In the Shadow of a Hoax ♦ Maci Aurora | Review

Firstly I would like to thank Maci Aurora, the author of In the Shadow of a Hoax for sending my the ARC of the second installment in the Fareview Fairytale series. It was a wonderful trip back to Kaloma and the Fareview sisters.

In the Kingdom of Kaloma, a woman is forced to rely on a man to “keep her” and is forbidden from maintaining anything of her own. It’s the law.

In the remote village of Sevens, at the northernmost point of the kingdom, there lives a family with four daughters and a son, toiling day in and day out together, hopeful a treaty with the boarding kingdom of Jast might change things.

When one daughter—at risk of being imprisoned for fighting back—hides away in the Whitling Woods. She stumbles upon a dying man and despite the risk to herself, chooses to save him. Only who he is has the power to change everything...

Tarley Fareview, idealistic and stubborn, does what she can to support herself in spite of an unjust Kaloma law. When she fights back after being attacked, she flees into the woods disguised as a boy. While in hiding, she discovers a dying man and must decide if she risks her life to save him. Unable to walk away, Tarley chooses to intervene and works to save the stranger, only little does she know that by doing so she’ll also risk the heart she promised herself she’d never give to anyone.

When the Crown Prince of Jast, Lachlan Nikolas—forced by the king to attend treaty negotiations with the kingdom of Kaloma in disguise—is attacked, his horse bolts, and they both careen over a cliff, falling to their deaths in a raging river below. Only, miracle of miracles, Lachlan doesn’t perish, and instead is given a second chance at life, but at a price. When he wakes, he’s not only been stripped of his clothes but also his identity. Saved by a strange woman—in a terrible disguise because she looks nothing like a boy—Lachlan must learn very quickly how to survive in a world where he isn’t a prince anymore and with zero skills other than his entitlement and his charm. Unsure who to trust, Lachlan must reinvent himself, learn how to survive, open his heart to discover the truth about worthiness, and discover what it means to sacrifice one’s self for true love.

In the Shadow of a Hoax ♦ Maci Aurora

Opinion

After I read In the Shadow of a Wish, the first installment in this series, I was very intrigued by the plot. It was really hard to wait patiently for In the Shadow of a Hoax. Not only that I wanted to find out, what kind of adventure would lie ahead of Tarley, Auries sister, but also what kind of secret will I discover behind the mysterious red ribbons all the Fareview sisters wear.

In the Shadow of a Hoax by Maci Aurora was a fast-paced read and page by page I cheered for Tarley and Lachlan. Personally, I am not a huge fan of drama and beating around the bush, that’s why I had to roll my eyes from time to time while reading. But I do know, that these kinds of books do need all that to build some tension and keep the readers glued to their seats. And Aurora never overdid it in my eyes.

The way Tarley and Lachlan came together in the book was somewhat surprising. Because in contrast to the first book, where Aurie meets Nixus, the God of Darkness, Lachlan was no supernatural being. I really had a strong hunch, before reading the book and before know of the blurb, that Maci Aurora would keep the pairing just like that. But in the end it just doesn’t matter, because both protagonists worked very well together. I just can’t see who this will end with the idea of who or what the Fareview sisters are. But I’ll keep this thought to myself for now and just wait for the third book.

For those readers who like it spicy you won’t be disappointed. The love story and some erotic parts are not overloading the plot which held some interesting twists and turns.

Conclusion

As I mentioned above, I hoped for another Fareview sister and supernatural being pairing, but altogether the whole story did not disappoint me. The unexpected twist and turns kept my eyes glued to the pages. And the reason that I still have no idea what the red ribbons around the sisters’ wrists could mean, will make me read the next book without a doubt.

Fareview Fairytale – The Series

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Alle von mir genutzten Bilder zu Buchcovern sind Eigentum der jeweiligen Verlage und/oder AutorInnen bzw. anderer Rechteinhaber.
All book cover images I use are the property of the respective publishers and/or authors or other rights holders.

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