Into the Fire
(Night Prince #4)
by Jeaniene Frost
Publisher: Avon
Publication date: Feb. 28, 2017
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:
In the wrong hands, love can be a deadly weapon.
For nearly six hundred years, Vlad Tepesh cared for nothing, so he had nothing to lose. His brutal reputation ensured that all but the most foolhardy stayed away. Now falling in love with Leila has put him at the mercy of his passions. And one adversary has found a devastating way to use Vlad’s new bride against him.
A powerful spell links Leila to the necromancer Mircea. If he suffers or dies, so does she. Magic is forbidden to vampires, so Vlad and Leila enlist an unlikely guide as they search for a way to break the spell. But an ancient enemy lies in wait, capable of turning Vlad and Leila’s closest friends against them…and finally tearing the lovers apart forever.
Into the Fire is the last installment of the Night Prince series that focuses on Vlad and his wife, Leila. These two have had a rather bumpy ride as far as enemies go. It seemed like every time these two turned around, someone else was trying to take them out. In this installment, these two are racing against the clock in order to take out an enemy who has the means to kill Laila without even being near her. Their hope is to find the cult of necromancers and take them out before it gets Leila killed.
In the last book we come across Vlad’s step-son/nephew, Mircea. Mircea has spent decades loathing the man he viewed as his father and tries to punish Vlad by killing Leila. However, he wound up binding himself with Leila via blood and bone. So, anytime he gets injured, Leila would become injured in the same manner. That curse is also turned around on him and any damage done to Leila is inflicted on him, even death. So, when Mircea is captured and tortured, Leila is immediately aware that something isn’t right. While Mircea‘s captors know that he can communicate with Vlad, they had no clue the hows and whys of it all. So this book is pretty much Vlad and Leila racing against the clock to try to find Mircea and kill the necromancers responsible.
Needless to say, there is a lot of action in this, as with any Night Prince novel. There are exploding heads, buildings blowing up, loved characters lost, and everything in between. It seemed like at any given time there were three other things going on. So, there was rarely a moment of rest for these characters. With that all being said, I felt like for this being the final book in Vlad’s story, there was a lot left open. We never really get closure for anyone. I mean, a lot has transpired in the four book series and we are just sort of left wondering what’s next. Which is a bit frustrating because we watch Mircea wreck havoc for Leila and Vlad and nothing comes of that. I understand the author introducing new characters and leaving their story lines open since I’m sure that means there will be another spin-off series popping up (ahem, Ian), but I would have liked more closure when it came to Vlad and Leila.
All in all, Into the Fire was a good read. It lacked the closure that a finale needs, but it held my interest and made me curious about Ian. I really enjoyed my time with the ruthless Vlad who fell in love with a spunky circus performer.
Favorite part…
You always see Vlad as this super serious character. He’s always either staring at people with a stone-cold expression on his face, or burning people to death. So, when Leila hits him with a snowball, eliciting a snowball fight, I was kind of shocked. Very rarely do you see Vlad drop his guard and reading about him joyously partaking in a snowball fight was so out of character for him that it had me smiling at it all. If I wasn’t already Team Vlad, that would have sealed the deal for me.
Previous reviews from Night Prince
Once Burned
Twice Tempted
Bound by Flames
That cover is fantastic, and I really love when a book has a lot going on to keep my interest. Hugs, RO
For some reason I never read this spin off even though I have the books.
I had always wanted Ian’s book! But it’s been so long I’m not sure I care now?? lol I’m sure I can be convinced!
Karen @ For What It’s Worth
I am really sad that this series is over because even though I adore Cat and Bones, there is something that I gravitated towards with Vlad and Leila. I just loved their story so much more but yes I agree, they could have had more closure. I adored the snowball fight scene. That was hilarious.