Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder

Despite the odds, Yelena and Valek have forged an irrevocable bond and a family that transcends borders. Now, when their two homelands stand on the brink of war, they must fight with magic and cunning to thwart an Ixian plot to invade Sitia.

Yelena seeks to break the hold of the insidious Theobroma that destroys a person's resistance to magical persuasion. But the Cartel is determined to keep influential citizens and Sitian diplomats in thrall and Yelena at bay. With every bounty hunter after her, Yelena is forced to make a dangerous deal.

With might and magic, Valek peels back the layers of betrayal surrounding the Commander. At its rotten core lies a powerful magician and his latest discovery. The fate of all rests upon two unlikely weapons. One may turn the tide. The other could spell the end of everything.

5 Star Review - Recommended Age:  16+

No...no, no, no, no!  Uhn uhhhh!  I'm not ready.  I'm just not ready for it to end.  I have NEVER stopped loving this story.  I have not stopped enjoying the romance between Valek and Yelena (soooogoooood).  The sarcasm from Janco never gets old.  The way the author creates a tale that pulls you in so COMPLETELY that you cannot stop reading when it's WAAAY past the time you should have been asleep.  Like "Dammit, I gots to get up early for work, but just one more page" type of writing!

I read the last page and I do believe I started to grieve.  Just the idea that there won't be another book next year....

This series is going down as one of my all time favorites!  This book, as all of the others, is well worth the read.  I can't honestly say if I gave this review a 5 because of the story in this book alone or the series as a whole; but they truly go together.  At this point in the story, there is a relationship with the characters.  There is an investment in the outcome.  This final book brought all of those things to a very satisfying, yet unwelcome conclusion.  I can not get enough of Yelena and Valek's love story.  It never got old or boring.  In this book, their relationship is mature and settled, but no less exciting.  It seems more "Man, I wish I had that" in this book.  The adoration and obsession that Valek has for Yelena is jealousy-inducing.  The author has created secondary characters whose personalities steal the show from the main characters at times.  In my 17 year-old girl dream mind, Fisk is my boyfriend and Janco is my crazy uncle. 

The storyline wraps up nicely, with a finality to the conflicts that have built up in all of the books.  No relationship closure is left hanging between the characters, but there is still an option with the younger characters for further books.  Please....please, let there be more books.

Finally, the epilogue!

Ok, Ok, you got me....I cried