This is the third installment of the series Warriors of the Fianna. The book can easily be read as a standalone, but I think it's more enjoyable if you read the whole series. This is a story of forbidden love and opposites attract. The story is well-written and pulled me in from the very start. The author does a nice job of bringing the story and the characters to life. Diarmid is a notorious rogue and has a reputation of being a libertine. But underneath all that, he is kind and caring and an honorable man. Cara is a princess and quite the opposite of Diarmid. She is very shy and introverted and mostly keeps to herself. When she is kidnapped, Diarmid is one of the Fianna warriors that rescues her. He is tasked with helping Cara overcome her shyness and social anxiety so that she can get the support the king needs to overcome his enemies. Diarmid never expected to fall in love with her. Cara is betrothed to another, but has none of the feelings for him as she does for Diarmid. Although they started out not at all liking each other, they slowly grew towards one another and developed a beautiful bond.
This story did not have as much action and suspense as the previous books, but nonetheless was a beautiful read.
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Diarmid is tasked with giving Princess Cara relationship lessons and helping her with her social anxiety. She is betrothed to someone else, as a diplomatic marriage. At first, they don't like each other. She thinks he's nothing but a rogue and a flirt. He thinks she's aloof and cold. It was very cute and heart warming to see them thaw towards each other, then gradually fall in love. Fortunately, she got out of that original betrothal. These two have great chemistry. I love this kind of set up - an adorable rake with a giant heart, and a strict, prim and proper lady who can't help but fall for him.
Thank you to netgalley for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

Book: Into the Ashes
Author: Sophia Nye
Series: Warriors of the Fianna, Book 3
Publisher: Dragonblade
Length: 210 Pages
Overall Rating: 5/5
Blog Rating: 5/5

This is the story of starcrossed lovers and class differences. Diarmid is a flirtatious rogue, who has a bit of a libertine reputation and a bit of an extravert who is definitely not shy. However underneath it all he is kind, caring, honorable and protective of those he cares about.

Furthermore all the women love him and his fellow warriors claim he can't go a night without a woman warming his bed. Where Cara who is a princess where she quite the opposite being an introvert where she is withdrawn, quiet and keeps to herself. Her reasons are absolutely heartbreaking! Now she had been kidnapped and Diarmid was one of the warriors of Fianna sent to rescue her.

This is the third book set in Ireland that I absolutely loved especially since I am of Irish ancestry and rare to discover in historical romance. This book also shows the issues Ireland has as a country and with its politics too.

Do Diarmid and Cara even have a chance of being each other's opposite? However they are like moth to a flame where their love and attraction only grows. A book I absolutely loved and can’t recommend enough!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy and an advance reader copy from Dragonblade publishers. I voluntarily agreed to do a fair review and blog through netgalley. All thoughts, ideas and words are my own.

Forbidden Love

I really enjoyed this forbidden love, opposites attract love story. It has a well written plot, interesting historical tidbits about Eire, a good imagery, very likable main and secondary characters, and some steam. It is not as action-packed as the previous book but concentrates more on the budding feelings, trust and inner turmoil of the two protagonists. I particularly liked the sizzling chemistry and the banter between Cara and Diarmid and the bond of friendship and loyalty between the Fianna.

I don't recommend reading the story on its own as parts of the plot of this installment already started in the previous book.

Diarmid is proud to be a Fianna warrior. He is the sunny boy and charmer of the group, never without a woman in his bed.

When King Brian, who wants to unite all the kingdoms of Eire, commissions his Fianna to rescue Princess Cara of Thurles from her kidnapper and escort her to her future fiancé and his friend King Sitric of Dyflin, Diarmid thinks it's an easy task, but Cara, while beautiful, is cold and uptight and in no way suited to a warm-hearted and gregarious man like Sitric.

After her parents' betrayal of Brian's cause, Cara is happy to be given the opportunity to restore her family's reputation, her kingdom and her sister's safety, but she dislikes physical contact and shies away from Sitric's overwhelming sunshine nature, who in turn refuses to marry her.

Diarmid is not prepared to fail the success in King Brian’s marriage plans and offers Cara to teach her how to win his friend’s affection.They soon make progress, but neither of them could have foreseen that they would fall in love with each other in the process and be faced with a difficult choice:

Is Cara willing to sacrifice her kingdom, her family’s reputation and her sister's safety for Diarmid?
If Diarmid chooses her, it could mean losing his place in the Fianna, his friendship with Sintric and the favor of King Brian...

If you enjoy roguish sunshine heroes, grumpy heroines and banter, you will certainly love this book!

I absolutely love this series! So if you haven't read any of it, I highly recommend reading each book. They can stand alone, however the bond, loyalty and deep connection between all the warriors as well as king Brian isn't something to be missed. This is the story of Cara and Diarmid. Cara is a princess, who has been kidnapped. Diarmid, is a special forces warrior (Fianna) who is sent with his team to rescue her. Their journey is awesome. I love Diarmid, he's charming, cocky, loyal, truly kind-hearted and has a deep compassion hidden beneath his roguish ways. Cara, is cold, withdrawn, distant and closed off. Her reasons are valid and your heart with be squeezed as you grow to know and understand her. Set in ancient, Ireland, this story gives us insight into the actual history of Erie, it's struggles and political journey. I'm hoping for at least four or five more stories in this series as they are wholly engaging, extremely well written and worth reading again and again.

I found this romance less suspenseful than those that went before it in the series, but it was nevertheless an enjoyable novel. Diarmid is a charming hero as he sets out to show Princess Cara how to overcome her fears of intimacy and to achieve the support that King Brian needs to overcome his enemies. He did not expect to develop feelings for her even though she was the opposite of him in every way. Cara has good reason for her fears but through Diarmid's sensitive grooming, she slowly unwinds. Unfortunately, her response to her intended husband, Sitric, is stilted and the freedom she feels with the Fianna warrior is not in evidence with the man she is to marry. By fulfilling his duties, Diarmid unfortunately makes some errors, making Cara rethink whom she can trust, but ultimately the novel does come to a sweet conclusion. I received a copy of this book as a gift through Dragonblade Publishing and NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

I enjoyed reading this book. Once I started reading Into the Ashes I didn't want to put it down. The characters are great and the storyline hooked me from the start. I don't want to spoil this book for anyone so I won't go into details. I recommend reading this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.