Audiobook review

Calla is queen. She has a secret. When she unexpectedly looses her husband the committee is enforcing the law that if the king or queen die the remaining ruler must remarry. There can not be one ruler they must be in a pair.

“The law was clear remarry or loose the throne, but it says nothing about love.”

Mathias is from the former king’s village. He is sent to the games in hopes of uncovering how the king truly met his demise and who did it.

Could it have been Calla?

Calla is putting on games/challenges to find her new king. There are a dozen contenders. Who in the end has enough points or the last man standing. She is also trying to figure out who and what happened to her husband.

Twists and turns, shifters, dragons, and magic. And yes it is Spicy 🌶️ 🥵

Narrated by Shane East and Zura Johnson
*dual narration*

Calla has just lived through tragedy. Her parents and husband have been murdered. Instead of being able to mourn properly, she is informed that she must marry or she has to give up her throne. They put on a competition that twelve men compete in. one of the men is Matthias. He is from her husband's home country and unbeknownst to her is being sent to see if she is the one that killed him. This book has everything and more. Did I know that I need a female lead that is morally gray? No but I love Calla! She is an absolute killer shadow mommy and wields shadows in the most unhinged ways. The competitions are no holds bar and nobody is safe. There is adventure, twists and lots of spice. Oh and dragon shifters! I hope they get their own books I absolutely loved it!

The way I would go feral to protect Calla & Matthias! This book was just fantastic!! Normally I’m not a fan of “deadly trials” in plots, HOWEVER I feel like the author hit the mark for them in this book. The trials seemed to fit into the story without over shadowing the other plot points. There designs and conditions also felt realistic to the environment/world as well. The villain(s) felt believable and the way they were written made me viscerally hate them (hat tip to the author for that!). Calla’s character development was inspirational and Matthias is just…chef’s kiss! There’s banter throughout, violence, spice, betrayal, political intrigue, major plot twist, more violence, more betrayals, but most importantly a wonderful love story! Although that last 20% had my heart hurting 😭


Also, for a bit of a laugh (iykyk), “Who died?” 🤣

”Once the Skies Fade" by Vanessa Rasanen is the second book in the Immortal Reveries Series. As always, Vanessa delivers with her effortless world-building, heartfelt romance, and characters you can’t help but fall in love with.

The narrators of this audiobook are *Chef's kiss*!! Well done to Vanessa for choosing them! Shane East is THE PERFECT Matthias. I could listen to him forever! Zura Johnson can capture Calla and all of her complicated emotions perfectly. I thought I liked reading the book...but the audiobook takes it to a whole new level.

While the first book, “Until the Stars Fall”, had a cozy, fairytale feel, this sequel takes things to a darker, more intense level with higher stakes and a whirlwind of emotions.

One of the things we love about Vanessa’s writing is the deep friendships she creates among her characters. Through their struggles, we are reminded that even in our loneliest moments, we are never truly alone. These characters embody the idea of being a light in someone else’s life—proof that our investment in others can make all the difference.

You will fine:
-The perfect recap of Book 1 to get you started (Thanks, Vanessa!)
-Deadly Trials where the men compete
-Our favorite sarcastic MMC
-Fated Mates
-Deep Friendships
-Shadow wielder

Our Advice: This is an interconnected standalone but we highly recommend reading “Until the Stars Fall” first to meet some of the characters!
Spice rating: The author states up front which chapters have spice, giving readers the option to skip them if they prefer
Emotional Damage: 4/5
Favorite charter: Matthias
Favorite side character: Isa
Favorite Quotes:
“As long as you draw breath, pain is possible-perhaps even inevitable…”

Once the Skies Fade is an incredibly romantic tale of love and loss, and finding your way through grief.

Calla, the Queen of Arenysen, is still reeling from the deaths of her parents when her new husband is suddenly murdered. Despite her grief, she is considered a prime suspect in his death, and must remarry soon in order to keep her place on the throne. Matthias is the general of Emeryn and close friend to the new King, and his murdered brother. Sent to investigate the death, Matthias joins in the competition to win Calla's hand, figuring it is the best way to get close to her. But sparks fly between the two, and it becomes increasingly difficult for Matthias to carry out his order to kill Calla if she is indeed responsible for her husband's death. With political rivalries, mysterious deaths, and innocent humans caught in the middle, Calla and Matthias must find the killer before they lose everything.

I loved this audiobook! I had read an early copy of Once the Skies Fade, so the story was familiar to me already, but it was such a new experience hearing it brought to live by the narrators. Shane and Zura did a fantastic job as Matthias and Calla, and I feel like I love the story even more now with the audio version. The narrators brought so much emotion and depth to the story. The stakes are higher and the action is fast paced. I really enjoyed this story and I loved the audio version so much.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and Vanessa Rasanen for the advanced listener copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

4.5 ⭐️
Am I obsessed??? Yes, I am!!! Do I care? No, I don't!!! I wasn’t planning to read this after UTSF disappointed me, but I needed to know why Brennan had to die… so here we are. And honestly? This was so much better than book one—I actually really enjoyed it. The trials were foolproof, and I thought I’d hate Matthias since he was basically in the games for spying on Calla, but I ended up feeling the complete opposite. The audiobook did not disappoint!!!

This was everything UTSF wasn’t. I was absolutely hooked, and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. You know that feeling when you go into a book with zero expectations but end up wanting to give it a glowing review? That’s exactly what happened here. The satisfaction of rating a book 5 stars when you already expected it to be one is great, but rating it 5 stars when you expected it to be a zero? That’s an entirely different kind of win. Love Shane East, though it was slightly weird for me cuz I could only imagine him as Bran from GoF. The narrator for the fmc, however, sounded like an older woman. And did not suit the fmc.

This was hilarious,
“You make it sound like they eloped.”

loved this!!! i loved this story so much. the first book didn't fully grab me, but i am so excited that i kept book two on my tbr. this audio was perfect!