From one cliffhanger to another
Prince of Swords
Arcana Academy
Dark Fantasy
Del Rey
July 21, 2026
Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook
560
I am terrified. Yet my heart skips a beat. This man might be a monster, but he is my monster. Clara Graysword is Oricalis’s most wanted. Hunted and cornered, not even her mastery of tarot can save her this time . . . until the mysterious Worldkeepers appear. This secretive order may hold the key to changing Clara’s fate. If she dares to trust them. But the most dangerous alliance of all is one she’s already deeply ensnared within: Prince Kaelis. Kaelis, second-born prince of Oricalis and headmaster of Arcana Academy, is the one man she can’t escape—maybe she doesn’t want to escape. Ruthless, dangerous, and bound to Clara by destiny and desire, Kaelis tests her heart as much as her loyalty. Together, they grow closer to the most powerful secrets of the tarot . . . and to the truths they both hide that could destroy the passion that they no longer deny. Hidden in plain sight within Arcana Academy, Clara walks the dagger’s edge. Revelations about Oricalis threaten everything she thought she knew, and every choice she makes is the difference between salvation and ruin. To change the world, Clara must risk everything—her power, her beliefs, and her heart.
“Tarot and dreams are two dialects in the language of the soul.” – Unknown
The Saga Continues
Prince of Swords is book two of Elise Kova’s Arcana Academy series. This installment picks up literally at the same high-intensity, cliffhanger moment book one ended with. This wild kick-off is just the prelude to another fast-paced, action-packed, spicy dark fantasy romance. Elise shows your emotions no mercy as she has them all over the place with Clara Graysword’s personal journey of growth, revenge, and relationship with Kaelis, the second-born prince of Oricalis. Clara lives on a razor’s edge as she hides in plain sight as a student of the Arcana Academy and the fiancé of Kaelis, the academy’s headmaster. She willingly does this as a condition of the bargain that freed her from the notorious Halazar prison in exchange for her skill at inking Tarot cards and using Tarot magic. Kaelis is determined to create the one card that would take down his father and brother, the crown prince, and end the reign of terror inflicted by both.
Cliffhangers
When it comes to cliffhangers, people either love them or hate them. I know it’s one of the reasons why some people refuse to read a series until its complete. Arcana Academy ended right in the middle of a high conflict scene for Clara. Prince of Swords picks up exactly at this point. It’s like Elise wrote the scene and then cut it in half, putting one piece in each book. It had been a year since I read the first book, so I found reading the first chapter very jarring; one because I had forgotten much of the details, and two because I wasn’t spun up emotionally to be re-experiencing the scene at this level. I had to stop, go back and reread the last couple of chapters of book 1 to be able to get into the story appropriately. If I was reading book 2 right after book 1 this might not have been an issue. Also, heads up, Book 2 ends with another cliffhanger. After this emotional flogging and ending it’s time for me to read a silly Romcom to get my blood pressure down!
“The world doesn’t change…It shatters.”
She Knows How to Keep You Hooked
Prince of Swords definitely showcases Elise’s talent for writing stories with unique worlds, high intensity/action-packed plots, and character arcs/relationships that are compelling. I’m still intrigued by the depth of the magic system revolving around Tarots that she uses and how it is the glue that holds her world together. She seamlessly teaches the reader this system while weaving it through the story. This book is also filled with a rollercoaster of action, just when you think you get a breather there is more coming at you. Finally, Clara continues to grow personally, and we are now in the thick of her spicy relationship with Kael. I can’t say I “like” any of these morally grey characters, but their story definitely makes for a captivating book that I had a really hard time putting down once I got into it. Book 3 will be the ultimate judge of the Arcana Academy series for me, and I will do it justice by rereading books 1&2 before it comes out.
Tanya’s love for books has been a lifelong passion that she likes sharing with others. Reading is also the thing that relaxes her after a day of juggling the many responsibilities that come with being being wife to an amazing man, mother to four great kids spread around the world, business manager, and farm hand on their place in southwest Missouri; home to Akaushi cattle and a menagerie of pygmy goats, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.
