Book Review: A Crown So Silver (Fair Folk #2) by Lyra Selene

February 18, 2026February 10, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 496 pages
Author: Lyra Selene
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: January 21st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

On a mysterious snowy island ruled by a trickster king where magic comes at a price, a deadly trial commences. The prize: a chance for vengeance.

After her sacrifice on the Ember Moon, Fia is flush with powerful magic and eager to rush into battle against her murderous sister, Eala. However, Fia’s new husband Irian suggests they bide their time and retreat to the Silver Isle, a snowy island at the edge of the fae world.

Ruled by the cunning smith-king, the Silver Isle proves far from a safe haven. Fia and Irian become embroiled in the Tournament of Kings competing for a magical forging of immense power. Their relationship will be put to the test as they navigate their conflicting motivations, shifting allegiances, and ancient magic.

With the end of the tournament looming and Eala’s threat growing, Fia must decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to defeat her sister.

I LIKED IT MORE THAN THE FIRST.

Which kind of surprises me but we’re going to roll with it. I thought it picked up great in the beginning and I immediately felt immersed in the audiobook and story and characters. I love when I don’t feel lost from the first book and the execution here helped that a lot.

Now the rest of the first half was a bit meh. I did like seeing Fia and Irian work together but the cracks started to show and I found myself bored with the plot. The second half was much better in this regard. The pacing found a steadier rhythm and I liked Fia’s character arc more by the end. And y’all know I love a good cliffhanger and this definitely had on that makes me want book three as soon as I can get my hands on it.

Highly recommend the audiobook because the narrator does an amazing job with the accents.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: strong
Romance: multiple open door
Violence: moderate – high

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ARC/ALC Book Review: The Trident and the Pearl (The Fisher King #1) by Sarah K.L. Wilson

February 15, 2026February 5, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 464 pages
Author: Sarah K.L. Wilson
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: February 24th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A desperate queen makes a deal with the gods to save her land in this spellbinding romantasy debut from Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Queen Coralys rules the Kingdom of the Five Isles, but when disaster strikes, killing her husband and destroying half her nation, she pleads with the gods for salvation. And they do save her, turning back the terrible winds and tide and snatching her islands from the brink of destruction.

But the gods have a wicked sense of justice and they demand an exchange for their help: Coralys must marry the first man to set foot on her pier. Coralys expects the fleet of a neighboring country to come to rescue her people, led by its prince, a loyal ally. What she gets instead is a fisherman so sunburnt and stinking that her court can barely keep their breakfast down.

Coralys marries the fisherman just as she promised the gods, and sets out with him in his unkempt dinghy, with nothing but hopes of revenge against the gods to keep her from despair. But what she does not know is that the fisherman is actually the god of the sea. And he stepped on her dock for a reason.

His own kingdom besieged, his body terribly wounded, and his place as a god threatened, the fisherman has plans to turn the tides set against him and finally offer a place of refuge for his people. But working the magic he needs will require the help of the one woman bent on his destruction.

Thank you Orbit Books for the gifted ARC.

EH, I DON’T KNOW Y’ALL.

I will say that I’m still obsessed with this cover.

Alright, now about the inside of the book. Initially I was fine with it, I was leaning into the vibes and I love marriage of convenience so I wanted to give it a chance. I loved the ocean based setting and that there seems to be a lot of meddling gods.

Then somewhere in the middle it kind of lost me? I was getting frustrated with the FMC and how she was choosing to make her decisions and listening to parties that were pretty dang obvious not anyone Coralys should be considering which caused more things to fall a part. And then the romance was missing something. It felt like certain pieces were forced and since this is a series I think it would have benefited from a different type of slow burn.

This book isn’t spice forward, which is super nice because I feel that’s all I see lately, which does lean me towards wanting to try book two. I thought the conclusion was a decent cliff hanger and made me curious to see how this will continue.

I listened to the audiobook as well and I did like the narration.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: low
Romance: heated kisses
Violence: moderate+
Content warnings: loss of a spouse, loss of life, battle themes, weapons altercations

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Book Review: A Forbidden Fate (The Forbidden Fate #1) by Kaven Hirning

February 9, 2026January 29, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 414 pages
Author: Kaven Hirning
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 6th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A centuries long war, an enchanted wood, and a curse.
Idalia leaves her castle to marry the new king of the Deep, certain that this union will be the final step in saving her kingdom. She must travel through the Florian Wood, a mysterious place shrouded in legend and myth. Things go awry when the Princess is captured by a band of thieves, and they soon discover that the stories of the Wood weren’t just stories afterall. To make matters worse, she is stranded in this nightmare with her rival; A shameless bandit who likes to talk and drink too much. Despite the dangers of the Wood, there is a threat far graver to the both of them–each other. Apart from their warring lands, they have also been cursed by the gods. They can never touch, or they will die and their entire kingdoms with them. Join Idalia and a group of misfits on this harrowing journey. One full of sorrow, terror, forbidden love … and plenty of drinks.

Thank you to LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

I’LL READ BOOK TWO.

This book went on and off my TBR for a long time and when I saw an audio copy I snagged it and here we are. I thought the concept was good and I liked that they couldn’t touch each other. It added a level of tension that built in a nice slow burn over the book.

I didn’t have any big issues with pacing (which could be due to audiobook speed that kept things moving). It’s a travel plot with many diversions throughout a haunted wood. Some of the side quests seemed forced, but in the end it worked out well.

I loved the romantic aspects and getting those necessary flashback chapters to understand the character dynamics and how everything began when the curse tore them apart. The found family was SO GOOD. I loooved the banter and the respect and care that went into every relationship. I’m curious what will happen next!

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: one open door
Violence: moderate

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Book Review: Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn

February 1, 2026January 31, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: New Adult Fantasy Romance
Length: 454 pages
Author: Katherine Quinn
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: February 3rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This magical new YA romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of To Kill a Shadow will steal your heart. Set in Andalay, a world where the ruling Fates bestow gifts among the favored, a thief must join forces with the palace darling after he unwittingly steals a necklace with the power to change everything.

When Damien, a cold and hardened thief, is hired to steal a gift from the powerful Fates meant for Andalay’s sweetheart, Wren Hayes, he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets.

The gift? A locket containing his own phototroph.

Once the locket is opened, hidden truths unravel, ones that shed light on the ruthless ways of the upper-class society. Yearning for the three Fates and the magical gifts they bestow, the lords of Andalay will go to any length to keep their power—including murder.

Brought together by destiny, and fighting a temptation that neither understand, Wren and Damien navigate a seedy world where the truth can destroy not only their lives, but the city itself.

Thank you PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook and Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

I WANT BOOK TWO.

I was kind of up and down with how this book went. The world building was a bit confusing and I’m still not sure how the gods vs. the setting vs. the gifts vs. everything else truly work. The romantic connection between Damien and Wren grew on me. I liked seeing them come from different sides of the track and start to work together to unravel the mysteries before them. The regency vibes were really good too though.

It lost me for a bit in the middle. Things kind of dragged out and I was losing steam. That last quarter though was really good. And on top of that cliffhanger ending I decided I have to pick up book two to see where it goes next. This was my first book by Katherine Quinn and I had an enjoyable time.

Overall audience notes: