Book Review: A Fate of Wrath & Flame (Fate & Flame #1) by K.A. Tucker

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 634 pages
Author: K.A. Tucker
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: May 25th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Gifted thief Romeria has flourished from her days as a street kid pilfering wallets to survive. Now she thrives, stealing jewels from the rich under the involuntary employ of New York City’s most notorious crime boss. But when an enigmatic woman secures her services at swordpoint, Romeria is plunged into a startling realm of opposing thrones, warring elven, and elemental magic she cannot begin to fathom.

Her quest is straightforward: Steal a stone from Islor’s sacred garden without anyone discovering her true identity, which would earn her certain death. But the identity she has inexplicably assumed is that of the captured Ybarisan princess—an enemy to Islor after she poisoned their beloved king and queen on the day she was to marry the prince.

Her betrothed, the newly crowned King Zander, detests her with every grain of his handsome being. Fortunately for Romeria, she is more valuable to him alive than dead. Zander gives her a choice: life in a cell, or an acquittal of all charges in exchange for her help in exposing the growing plot against him.

Romeria sees no other option and embraces the tricky role of smitten queen-to-be until she can escape, a ruse that brings her far closer to the king than she anticipated and threatens more than her safety. As she digs deeper into this sacred garden and the ancient feud between Ybaris and Islor, she discovers monstrous truths that could spell ruin for all.

She would know the world of vengeful gods and monsters, and the lengths one would go for love. And nothing would ever be the same for her again.

TOOK AN UNEXPECTED TWIST.

Was it a good twist?

Not from my perspective.

Sooooooo I’m feeling a bit disappointed over this. I was SO EXCITED for this fantasy by one of my favorite authors, and maybe I hyped it too much? Maybe this fantasy just didn’t click? Maybe some combination of a handful of things.

I liked the romance between Romy and Zander. It’s a slowwww burn, but works so well here. I thought the chemistry was there (would have loved even more) and the banter was great too. I look forward to more of them based on how this ended so I’m definitely looking towards the sequel for a lift.

What fell really flat was the world-building and the magic system. Romy spent most of the time in the dark, so I spent even more time in the dark. I have SO MANY QUESTIONS. I could form a list for you, but it would probably spoil most of the story, ha. There’s some info dumping pages where I kind of caught up on what was happening, but frankly, I have no idea what’s going on. The whole quest to get the stone wasn’t even the plot of this book. Many mixed messages.

Speaking of mixed message, I’m still upset over the twist. It felt like it only added to the confusion. Why was it added? Why do they need to be that way? And once again, many more questions.

Even though the story wasn’t the necessarily like the summary led me to believe, I did like most of it. It was entertaining most of the time and I’m still curious enough to see what’s next.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses to open door scenes
  • Violence: sword battles, physical altercations, poison
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: slavery

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Book Review: The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgertons #2) by Julia Quinn

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 391 pages
Author: Julia Queen
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: December 5th, 2000
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

ANTHONY’S STORY

This time the gossip columnists have it wrong. London’s most elusive bachelor Anthony Bridgerton hasn’t just decided to marry—he’s even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended’s older sister, Kate Sheffield—the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate’s the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams…

Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands—and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate’s determined to protect her sister—but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony’s lips touch hers, she’s suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself..

THE ANGST.

This was a complete, bookstagram made me do it. I had no designs about picking up this series and a friends review convinced me to give it a try and Y’ALL. WHY DID I HOLD OFF ON THIS.

THE PINING. THE PASSION. THE ANGST. THE HEATED GLANCES.

It is everything I LOVE about enemies to lovers and I couldn’t get enough. There were so many rememberable scenes and I loved watching these two fall in love. Fantastic banter and the quiet moments where they learned more about each other were so tender. I liked how much background was added for both characters to give credence to decisions and actions. I found the steam scenes to actually be really sweet and work well into the story.

I liked the way the side characters worked into the plot but didn’t over shadow the romance. They added to the story and I loved many of them. I bet I’m going to find myself reading the rest of these books.

The ability for both Kate and Anthony to overcome different aspects of their pasts and find love together was CHEF’S KISS. There was no way I wasn’t throwing five stars at this book and now I already want to reread it.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical romance
  • Language: little
  • Romance: two low explicit open door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: PTSD, death from anaphylaxis recounted, death of a parent discussed

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Book Review: Fly with the Arrow (Bluebeard’s Secret #1) by Sarah K.L. Wilson

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 311 pages
Author: Sarah K.L. Wilson
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: March 2nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A STOLEN BRIDE. A TERRIFYING BRIDEGROOM. THE GAME THAT WILL DETERMINE THEIR FATES.

No one told her the most important law of the court – the Law of Greeting.
If they had, maybe she wouldn’t have greeted Bluebeard when he arrived to claim a mortal wife. And if she hadn’t greeted him, she wouldn’t have become his sixteenth wife or been swept away to the lands of the Wittenhame.

But if none of that had happened, then she wouldn’t have been an integral part of the game that takes place every two hundred years – a game that determines the fates of nations .

For not all is as it seems, not in her homeland of Pensmoore, not in the Wittenhame, and certainly not in her new marriage.

CONSIDER ME INVESTED.

This is my first book by Wilson and it will not be my last! What an enjoyable fantasy romance that holds a lot of potential for future books.

I was here for this slow burn romance. And it is verrrrry slow. But I think that really led to Izolda and Bluebeard connecting past the initial differences between them. Throw in a curse that is an occasional nuisance to work around added to the fun. I thought they had great banter and some of those quiet moments I am always begging for. I can’t wait for to see the intensity ramp up between them.

The plot is really interesting! I don’t know much about the story of Bluebeard (though BRB going to go look it up). Each plot line kept me reading, and even at a short fantasy the world building and magic system lined up well. It wasn’t trying to do too much and was easy to envision and enjoy. I could have used something intense. That was the only thing missing. I never felt amped by the romance or the story itself until the last 20 pages. I wanted a little more from that vibe throughout. The ending is great though and I will definitely have to get to book two ASAP.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low/mild
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: kidnapping, physical and magical altercations, creature attacks

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Book Review: In the Penalty Box by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary romance
Length: 364 pages
Author: Lynn Rush & Kelly Anne Blount
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Cutting Edge meets Friday Night Lights in a sizzling new hockey romance from bestselling authors Kelly Anne Blount and Lynn Rush.

Willow
Figure skating was supposed to be my whole world. But one unlucky injury and now I’m down…but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team?

Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.

Brodie
Hockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie?

Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.

ALERT: RAGING TEEN HORMONES

That’s about the only major thought that kept going through my head. This was a book that couldn’t decide what age group it actually wanted to be apart of. The dialogue, conversations, and inner monologues swayed from young YA and towards NA (new adult). It was weird. Really weird.

What I did like was the hockey story. I love a good sports novel and I LOVE that Willow got be the goalie for the boy’s team. That was awesome and really neat to see. I liked reading about the games and wondering who was going to win.

I also did enjoy Willow’s character progression. Ridiculous thoughts about Brodie aside, she made some great strides in figuring out what was best for her. I think she made the best decisions with the information she could and picked what she truly felt was going to make her happy in the long run.

The wild drama all over the place took me out of the story. I don’t mind a bit of drama, but sometimes it hits a line. This one rolled way past that point. Everything felt amped to try and create an emotional side, and I didn’t feel much of that. I wish I could have felt drawn to some of the inner story more, but it’s fine. This was a quick YA romance that had some good, some bad.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult sports romance
  • Language: some
  • Romance: kisses/make-outs
  • Violence: physical altercations
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: difficult sports injuries, sexism, misogyny, loss of a parent through car wreck, parent abandonment, parent incarceration, alcoholism

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