Review: Shona Husk - The Goblin King

Shadowlands Series:

Book 1:

The Goblin King: Roan the Goblin King and Eliza

Click here to get on Amazon: Shona Husk - Goblin King (Shadowlands 1)

Summary:

Suggested Prequel Reading: The Summons: A Goblin King Prequel

(I would not suggest reading The Goblin King without first reading the free prequel)

Click Here for the Prequel: Shona Husk - Summons: A Goblin King Prequel

The first time Eliza summons the Goblin King she is 16 and doesn’t truly believe that he exists but she is terrified and is willing to try anything to get away from the boy who is threatening her. At that time the Goblin King warns her not to summon him again, or the next time he’ll grant her wish and take her away, this time for keeps.

Years later Roan knows he is fading quickly, he is searching for anything that may delay his fade by any amount of time to give his brother more time to find a cure to break the curse. In his cold golden heart he knows that if Dai hasn’t found a cure in the 1900 years they have been goblins, he isn’t going to, but he doesn’t have the heart to take Dai’s hope.  When Roan feels the summons he is surprised, the last time he was summoned it was by a young woman he never quite forgot, who didn’t forget him for years after their encounter. When he approaches his summoner he finds a unconscious beautiful woman, he decides to fulfill her wish and take her away, so he takes her to the Shadowland, to his home, against all his better judgment, but this may be his chance at some time. When he realizes it’s the same girl, the young Eliza, who is no longer a girl, but a woman, grown, he decides to make her his queen, but to take her as is the goblin way her would mean his soul…

Review:

So why aren’t there more stories about goblins?  This was a delightful tale! Quite refreshing in the midst of vampires and werewolves, it’s always nice to read something other than the norm and this one fit that bill.

This is a goblin beauty and the beast tale, meet Roan our Goblin King who was unjustly cursed almost 2000 years ago. Once a Celtic King, he was cursed for trying to protect his people from the Roman Empire. As a hero he is just about perfect; he is equal parts surly and chivalrous. He is holding on with everything he has, just to give his brother a more time, he knows his men’s fates are tied to his. All he should want is gold, but he fights with every breath for more. With the exception of the young Eliza he hasn’t fulfilled a summoner’s wish in over a thousand years, he goes to the movies, he visits the Summerlands, he steals non-gold for the fun of it, he does everything he can to maintain has much of his human existence as he can. But it’s Eliza that makes him feel the most like a man.   Even tho Roan is a Goblin and rough around the edges he is really a man of honor and sometimes that’s all a man has. Even as he is thinking he’s going to keep Eliza for his own selfish needs, he’s returning her, for her own good, because he can’t stand to keep her in such a harsh environment. Roan is quite the sexy brooding conflicted alpha king! He might be a Goblin King now, but he was once a Celtic King and that presence has not faded with time.  I couldn’t get enough of the kingly smexy Roan even in goblin skin he had a presence about him.  It’s hard to pull off the goblin look. Lol

Eliza, hmm, at times she annoyed me, but overall I liked her; she managed to pull herself together by the end. She definitely went from scared rabbit to fierce woman. I swear she would have flinched away from her own shadow at the beginning of the book, but by the end she was battling an evil druid! You go girl! Then there is her slimy fiancé that she finally got the best of, sure she had some help, but she didn’t back down when push came to shove like she would have in the beginning. I don’t mind a weak, wishy washy character as long as she grows and becomes fiercer by the end. It’s when she is weak and stays that way, which drives me nuts.  What I also liked is she did not give up on Roan, even when he was ready to give up on himself; she still had hope, until the end. She believed even when he did not, and in the end it was her belief in him that won them everything.

I definitely recommend giving this book a whirl; I don’t think anyone that tries it out will be disappointed. It is a refreshing, different read that I highly enjoyed.

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