Getting into Cole's world took a little while (at first I found the whole idea of "fated" mates" a little hokey) but it works well with what seems to be her basic love/hate trope (which I personally like). I thought there was a nice balance between romance and plot (sort of 50/50). I am also enjoying the way characters and story lines from the previous book are carried forwarded (although I guess all series are like that). It was nice to see Myst and Wroth from TWWF making an appearance in the story and to see the continued development of all of Emma's Valkyrie aunts. 
 Emma turned out to be a strong character and I enjoyed her transformation from "Emma the Timid" to (SPOILER) "Emma the King Killer" (END "SPOILER"). I wasn't particularity taken with Lachlain initially, he rather came across as a blundering oaf...but then considering he was coming off 150 years of hideous torture and was temporarily insane...I accepted he was not at his best. He and Emma ended up being pretty sweet together and it's hard to deny that a Scottish accent isn't hot; but I would still take Wroth any day of the week.