ARC Review: A Monsoon Rising (The Hurricane Wars #2) by Thea Guanzon

December 11, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Thea Guanzon
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: December 10th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two hearts circle each other in the eye of the storm in this highly-anticipated follow-up to The Hurricane Wars—prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.

After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of so many others?

As the master of the Shadowforged Legion, Alaric has trained for battle all his life, but marrying a Lightweaver might be his most dangerous challenge yet. With tensions between nations churning, he needs to focus on the greater threat—the Moonless Dark, a cataclysmic magical event that could devour everything. Only he and Talasyn can stop it, with a powerful merging of light and shadow that they alone can create together. But saving their world from this disaster is a mere preface to his father’s more sinister schemes, and his wife is a burning flame in the darkness, tempting both his loyalties and his desires.

The Hurricane Wars aren’t over. It’s time to choose what—and who—to fight for. The world holds its breath amidst a whirlwind of new magic and old secrets that could change everything.

Thank you Harper Voyager for my gifted copy and LibroFM for the audiobook.

VIBIN’

I just enjoy the heck out of this series y’all. It’s incredibly romance centric and I am smitten with Alaric and Talasyn. They epitomize what I love about these types of romantasy books and I am intensely involved in what’s going to happen next. BECAUSE DID YOU READ THAT CLIFFHANGER? I love the drama.

I think it’s amazing how high the angst and tension is between these two. And yet we get a showcase of Alaric and Talasyn working together (which I adore in E2L books). There’s a lot of push and pull and some compromise filled with politicking and subtle betrayals. It really is a fantastic continuation that holds it’s own candle. There’s no sophomore slump here, I was hooked to this story from the start and I loved all of the micro-tropes throughout that had me howling.

And I immensely appreciate a dual POV romance and love getting Alaric’s viewpoint. I am having the best time reading these books and the flair of the drama and romance. And yes, I’M STILL THINKING OF THAT CLIFFHANGER.

Overall audience notes:

Romantasy
Language: mild
Romance: 3 open door
Violence: high
Content Warnings: parental abuse, death and loss of loved ones

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Book Review: The Prince of Prohibition (Fae of the Roaring Age #1) by Marilyn Marks

April 5, 2024March 18, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Fantasy Romance
Length: 554 pages
Author: Marilyn Marks
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: March 14th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The year was 1926. Glamour, riches and greed filled the air, but under the facade of glitter and gold lay truths much darker, more sinister, and entirely less human . . .

Adeline Colton was cursed. Everyone in Georgia knew the devil walked her farm, and maybe they were right, because each month she had . . . dreams. Visions of a dark prince and a shadowed forest. A creature so wrong, temptation lurked beneath her skin.

So after escaping to New York City, it’s no surprise when her bad fortune follows. Only this time, it’s in the form of Jack Warren: millionaire bootlegger, infamous gangster, and criminal who makes Addie his fervent obsession.

Jack is everything Addie should avoid, but the more she resists his pull, the deeper she’s drawn into his extravagant world. Lured by a life of freedom and desire, Adeline must make a choice: heed her family’s warnings or follow Jack into the dark. But when fate binds them together, Jack is revealed to be something else—not man, not beast, not even the devil, but a creature much, much worse.

DID I MISS SOMETHING?

I’m sitting here looking at all of these wonderful reviews for this book wondering if I have somehow picked up the wrong because this ain’t it. And I gave it 300 pages before I really hit a wall and skimmed my way to the end. It was trying to be a lot of books I’ve already read + the addition of 200 pages that weren’t necessary.

There was a lot of time spent doing nothing. Addie would be a stick in the mud about every little thing & Jack would sometimes try to help the situation. Too much time spent on the nuances of trying to get Addie to figure out her magic and plenty of running around trying to find all of the artifacts needed to turn Addie immortal.

The mate trope here also rubbed be the wrong way. It started off AWKARD. And then took a long time before I finally started coming around to them. I did like Jack and the his merry group of banished fae. They were all dandy. I think there was plenty here that would work for many people, I am just not that person.

Overall audience notes:

Historical fantasy romance
Language: some strong
Romance: open door + innuendo
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: physical and magical altercations, loss of a parent, near death experiences, alcohol use

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Book Review: Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #1) by Nisha J. Tuli

March 27, 2024March 15, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Nisha J. Tuli
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: November 15th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games. Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King’s heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to get free and pay him back for every moment of misery.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight when she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she’ll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn’t belong in the Sun Queen Trials. She doesn’t understand why she was freed, and she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is wiped off the gameboard, permanently.

Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be sent back into the hands of the Aurora King.

THAT’S A NO FOR ME.

This book has a pretty solid rating and I am convinced I must have read a different book because many things didn’t work for me in this one.

The whole the first guy isn’t the true love interest trope can be great, I’ve read ACOTAR, I know the drill. This was executed poorly. Filled with insta-love and unnecessary smut scenes that did nothing for the plot other than to call it “spicy”. That was my biggest turn-off.

I also didn’t love the FMC. And I’m easy to please in that regard. There was this hot/cold nature that did not make sense and I felt like I kept looking at a different character depending on the scene. Could have used some consistency.

The big “twist” with the end could be seen from the beginning of the book. It resembles another few books I’ve read, of which, the secret was hidden much better and felt like a true surprise. While cool, at this point I don’t think I’ll pick up book two.

The idea of the trials was fine, There’s small things here and there I didn’t mind. And it still gets three stars because I think others could enjoy this.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: 1-2 open; moderate explicit, some innuendo
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: brief mentions of past rape/sexual assault, near death experiences, loss of loved ones

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Book Review: The Heir and the Spare by Kate Stradling

March 13, 2024March 2, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 300 pages
Author: Kate Stradling
Publisher: Eulalia Skye Press
Release Date: February 19th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

An evil princess, a ruthless persecutor, a wretched match.

Tormented at home and bullied during her studies abroad, second-born Iona of Wessett hides in the quiet corners of her father’s castle. Her art and music provide refuge, but her cruel sister Lisenn ever lurks like a monster stalking its prey.

Such has been her life for twenty years.

However, a promise of reprieve and retribution arrives when the neighboring kingdom of Capria proposes an alliance between their new crown prince and Wessett’s heir to the throne. The treaty will rid Iona of the toxic Lisenn, and the potential groom is none other than her erstwhile bully, Jaoven of Deraval. The marriage could not be more poetic: each deserves the misery the other might inflict.

Except that Jaoven, humbled by the war that elevated his rank, appears to have reformed, and the fate of both kingdoms now hinges on the disastrous union he’s about to make.

A GOOD STANDALONE.

After a friend’s recommendation I found an audio copy ready to download and here we are. A quick romantasy standalone that I very much enjoyed! It’s got your classic vibes and tropes for the spare ending up with the prince, but it was a good time nonetheless. I liked Jaoven and Iona. There was good banter and I easily saw the chemistry between them. I appreciated how often they ended up in the same location to build those interactions because that can be tricky in a standalone fantasy.

There’s no magic system and I found the world building easy to follow. It’s an uncomplicated fantasy that heavily focuses on the romance (no complaints, jus commentary). I liked being whisked away to this setting and got through this quickly.

What did bother me was why in the world Lisenn was so terrible? I hate when there’s an antagonist with no backstory. Or any obvious reason for why they’re awful. Lisenn does a bunch of crap and I wish I just knew WHYYY.

Otherwise, good book.

Overall audience notes: