Nocturnal Book Reviews

Wicked As She Wants is absolutely fabulous, my dear readers! Swashbuckling, steampunkish, fangy adventure with a lost princess who needs to exact vengeance on her family murderers, and a brooding man who has nothing left to lose and needs redemption.

I loved it from the bloody beginning to its dark end.

The book starts when Casper whom we know from Wicked As They Come finds Ahnastasia stuffed in an old trunk and drained to the brink of death. Yes, she is a princess from cold northern Freesia (the equivalent of Romanov Russia), a country where a witch instigated a coup and now rules as a regent for a young and very unstable Blud prince Alexander.

Ahnastasia and Casper make an unholy alliance. He'll help her to get back to Freesia, and Ahna will make him a court musician.

Of course, nothing as simple as it seems. Ahnastasia is an arrogant, spoiled girl who thinks of humans as slaves and who plans to kill Casper and his young ward, Keen as soon as she gets what she wants, and Casper... Well, that man has a death wish for reasons I won't mention.

Slowly through their mad, exciting adventures their perception of each other as individuals and as species change, and they constantly evolve as characters.

Ahna is a fantastic heroine. She is unpredictable, volatile and ever so alive. You can feel all her emotions. She reminds me of mercury as a chemical element - dangerous, but contained and always moving.

Casper is not only edgy, hot and charming, he is disarmingly truthful to her and himself. He doesn't do angst and he is very practical, and at the same time he is not some sort of carbon copy of a hero, he is flawed, he is relatable.

Keen - his teenage delinquent helper/ward, is an awesome addition to this book. She is super snarky, street smart and a pure delight to read about.

Overall, I think that Miss Dawson grew as a writer a lot with her second book. This was a really fantastic read with just enough adventure and romance to appeal to all. Bravo! Highly recommended.