City of Lies and Legends (House of Devils)

— 5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖 | 776 pages👤 | author Kayla Edwards🏢 | published independently📅 | release date 12 March 2024What you can expect:— New Adult Urban Fantasy Romance— Third Instalment In A Series— Third-Person POV— Multiple POVs— Mental Health Rep— Chronic Pain Rep— Morally Grey Characters— Shadow Daddies— Rivals To Lovers— Close Proximity— Found FamilyTrigger & Content Warnings include: violence, mature language, sexually explicit content, drug abuse, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and suicide.City of Lies and Legends is the third instalment in the New-Adult Urban Fantasy House of Devils series by author Kayla Edwards. When Darkslayer Darien Cassel first took human Loren Calla under his wing, he’d made a promise to protect her from anything. And now that she has fallen into a coma, every day a losing battle to return to life, he is determined to save her. When Darien hears rumours of the one place in Terra that houses a secret that just might bring Loren back to him, he drops everything to try it and leaves behind the city he grew up in and the people he calls family. His decision sets his best friend Maximus Reacher onto a road of his own—one no less dangerous than Darien’s as he unearths the secrets of his past, uncovering a multitude of lies and legends better left buried. Meanwhile, in the historic city of Yveswich, Roman Devlin of the House of Black gets tangled up with a shapeshifting Selkie of the Riptide, a member of a rival Darkslaying house and a thorn in his side. Shay Cousens is a pickpocket with endless tricks up her sleeve—and if Roman isn’t careful, she might succeed at stealing both his wallet and his heart as they work together to find her missing sister. Their path will lead them not just to Angelthene, but also into the dark secrets of the Phoenix Head Society—and the restorative body of water that has the power to cleave their world in two. Loyalties are tested and worlds collide in City of Lies and Legends, where the stakes are higher than ever.After being granted early access to read City of Lies and Legends I've found myself having to take a few days to sit on my thoughts and feelings on this explosive book before compiling them all into my review... because wow. It should not feel possible to be sitting here on a 5-star reading streak within a series and yet, here we are. Author Kayla Edwards continues to set out to impress with her immersive world-building and compelling narrative voice within her story telling. The pacing felt steady throughout which is no easy feat considering the sheer length of these books. Every plot, sub-plot and page count exists with a clear purpose as the story continues to tease and develop. At no point did I find the story lagging or containing a filler-like plot, and this just continues to display the commitment and genius mind of the author. I recommend the House of Devils series to all who will listen to me, and that will never change.After that jaw-dropping cliff-hanger at the end of book two I have been anxiously awaiting to see where this story will go, and it's safe to say it's as heart-breaking and yet as fulfilling as you could imagine. My heart broke for our roguish and loveable main character Darien as he fights for the survival of the woman we watched him fall in-love with, Loren Calla. Loren's purpose within this instalment isn't something I'm going to spoil as it's very much one of those instances you need to read yourself to feel the full effect. But what I will say is that Loren and Darien's journey is filled with angst, pain, heartbreak and most importantly... love. The love that Loren and Darien share is what makes this story what it is. Watching these two once lonely and sad individuals find true love and contentment with one another is the driving force within the storyline... but that doesn't mean it gets to be easy. There were multiple occasions I had to put the book down and just think about what I had just read, as City of Lies and Legends cements itself in the most emotionally compelling instalment to date. Darien and Loren are so special to me, and I will gladly follow their journey through to the end.When the author announced that we would be leaving the familiar world of Angelthene to expand and explore into the world of Yveswich and its inhabitants... I was intrigued. I wondered if this new settings would create a change in vibes and overall feel to the story, which it did in the best possible way. This new setting and cast of side characters offered a fresh outlook and a new narrative to follow which added to the strength of the vast plot being explored. I absolutely love Roman Devlin. I will admit that I was nervous about the introduction to his character as the older cousin to Darien Cassel and older brother to Travis Devlin. I was concerned that a character like Darien would be too difficult to follow and that Roman would either be too similar to Darien, or he would just exist in his shadow. I'm glad that my concerns have been appeased as Roman Devlin is a strong side-character with his own distinctive voice and characteristics. There are some similarities to be found between Roman and Darien that you would come to expect from family, but outside of this both characters stand firmly on their own. Roman's story is emotionally gripping and offers the reader a greater insight into his motivations and decisions. What is with the Slade men being so awful and terrifying? If you thought Randal was bad... wait until you meet his brother Don. His relationship build-up with Shay was everything, and I absolutely adored them. I love Shay's feisty nature and willingness to dish back everything Roman serves. Their banter was hilarious and their dynamic offered a much-needed reprieve to the heaviness to the main storyline. I loved watching the connections that brought everybody together, and I'm already desperate for book four after seeing where Roman and Shay leave things.A special mention has to go to my beloved Dallas and Max. Can I just say how proud I am of these two? Their relationship progress was very much on the sidelines until we were introduced to their POV in City of Souls and Sinners. It was then we were introduced to a deeper insight into their relationship and the troubles they faced. We witnessed Dallas in particular as she struggled with her hesitancy and fear surrounding being loved by Max, and the growth that we see in City of Lies and Legends is so subtle and yet so apparent? I adore those two together so much, and it was everything to watch them seamlessly work together as a team throughout their purpose to the plot as they continue to grow and learn as a couple. Max and Dallas are severely underrated and under-appreciated, and I hope we continue to see them flourish throughout the good and the bad.I told myself that I'd try my best to keep this review concise and short, but alas I have once again failed. This is what happens when you love a book too much and have far too many thoughts and feelings needing shared. City of Lies and Legends is the darkest and grittiest instalment to the House of Devils series. Author Kayla Edwards has seamlessly continued the story and the lore of the world into the third instalment of this five-planned book series, and I genuinely cannot wait to see what comes next. This series is an emotional rollercoaster that will force you to feel as many emotions as physically possible in one book, and at the end we say 'thank you' to the author for taking us on that journey. Yet another strong addition to my favourite Fantasy series of all-time, and I need as many people as possible to be jumping onto this one.

City of Lies and Legends* brilliantly introduces characters like Roman and Shay, seamlessly integrating them into the story as if they'd been there from the very beginning. Their presence is captivating, and any new character introduced quickly draws you in. This book is another slow burn with a lot happening from start to finish. While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, there were moments that felt a bit dragged out, leaving me eager to get to the heart of the action.

City of Lies and Legends is the third book in the House of Devils series and continues to follow Darien, Loren and the rest of the Devils as they search for a way to wake Loren up from her coma. This book also introduces Roman, Dariens cousin and Travis’ brother, and Shay, who is looking for her sister, as they end up working together to solve the mystery of her sisters disappearance.I really liked that this book, like its predecessor, yet again expanded the world this book is set in by adding not only new characters but also a new location. I liked how this book expanded the POVs again which kept the story interesting as there was more than one plot line running through this book leading to yet another brilliant cliffhanger which already has me looking forward to the next books release. The story itself was good, it felt to me that it was more to expand the world and establish new characters for the next book rather than there being a lot of moving forward in this book, but the one thing I think Kayla Edwards is good at is world building and I think it makes the overall story arc richer. I loved the characters and especially loved all the added POVs in this book, I think seeing more of Malakai was probably one of my highlights of the book.Overall, this was another enjoyable read and established a world rich with detail and depth and characters that I could feel coming to life in my head as I was reading. I would recommend giving this book a read.