Tag: fantasy romance

Book Review: The Ragpicker King (The Chronicles of Castellane #2) by Cassandra Claire

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Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: Fantasy + Romance
Length: 480 pages
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: March 4th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In the epic follow-up to the New York Times bestseller Sword Catcher, praised by George R. R. Martin as “everything I look for in fantasy,” Lin and Kel must chart a perilous course between love and lies.

Kel Saren, body double to Conor, crown prince of the dazzling city of Castellane, is caught between two worlds. In order to protect his beloved prince, Kel must find the culprits responsible for a massacre at the royal palace—and the only clues are held by the Ragpicker King, the notorious criminal who rules Castellane’s underworld. The trail Kel follows leads back to the Hill, where among decadent nobles and glittering parties a dark conspiracy to destroy the royal family has taken hold—a conspiracy headed up by the monstrous Artal Gremont, the man engaged to marry the woman Kel adores.

Meanwhile, Lin Caster must face the aftermath of the greatest risk she’s ever taken. To save the life of a dying friend, Lin has falsely claimed to be the Goddess Reborn, the legendary heroine destined to save her people. Now the terrifying—but strangely magnetic—leader of her people has arrived to test her powers. The price of failure is exile, and only through her alliance with the Ragpicker King can she continue to access the magic that may save her.

Then Prince Conor reappears in her life, demanding that she use her healing powers to cure the madness of his father, the King. Lin soon realizes the King is gripped by an ancient and terrible magic, one whose lure she cannot deny any more than she can deny her growing passion for Conor.

As the simmering tensions in Castellane reach a fever pitch, Lin and Kel must decide who to trust when any false move means death—or worse.

BETTER THAN THE FIRST.

Well here we are. I actually didn’t expect myself to pick this book up so soon after release (or maybe even at all) but a few reviews found their way to me and I decided to give it a go. And I do think it is an upgrade from book one. Being settled into the general plot, world and characters helped this book move much more smoothly and I realized I was more invested as the pages went on.

Do I think it still dragged quite a bit? Yes. And some of the politicking lost me as well. I do love the complicated character dynamics and all of the choices that lead to some devastating consequences. I’m also intrigued by the romances and where those will continue to go too.

So yeah, I’ll keep reading this series.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy + Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: open door
  • Violence: moderate – high

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Book Review: Half City (Harker Academy #1) by Kate Golden

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 496 pages
Author: Kate Golden
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: February 17th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Keep your daggers sharp, and your wits even sharper.

Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn’t even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother’s approval.

She just also happens to be a demon hunter.

Ever since her father’s murder, she’s been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider. . . . Until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she’ll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again.

But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about. Not when the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv’s father’s death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, and fast. All while trying to ace her classes, not fall for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?

THIS WAS SOLID.

I previously enjoyed Kate Golden’s romantasy trilogy so I’ve been excited to pick this one up and yet again, it’s delivered! I’ll definitely be picking up book two to see what happens next. I’m a little curious how it’ll work out based off of romantic plot points. I took off half a star because I felt the page time vs. the *love* that apparently had formed didn’t line up. I would have loved if this great slow burn had been pulled into book two.

This gave me Shadowhunter vibes. There’s vampires and werewolves and demons and hunters who try to take them down. I thought the addition of the college and dark academia setting worked well. There’s an air of mystery that is played out beautifully without heavy info dumping or insanely slow sections. The pacing made me fly through this thick book.

I really enjoyed the FMC Viv and what she brought to the story. A flawed character with a strong personality who is deeply loyal to those close to her. It just worked. She has great chemistry with Reid and the friendships were meaningful too.

Overall audience notes:

  • Urban fantasy romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 3ish open door
  • Violence: high
  • Content warnings: loss of a parent, murder, loss of life, weapons/physical violence

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Book Review: Empire of Shadows (Raiders of the Arcana #1) by Jacquelyn Benson

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Fantasy Romance
Length: 478 pages
Author: Jacquelyn Benson
Publisher: Crimson Fox Publishing
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

This has been on and off my TBR since it released but I finally dove in when the audiobook was available and I do NOT REGERT MY DECISION Y’ALL. If you loved What the River Knows, I need you to go pick this one up too. I loved the historical fantasy vibes with some Indian Jones and The Mummy mixed in.

I was smitten from the beginning. And loved the way the romance flowed throughout the story. There’s heated tension, lots of action and perilous danger around every corner and the audiobook production is just fantastic. I could not get enough of listening to this book and the hours flew by.

(I realized that I had read the first book in this author’s previous series and had mixed thoughts on it so this just goes to show you that trying an author a second time can be a win).

I immediately downloaded book two and will be getting to that ASAP. I am obsessed with these characters, the SWOONY romance, and the fast action-packed plot.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Fantasy Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: heated make-outs
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content Warnings: weapons violence, near death experiences, attempted murder

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Book Review: Heart of Mischief (Soul of Shadow #2) by Emma Noyes

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: NA Urban Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Emma Noyes
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 10th, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The thrilling sequel to Soul of Shadow, a contemporary romantasy for fans of Twilight, and Teen Wolf, where love, magic, gods, and monsters collide with devastating consequences – featuring beautiful color, designed endpapers and a foil case stamp for a stunning package.

I will make myself strong.
I will find Elias.
I will kill Elias.
I will never trust a boy with my heart again.

These are the vows Charlie Hudson made the day after Elias Everhart betrayed her, nearly killing everyone she loves most. One month later, revenge is still her priority, even as she navigates a harsh new reality: one where her brother and friends can now see Asgard, making them just as susceptible to its dazzling delights – and deadly dangers – as she is.

But when two bodies turn up in the forest outside town, and Elias waltzes back into her life with an offer to help find out what’s happening, Charlie finds herself accepting his offer—but only because feigning an alliance is her best chance to figure out how to kill him. And if it feels like the more time she spends with him, the more her heart softens, it must be a trick of the unusually warm fall air. Because there’s no way she would make the grave mistake of falling for Elias Everhart twice… right?

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook.

BETTER THAN BOOK ONE.

I wasn’t sure I was going to read this one but then it came across my email and I decided I wanted to try it and here we are! I did like it more than the first (which usually doesn’t happen) and I’m invested enough to finish the trilogy. I liked the evolution of the plot and thought the general situation was overall engaging. That, or it just happened to catch me at the right time, and that’s fine too!

The romance worked for me too. There was a better slow burn dynamic to it and I liked the push and pull between them. Kind of an enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers scenario that I am here for.

There’s still some scenes I didn’t mesh with or didn’t quite work for me and that’s okay.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Urban Fantasy Romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: heated make outs
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content warnings: under age drinking, near death experiences, murder

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