It's been 10 years since the Dark King Lorcan forced the Light Queen Evelayn into the shape of a swan and seized control of her kingdom. Once a year, Lorcan makes the captive Evelayn human again and proposes; every year, she refuses. But her people's magic is dimming, and the balance between the Light and the Dark is lost. When unforeseen circumstances cause Evelayn to become human once more, the two enemies realize that there's a greater threat, and they must forge an alliance to survive. If the first book in this duology (Dark Breaks the Dawn, 2017) had a slow start, the pace of this sequel is blinding; Evelayn is given little time to recover, or indeed process, the events of the last decade, before she's thrust on a life-or-death mission. Romantic feelings develop quickly between Evelayn and Lorcan, which is unsettling, given the power imbalance in their relationship. Still, fans of the first will be eager to see how the story wraps up after that cliff-hanger, so get this to complete the set.

Ten years after King Lorcan forced Evelayn into swan form (Dark Breaks the Dawn), threats to Lorcan's power force an uncomfortable alliance between the two rivals. As Lorcan and once-again-human Evelayn struggle to retrieve her conduit stone, a new balance of power forms. Romance blossoms predictably in this nevertheless satisfying conclusion to Larson's Swan Lakeinspired duology.

This fantasy adaptation of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet "Swan Lake" opens with Queen Evelayn trapped in the form of a swan by her nemesis, King Lorcan of the Dark Kingdom, who 10 years earlier robbed her of her conduit stone.The kingdom is now in despair, menaced by an ancient force that Lorcan cannot control. He restores Evelayn to human form on the condition that she marry him, and she quickly realizes that nothing, including Lorcan, is exactly as it appears. The author does an excellent job of conveying Evelayn's bewilderment at the world she finds herself forced into as well as the complexity of the choices she makes to save her kingdom. Her growing realization that as queen, she belongs to her people rather than to herself makes being a swan seem like the easier life. Romantic elements come through without sacrificing Evelayn's strength of character. Lorcan and Evelayn become haunted souls whose family baggage makes shouldering the mantle of royalty and learning to form a bond of trust despite surface appearances that much harder. The tale makes readers question good and evil and teaches a sweet lesson about the redemption inherent in second chances. Evelayn is pale-skinned, and the characters have hair and eyes of many hues, including violet, red, and silver.A dark and exciting sequel that radiates girl power. (Fantasy. 13-17)