Up to, let’s say, the 90% mark reading this book was pure bliss. I enjoyed reading about Ildiko and Brishen so much that I sometimes lost track of time. Their banter, their journey from sympathy to friendly affection to love was so pleasant without all the drama and angst that seem to be a must-have in romance books. Sure, there were some missed opportunities. Like there exists magic in this world but we don’t see or hear much about it, we never get to know how this works (was this intended or lazy world-building?). And like the race of the Kai is so different from humans, not just in appearance but in culture as well. I would’ve liked to see more about Kai culture and I would’ve liked it if there was more cultural exchange. The last 10% were, sadly, generic. It felt like “Oh, the end is near, we need some drama … let’s not think long about this and just use something that always works (and therefore is overused)”. And the epilogue was really unnecessary. After reading Nenias review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2592475661?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 about the second installment in this series, I think I’ll end it here and just see Radiance as a well-done standalone.