Blood Oath (The Darkest Drae) by Rayne Wagner and Kelly St. Claire

Everything I know is a lie. I'm an ordinary mortal girl. Lord Irrik is a depraved dragon-shifter. King Irdelron is an immortal tyrant. In the disease-ridden land of Verald, life is mapped out much like the well-established rings of our kingdom. Everyone has a role... Me? I'll be uselessly serving potato stew for the rest of my life because I can't make anything grow. But starvation brews rebellion. When the king strikes back, I'm captured by Lord Irrik. Instantly, I'm embroiled in a deadly game. One where I'm desperate to understand the rules. Because nothing makes sense anymore. Now, I'm not only fighting for my life... but a love that could be the key to my freedom. What if the truth means you're not who--or what--you thought you were?

MY THOUGHTS

I've been reading a lot of books lately that are great Guilty Pleasures, but not, like, literary masterpieces. Blood Oath is one of those books.Listen, I have a confession to make. My name is Hawk and I have an addiction to Kindle Unlimited. Every time I try to end my subscription, I'm sucked in by another book I would never spend money on, but somehow justify spending $9.99/month to access on Amazon...That makes sense, right?Let's talk about our heroine, Ryn. She is infuriatingly dumb. Especially once you realize everything her mother did to keep her safe. Spoiler alert, Ryn blows it in like the first few chapters. I mean, I like Ryn. She can be funny. But she also causes a lot of problems simply because she's being stubborn or obtuse. She's also super special, so I guess she can get away with some of it.Now, let's talk about our hero! Lord Irrik has done awful things in the name of the king. But we learn there is a reason why he has done them. And we learn that he has done everything in his power to mitigate the damage that could be caused by his actions. I totally fell in love with him right away! You could tell there was more to him than we saw on the surface. I really felt for what he had been through, and what he put himself and others through in an attempt to do the right thing.There are some dark aspects to this book. Ryn and Irrik don't live in a happy world. And realm change doesn't come without a cost. There are a lot of dramatic emotions that make me want to roll my eyes, but I still read the book, AND read the sequel, AND marked the release date of the third book... Guilty pleasure. You feel me?

SUMMARY

Read it for fun. There's an element of fated romance in here, too, which y'all know I'm a sucker for at this point. And since it's been raining LITERALLY EVERY WEEKEND, it's definitely a good rainy day read! I don't even know how to read sunny day books anymore.  What even is sun?