Hello everyone!

Today I’m bringing you a review of Dark Eyes: White Lies by M.R. Noble as part of the blog tour hosted by The Write Reads. Dark Eyes: White Lies is the sequel to Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes. If you’re interested, you can read my review of Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes before diving into this post. Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book and thank you to The Write Reads team for organizing this tour. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Title: Dark Eyes: White Lies

Author: M.R. Noble

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Number of Pages: 294 Pages

Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Date Published: 29 March 2023

Buy the Book: Amazon

Add on Goodreads and TheStoryGraph

Blackmailed into espionage, Karo must lie to one man while she fights her cravings for another. As spy partners, Karo is forced to work with Andre, the vampire she swore to never trust again. The accidental vampiric bond they have threatens to bend her into submission. But is her will actually weak, or does she want an excuse to give in?

Roman’s patience teeters on Karo’s deception. Bitter, desperate, and vengeful, Karo dutifully completes her missions while withholding data from her uncle Loukin’s operation. She swore to get out from under his thumb, even if she has to break a few hands. Each assignment brings her closer to uncovering his goal, and using it against him, but she also draws closer to new foes. And they all want the same thing—Karo’s secrets.

I’m going to try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, however, if you haven’t read Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes yet you should probably read that before reading this review.

Dark Eyes: White Lies picks up right where Karolina Dalca, Dark Eyes, leaves off. Karolina is in Ottawa, thrust into the role of spy by her uncle Loukin and reluctantly working with Andre, the vampire she swore she’d never trust again.

This book dives into the action right away, which makes for a very exciting read, but also a slightly confusing read if it’s been a while since you’ve read the first book. I was a bit thrown off for the first few chapters because I was trying to remember how the last book ended while also trying to keep up with all of the action on the page. I will say that the action-packed start made for an exciting read and the action continued throughout the entire story, which kept things exciting.

This book was full of danger. Between the spy missions that Karolina was sent on, and her own personal goals she was trying to achieve, danger was lurking around every corner. This kept me guessing until the end and it was enjoyable trying to guess if the beings she was encountering were friend or foe. It was also exciting to see what kind of magic she would encounter next and how she would react to it. Some of the action scenes in this book were bloody and I had to skim past them because I don’t handle gore very well.

I enjoyed learning more about the world that Karolina lives in. I enjoyed learning more about the supernatural underground, the different factions at play, and about the different supernatural beings that exist. I also enjoyed learning more about the magic at play in this world while also reading about Karolina learning more about her magic and how to use it and how to control it.

As far as the characters go, I enjoyed watching Karolina grow as a character. She’s still stubborn, but she’s learning and becoming more attuned to her abilities. I liked the chemistry between Karolina and Andre and their chemistry did lead to a handful of spicy scenes. I liked that the love triangle was less of a thing in this book, though there were still traces of it. I don’t remember how I felt about Roman in the first book, but I wasn’t a huge fan of him in this book, though I enjoyed learning more about him and werewolves.

One warning about this book is that it ends on a major cliffhanger, the kind of cliffhanger that feels like it’s ending in the middle of a scene. I have so many questions about what is going to happen next, and I wish the book would have ended a little bit before. When the third book comes out, I have a feeling it will pick up right where this one ends, which might lead to some confusion again because it’s hard to remember exactly how books end.

M. R. Noble has played a tug of war between science and art her whole life, but the rope broke when she wrote the first line of The Dark Eyes Series. Immersed up to her keyboard in paranormal romance and urban fantasy, she enjoys blending the real with the surreal. The only drawback is she misplaces her mug while dreaming up her next scene, and soon finds herself six cups overpoured.

Keeping to her Lake Simcoe roots, she is a member of the Writers Community of York Region (WCYR), where her muse is made not found.

Blog – Instagram – Twitter – Goodreads – Pinterest – Ko-Fi