Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 660 pages
Author: Renee Dugan
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 8th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

LET ME TELL YOU A STORY…

AUDRA JASHOWIN is a storyteller without a purpose.

When all the tales in the land of Mithra-Sha lost their endings, Audra fled from her family’s rejection and the only home she ever knew. Now, with a sense of veiled danger haunting her heels and her life as devoid of direction as her stories, she arrives at long last in a city of fresh starts and second chances.

There, she finds an adventure greater than she ever dreamed.

JAIK GRISSOM might be the key to bringing back the power of all stories.

A simple farmhand with a way around weapons, Jaik possesses more than a sharp wit that sets Audra’s soul aflame. He’s a natural amplifier with the talent to breathe life into her tales…into all the tales in Mithra-Sha.

Chased from their comfortable lives by a stroke of ill luck on a fateful night, Audra and Jaik embark on a journey for answers—through the wilderness and over the raging sea, to the heart of storytelling itself. Along the way, the strange bond between them deepens as they begin to uncover a mystery that lurks beneath all the broken tales, written in the shroud of their own unlikely pasts.

To mend the fractured stories in Mithra-Sha, Audra and Jaik must learn to embrace what lives at the core of their own the bravery and brilliance, the loyalty and love, and the purpose and power they both harness—together and apart.

And they must face a terrible truth penned between the pages of their quest…a tragedy that will change the course of history and rewrite the ending of their tale forever.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for an eARC.

I HAVE BEEN DESTROYED.

Oh my goodness what an incredible book. Those last few chapters let me an utter mess and I am sitting here writing this review right after finishing and I am NOT OKAY. I mean, I am, but also THE FEELS.

I loooved this whole concept. It was really unique with the storytelling powers and how that changed the world around Audra. Meanwhile, I also adored Audra!! What a beautifully strong FMC who truly rose above an incredible amount to find the answers she was seeking and the strength to carry that through.

Jaik was such a gem too. I loved the chemistry between them and how they had that pull towards each other. Some perfectly written banter and all of the best protective moments and I must protect these two at all costs.

The reveals were fantastic and each turn in the story drew me in even more. There were some stunning moments that held such raw humanness that brought tears to my eyes. I loved this journey from the start to the finish. There’s action and romance and magic and intrigue and this sense of feeling like one of those true fantasy books you just have to read.

Overall audience notes:

• Fantasy Romance
• Language: very little
• Romance: kisses
• Violence: high
• Trigger/Content Warnings: anxiety depiction, loss of life, near death experiences, blood/gore depiction

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