Didn't like this as much as book 1. But it was still interesting to follow Rina. More characters got the spotlight. Some I didn't too much care for.But demon fight was intriguing.I'll continue on to the next book.

In the second installment of the A Fire Beneath the Skin trilogy, Rina Veraiin has youth, beauty, and strength. She is a born warrior, able to outride any man, deal death with her fierce blade, and command awesome and mysterious forces granted to her by a set of magical tattoos. Now as the newly minted duchess of Klaar, Rina confronts a menace that threatens her world in a divine conflict that will push her newfound abilities to their limits.As sinister and magical forces unite against her, Rina...

The tattooed DuchessI like the way the story reads so smoothly. Shifting one point to another and then melding them together. I will be watching for the next installment in this story.

Two months after the events of Ink Mage, Rina Veraiin is officially the Duchess of Klaar. She's struggling balancing the life she wants to live with Alem, the desire to use her powers, and the responsibility of being a Duchess. Meanwhile events are unfolding around her that could easily change not only Klaar, but the entire world.The Tattooed Duchess is a far different story than it's predecessor Ink Mage. I envisioned Rina would turn into one of those kind of hot yet kind of scary tattooed moto...

2.5 StarsAnnoyed with the ending. Not even really a cliffhanger, just an ending. There is SO much up in the air that I can’t believe they let this chapter/section be published as a complete book. I couldn’t even remember what book 1 was about until a ways into the second book. I only knew that I had read and finished it (book 1) because I rated it on Goodreads. I did begin to recall the first book as I was reading and began remembering certain characters, but, that does say something doesn’t it?...

AGood continuation of the series. Great pacing. Hard to put down. Love the main characters. Eager to get to the next.

This free Audiobook series started slow but has quickly grown on me. Our kick ass witch as well as her cast of friends have fully developed. Off to book three!

The gods come alive and the team go their separate waysA rag tag team came together to save Klaar from the Perranese invaders and help Rina reclaim the throne. Now, they must all take separate paths to find more magic and help keep Klaar free from Perranese invaders. Alem and Rina's romance hits a major roadblock and Alem joins Tosh on a journey south. Maurizan also is on the ship to bring Rina help from the Scattered Isles, and she eventually forgives Alem for falling for Rina. Brasley and Talb...

Very enjoyableI really enjoyed this book its a great series so far, its written very well the characters are great love following each one.

The Tattooed Duchess by Victor Gischler is the second book in A Fire Beneath The Skin series but it can be read without reading book one first but you will want to because it is so good! I read book one and three and now I read this one, I love them all. Rina is now a Duchess which she is not happy to be but excepts it and is trying to figure out her powers of the tattoos and the spell book. She is trying to do right by her kingdom and her heart while she battling forces from beyond. She has to

This and most of the next had no right to be separate books in my humble opinion.The first wrapped up neatly with some loose ends still there for tugging but overall it wasn't ready to completely unravel like a poorly stitched sweater that a runaway Jack Russel terrier has snagged a thread of.The end of this is a hot mess and reads more like the season finale to some streaming show rather than a novel. The narrator even announces when episodes end lending to that concept. But I was here for a bo...

These books are bomb diggity. I can't bear to read them as a Kindle Series so I must wait until the whole thing comes out in one book. I assure you, it's so worth the sweet sweet torture of waiting.I like this series. Like really really like this series. It's intricate and exciting and wonderfully fast-paced. Gischler plays quite a bit with mystery in this book and it adds much to the story. If you read a lot of YA, well actually, read ANYTHING a lot, eventually you figure out what to look for a...

A fabulous sequel to 'Ink Mage'. By the time I picked this book up, I was very strongly invested in the world of Helva and Klaar, and so devoured it extremely quickly. Seeing Rina battle with the struggles of being a duchess, alongside the issues the tattoos brought (and Alem) kept this middle book going very well. The skeletal tattoo is indeed horrifying, and I personally loved that addition. The magic system Gischler created with the tattoos was already portrayed as not being all-powerful, thr...

not quite the caliber of book 1. still holds lots of good fights and bloodshed, subterfuge and scenes of maturation, clever magics and personal heroics, but...too many this-just-happens-to-be-or-do-or-appear-at-just-this-right-moment. too many abrupt turn arounds in personal choices or recoveries from plot twists that only go so far least they disrupt the main story too much. still mostly enjoying the main character and like some depth growth in others, but miss the same in yet others. good pend...

Characters Continue Measured Development, World Gets BiggerI love the pacing of this book. The characters change, and reveal more of themselves as they face various obstacles to overcome at a well crafted pace.Rina's suitor and the situation with his inappropriate relationship matching with her inappropriate relationship is perfect. It did seem a little cheap to have Alem overhear literally the one sentence without any context that could throw him into a spiral of despair. Rina's rebuilding of h...

Book two of the Fire Beneath the Skin series. It seems more like half of a book disguised as a full book. The first book in this series I thought was a great book with lots of tension and lots of adventure. While it did have a few loose threads not satisfactorily tied up, obviously with the idea of these threads continuing in a sequel, the book did have an ending. This book does not. This book has multiple cliffhangers for each of the major characters.I usually attempt to rate a book based upon

I received an e-book copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.The Tattooed Duchess is book 2 in the trilogy. I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book as I didn't really like the first. But I think I enjoyed this book more than the first and liked that little Epilogue at the end.

4 stars alone for the incredible narration. The second book of the trilogy lived up to the quality its predecessor accustomed us to. It’s a beautifully detailed reality the author creates for us, with a host of complex characters. I do wonder if I would get inpatient with how slow the plot moves, if I had read this instead of listening to it, especially when you look at the overarching story. And the romance that has since gone wayward makes me sad, especially since reviews of the third book ind...

Top notch fantasy Second book in, this book hit all the right notes. Expanded the cast, a deeper look in the word, dire consequences from the first book’s events, and on. I really enjoyed getting another look at the main characters, only 2 books in, it was already like checking in with old friends. I listened to the audiobook for this one. It was fantastic. The (woman) narrator had distinct inflections/dialects for each character that really worked. A++

The idea of the "ink magic" starts to get a little thin, and one wonders how such powerful things haven't been running amok more often. Still enjoyable to read, but I was disappointed at the book ending in the middle of an adventure -- that's probably due to the nature of the way it was written, but I feel books should end on some reasonable stopping point.