Previous book in this world here.
Sister Clara is a lay nun* with the Order of St. Ursa. Her entire order was attacked and kidnapped. Sister Clara got sick and was left for dead, has since recovered, and been having an interesting time of things since.then. She ends up meeting Istvhan, one of the paladins from the previous book. He's on the lookout for the Smooth Men, the creepy clay/necromancy murder creatures on the loose in the last book. Clara's looking to rescue her friends, and Istvhan is totally willing to partner up and help her with this. Of course both issues come to light in the creepy town they're traveling to, where fighting pits are A Thing and the place sounds horrible in general.
- I gather this translates into "didn't swear a vow of celibacy, is fine for her to get laid." Given that their religious order is based on a trait of birth rather than being super dedicated to religion, I suppose they might allow for people to do that under the circumstances. Also, it's a romance novel and doesn't strike me as being one of those romance novels where you're seducing someone away from their religious order.
Istvhan and Clara hit it off right away, as both of them are amiable large people and don't get to be around others like that very much. Clara...oh hell, I'll just spoil it since it comes up pretty quickly in the book: she and her entire order are lady werebears, which is A Thing That Happens where she's from, and that's why her order got kidnapped to be forced into fighting pits. Clara has some issues with being rejected for her beariness, which Istvhan doesn't mind at all. Much like the previous book (I think it's A Thing) for the author, they have issues of "But I'm a bear!" "But she's a nun!" and whatnot to drag it out some, but once they start badonkadonking, they're quite happy about it. The sex scenes are quite hot. The snark is similar yet different to the last book and I enjoyed it mightily.
This one also goes into far greater (and somewhat gorier) details about the Smooth Men, specifically as to how they came to be. I think this one sounds resolved by the end of the book, but since there's a third book, I'm not totally sure about that? It's super creepy but well done, I suppose, explaining all that weirdness magically.
Quotes:
- "I go screaming berserk at the drop of a hat. You turn into a bear. Honestly, I'm a little relieved that I'm not the strangest one in the room any more." -Istvhan
- "I was just thinking, first you were with Beartongue and now you're chasing after someone with an actual bear's--" "Look, I'm just saying you have a type. A weirdly specific type." -Galen
- "I have made love. I have had sex. I have bedded, rutted, fucked, and on one occasion, with enthusiastic consent and a great deal of oil, I have sodomized, but I have never, not once, canoodled." -Istvhan, who clearly Has Standards
- "If I had just thrown myself on his cock like a sensible woman, this would be an amusing anecdote that happened afterwards." -Clara
- "Now. Before I lose my nerve or we're drowned in salamanders or somebody shows up wanting a fight." -Clara, learning from her mistakes.
- "Well, that's a load of horseshit if I ever heard one," said Sister Sigrid, and slapped him upside the head....If the two of you get any more in love, I'll puke on the floor right here." (I like her. Too bad she's not in it much.)
- "Dear god, he'd told her he loved her and she'd said, "That's very nice." How was she supposed to live with that?"
Four stars.
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