this was an incredible introduction to both this author and this new romantasy series. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, from start to finish. my only qualm was wanting more of this story and it's characters, especially our charming and morally grey mmc, Kairon. OOOOOFFFFF. step aside Shadow Daddy's, because Necromancer's might be my new thing lmfao!!!

we start our story off with our fmc, Elva, being elected into office as Ambassador representative of her nation, Rhyma. she's intelligent, idealistic, and tenacious, with a reserved and overwhelmingly polite disposition, largely due to her life in politics. the world building was simple and easy to follow, but not lacking in detail. as she prepares for her first assignment, we're given insights into the history of Rhyma and it's neighboring kingdom, Oksangui, which is ruled by the bloodthirsty and ruthless leader, known as the Horned King. almost something out of a legend, the Horned King overthrew the previous ruler of Oksangui, and now resides there with his legion of loyal undead court, allowing no one to see his true face - only the horned helm that inspired his title.

Elva's duty is to travel to his kingdom and broker peace on behalf of Rhyma, but her naïve hopes of a straight forward and well-mannered negotiations are quickly cast aside upon arrival, when the very man she's sent to deal with proves to be the most infuriating, pompous, brash, charming, and enigmatic person she's encountered. she's simultaneously drawn to and repulsed by him, her body naturally reacting to him, while her mind does it's best to reject the words he's spewing. the tension is palpable and delicious.

written in dual POV, we watch as these two fight the urges they feel for one another. and GOODNESS, it's steamy and filled with blush worthy banter. this is such a tense enemies to lovers slow burn, and the author really makes us wait for things to come to fruition, but GOD I LOVED IT. worth every minute of back & forth, pining and barely there restraint.

Kairon, our mysterious Horned King, is so much more than he's perceived to be by the public and his neighboring kingdoms. he doesn't shy away from his dark side, and instead embraces it and his immense power, wielding them as tools to maintain his position and protect the precarious alliances that he's built - the very alliances that Rhyma's new deal threatens to interfere with. and while he's normally one to make the hard decisions, he can't seem to say no to the fierce and lovely Elva. he's immediately taken with her, bordering on obsessed. but giving in to her may be the very thing that sparks the chaos that he senses is approaching.

these two dance around each other and their feelings to expertly that it had me panting. despite the hesitance, we see Elva bloom and open her mind to the world under Kairon's guidance. and while she learns about the world around her, she's slowly melting the icy exterior that's been shielding him from others. while the romance is certainly front and center for this story, we're treated to some equally lovable side characters and what I hope is a growing found family for the two mc's within Kairon's court. I think the author does an excellent job of keeping Elva and Kairon's story as our focus, while still weaving in history and lore from the kingdoms, which I suspect we'll be grateful for later.

the ending was jaw dropping!!! the scream I scrumpt was most certainly heard half-way across the world lmao because WOW. giggling, kicking my feet and aching to find out what happens next! there's nothing like a well written enemies to lovers to enemies trope & boy, was this that. book 2 can't come soon enough.

Thank you to Grey's Promo and Karlee Berrios for providing an ARC of this book for me to give an honest review.