“What am I, if I’m not a weapon?”

• A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
• Book Two of The Hurricane Wars series
• Published on December 10th, 2024 by Harper Voyager
• Genres: Fiction, Adult, Fantasy, Romance
• Tropes: Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Lovers, The Chosen One(s), Mutual Pining
• Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
• Anne’s Rating: 9.8 out of 10

Thea has done it again – and then some – with her sophomore book. We pick up right where The Hurricane Wars left off – with Talasyn and Alaric denying their growing feelings for each other and using bullying as a form of flirting while they prepare for the Moonless Dark (a destructive phenomena that only they can stop). While book one sets up the world and who these characters start off as, Monsoon sees these characters grow. We get to witness Talasyn and Alaric discovering that they can be soft sometimes, instead of just weapons. Of discovering who they really are at their core, outside of the expectations everyone places on them. Of beginning to articulate what they actually want.

While Talasyn does definitely change in this book, I think the biggest change is in Alaric – our poor, dumb, idiot baby boy. Raised to believe that all he could ever be good for was fighting and war, he’s slowly starting to see himself as more than that. It’s a real crisis of identity for him that makes me want to put him in therapy so so bad so he can get the help he needs. Seriously – if I wrote a fanfic in this universe, it would 10000% be called “I Want To Break Free (of my father’s horrific abuse and withholding)”. Luckily, he does have Tala to push him into questioning the path he’s been put on – and to show him that there is kindness in the world. It takes him literally being broken for him to lower his guard and let her in – which sends Tala into a spiral of doubt about what she was so sure was true. Seeing your husband as a human instead of an evil monster will do that to you.

Talasyn is lowkey a bit of a mess in this one. She’s living a double life – developing real feelings for her husband despite knowing she will have to betray him for what she believes is the greater good. Her guilt eats her up more and more the further she falls for Alaric, and the more she decides to do things that she knows she shouldn’t. It’s very relatable – how many times have we thought “ahhh screw it who cares” as we do something that you know Future Us will have to pay dearly for. Talasyn’s had a hard and difficult life, and she deserves to seize her happiness when and where she can. But the bill will come due for her, and the angst building inside of her – and the trust building between her and Alaric – has set the stage for a BRUTAL book three where I’m positive we will get so much conflict and hurt and betrayal (before Thea eventually irons all of it out into a HEA… PLEASE).

You may have noticed the spice level has doubled from the last one (😏). I would say this level ratcheted up half way through the book and just continued on being horny in-between the plot points from then on. Guanzon knows how to write some filthy, delicious scenes – there were several times where I verbally said “Jesus Christ” as I blushed at something Alaric had said or done (ummm… the gauntlets 😳🥵). Hopefully we’ll still get a good amount of dirty in the last book of the trilogy in between all the heartbreak and conflict, because Thea knows how to write a love scene. I may or may not have read some of those scenes multiple times – to fully understand the… plot. Yeah, the plot. No other reason.

The non-romance elements of this book also deserves praise because the events that move the story forward are interesting, surprising, and gripping. There are battles, dragons, aethermancing, science experiments, and political intrigue. Thea really does a masterful job of balancing the fantasy action beats with the steamy romance beats and emotional, character-driven discoveries. You’re not reading straight-up porn, but you’re also not reading a dry, historical text. You’re not reading a stone-cold drama, but it’s also not a farce. This balance keeps you invested in all aspects of the story – and keeps you turning pages wanting to know what will happen next.

This book absolutely did not disappoint. The Hurricane Wars series continues to be a gripping and exciting read, and I can’t wait to see what happens to our star-crossed dummies in the next one – especially with the cliff-hanger we’re left with in Monsoon! I believe the third installment will be published in 2026 – and it can’t come soon enough.