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As someone who has struggled to get back into fantasy novels, Reign Returned is exactly what I was looking for. It follows Kyra and Sebastian, two people from very different walks of life who have a chance encounter that changes their world forever.

Everything about this book worked so well for me. The worldbuilding took a second for me to wrap my head around, but that is because I hadn’t read a book like this in a while. I think the steady drip of information makes it easy to digest and situate yourself in their world while also moving the plot along at an ideal pace.

What made Reign Returned resonate with me was the breadcrumbs. I’m sure I didn’t catch them all on this initial read, but whenever I did, I was excited to see where it would take the characters as I counted down to the big reveal. And, when that reveal did happen, I was emotional in the best way. Everything about this book made me connect with the characters and the story in a way that always resulted in a muted scream or giggle, and I relish the opportunity to have that experience.

Reign Returned has the perfect balance of action, adventure, and magic, with a great dash of romance. The second book, Blood Divided, comes out in October, and I can’t wait to see where Kyra and Sebastian go next.