Tag: fantasy romance

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: May 2023

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My reading went out of control this month when I went on a Sanderson graphic novel/novella binge. I am DETERMINED to get caught up on all of his major works.

Pretty great reading month all around. Check it out and let me know if you spy any of your favorites!

Favorite Books this Month!

  • The Isles of the Gods
  • A Class of Her Own
  • If Only You
  • Crown of Midnight
  • How to Kiss Your Enemy
  • The Bridge Kingdom
  • Jade Shards
  • Hello Stranger
  • Heir of Fire
  • The Traitor Queen
  • Properly Kissed
  • The Inadequate Heir
  • Pier Pressure
  • From Lukov With Love
  • Appointment in Bath
  • Heir of Fire
  • The Endless War
  • When Kingdoms Fall
  • One Last Play
  • Celestial

Least Favorites…

  • To Hunt a Demon King
  • Friendshipped
  • A Sea of Blood and Sapphire
  • Winter’s Heart
  • The Last Word
  • [ALC] The Isles of the Gods (The Isles of the Gods #1) by Amie Kaufman
  • A Class of Her Own (The Thornback Society #1) by Aspen Hadley
  • [Novella] Defending Elysium (Skyward #0.5) by Brandon Sanderson
  • If Only You (Bergman Brothers #6) by Chloe Liese
  • The Secret Service of Tea and Treason (Dangerous Damsels #3) by India Holton
  • To Hunt a Demon King (King and Coven #1) by Madeleine Eliot
  • [Reread] Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas
  • The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson
  • [ARC] How to Kiss Your Enemy (Hawthorne Brothers #3) by Jenny Proctor
  • Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1) by Heather Fawcett
  • [Reread] The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
  • [ARC] Jade Shards (The Green Bone Saga #0.75) by Fonda Lee
  • Feather (Angels of Elysium #1) by Olivia Wildenstein
  • [ARC/ALC] Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
  • [Reread] Heir of Fire (Throne Of Glass #3) by Sarah J. Maas
  • Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #5) by Pierce Brown
  • [ARC] King’s Bride (The Chronicles of Urn #1) by Beck Michaels
  • [Reread] The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom #2) by Danielle L. Jensen
  • [Novella] The Original by Brandon Sanderson
  • Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher
  • Cursed Crowns (Twin Crowns #2) by Catherine Doyle & Katherine Webber
  • [Short Story] The Hope of Elantris (Elantris #1.5) by Brandon Sanderson
  • [Novella] Properly Kissed (Bradwell Brothers #0.5) by Kasey Stockton
  • Friendshipped (Getting Shipped #1) by Savannah Scott
  • [Short Story] The Eleventh Metal (The Mistborn Saga #0.5) by Brandon Sanderson
  • [Short Story] Allomancer Jak and the Pits of Eltania (The Cosmere) by Brandon Sanderson
  • A Sea of Blood and Sapphire by Florence Gray
  • [ARC] A Lady’s Promise by Ranee S. Clark
  • The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
  • [Reread] The Inadequate Heir (The Bridge Kingdom #3) by Danielle L. Jensen
  • The Blameless (The Blameless #1) by E.S. Christison
  • [Novella] Mistborn: Secret History (Mistborn #3.5) by Brandon Sanderson
  • [ARC] The Roommate Pact by Allison Ashley
  • [Graphic Novel] White Sand Vol. 1 by Brandon Sanderson
  • [Graphic Novel] White Sand Vol. 2 by Brandon Sanderson
  • [Graphic Novel] White Sand Vol. 3 by Brandon Sanderson
  • Winter’s Heart (The Wheel of Time #9) by Robert Jordan
  • Pier Pressure (Deadlights Cove #4) by Aimee Vance and B. Perkins
  • [Reread] From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
  • [Novella] Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell by Brandon Sanderson
  • [Novella] Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson
  • One Night Only by Catherine Walsh
  • Beautifully Broken Pieces (Sutter Lake #1) by Catherine Cowles
  • [ARC] Appointment in Bath (Somerset Stories #4) by Mimi Matthews
  • Dust (Heirs of Neverland #1) by Kara Swanson
  • The Endless War (The Bridge Kingdom #4) by Danielle L. Jensen
  • [Reread] Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) by Pierce Brown
  • When Kingdoms Fall by Callie Dahl
  • The Stolen Throne (Dominions #2) by Abigail Owen
  • Love on Camera (The Wonder Boys #1) by Dana LeCheminant
  • One Last Play (Sweet Peach #4) by Annah Conwell
  • Celestial (Angels of Elysium #2) by Olivia Wildenstein
  • The Last Word by Katy Birchall

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ARC Book Review: King’s Bride (The Chronicles of Urn #1) by Beck Michaels

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 500 pages
Author: Beck Michaels
Publisher: Pluma Press
Release Date: May 23rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s the God of Death. She’s the bride sent to kill him. Their union may be the end of them both.

The Everfrost is ruled by the King in his castle of ice. Some call him the Ice Phoenix, others the God of Death. The clans survive by one law alone: pay the King the homage he is due and never take what belongs to him. But when Sunnëva Morkhàn’s brother falls gravely ill, she will have to do exactly that.
Against every warning, she sneaks into the castle to steal the one thing that would save him—a magical rose. But you don’t steal from the King and live to tell the tale. When the Ice Phoenix discovers her theft and demands payment, the cost is too steep. Mourning and enraged, she challenges him, only to lose. To spare her clan from the King’s wrath, her father offers her as a bride, and for a reason she cannot fathom, the King agrees.
Revenge is a delicate game Sunnëva is determined to play, even if killing the God of Death is no easy feat. But as secrets unfold around the alluring King, and dark threats emerge from the shadows, Sunnëva struggles to hold on to her hatred—and her heart.

Inspired by Beauty and the Beast, King’s Bride is the first book in Beck Michaels’ companion prequel series, the Chronicles of Urn—dark fables founded in forbidden love and strong-willed women who bring kings to their knees.

Thank you Storygram Tours and Beck Michaels for an eARC.

HOOKED.

This book took me on a journey. I realllllly enjoyed it. It’s a captivating beauty and the beast retelling and I loved that it was in the same world of Michaels other series and I noticed a few world building and magic system themes that carried over. I love connections like that.

I was worried the romance would have been off to the races and I was happy to see that it did keep to a slower paced burn. I thought the chemistry between Sunnëva and Jökull was fiery and very well heated. There were a lot of moments I highlighted because I love a swoony death god with words. Spice wise, it went over my line of plot vs. spice. There was an extra scene or two that didn’t fit with the plot and took away from the story for me. Otherwise, I truly was rooting for this relationship and loved all of the development throughout. For a standalone I thought this covered a lot of bases well and wrapped up things too.

There’s a few small plot/writing quirks that I noticed that brought me to a four star. I thought pieces of the ending felt rushed (though I will say I still loved the very end, it’s a HEA don’t worry!!). I’m curious now to make more connections between the two series and seeing how this story intertwines (this do NOT spoil anything for the Guardians of the Maiden series and can be read as a standalone).

Overall audience notes;

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language; some strong
  • Romance: 4+ open; high explicit
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: mentions of past sexual assault trauma (the act is not show but given to understand), loss of life, battle themes, blood/gore depiction

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Book Review: Together We Burn by Isabel Ibañez

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Isabel Ibañez
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: May 31st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Eighteen-year-old Zarela Zalvidar is a talented flamenco dancer and daughter of the most famous Dragonador in Hispalia. People come for miles to see her father fight in their arena, which will one day be hers.

But disaster strikes during their five hundredth anniversary show, and in the carnage, Zarela’s father is horribly injured. Facing punishment from the Dragon Guild, Zarela must keep the arena—her ancestral home and inheritance —safe from their greedy hands. She has no choice but to take her father’s place as the next Dragonador. When the infuriatingly handsome dragon hunter, Arturo Díaz de Montserrat, withholds his help, she refuses to take no for an answer.

But even if he agrees, there’s someone out to ruin the Zalvidar family, and Zarela will have to do whatever it takes in order to prevent the Dragon Guild from taking away her birthright.

An ancient city plagued by dragons. A flamenco dancer determined to save her ancestral home. A dragon hunter refusing to teach her his ways. They don’t want each other, but they need each other, and without him her world will burn.

ALMOST FOUR STARS.

I was really on my way to super enjoying this. I LOVED the setting and cultural aspects. Easily one of my favorite parts of this book. I felt the world come alive with the language, food and cityscape descriptions. There was great writing involved in much of that and the audiobook helped create that tenfold.

Zarela was a main character who I liked as a YA heroine lead. She truly was just trying to do her best in a rough situation. I liked her tenacity to hold on to her family’s legacy and the willingness to learn new things and make tough choices to see everything through. The romance between her and Arturo had the best kind of banter. A bit of enemies to lovers that grew into something more. I do think the steam went a bit past YA levels, but it was still relatively low overall.

What threw me was the villain. I can get behind a lot of background antagonist stories. This one was fine, I’ve seen it before, but what got me was his obsession with claiming Zarela? I don’t want to spoil so I can’t really say much more, it just didn’t click for me.

I’d say this is a pretty solid fantasy for a standalone (which are hard for me to be pleased by). A fast paced read that covers a lot. I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention there’s DRAGONS and flamenco dancing. Lots of incredible things, just a few meh.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: brief/vague open door
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of parents, kidnapping, animal death and cruelty, murder, misogyny, grief/loss depiction

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Book Review: A Dawn of Onyx (The Sacred Stones #1) by Kate Golden

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Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 456 pages
Author: Kate Golden
Publisher: The Daisy Press
Release Date: December 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Captured by a king of darkness. Forced to find the light within.

Arwen Valondale never expected to be the brave one, offering her life to save her brother’s. Now she’s been taken prisoner by the most dangerous kingdom on the continent, and made to use her rare magical abilities to heal the soldiers of the vicious Onyx King.

Arwen knows better than to face the ancient, wicked woods that surround the castle on her own, which means working with a fellow prisoner might be her only path to freedom. Unfortunately, he’s as infuriating as he is cunning—and seems to take twisted
pleasure in playing on Arwen’s deepest fears.

But here in Onyx Kingdom, trust is a luxury she can’t afford.

To make it out of enemy territory, she’ll have to navigate back-stabbing royals, dark magic, and dangerous beasts. But untold power lies inside Arwen, dormant and waiting for a spark. If she can harness it, she just might be able to escape with her life—and hopefully, her heart.

COLOR ME SURPRISED.

I did not expect to love this the way I did. I put it off for a bit because it seemed too hyped and I wanted to see more reviews. Then on a whim, HERE WE ARE. 4.5 stars of romantasy goodness.

This had a much more true slow burn that worked better for me than a few recent books. I loooove hidden identity plots so dang much. Even when I know it’s coming, still makes my day. And this kept slowly revealing Kane’s history and nature and I loved every second of it. I thought Kane and Arwen had some actual chemistry and I enjoyed the banter between them. I liked seeing them get to know each other and have some soft moments amidst the action.

And plenty of action was had! I loved that it kept a pretty fast pace with enough things going on that I rarely felt a drag. Within that though is my one small complaint. A lack of world building. More of it made sense towards the end, but I have MANY questions about the dynamics of everything.

I think the FMC could use a bit more work, but as far as character arcs go, I am very much on board with the sequence. I am soooo excited to see how book two continues the development of characters and storyline.

It was a good read y’all.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: 1 open; + some innuendo
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes, physical and magical altercations, near death experiences, loss of a mother, weapons violence, kidnapping, attempted sexual assault

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