THE BETRAYER: TALES OF PERN COEN by Hannah E Carey

Review and Cut by Shaggy Shepherd

A broken warrior.
An outcast king.
A darkness that threatens to destroy them both.

Niall never imagined he would become king, nor did he ever imagine that he would be granted the abilities of a seer. His unnatural power, however, has proven to be no great gift, for it has already cost him the woman he loves and it threatens to cost him his kingship. His people already don’t trust him and if they knew of his power, they would view him as nothing more than a monster.

Niall’s future looks grim, but a twist of fate returns Ciara to his life when he least expects it. He latches onto the hope of a different future, only to discover that things have changed while he has hidden away in his castle. When the man Ciara trusted the most disappeared, she turned to his brother, a man she never saw herself falling for.

Bleddyn has shown Ciara that there is more to him than she first thought and she has carved out a life at his side, but things are unsettled on the island of Pern Coen. A dark power is stirring, one that hasn’t been seen in decades. One man is at the center of the growing darkness, but is it the man that Ciara, and the people, think? Is Niall innocent or is he hiding more than just his powerful abilities?

This Celtic inspired romantic fantasy features a fade to black romance with a touch of steam.

Shaggy’s Review:

Sadly, The Betrayer by Hannah E. Carey didn’t work as well for me as I had hoped. My expectations from the blurb were a little different from what I got when actually reading the book and I struggled to connect to both the characters as well as the story itself.

I really struggled to connect to the narrators, especially the female MC and her betrothed. He was a manipulative and controlling man that grated on my nerves from the start. He felt rather flat and I dreaded his POV each time it came up. While I did like her a lot more, I struggled to repeatedly read about the excuses she made for him. She did start to speak up a little right before the point where I stopped reading so hopefully she got some of her spark back that she seemed to have when she was younger.

I liked the descriptions of the island and the writing itself felt really smooth in a way that I think many people could get lost in easily. I really liked the animal companion and the darker magic that was hinted at a little bit. I just really struggled to connect to the story when so much of the first 30% was spent in the narcissistic conflict between two of the MCs and the pining and miscommunication (though not as much of this) with another character. I think there could be a good story in these pages, I just wasn’t able to quite grasp it yet as it was hidden under layers that didn’t work for me.

If this sounds like your cup of tea in spite of Shaggy’s reservations, check out Goodreads or hop on over to Amazon:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96171366