Love Costs (Shards of Sevia, Book 3) by E.B. Roshan

 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The storyline and plot are very well written. What this story lacks is a real connection between the characters. Throughout the whole story, I felt that Dunya was using him, and that is more than evident when she accepts his marriage proposal to keep herself and the orphan baby from being killed. The climax doesn't wash because of the lack of connection between the two characters. What he sacrifices and almost sacrifices for her reminds me of the old Bible story of Hosea who marries Gomer, a prostitute and she is unfaithful to him and leaves him. Her new lover sells her into slavery and the husband buys her back out of slavery. The problem is that although this man believes in God; he shows no real pain in his emotions when Dunya just leaves without a word. Hosea became a broken man, and searched for his wife, because He loved her. The problem is there is no real emotion expressed even during the fight scene and even when Dunya declares she wants the same light in her heart that Radoslav has. I believe a lot of that is because the conversation between all the characters is stilted causing a lack of emotion in any of the dialogue. I believe with a re-write to the dialogue this could be a deeply emotional story.