High Intesity Dark Fantasy
Rain of Shadows and Endings
The Legacy Series
NA, Dark Fantasy Romance, Enemies to Lovers
Tractors & Heels, LLC
7/24/2023
Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
664
A world the gods forgot.
Of all the worlds and life they created, the gods favored their children the most. But with that favor came the fear that their Legacy would one day become too powerful and overthrow them. Devram was created. A realm hidden amongst the stars. The gods gave their Legacy the best of all the worlds, and then they left, a sworn agreement to never return and to never interfere.
A historical event.
Forced to a life of servitude, the Fae are required to provide for the Legacy in more ways than one. Every five years, the eligible Fae are gathered for the Selection and assigned to serve in one of the six Kingdoms. To be chosen as the personal Source for a Kingdom Heir is the greatest honor, and for the first time in a millennia, all six Kingdoms have heirs choosing a Source. But their selections could tip the power balance a little too far.
A chosen that was never meant to be.
Tessalyn Asura was as forgotten as the realm. But when she finds herself the personal Source to the Heir of Endings, she winds up serving in the darkest Kingdom of them all . The secrets within the Arius Kingdom are meant to be learned and kept, but this was never the life she wanted. Fighting not only the fate thrust upon her, but the temptation to lose herself to desire, Tessa will do anything to escape her new destiny. Until she starts to realize maybe their world wasn’t as forgotten as they thought, and maybe she’s the reason why.
Rain of Shadows and Endings is book one of four in The Legacy Series and ends on a cliffhanger. This is new adult, dark fantasy romance series and includes elements that may be triggering to some readers including explicit content, violence, and more. Please see content warnings at the beginning of the book.
“Know that sometimes we must break to be forged into who we were meant to be…You will break, Tessalyn. Make sure you get back up and take what is yours.”
Melissa Roehrich kicks off her new four book Legacy Series with the release of the powerful Rain of Shadows of Endings. The story is melding of a number of attributes that I rank as important in a great book. It is a fascinating saga of a god created world inhabited by humans, fae, and Legacy (descendants of the gods) on the brink of a major shift in the balance of power where the heroine plays a pivotal role. It is also an intensely emotional experience for the reader as you become invested in Tessa’s trying and tragic life and travel along her journey of self discovery, which begins to reveal a strength and nature she never knew existed. Roehrich additionally uses Tessa and the plot to approach themes of mental health in a seamless and profound way. The knitting of the epic storylines with the personal tragedy and weighty themes makes for a book that I could not put down, and to be honest, still think about weeks after reading it.
“When you are already nothing, you can really become anything.”
All fae in Devram grow up knowing they are meant to serve the Legacy with their elemental gifts. Gifts that are hidden until they came of age and go through a ritual to unlock them. But as an ophan and ward of the realm, Tessa’s upbringing left her scarred, both emotionally and physically, and convinced she is unworthy of any kind of honored service to the Legacy. Also, her fragile mental states and unusual gifts, like being able to navigate through and out of magical wards, forced her to isolate herself from most of society, making her feel even more of an outcast. If not for a loyal but small group of close friends she would have imploded long ago. When she is unexpectedly given the highest honor bestowed on a fae and chosen to the be the “Source” for Theon, the Legacy Prince of Death – heir to the Arius Kingdom, she is pulled from the frying pan and thrown into the fire where she struggles to control her own powers and desires without being completely destroyed. Just when she thinks she will finally break, she discovers that her well is deeper than she realized and that her tears are just the precursor to the storm dwelling within her. That epiphany is all she needs…”She’d get back up. She’d be the f*ing storm. Because the thing about light? When strong enough, it could oblititerate darkness.”
It’s something you can’t learn until you walk through it, but you’d know that strength grows in the moments you think you can’t go on, but you do anyway. Strength is fighting back. Strength is doing whatever it takes to claim what is yours, even if others try to convice you it is not yours to take…If you are weak enough to fall, you are strong enought to rise back up. Weakness and strength come from the same place and both are necessary…And when you come out on the other side of this, the Heir of the Arius Kingdom won’t be the nightmare. You will be.
Rain of Shadows and Endings deftly incorporates mental health and the accompanying struggles and victories within the pages of a book that definitely lays the groundwork for a high intensity, page turning series. I found myself encouraged for Tessa as she comes to see herself for who she truly is and excited to see what she will become. There were also so many plot and character revelations throughout the book that foretell of future developments that I was already anxiously awaiting the next installment even before the cliffhanger ending. The book is told from both Tessalyn and Theon’s perspective but it did very little to quell my unease and borderline dislike for Theon. I can’t wait to see how Roehrich reconciles this presentation of him and where she takes their relationship. Storm of Secrets and Shadows releases February 29, 2024 so this is the perfect time to grab Rain of Shadows and Endings at your favorite retailer and read right into the next book.
Also, if you want to hear more about The Legacy Series, Melissa Roehrich, or her other series, Lady of Darkness, check out our chat over on The LitBuzz YouTube channel:
Tanya’s love for books has been a lifelong passion that she likes sharing with others. Reading is also the thing that relaxes her after a day of juggling the many responsibilities that come with being being wife to an amazing man, mother to four great kids spread around the world, business manager, and farm hand on their place in southwest Missouri; home to Akaushi cattle and a menagerie of pygmy goats, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.
