Review // A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne

Part of him wanted to eat her, the desire to eat humans ever present inside him, but another part of him had wanted to find and protect her.

──────　♔　──────

A Soul to Keep by Opal Reyne

Standalone - Duskwalker Brides #1
Release - June 16, 2022
Genre - Paranormal Romance
Dual POV - 3rd person
Heat - 5 out of 5 / think alien parts people!
Format/Source - ebook borrowed from Kindle Unlimited
Length - 542 pages
Publisher - Indie

All Reia ever wanted was freedom.

Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice – be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster.

However, he is not what he seems. His skull face and glow eyes are ethereal, and she finds herself unwittingly enchanted by him.

All Orpheus ever wanted was a companion.

Each decade, in exchange for a protection ward from the Demons that terrorise the world, Orpheus takes a human offering to the Veil – the place he lives and the home of Demons. The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short.

He'd thought it was a hopeless endeavour, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens within every moment of her presence.

But will Orpheus be able to convince Reia to stay before she’s lost to him forever?

My Two Cents

4 "The Beast is Beastly" stars

Honestly, I didn't want to like this story as much as I did. I kept thinking to myself 'but he's a monster'. I kept having to remind myself that he wasn't human because he was chockfull of humanity. For a monster, he was more human than most of the humans. And Reia was the perfect person to shine a light on how amazing he was!

The author did an incredible job of bringing this mythical land to life. From the atmosphere, the weather, the demons, the beings, the everything. It was written extremely well. And it was hard to avoid liking the characters, especially the sweetness of Orpheus. He was magical!

It's not fair that he's so sweet.

I liked the idea of how this story paralleled Beauty & the Beast, without the beast changing to human. Orpheus remains Orpheus right to the end. And while I personally wouldn't be falling in love or having sex with him, he was lucky enough to find a human who could see him for who he truly was.

Who better to relate to his feelings of loneliness and not quite belonging than Reia? She knew what it was like to be ostracized and shunned, and for the first time, with a monster no less, she was offered acceptance and a home.

"In order to become my bride, you must gift me something. No human ever has, and I am beginning to doubt they ever will. You will be no different."

While I didn't like when Reia would manipulate Orpheus, considering how nice and forgiving he was, I liked her for the most part. Orpheus, however, was the character I loved. The monster. Go figure.

When I started this book, I didn't realize that it was the first in a series, and after meeting and learning about Orpheus and where his kind comes from, I'm strangely fascinated to learn more.

About the Author

Opal Reyne is an Australian Author who has been a fan of the Adult Paranormal Romance genre from the moment she picked up a book of it - and has never looked back.

She loves everything spicy, smutty,and everything boarder-line monster loving. She started writing because of her love of the written word, and because she wanted to build a diverse world of mythological creatures, while also showing the beauty of all ethnicities of humanity. She thrives to produce a plot driven, character developing book while sprinkling in enchanting imagery.

-Duskwalker Brides a series that features a very real monster who never turns into a handsome prince.

-Witch Bound is a series of Dragon-shifter males falling for their species enemies, Witches!

-She currently has a completed series called 'A Pirate Romance duology'.