Tag: fantasy romance

Book Review: The Ever Queen (The Ever Seas #2) by L.J. Andrews

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 450 pages
Author: L.J. Andrews
Publisher: Indie Published
Release Date: January 22nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Songbird:

Captive. Challenger. Queen.

Enemies took her from the man who holds her heart. They might see her as weak, as a pawn in wicked games, but they’re no match for the first Ever Queen.

Let them think they’ve won. Her heart belongs to a beautiful monster, and she will never stop fighting until she’s back in his arms.


The Serpent:

Captor. Villain. King.

His enemies stole the woman who claimed his soul. They betrayed him out of greed and desire for the crown, but they won’t die for that betrayal. No.

They’ll die for touching her.

His heart belongs to a stunning little bird. He will never stop searching for her light across the skies. Not until the blood of his enemies spills at her feet, and his queen wears their bones around her neck.

WHAT A CONCLUSION.

Who knew I’d be obsessed with this dark fantasy? I didn’t and I’m so glad my friends reviews convinced me to pick it up! I loved the way this went. I usually don’t love when a couple is separated for too long in a book, and I think the way the action and intrigue was kept up I was not bothered at all. Everything came together as it should. The slower middle actually worked beautifully because that was the bit of peace the story needed before the action packed, deadly conclusion.

I LOVE Erik and Livia so much. Both on their own and together. There’s incredible growth and I love watching their relationship blossom and thrive. Erik had so many swoony lines that I had to keep highlighting because can you EVEN??? It was the perfect kind of contrast with the darkness of the book. And this whole cast?! I adore them. Side characters can make/break a book and these MADE it.

Fantastic book. I loved it. I am very excited to see that there will be more books in this series (following a different pair!!).

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: 4+ open door
  • Violence: very high; high blood/gore
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: torture, sexual assault (brief, on page), war themes

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Book Review: Burning Crowns (Twin Crowns #3) by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 457 pages
Author: Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Release Date: May 7th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Twin queens Rose & Wren survived the Battle for Anadawn and brought back magic to their kingdom. But danger lurks in Eana’s shadows.

Wren is troubled. Ever since she performed the blood spell on Prince Ansel, her magic has become unruly. Worse, the spell created a link between Wren and the very man she’s trying to forget: Icy King Alarik of Gevra. A curse is eating away at both of them. To fix it they must journey to the northern mountains—under the watchful guard of Captain Tor Iversen—to consult with the Healer on High.

Rose is haunted. Waking one night to find her undead ancestor Oonagh Starcrest by her bed, she receives a warning: surrender the throne—or face a war that will destroy Eana. With nowhere to turn and desperate to find a weapon to defeat Oonagh, Rose seeks help from Shen-Lo in the Sunkissed Kingdom, but what she finds there may break her heart.

As Oonagh threatens all Rose and Wren hold dear, it will take everything they have to save Eana–including a sacrifice they may not be prepared to make.

BEST OF THE BUNCH.

I haven’t been a WILD FAN about this series, but I have genuinely increasingly enjoyed each book in this series. Holy cow though y’all, this last book brought it as is easily my favorite. A fantastic conclusion that had everything I needed and reminded me why I love young adult fantasy books so much. This writing duo aced it.

I loved Rose and Wren. I have loved seeing their character growth over the story and how much they have risen to their individual callings. There’s strength in their souls and the unfailing loyalty and love they have to each other. These are the kind of sister books that squeeze my heart. I loved this relationship so much.

Other relationships I enjoyed were the romances!!! Gosh I felt like I was in a chokehold the entire time. For romances to be perfectly drawn out over three books is an impressive feat and this truly accomplished that goal. I still felt giddy every time our pairs (each sister has a romance) glanced each other’s way and those lasting moments of love confessions made me WEAK Y’ALL. ABSOLUTELY WEAK.

I felt like everything came together and wrapped up it should. I loved how the villain was taken down, how the romances worked out and where the ending scenes landed. Beautiful series, I can’t wait for more from these two!

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: vague fade to black
  • Violence: moderate-high

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ALC Book Review: The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Cozy Fantasy
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Publisher: Tor
Release Date: July 9th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Spellshop is a cottagecore cosy fantasy following a woman’s unexpected journey through the low-stakes market of illegal spell-selling and the high-risk business of starting over . . .

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn’t had to.

She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city’s elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, she and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. She’s hoping to lay low and figure out a way to survive before the revolution comes looking for her. To her dismay, in addition to a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor, she finds the town in disarray.

The empire with its magic spellbooks has slowly been draining power from the island, something that Kiela is indirectly responsible for, and now she’s determined to find a way to make things right. Opening up a spell shop comes with its own risks—the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the quirky townspeople, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must break down the walls she has kept so high.

Perfect for fans of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune, The Spellshop is a romantic and cosy fantasy.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

OH SO COZY.

I love a great cozy fantasy and this was definitely it. The audiobook was my favorite and I loved that format, highly recommend!

This had a lovely set-up. I liked the coastal small town, and how tight knit the entire community was. There was a cute bakery and quirky characters and I feel like this really hit the nail on the head for how cozy fantasy is supposed to feel. I liked the simple nature of the plot and how much depth we got from the characters.

The little sub-plot romance was super sweet too. It had great push and pull with just a little bit of tension. I loved how they came together and worked together to keep their town safe. This was wholesome and gosh I was very much in love with the cottage vibes. And Caz?? A sentient plant?? Stop it right now, I loved him. These are the kinds of things I love seeing in books like this. Such a gem.

Overall audience notes:

  • Cozy Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: Celestial (Angels of Elysium #2) by Olivia Wildenstein

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Urban Fantasy Romance
Length: 424 pages
Author: Olivia Wildenstein
Publisher: WildStone Publishing
Release Date: January 5th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In ninety-two days, the feathered appendages that link me to the people I loathe finally come off. Dear, winglets, you will not be missed.

Celeste has spent the last four years building a life outside of angelic guilds—parties, check—pursuing human ambitions instead of celestial ones—college, check—and shedding feathers across Parisian cobblestones and more recently New York sidewalks—speaking her mind, always check.

She swore off angels, but the death of the woman who took her in the night Leigh died brings them soaring back into her life . . . and not just any angel but the most detestable one, the one complicit in Leigh’s death—Seraph Asher.

Although Celeste tells the archangel to feather off, the unreasonably pretty and obstinate man doesn’t leave her alone. He returns and insists she complete her wings. When she asks him for one good reason to do so, he gives her an unbeatable one: what he did with Leigh’s soul.

Asher never meant to share his damning secret, but he knows it’s the only way to save Celeste—the rebellious Fletching he can’t get out of his head . . . or heart.

* WARNING: contains graphic scenes. Recommended for 18+.

NEW FAV.

This will probably be my favorite of this series. I was VERY surprised when I realized this had new points of view (I’m not a synopsis reader by nature). After that shock and settling into the story I became HOOKED on this romance.

I looooved Celeste and Asher. Oh my goodness. This is how you write a fated romance. There’s good banter and some enemies vibes. Celeste is actually reasonable once she learned all of the facts and allowed Asher in more. Asher is a PROTECTIVE ALPHA type and I could not get enough of him showing up and taking others down.

The larger conflict of the story continued progressing too and once I figured out what the author was creating with the entire series I immediately became curious in seeing this through. I am excited to read the finale.

Plenty of action, politicking, intrigue and very good amount of swoon. This series is clearly underrated.

Overall audience notes:

  • Urban/Paranormal Fantasy Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: 3+ open; high explicit and some fade to black
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: blood/gore depiction, physical/magical altercations, loss of loved ones, organ farming, medical surgeries without consent

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