A review by jksteach
Siren & Scion by J.D. Evans

5.0

These books are so good! At the beginning, Amara is ambitious, mercenary and has a core of ruthlessness. I didn’t take to Amara as quickly as I did to Aysel or Naime, but she cares deeply about helping others and I became sympathetic to her pretty quickly. And Cassian is an adorable rogue who just gets better and better throughout the book. But there are lots of secrets and danger between them.
Amara makes a deal with the Sultana -in exchange for a betrothal to the prince she will go to the Republic in search of the lost and endangered mages of the third house. But the Republic enslaves and murders mages, so Amara will have to hide her magic and work with an abolitionist smuggler who has been helping slaves escape.
Each of the books in this series has been great (really so, so great!) and they’re clearly and closely connected, but they’re also very different from one another. The first book included a lot of political intrigue, the second was funnier and more action-oriented with cool chase sequences, and this third has more introspection and internal conflict. Nearly all of the characters are dealing with surviving trauma and the story explores different ways people do that. The book also has a greater sense of found family and their relationships are terrific. I also love how the steamy scenes are integral to both the plot and character development- really masterfully done.
This has become one of my very favorite series ever!