This is definitely “Hugh’s book” and Elara is mostly along for the ride this time. She’s mysterious and that mystery is frustrating. One aspect of the story that didn’t quite work is Elara. It’s clear that, if left to his own devices, he would have grown up a healer, not a warlord.

He is also a healer with magical abilities. He also has caretaker traits that were present but not highlighted in his time as a villain. In many ways, the central core of Iron and Magic is Hugh coming to realize himself that he’s a person of a value and a person who can exist outside of Roland’s influence. Her people come first for her and she’d kill to protect them.

He has done bad things and he’ll likely do bad things again, but he does have moral lines and they ultimately seem to align with his love interest’s. He’s kidnapped, tortured, and manipulated his way through numerous books in the Kate Daniels series, but I think Andrews does a good job of showing how he could be the right match for Elara, his wife of convenience. He’s an arrogant warlord who struts around looking like Conan the Barbarian. I want to know if the author is able to convince me that the character is capable of being a romantic partner and sharing in a HEA with their partner(s).

Whenever a villain in an established series becomes the hero or heroine of a later book or series, the question on everyone’s mind is always, “Is this character redeemed?” I’ve asked the question myself on numerous occasions, but I don’t think it’s what I really want to know. A genuine transplanted castle in North Carolina, the mysterious woman who controls it, and a marriage of convenience may be just what the Iron Dogs need. He has to find a home for his soldiers and keep them safe. When his men rouse their former leader from a drunken stupor because they are being picked off one by one, Hugh now has a mission. Hugh D’Ambray, Preceptor of the Iron Dogs and Warlord of the Builder of Towers, has lost everything – the favor of the man who’d been a father figure his whole life, the magic that came with that favor, and the command of his troops. Ilona Andrews’ long running Kate Daniels series takes a turn with a spin-off series that started as an April Fool’s joke that became real.

Tabs’ review of Iron and Magic (Iron Covenant, Book 1) by Ilona Andrewsįantasy Romance published by Ilona Andrews 26 Jun 18

Iron covenant ilona andrews