kaven hirning – GoodeyReads

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: