But Ilsa Ulfr of our world is married to the parallel universe's twin, Pol, who is not a good man. Not in any way. She's on the run from him and the last thing she wants is to be transported to a fantastical world and be forced to take his side as his wife, even if he is not Pol. And Apollo finds the broken, bitter Ilsa nothing like his beloved and he further wants nothing to do with her.
But darkness is looming and evil is amassing. Apollo must protect his land and keep his family safe, including the new Ilsa
I loved Maddie (aka Ilsa), from the synopsis I thought she'd be a little weak angry woman. She was anything but minions, she gave as good as she got, soaked up everything she could from the landscape to the customs and above all opened her heart to a man who would go to hell and back again for her. I cannot count the amount of times I squealed or jumped around on my bed from all the giddiness, it truly seems like KA went all out and held nothing back with this one. Not that I'm surprised after some of the reviews and feelings many readers had over Jagged, but this was just what book doctor ordered. KA is bach with a vengeance. I admired Maddie for her strength and bravery, it was never easy and you never knew what was gonna get thrown at her next. Oh and I absolutely loved the Star Trek references, had me cracking up many times. Her relationship with Apollo was incredibly sweet, but it had a rocky start as all the Fantasyland books do, but watching them grow and their relationship develop was fabulous. There were numerous time I wanted to shake Maddie, and other times I was cheering for her all 'You go girlfriend!' She was fierce, loyal and did I mention brave. The depth behind her character was awe inspiring and she's definitely in my top 10 all time kick-ass heroines.
“Happy?” I whispered.
“Absolutely,” he whispered back.
“Hold tight to that, baby.” I kept whispering..
“I’d do anything for you, Apollo.”
Apollo's relationship with his children was beautiful, and it made me all mushy inside. I'm a sucker for kids in books, and Christophe and Elan were sweethearts. I was a little frustrated with Chris at times, I kept thinking if he just spoke his mind maybe things could be resolved. But nothings ever easy or simple in life, and my heart did ache for him. His reservations were understandable, and I think if everything was all hunky dory it just wouldn't be believable. It was beautiful to watch the relationship grow between Maddie, Chris and Elan.
“My dove, the more time I spend with you, the more I learn about you and the more I come to understand there’s much to learn. What I have learned is that you are amusing. You are spirited. You can be charming. You can also be disagreeable. You can further be vexing. You’re annoyingly very good during an argument. But that simply means you’re quick-witted, which is not a bad thing, unless one finds themselves in an argument with you.”
Because there she was. His dove. His Maddie. His wife.
I loved meeting new characters, such as Apollo's posse and Maddie's girls. Again I'll mention I loved the alternate POVs, but more than that I liked how much depth there was to their characters, because while secondary they were very much involved and at times at the forefront. Knowing everything we possibly could about them, only added to the excitement and story in general. Let's play it out GIF style: