyone asks for a recommendation. So obviously I needed A Monsoon Rising!! I’ll admit going in I was afraid I wouldn’t like it as much as the first book but I was wrong!

The scenes and setting of this story are some of my favorites in fantasy I’ve read in a while. It’s unique and a breath of fresh air to have a different world in fantasy.

The first book was definitely heavy on the plot. The world building, setting you up for the relationship. Then this one was romance heavy, which I love, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

What starts out as a political marriage well, you know how that goes. I was surprised to find how quickly the relationship switched up from enemy to lovers to… not so enemy! I could have done with a little more grumpy and a little less mooshy especially after how grumpy they were in book one but I digress. Great series so far and I can’t wait to continue!

The last book had a little more fantasy plot and this one felt like it leaned more into the romance plot more. I’m hoping the next one goes back to court politics and fantasy but this was still a great read

A thrilling second installment to the luscious world Thea has created! As a fan of Star Wars inspired works I really enjoy where this series takes the reader. The romance is captivating and this book leaves you breathless at times wondering how they will make it out in the end. I am patiently (not so patiently) waiting news on the next book!

I've been waiting patiently for Monsoon Rising after reading The Hurricane Wars earlier this year (2024) and the wait did not disappoint. I was worried that at the end of Hurricane wars we were going to these two apart for most or the duration and I'm glad that was not the case. I am glad that even though it continues to be a slow burn with banter between Alaric and Talasyn that we get to see more of their relationship build. And let's talk about the world building- like Hurricane Wars I found myself immersed in the world that she has created and I continue to do so in Monsoon Rising.

I can't wait until the 3rd and final installment of the series. Now--- that ending..... I hope there is a date for the 3rd book.


I rate this book 4.5 stars and 1.5 spice level.

In The Hurricane Wars, Talasyn focused more on understanding her past, learning the art of political manuevering required in her new position, and surviving in the midst of the Hurricane Wars. However, in A Monsoon Rising Talasyn must prepare to fight the Moonless Dark and struggles with her feelings for her husband, as their relationship is the result of a political alliance with hostility and the possibility of betrayal on both sides. The tension between Talasyn and Alaric is palpable. Their desire for each other grows, as do the risks of exposing their weaknesses to their biggest enemies.

I really enjoyed the world building, especially in terms of the dragons and other creatures. I also felt like A Monsoon Rising took the series up a notch to pave the way for an intense third book. Between the cliffhanger, that is going to make it torture to wait for the third book, and the enemies that are surrounding on all sides, both Talasyn and Alaric are finally going to have to make their loyalties crystal clear.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!