Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 544 pages
Author: Julie Johnson
Publisher: Ace Publishing
Release Date: April 8th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Magic and adventure swirl through this spellbinding romantasy where a young woman reignites the embers of an ancient prophecy, unleashing a storm that could save her realm or doom them all.

Fear of maegic plagues war-torn Anwyvn. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are killed on sight. But Rhya’s execution is interrupted by an unexpected savior—one far more terrifying than her would-be killers. The mysterious and mercenary Commander Scythe. In the clutches of this new enemy, Rhya finds herself fighting for her life in the barren reaches of the Northlands. Yet the farther she gets from home, the more she learns that nothing is as it seems—not her fearsome captor, not the blight that ravages her dying realm, not even herself.

For Rhya is no ordinary halfling. The strange birthmark on her chest and the wind she instinctively calls forth means she is a Remnant, one of four souls scattered across Anwyvn, fated to restore the balance of maegic…or die trying.

But mastering the power inside her is only the beginning. Desire for the Commander—a man she can never trust, a man with plans of his own—burns just as fiercely as the tempests beating against her rib cage for release. Rhya must choose: smother the flames…or let them consume her.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook and MTMC Tours and Ace Publishing for the physical copy.

I’LL READ THE NEXT ONE.

I had a good time reading/listening to this book. Do I think it was anything groundbreaking? No. It wasn’t anything I haven’t read before, yet that also lent towards my enjoyment level. I know what I like in romantasy and this held many of those key aspects.

*I will note I struggled with the audiobook a bit because I think the narrator made the FMC come off way more abrasive than necessary and struggled on the male voices. I liked the story and characters more when I was reading physically.

The romance was a nice long slow burn. WHICH I APPRECIATE SO MUCH. I am kind of exhausted by how much spice some books have just to start the series of. I want the burn, I want the building chemistry and soft moments that bond the couple together. But also I have thoughts on the romance??? And I’m not going to be naming names at this time, I will be getting my hands on book two as quickly as I can though…

ANYWHO. I thought the world building was executed well without superfluous info dumping. The elemental magic system was explained well and I liked the pacing. There’s a fairly good balance between the slow and fast. I really fell in love with the found family scenes and the story line definitely has enough to keep me going.

Overall audience notes:

• Fantasy Romance
• Language: moderate
• Romance: 1-2 almost open door scenes
• Violence: moderate – high
• Content warnings: loss of life, battle/war themes

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