Review: Night of Masks & Knives by LJ Andrews

Posted May 11, 2022 by Shannon in Reviews, Shannon / 0 Comments

Review:  Night of Masks & Knives by LJ AndrewsNight of Masks and Knives by L.J. Andrews
Series: The Broken Kingdoms #4
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Also in this series: Game of Hate and Lies , Night of Masks and Knives , Dance of Kings and Thieves
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Find on: Goodreads
five-stars

Wicked men stole the boy she loved. But when she found him again, he'd become more wicked than them all.
Many enter the masquerade, but some never come out. Malin Strom has been searching for Kase, her childhood sweetheart, since he was lost at the annual masquerade years ago, and with her gift of stealing memories she crosses more than one dangerous line to do it.
Until she uncovers a dark secret of the masquerade and a bounty is placed on her head. When she flees, her brother is snatched in her place. Malin's only chance to save him is to enlist the services of a brutal crook—the Nightrender.
And he bears a striking resemblance to a face from the past.
No longer the boy she knew, Kase now rules as the amoral leader of brutal thieves. Pulled into his world of tricks and schemes, tantalizing attraction returns, but so do secrets: the truth behind Kase’s disappearance, why he stayed away, and why Malin’s magic grows stronger the closer she comes to the masque.
But when betrayal tosses Kase and Malin into a deadly game of illusion and magic, Malin faces a cruel choice: save her brother’s life? Or give up the thief who holds her heart…forever.

Filled with luscious world building, banter-filled romance, and epic battles, this first book in the Eastern Kingdom is part Viking, part Cinderella. One-click to start reading today.

When I finished the first trilogy set in this series, I didn’t think anything could come close to Elise and Valen.  Man…was I wrong.

I wasn’t sure about the Nightrender when we were introduced to him in Valen and Elise’s story, but he’s absolutely my favorite kind of hero:  hard on the outside and oh so squishy on the inside.  Kase Erickson made choices as a boy that molded him into the man he was now.  He rarely let emotions, other than his darkness show.  Of course, we didn’t know about those choices when we met him but it became very apparent when Malin stepped into the picture.

Malin never forgot her best friend and has spent the last 10 years looking for him and her step-brother.  When she finds herself caught up in the Guild of Kryv, she realizes her best friend was near her the whole time.  I loved that she struggled between being irrate with Kase to being determined to show him he was “her” Kase.  It wasn’t easy for her, but she had this grit that made it impossible for her to back down.  It’s what Kase needed to start letting those walls of his down.

I’ll admit, I figured out who Malin was early in the story, but the twist at the end was very interesting.  I can’t wait to see what happens next with these 2 and I hope there is a reunion we get to witness with some friends from the Northern kingdom by the end of this trilogy set.

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I am a lover of alpha males with dirty mouths, strong heroines putting alpha males in their place, and the Chicago Blackhawks. I'm a proud hockey mom who can often be found at the hockey rink cheering on my favorite forward, with my kindle close by.