Horrible consequences, difficult choices, pragmatic ponderings, hard decisions. Anxiety. Heart-in-throat flipping of pages. Eventually everything gets solved (with more far-reaching consequences) but the story is not as strong, emotionally satisfying, or as compelling as Radiance. (Which would stand alone just fine without that epilogue.)(Anyway, we'll see how I feel after a reread.) 
 Still mulling over my feelings about Eidolon a day later... (Possibly a little SPOILERY, so be ye ware! More introspective and rambly.)(view spoiler)[ 
 Radiance is a romance (an utterly satisfying 5-star fantasy romance) and if you don't read the epilogue (which has nothing to do with Radiance and everything to do with Eidolon) it stands alone just dandy. 
 Eidolon is about what happens after everything has been sorted out for the HEA... and the shit hits the fan. Big time. I mean, it's a fascinating, multi-faceted story in itself, with self-sacrifice, danger, refugees, mob mentality, checking storerooms to see how long said stores will hold out with the influx of refugees, politicking, intrigue, responsibilities, etc., etc., but it's a fantasy book, not a romance. And that threw me a little. It wasn't about the relationship as much as it was about the disastrous circumstances. And it put a crack in the previously solid HEA of Radiance. The crack was sealed, but it broke my heart a little that they were tested so harshly so soon. But that's the Radiance-obsessed romance reader talking, and I know from experience that I will accept the relationship-part of Eidolon once it has time to sink in and I get to reread it, possibly trying it as a standalone. 
 (My greatest disappointments as a reader are usually not the author's fault but the fault of my own imagination. The disappointments come from the story not being what I expected it to be, from knowing too much about the story too soon and my imagination crafting a plot that the author doesn't follow. Which is why I don't read excerpts or blurbs or back cover copy or whatnot for my autobuy authors. I'm going to buy their books anyway, so I like to go in tabula rasa. No knowledge, no expectations, no spoilers. Heck, for a favorite autobuy series, I'd prefer not to know the protagonists of the newest book! Yes, I acknowledge and accept my weirdness. 
 If I had known the epilogue for Radiance was actually an excerpt of Eidolon--and a teaser at that--I would not have read it. And my reaction to Eidolon would be different. Different how, I can't say, but different.) (hide spoiler)]