The Heart of Stars

By: Kate Forsyth

Narrated by: Elle Newlands

Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

With the leading clan bitterly split and the court torn apart, only fierce half-human Rhiannon and her winged mare have any chance of rescuing Princess Olwynne and her twin brother. But what duty requires, the heart may regret.

An evil necromancer has kidnapped the royal twins, plotting to spill their blood—for revenge, and to restore his own family to life. Chaos reigns in the capital, and Rhiannon finds herself burdened with a heavy charge: to save the one woman she hates above all others. It will not be easy to forgive or forget that Olwynne attempted to steal Rhiannon’s true love, the handsome apprentice-witch Lewen—especially when it seems that Olwynne would still be her rival for his affections. And as the necromancer’s intrigues grow more desperate, Rhiannon fears that saving the princess could mean risking everything—Lewen, her mare, her freedom, even her own life.

©2007 Kate Forsyth (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

Love the whole series!

I really hope there is a book #4 coming soon in the Rhiannon's Ride series!

I could use one more book…

It was a good story. A few parts were predictable but that happens with a lot of books. And a few parts were definitely surprising. it was a great story and I wish there was one more book !

The characters are so interesting!

I love this whole series! I need more! I feel like I need to go back and listen to all books in the series again. It was just so good!

Too much for 1 big & also no trigger warning

This one could almost have been divided into two books to better explore some of the little subplots & supporting characters. I would appreciate if audible gave sexual violence warnings (there is a tiny rape scene)- none of the books I’ve read by the author prior to this one were graphically sexual or portrayed rape so I was caught off guard. I’d still love a continuation of the story, there’s so much more left!

Thrilling all the way through!

My life is empty now as I knew it would be…. I want more! I want to know what he opens next in the lives of these characters! There are babies to birth, weddings to plan, countries to run, hangings to be had, castles to restore….love this series!

the mild rape scene ruined it

I'm so disappointed in this author. this book and the previous has mild rape scenes. had to skip over it its disgusting. I'll never read another book from her again. I loved her other series do not recommend.

The ending...is there a 4th book?

*** SPOILERS below ***

Okay, let me start with the good. For the most part, I loved this series. This story meshes well with The Witches of Eileanan series, the beginning of this adventure. With that series, I had one irritation (Maya) that was quelshed with this series, so I'm happy how TWoE ended. Bc in honesty, it did not make sense and felt so weak.
The characters were flushed and had a good development arc, but I really didn't emotionally connect to them. This is strange for me bc in a well written story with dynamic characters, I typically do. I didn't feel the love between couples or the pain f loss with those that died, even though I enjoyed their role in the books. So strange.
The narration tooa a few chapters to get used to her cadence & inflections, but at the end, Elle did a good job. The editing & production though was rough. The cut&paste of audio was obvious and painful.

So here's where I get into what I didn't like. ** SPOILERS **
There were a few head scratching moments and frustrating behaviors that either didn't evolve smoothly or did a 180⁰ that made my head spin in confusion. The change in alliances between the traveling apprentices to favor Rhiannon, for example. The fact no one, but Rhiannon's closest friend & her, believes Lewen is ensorcelled is bizarre. That she, one who has shown no other talents aside from training a winged horse, has the skill & knowledge to do such an advanced spell is ridiculous. But it's cool for him to drop her like a hot stone and desperately fall for Alluwen when he has never shown that kind of affection before??? Puleeeeeeze. And I'm even not going to get into the fact she sexually assaulted him in the garden. He said no a few times. How is this different if the roles were reversed?
Why is Braunwin's reckless court behavior not thoroughly explained? Through most of the book, she's an entitled, careless, muffin head. Yet, at the end of the previous series, she's quite sweet. A touch evil with compulsion, like her mother, but kind and caring nonetheless. Then, in this series, she's basically a spoiled rich kid.
The final chapters concluded the conflict well, and I loved Duncan & Braunwin's ending a lot. But what happens to Neal, his family, and everyone involved in that hateful, bigoted religion conspiring with murder & usurping the throne??
However, after winning in the Pirate Isles, that part had me irked. To me, it seemed like Isole bribed Rhiannon hide Lewen was ensorcelled by Alluwen with a castle & land. Besides that, what's going to happen when they get back? They'd have to hide their relationship forever, or people will again think poorly of Rhiannon and treat her worse. There is no plausible way they can publicly be together in peace without that HUGE nugget. It must come out.
The final thing that's bugging me is when they get back. Does Rhiannon get publicly honored and absolved again to squash lingering resentments & harmful gossip? Without it, I can't imagine Rhiannon's stay at the castle or school will be pleasant. Ish needs to be aired out and stop making Rhiannon such a punching bag for other characters & sacrifice for the storyline.

So many plot holes are still dangling, so I'm hoping for a 4th book. This is why I gave 3 stars, bc tbh, I'm kinda upset that the final chapter was very unsatisfactory and underwhelming.

Incomplete!!

For a story that was thoughtfully developed, this third (and final?) became rushed and incomplete. For example, why introduce possible kin of Rhiannon and then never close that story? In fact, Kate does not bring closure to any of the characters. Rather than feeling inspired complete, I’m left feeling irritated that I invested myself in this series. This ending is lazy and not well written! Elle Newland, the performer is magnificent, as always! She is the only star in this final book.