"Radiant Desire" by Inara Scott

From Goodreads: "The object of every man’s fantasy just lost her wings…

Kaia Verde is one of the four Faerie Handmaids of Zafira, Queen of the Fey. To redress an ancient wrong done to Zafira by a human king, the Handmaids make sport of mortal men, seducing and humiliating them. When Kaia sets out to seduce Garrett Jameson, but ends up being the one surrendering to pleasure, Zafira is furious. Kaia’s punishment is simple: make Garrett fall in love with her by the summer solstice, then break his heart, or face eternity without her wings—or her soul. To make the task harder, Zafira tells Kaia she cannot use her faerie magic or charm to lure Garrett into her bed.

…and now she’s losing her heart…

Kaia thinks her task will be relatively easy—as a faerie, she understands lust, and can love be much different? But once she is living among the humans, Kaia discovers the race she once disparaged is far more complex and beautiful than she imagined. She learns before she can break Garrett’s heart, she must find a way to heal it. And eventually, discovers that losing her wings may be a far easier price to pay than losing her heart."

While this book is geared towards adults I think that mature young adult readers will enjoy just as much, if not more than the intended audience (note that there are a few explicit sex scenes in it which may not be appropriate for younger YA readers). This book possess traits which will appeal to all readers, a unique storyline, a captivating plot and likeable characters.

And speaking of characters, not only do the main characters of this book, Kaia and Garrett shine, but the secondary characters do as well, Rachel, Ted, Portia, and Lexi (and for that I am truly grateful, not once did I find myself annoyed by the secondary characters and just want to skip over their scene as I am oft to do)- in fact, at times I actually found myself rooting more for Rachel and Ted than I did for Kaia and Garrett as their scenes together were so heart-wrenching.

I think that my biggest complaint about the book is the climax- I wouldn't say that it was rushed per se, I just wish that it had been a bit more in-depth (primarily because what is exposed during in it is so EPIC, I want to exactly how the past events transpired, leading to the major confession- can anyone say 'spin-off series'?).

All in all, this is much more than your average bodice-ripping romance- the world building in this book is impeccable, the characters are so relateable and realistic (being flawed as they are), and the romance is so sweet and cute (while being sexy at the same time, for all of your hardcores out there). I highly recommend this book and I cannot wait to see what Inara has in store for us next!

Rating: 8.5/10

I received this book to read and honestly review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.