The Lions Head: The Lion and the Sorceress – S.H. Steele

I absolutely loved this book. I finished it in one sitting and let me tell you, I’m obsessed. I was hooked by the first line and I couldn’t put it down. My eyes were glued to the page. 

Plot

After escaping capture once again, River and his new partner Lacy are on the hunt. As River gets to know Lacy, he’s intrigued by her special skills of being able to blend into any setting. 

River and Lacy are sent on a mission to a country club where they must figure out Frieze’s intentions with the supernaturals that he’s holding captive. 

Will River and Lacy be able to stop Frieze’s plans for the supernaturals without letting Frieze slip out of their grasp once more? 

Characters

As usual, I love River. He’s such a fun character and I can find myself really understanding him and his point of view. In this book, he was once again a little insecure about the fact that he can’t shift into women, but I feel like he’s kind of acknowledged that all of his partners know his weaknesses. Along with this, I feel like River is kind of smitten with Lacy. He’s never described his human partners with such detail, paying attention to their makeup, or their hair. He’s never had a shiver when their hair touched his skin. I feel like River really likes Lacy and it’s kind of adorable to see, especially because I liked Lacy’s character so much.

Lacy feels like a way more well-rounded character than River’s previous partners. While I did enjoy getting to know Jane and Reyna, I’m definitely glad that Lacy is going to be the partner that sticks around for River. She’s like the perfect balance for him. Along with that, she’s super cool with her ability to blend into any crowd and her crazy ideas that most definitely could get a normal person killed. As a human she’s super impressive and probably my favorite character in this book. 

We’re also able to meet another supernatural called Alice. Her ability is so cool with the ability to teleport. While we didn’t get a ton of Alice content, I really hope we see her again later in this series and see more of River’s interactions with the supernaturals that Team Chimera is now finding. 

Liam and Briar were two kids that were introduced as River and Lacy were captured by Frieze. They were so adorable and I feel like they added a lot of fun into the book. As kids, they were definitely playful and added some much needed comedy into the story with Briar’s ability to tell the future and the banter between the two of them as twins. 

Setting

We’re introduced to multiple settings in this book. Starting out, we’re in Team Chimera’s training room which we first saw in Bellerophon, which is part of the Project Chimera series. This training room is pretty normal and it wasn’t anything super exciting, however, we then got to visit a country club. 

The country club is kind of what you’d expect except it doubled as an auction type of building where the many participants would auction off pretty much anything. This seemed sort of mysterious and exclusive which was exciting to see and be a part of. 

We then got to Frieze’s building and it didn’t seem super welcoming or out of the ordinary. As usual, Frieze’s buildings were pretty boring and cold and isn’t a place I’d particularly feel interested in visiting. 

The setting that was most interesting to me was the party that the group went on. This was a typical party however, it was important to the storyline and I think it was depicted perfectly to add that much more content. 

Finally, we entered a courthouse which was pretty cool, but a usual courthouse so nothing too crazy there either. 

Writing

Steele’s writing is always perfect for the type of story. I sat down expecting to read one chapter and then go to bed, but was hooked onto the storyline and didn’t stop until I’d finished the book. 

I was completely reeled in as soon as I’d started reading and this series continues to shock me with the direction that it travels in. I was on the edge of my seat with nearly every scene and I fell in love with the characters once again. 

In Conclusion… 

I’m a total fan of this series. Steele’s writing kept me intrigued throughout the entire book and I couldn’t put it down until I’d finished. I enjoyed getting to know the new characters and I hope we see more of them in the rest of the series too!

Rating: 5/5⭐