Tag: fantasy romance

Book Review: City of Gods and Monsters (House of Devils #1) by Kayla Edwards

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 760 pages
Author: Kayla Edwards
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: January 25th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Welcome to the city of Angelthene. We hope you survive.

Loren Calla has only ever been ordinary. As a human struggling to survive in a city that caters to the needs of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other supernatural creatures, she always assumed her life would remain simple, predictable, and as safe as her world would allow.

Until she barely escapes abduction at the hands of Darkslayers—supernatural bounty hunters that possess the Sight, a magical tracking ability that allows them to see a person’s aura—and one of her friends is taken in her place. The abductors are demanding a ransom: Loren’s life in exchange for her friend’s safe return. Loren will do whatever it takes to get her friend back—even if it means accepting help from Darien Cassel, the leader of the Seven Devils, the most feared Darkslaying circle in the city.

Darien specializes in tracking down demons and criminals that are better off dead than alive, so when he takes a job to track down Loren and finds out she is human—and couldn’t hurt a fly if her life depended on it—he decides to protect her instead of turn her in for a reward. As much as Loren doesn’t want to admit it, Darien is her best and only chance at finding her friend alive, if she can somehow manage to get along with him—and not fall head-over-heels in love with him in the process, which is far easier said than done.

When more women start disappearing, and some of them slowly turn up dead, Loren and Darien’s search for answers takes them deep into Angelthene’s corrupt underbelly, where they discover a dark secret that threatens to unravel their world. And when tragedy strikes, Loren learns that love can make an ordinary person do extraordinary things.

From the author of Dreams of Ice and Iron comes a new fantasy romance perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Ilona Andrews, and Cassandra Clare.

Please note: This book contains darker content that might be triggering for some readers, including violence, mature language, sexual content, drug abuse, death of an animal (with a HEA), sexual harassment, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and suicide. It is not intended for anyone under the age of 18.

I LIKED THE SECOND HALF.

I am in a big fantasy mood, and 700 pages? BRING IT ON.

I liked the way this one started of. It is well written and the story immediately gave me Crescent City vibes. I liked the set-up and the mystery surrounding Loren’s past.

What bugged me was the weird lust vibe throughout the first half (because it disappeared in the second for a long time??). I truly think there’s just better ways to emit emotion and connection with someone without it constantly being about what’s in their pants. I said what I said. When they weren’t walking around like horny teenagers, I actually enjoyed the romance between Loren and Darien. They had some great relationship building moments. Some good, WHO DID THIS TO YOU scenes and, my favorite, taking care of someone sick/injured. It turned out to be a super slow burn with actual spice not showing up until 90%+.

I was intrigued by the overall plot and magic system. I was kept in the dark just enough to not be annoying, but to inspire to keep reading to know what happens next. The side characters added a lot of great charm and I hope to get to know them more if I decide to pick up book two. I did find one scene to be a spot on copycat of a scene from ACOMAF. And while I don’t mind vibes and some similarities, I do kind of cringe when things to a little to exact. But that’s just my opinion!

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: open door; explicit
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: graphic violence, drug abuse, suicide, torture, murder, loss of life

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Book Review: To Hunt a Demon King by Madeleine Eliot

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 287 pages
Author: Madeleine Eliot
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Little Red Riding Hood meets spicy romantasy in this witchy retelling of a classic fairy tale.

Elara has only one goal in her life: to convince her mother to treat her like the fully grown witch she is and let her attend a Coven meeting. But on her twenty-fifth birthday, Elara discovers that her mother had good reasons for keeping her away from the Coven and her grandmother, its unfeeling Crone.

Now forced to run for her life to hide a magic she shouldn’t possess, Elara is told to find the wicked Demon King and claim his protection. But when she runs into a handsome hunter and his wolf in the forest, her journey takes on a dimension she never expected.

CONFLICTED.

I really wanted to LOVE this and I did enjoy a lot of it. There were a few things though that are holding me back and writing this review is going to help me figure it out.

The Little Red Riding Hood vibes are perfectly there. It was a fun retelling in those aspects. Elara comes off pretty naive and bugged me sometimes, but she does have the FMC starting point I often see in fantasy books. I can see her rise in power over the series.

I was mostly into the romance. I wanted a slower burn though. When Elara mentioned herself that it’s been a week and they already slept together I was like, yeah girl too fast for me. From reluctant allies/strangers to lovers would have worked better it would have been drawn out a bit more. And then it went past my personal line of smut over plot and I was ready to be finished in the second half.

It does read super fast. And I did like the world building aspects and am kind of curious about the way the magic systems work and more of Elara’s past. I have theories and thoughts and am still deciding on reading book two.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: multiple open; high explicit
  • Violence: moderate

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Book Review: The Syren’s Mutiny (The Syren’s Mutiny #1) by Jessica S. Taylor

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 480 pages
Author: Jessica S. Taylor
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 8th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Brigid knew the superstition, but when her father tried to marry her off, she had no choice but to stowaway on a ship bound for Bhodheas. When she’s discovered and discarded, her fate seems sealed…until she’s saved by the ocean and its queen.

Transformed into a syren and given new life, Brigid now has the power to seek revenge on those who wronged her.

Caelum has spent his entire life trying to help those who couldn’t help themselves. After years suffering the cruelty of his pirate father, saving others from a similar fate was ingrained in him. But when he’s unable to save a young girl from being thrown overboard for hiding away, he’s devastated.

Until one day, when he’s thrown into the water by unforeseen forces, he comes face to face with the past, and maybe, with his future.

But there’s a darkness lurking on the seas they both call home. And Caelum and Brigid have no idea just how intertwined their stories really are.

—–

This book contains dark and adult themes and may not be suitable for readers under 16. Possible trigger warnings include: violence, drowning, death, dismemberment, torture, non-explicit flashbacks to physical abuse, brief and non-explicit references to child kidnapping and deaths, mentions of past domestic violence, mild sexual content, depictions of anxiety and depression, and mentions of past arranged marriages.

NOT FOR ME.

Oh how I wanted this to work out. But I’m tired of hearing forbidden romance/enemies to lovers and getting absolutely zero angst, animosity, tension and passion between the main couple. Everything was too easy. I was never emotionally drawn in because neither were the characters. Drunken kisses don’t work for me and the romance scenes between them were a bit awkward.

I think I didn’t connect with the writing style and then the further plot fall out caused a general collapse. It’s a very slow and drawn out plot, and that can be fine, but this was not the case here either. Mostly a lot of sitting around, waiting for things to happen and the ultimate “battle” at the end was seen from oceans away.

I don’t want to continue my rant fest. In conclusion, this is not a book I’d recommend.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: two open door
  • Violence: medium
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, ship wrecks, weapons violence, drowning, loss of loved ones

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Book Review: Lady of Shadows (Lady of Darkness #2) by Melissa K. Roehrich

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 560 pages
Author: Melissa K. Roehrich
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 1st, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

ANOTHER PRETTY CAGE.
Whisked away to the Fire Court, Scarlett Monrhoe finds herself in the hands of the man who killed her mother. The Prince of Fire. Thrust amongst the Fae court she loathes, she is at their mercy. She doesn’t know what plans he has for her, but she has plans of her own. She just hasn’t decided how thoroughly she wants to break him yet. If only he didn’t tempt her with every breath, every touch, every kiss. It’s another dangerous game that has her wondering if she will be the one irreparably broken in the end.

ANOTHER DANGEROUS GAME.
The Fae Queen has plans of her own. She’s determined to get to Scarlett in any way she can, and that includes using a mortal prince that followed the lost Fae princess across the border. Crown Prince Callan is desperate to get Scarlett back from the Fire Prince and return to Baylorin. The question is, what is he willing to sacrifice for the Wraith he loves who’s trailed by shadows?

ANOTHER RACE AGAINST TIME.
Every day that passes, Lord Tyndell and Mikale get closer to finding where she is hidden in the Fire Court. Every day that passes puts those Scarlett left behind in more danger. Every day that passes, more secrets are revealed. Truth has been buried in history that has long-since been rewritten, but in order to separate facts from lies, they will be forced to cross other borders and seek answers from kingdoms far more terrifying than the Fire Court.

BOOK TWO SYNDROME.

This started off really strong for me. It did. BUT THEN. Somewhere near the middle I started to notice the cyclical, repetitive nature of a lot of the conversations, arguments and ideas that led me to speed reading to the last little bit to reconnect back to this story.

I am still waiting for Scarlett to really DO something. It’s a lot of wallowing and waiting. For a 550 page fantasy book the lack of action was outstanding. There was plenty of arguing and make-up kissing which worked for the first 3 times it happened. I’ll concede I did like that the romance got some major development (which makes me curious how it’ll play out over another three books). Scarlett has a lot of work to do to actually be a good character that isn’t hella frustrating.

The found family aspects were great. I enjoyed the side characters and getting to know more about them. I really liked having more points of view too. It balanced the plot and seeing multiple sides to what was happening from other perspectives. I hope those continue!!

An intense plot is there, I just need some more execution. I loved book one, but did listen to it and I wonder if that had some bearing on my rating. I noticed little things here and there that I didn’t pick up on in the audio version. I am still invested though and want to see where this goes. There’s definitely an ACOTAR/TOG vibe that’s undeniable. Luckily I’ve seen enough differences that I’m fine continuing [for now].

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Romance
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: multiple open; moderate explicit
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, PTSD, mentions of sexual assault, kidnapping, physical and magical altercationsv

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