Blog Tour and review: The Ryder of The Night by Eden Eaves

 

Welcome to the First Kingdom.

The Ryder of the Night, an all-new fated-mates, enemies to lovers, fantasy romance from debut author Eden Eaves is now available!

      

I am half of a whole.

A dragon without a ryder.

My kind are on the brink of extinction, I should be out there fighting, leading the flyers of the First Kingdom. But without my ryder I’m grounded.

She was the key to my magic and my future. But as soon as I found her she was stolen away, hidden somehow from even our bond’s pull.

I’d searched the Twelve Kingdoms for over a decade and lost all hope. Until my brother discovered her—living in a cult in the middle of nowhere, growing the very poison that’s killing my kind.

Raised with no knowledge of magic or creatures like me, she thinks I’m a monster from her nightmares come to life.

Admittedly, kidnapping her probably wasn’t my best move, but I had to get her out of there.

Now I need to convince her the life she knew was a lie, but time is slipping away. If she doesn’t accept who she is and learn to harness her power, it will consume her—leaving me ryderless again.

She wants to go back to that lie of a life I rescued her from. Too bad we didn’t leave anything to go back to. But the more she refuses the truth, the closer I get to losing her again. So I make her an offer she can’t refuse.

Only, I don’t know how I’ll keep my end of the bargain, because I can’t let her go now I’ve found her. She is more than just my ryder.

But that’s a secret for another day. We have training to do.

Lesson one: Ryde or die.

Welcome to the First Kingdom.

 

 My Review: 

★★★★☆

I am in love with this book so I don’t know what is holding me back from giving it five stars. I love fantasy. I love dragons. I love interesting characters. I feel like this book has it all, but it didn’t quite make it to five stars for me. Maybe if I read it again in the future my rating will change. We will see.

I very much liked the characters. I enjoyed all of their interactions, actions, and reactions. The story was unique and there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of world building.

I wasn’t anticipating what happened in it regarding the bad guy. I won’t say who, when, or what happened because I don’t want to give anything away. There were parts that made me smile, parts that made me want to cry, and parts that made me say “WHAT?!” and “WHY?!”

If you enjoy dragons, cults, lies and misinformation, betrayal, intrigue, daring rescues, strong women, alpha males, charming friends, armies full of daring individuals, and an interesting fantasy world, you will enjoy this book.

I can’t wait to read the next one in the series!

I received an ARC in order to review it on my blog. As you all know by now, all opinions are my own and are in no way influenced by how I got the book.

 

Start reading today!

FREE in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon:  https://mybook.to/TheRyderOfTheNight

Add The Ryder of the Night to Goodreads: http://tinyurl.com/trotnee  

 

Keep reading for a look inside The Ryder of the Night!

The air shifted, and the strange noise returned. Like the beating of birds’ wings, only…magnified. I turned in a circle, seeking the source of the shriek. This wasn’t the cry of children at play but blood-curdling screams. They grew closer, striking fear into my bones. My heart hammered in my ears as the cries grew louder. 

My blood ran cold when I laid eyes on the carnage. 

I couldn’t process the scene. Huge, winged creatures, like those of my nightmares, darted through the air, igniting our small village and the surrounding fields with streams of fire that poured from their ferocious mouths.  

This couldn’t be real. Had I fallen into a fever dream? But even my nightmares had never been this terrifying. 

I stood rooted in place, fear keeping me in its clutches. Crops burst into flames all around me and the storehouse exploded, finally pulling me from my catatonic state.  

“Our crops!” I gasped. We would lose everything if we didn’t act, and I knew that’s where everyone would be. Saving the crops. I had to go find them. 

The acrid smoke laced with the familiar scent of the herbs hit me, and I hesitated—my intolerance. I was breathing them in. The air was thick with fumes. No wonder I was experiencing waking nightmares. I needed to get away from the poisonous air. 

But I couldn't hide while we lost it all. I heaved with the indecision, finally giving into the fear of loss and snatching up my bucket, sure I’d find the village forming a water line to put out the fires.  

Downdrafts beat overhead, the massive wings drawing my attention to the heavens and to the monstrous creatures. A shriek died on my lips. It wasn’t real. It was the smoke and my terrible imagination. Fear tightened in my gut, and my hands shook. My throat burned, but no more sounds came from me. Every instinct told me to run. To hide. To get away from the visions from my nightmares.  

No. 

I wouldn’t allow myself to cower. I ran toward the fire, but the village wasn’t collecting to put out the blaze. Instead, they fled. I called after them, but few listened, too concerned with their escape.  

“We will lose everything!” I screamed in frustration. 

“Azariah.” I heard my mother before I saw her, and by the use of my full name, I could tell she wasn’t happy. “There you are. Come quickly!” Mother called urgently from across the yard, her voice full of fear and indignation.  

“We have to save the crops,” I insisted. We’d endured too many winters after bad harvests where we all starved and the weakest didn’t make it, through many months surviving on roots and what Father could bring back from the barren woods.  

This was so much more. Our entire livelihood burned, and I was only one girl. We needed to come together to save as much as possible. Even if I could get close to the fumes without them sending me into an attack, I could hardly do anything with one pail. I turned from the flames as mother stormed toward me.  

She grabbed my arm, digging her nails into my skin. “You will never listen, will you? Insolent child. Your life is in peril, and your head is in the clouds.” 

 “I—” I objected, but she yanked harder, dragging me away like we weren’t under siege.  

“We must go.” Her voice carried an emotion I couldn't place. More than fear, deeper.  

The tone got my feet moving, forcing me to run to keep up with her long strides. Questions died on my lips, knowing this wasn’t the time to test her. My questions were never welcome, and in this mood they would only bring forth her wrath. I’d rather walk toward the flames than subject myself to her anger.  

We rounded the corner in front of the gathering hall, but she dragged me past the doors.  

“Where are we going?” I waved at the fae filling the small space. “We need to organize—” But my words faltered when I laid eyes on the fae who were carrying sacks and crates into one of the root cellars. 

Mother didn’t break her stride when Father appeared with a large bag over one shoulder to fall in beside her.  

Wails of pain echoed in my ears as they pulled me down the cellar stairs beneath the earth. A wall of cool air hit us, making the intensity of heat from the fires above more apparent. My eyes slowly adjusted, and I found my sisters already here huddling with my brother.  

Why are we hiding and not helping?  

Surely there was a better use of our time. We couldn't just let it all go. We’d dealt with raiders and bandits, starvation and drought. We could fight this. 

This felt fearful and against the Goddess’ teachings. It was cowardly to gather in a safe place while others fled. My stomach turned over in realization—Luka was still out there!  

I tried to tell Mother so we could search for him, and that was when I recognized the barrels and sacks of dried herbs stored down here. They were already making it harder to breathe. I stumbled back, only to be caught by the back of my neck. 

“We are safe here, Azariah,” my mother scolded.  

“But my intolerance.” I ripped out of her grasp. They would all be fine, the herbs had no ill effect on them, but it wasn’t safe for me. My breath caught in my throat while my lungs tightened. My throat swelled and burned, and my eyes watered. I could barely choke out words. “I can’t stay down here.” 

I yanked out of my mother’s grasp and ran out of the cellar, ignoring my parents’ cries. I darted past more fae hauling our sacred herbs toward the cellar and pulled my scarf from my pocket to tie it around my face, heading toward the gathering hall. I had to find the elders. They would do something, or I could try to convince them not to give up. Luka would head to the gathering hall to help. I would find him there. 

The wind shifted, blasting the full force of the fire’s heat in my face, and sending thick smoke in my direction. It was too late to change my course, and smoke consumed me, cutting off my oxygen while blasting lungfuls of herbs down my throat. The handkerchief barely helped, and my eyes watered while my chest burned. I fell to my knees, doubled over with pain. The burn choked off my throat until I could hardly move. I crawled, forcing my limbs into motion, but I grew weaker by the second. Every breath brought more agony. Blinding torture.  

The world spun, and my vision darkened. The chaos engulfed my senses—screams, cries, roaring, and destruction. It was almost peaceful, in a twisted sense.  

My limbs gave out, refusing to carry me any farther, and I sank onto the scorched earth. I prayed for the fires to consume me. A quicker death than the herbs would bring.  

Before the Goddess took me, a deep, terrifying roar rattled my bones.

For more information about Eden Eaves and her books, visit her website: 

https://www.edeneaves.com