A Soul to Touch
Duskwalker Brides #3
Opal Reyne
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Feb. 24, 2023
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Rating:
All Mayumi ever wanted was to hunt Demons.
After being discharged from the Demonslayer guild, Mayumi chose to isolate herself within the forest. The best place to hunt and kill Demons. But, one night, she’s surprised when a different monster is lured by her baits.
Just before she unleashes an arrow that’s aimed to kill, Mayumi pauses. She realises she’s seen that skulled, feline face before and that it had once saved her life.
All Faunus ever wanted was her.
After the Demon King cracked his skull, Faunus returns to watch over the only human he has ever cared for. He knows what his future holds, she would never become his bride, but he wants to spend what remains of his life protecting her.
He never expected that she would ever befriend him, or that she would openly desire him. She’s as fiery as her burning passion, and he’s desperate to let her consume him.
But his time in this world grows short, and Faunus doesn’t know how he can be with Mayumi when he knows nothing will save him.
My thoughts…
I had to take a break from this series because Magnar’s book (2nd book) was such a massive disappointment, that I just couldn’t bring myself to read another book from the series. His book was so bad, that I not only didn’t review it, but immediately forgot about it. I disliked the FMC because she’s so selfish and self-centered. Magnar is so desperate for a bride and mentally underdeveloped that he literally latched on to an abusive wench of a woman. So, yeah, when I finished it, I took a while to revisit the series. I just couldn’t go through that again. However, Mayumi and Kitty… I mean, Faunus’ story was so interesting sounding, that I couldn’t help but dive back into the world.
Not only it is a romance between a demonslayer and a duskwalker, but it’s also a savior romance as well. Since Faunus saved Mayumi when she was a little girl, he’s been watching over her ever since. He makes a habit to pop into the human world from time to time to see how the human is doing. Mayumi doesn’t remember much from that terrible night, she does remember looking for her cat Kitty, and coming across what she thought was her cat. Only, it was Faunus whose skull is that of a cat. So I suppose I could see the confusion. Either way, this unlikely relationship blossoms because Mayumi remembers Faunus saving her, meaning that she can trust him not to harm her. This was one aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed because there was no back and forth with the FMC coming to terms with befriending and falling in love with a duskwalker. To Mayumi, Faunus is the whole reason why she is still alive today. So, to her, all she sees is a compassionate friend who will stop at nothing to protect her.
Now, there is an undercurrent of impending doom for Faunus. His skull was fractured previously, and we know from previous books, that if a duskwalker’s skull breaks, they die. So, the moment Faunus’ skull cracks, he knows, and we know, that he’s on borrowed time. Every altercation he has with a demon, every trip and fall, or even an accident with Mayumi could result in his immediate death. So, this is something that looms over the story the entire time as Mayumi tries desperately to fuse the fracture together and keep it from spreading.
I think I may have liked this more than Orpheus’ story. Orpheus tugged on my heart strings because he was lonely and just wanted a companion to live with, but there was just something about this immediate friendship and blossoming romance that just did it for me. At no point did I feel like any of it was unbelievable, or had a hard time connecting with the characters. Maybe it was because of the underlying first encounter that stuck with both of them, or the fact that Faunus was more mentally advanced and very much human-like in his mental stage. I don’t know what it was, but I really liked living in Mayumi and Faunus’ world, and I really hope we get to see them again.
Previous reviews from the Duskwalker Brides series
A Soul to Keep
