In the mood for a short, free fantasy story? If yes, continue reading. If no, continue reading anyway 😀
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It’s the Night of Winter Lights.
Heedless of the holiday, the Commander of the H’Aren fortress, Captain Torýn Torhdhar, seems to find his satisfaction in work.
Such occurrence hardly surprises his Orderly, Sæbastyn Hyago, even though the young Lieutenant has spent a silent, aching decade wishing his superior officer would pursue pleasure elsewhere—specifically in his arms. But as the evening continues, nothing about it meets Sæbastyn’s expectations. Will the Lieutenant see his secret desires realised, or his heart shattered?
Before I go into what I thought about this book: this is An Order Universe Holiday Short – I haven’t read any of the books in the Order universe but I had no problem reading and enjoying this story. In fact, I didn’t know it was a part of that universe when I started reading it; I guess I wasn’t paying attention 🙂
Now for the book talk: I don’t really read fantasy. The world building overwhelms me and I have a hard time enjoying the actual plot of the story when it’s buried underneath dragons and hobbits and disc worlds. But someone recommended this book to me and it was short and free, so I gave it a chance.
The fantasy elements aren’t huge, not in this story at least. I realized when I reached the end of it, that the world building is extensive for the Order Universe, but only very little of it was shown in Blessing and Light. Which is probably why I enjoyed it so much.
I’m really glad I took a chance on this book. The writing was beautiful; Kasia Bacon painted such a vivid picture of the surroundings and the mood in the story and I had no trouble seeing everything before me. It takes place on The Night of Winter Lights, the most important holiday of the year in this world, held on winter solstice. It’s a made-up holiday, so this is perfect for all you Bah Humbug Grinch-types out there who are allergic to Christmas music and candy canes!
It’s a short glimpse into the characters’ lives, on this important night and very important moment in their relationship. I really don’t have much to say about it, except beautiful and lovely, and did I mention beautiful? 😍
His hands on my shoulders both soothed me and singed my skin. I wished him nearer and at a distance simultaneously.
Quote from Blessing and Light
Buy link
(Disclaimer: it was free when I downloaded the book and several weeks later when I wrote this blog post. I believe it’s permanently free, but I’m not sure, so make sure you check the price before you one-click in case something has changed)
Nell Iris 
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