The Prisoner's Throne (Stolen Heir Duology #2)

Charm me. Rip me open. Ruin me. Go too far.

Available at Amazon.com

The Prisoner's Throne
Holly Black
Stolen Heir Duology, book two
Hardcover, 356 pages
Published March 5, 2024
ISBN 9780316592710


An imprisoned prince. A vengeful queen. And a battle that will determine the future of Elfhame.

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.

With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the stunning blood-soaked conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology.

Okay, I'm obsessed.

Tried to start a book with an impending sequel release but I quickly found my heart was still in Elfhame.

This conclusion to The Stolen Heir is told entirely through Oak's POV. And I have a few things to yell about.

Give me my girl Wren's POV back!

Why does everyone want to kill my favorite supporting character in these finales?

How does Cardan just keep getting better?

And why couldn't we get more loving scenes between Oak and Wren?

That is it. That is all. That's the post. Now excuse me while I go hunt down multiple editions of this series because of that there are plenty and I'm obsessed enough over these characters that I will need more than one copy.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/54

The Stolen Heir (Stolen Heir Duology #1)

If we were capable of putting mistrust aside,
we might be a formidable pair.

Available at Amazon.com

The Stolen Heir
Holly Black
Stolen Heir Duology, book one
Hardcover, 356 pages
Published January 3, 2023
ISBN 9780316592703


A runaway queen. A reluctant prince. And a quest that may destroy them both.

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains. She believes herself forgotten until the storm hag, Bogdana chases her through the night streets. Suren is saved by none other than Prince Oak, heir to Elfhame, to whom she was once promised in marriage and who she has resented for years.

Now seventeen, Oak is charming, beautiful, and manipulative. He’s on a mission that will lead him into the north, and he wants Suren’s help. But if she agrees, it will mean guarding her heart against the boy she once knew and a prince she cannot trust, as well as confronting all the horrors she thought she left behind.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black returns to the opulent world of Elfhame in the first book in a thrilling new duology, following Jude's brother Oak, and the changeling queen, Suren.

This was an emotional read for me.

It got to me on a level that Folk of the Air did not touch.

Wren. Oh, my girl, Wren. The way I wanted to shield and console her like the daughter I never had.

We first met Wren, then called Suren, when her parents, Lord Jarel and Lady Nore, offered her in marriage to Oak when they were mere children. Oak freaked out then, but we learn here that Suren desperately wanted Jude to accept the bargan. She needed to be free of the bridle that chained her. Free of the kin that tortured her.

In the end, Jude did not make that deal. But, at Oak's beseeching, Jude did what she could to ensure Wren had a bit more power than she held otherwise. Jude forced Lady Nore to swear fealty to Wren thus giving Wren the power to command her.

But things took a turn and Wren fled. Back to the mortal world. Back to the realm of the family that had adopted and loved her in her early years. The family that had been eventually horrified by her.

And there she has lived for the past eight years. In the forest. Alone. Barely surviving at all.

Oak visited her a few times while escaping the pains of his own existence. He so badly wanted to be her friend.

But the lonely, broken thing that she was, Wren pushed him away. She knew the best place for Oak was with the family that loved him. Such was a place she no longer had and could not find her way back to.

Oak protected her when he could, in the only ways he knew how. As a child, and now as an adult. In the moment the arrows rained down and he hauled her atop his horse. In the moment Queen Annet and her ogres sought to claim her. In the journey that would lead her back to the beginning of her hellish life.

I kept waiting for the shoe to drop, because Cardan...but it never did.

The author took the very best of Jude and Cardan and embodied it with Oak. His worst faults were his secrets and, for a fae, that's pretty damn good.

Wren though... and that ending.

The girl who spent years breaking curses to free those she could. The girl who risked her own safety to liberate those imprisoned. That girl was so terrified to face a reality in which she might be only a pawn to the boy that would again abandon her like everyone else...

That traumatized and terrified girl wielded the very bridle that had enslaved her, and took a prisoner of her own.

This duology does not seem to be as loved as the Folk of Air series, and it is such an injustice. Oak and Wren are everything.

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/53

When Vengeance Bleeds Royal (Blood Descent #1)

Available at Amazon.com

When Vengeance Bleeds Royal
L.Z. Cathcart
Blood Descent, book one
ebook, 374 pages
Published November 12, 2025
ASIN B0FC2P62V4
ARC Review


She swore vengeance for her sister’s murder.

The gods demand a bloodier price.

Dark, addictive, and laced with forbidden desire, When Vengeance Bleeds Royal is the first book in the Blood Descent series—a brutal fantasy romance perfect for fans of Carissa Broadbent and Sarah J. Maas.

In the fractured land of Cyrathea, every territory hides a cursed artifact, relics forged by gods who were betrayed and imprisoned. The Brotherhood of Eternal Shadow hunts them all, weaving lies through court politics and blood-soaked bargains.

Lumira Kyrvayne has only one goal: kill the man who murdered her sister. But her vow of vengeance drags her into a deeper game—one where secrets rot beneath every oath, magic bleeds from forbidden relics, and a hooded Shadowspire guard keeps crossing her path with eyes she cannot forget.

Enemies close in. Allies shift like smoke. And the man who should be her enemy might also be the one person who can unravel her resolve.

When Vengeance Bleeds Royal is a dark fantasy romance brimming with:
A morally gray heroine who refuses to be tamed
An enigmatic, hooded antihero with secrets of his own
Forbidden attraction, brutal magic, and deadly politics
Cursed artifacts and imprisoned gods
A slow-burn obsession that cuts as deep as any blade

Please note: This series contains dark themes, twisted loyalty, and romance with sharp edges. Check content warnings before reading.

My curiosity may have gotten the better of me with this one. A slow burn tale with a morally grey heroine is certainly at the height of my list of beloved tropes. Written by an author that promotes dark twisted fantasy with no HEA... not so much.

But intrigued I was, and so in I dived.

Only to nearly drown in a sea of metaphors.

Every paragraph. Seemingly every other sentence.

Stifling.

Smothering.

This like that. That as this.

And I can't attest that they always made sense to me.

Then, like a candle snuffed mid-laughter, everything haults.

I desperately needed more dialogue.

Twenty-five percent in and no MMC in sight. Other than one single fleeting appearance that was the equivalent of a figment of Lumira's imagination. A few chapters later, he finally deigns to be perceived by the readers. And dips a few measly pages later.

Unfortunately, after four days and finding myself loath to pick it up, I had to admit defeat.

DNF at 34%. No rating.

Available in ebook

Siege to the Throne (Rellmira Duology #2)

Gods, how I wanted you to keep me...

Available at Amazon.com

Siege to the Throne
Leah Mara
Rellmira Duology, book two
ebook
Published November 13, 2025
ISBN 9781965527030
ASIN B0FB8N3DWP
ARC Review


Revenge never gives—it only takes.With broken hearts full of vengeance, Kiera and Aiden escape their burning city. But their war is just beginning.

Torn between saving her siblings and defeating the monster she helped unleash, Kiera is determined to right her wrongs. Even if it means becoming reluctant allies with the man she betrayed.

Together, Aiden and Kiera battle their feelings for each other as they fight for their kingdom. But their enemies have grown into an army that hunts them mercilessly.

And this time—there is no escape.

With epic battles, emotional damage, and a love worth fighting for, Siege to the Throne concludes Aiden and Kiera's harrowing journey. Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, Spark of the Everflame, and Blood & Steel.

For transparency's sake, I completely fell in love with Aiden and Kiera in book one of this series so my opinion may have some well deserved bias attached to it. That said... It was in this book that I fell for Mazkull. Not that he wasn't absolutely wonderful in Keys to the Crown, what with his coin throwing, but he took it to a whole other level in this sequel.

Siege to the Throne is a tale of horse riding, sailing, and battles galore, on the tail of Kiera's heart wrenching betrayal of Aiden and his rebel allies.

The hostility.

The guilt!

The torment.

Could somebody just give the failed assassin a hug? Maybe dole out a spanking to the successful spy? Can we just apologize and move on to happily ever after?

But no, the author does a marvelous job at catering to the realistic effort it takes to heal from betrayal and claw one's way back through the shards of shattered trust. More than once I had to put the book down to breathe through the heavy emotions stirred by both Aiden and Kiera. Other times, I was screaming at the entire clan to cast aside their pride and pick up the enemy's sunstone swords because it was just not the time, and they had not the luxury, to be dumping perfectly good weapons into the ocean.

The story unfolds at a leisurely pace. Into battle. Out. Then onto the next. The greater portion of the book revolves around traveling. So. Much. Travelling.

On separate horses no less.

But the second half, especially that last quarter, utterly vanquished whatever grumblings had spawned. I'm a goner for a good villain and Renwell did it for me.

And that ending? A true romantasy worthy ending!

"Keep your breath, Kiera. Keep it, so you can scream my name."

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook 

Previously in the series:

2025/52

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (Folk of the Air #3.5)

Boys change... and so do stories.

Available at Amazon.com

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book three point five
ebook, 200 pages
Published November 24, 2020
ASIN 031654082X


An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.

Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone . Revealing a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan, his tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.

This new installment in the Folk of the Air series is a return to the heart-racing romance, danger, humor, and drama that enchanted readers everywhere. Each chapter is paired with lavish and luminous full-color art, making this the perfect collector’s item to be enjoyed by both new audiences and old.

A collection of novellas that add on to the story of Cardan and Jude. It is a must read in the series for a full picture of the characters and their motivations.

1. Jude introduces Cardan to how she traveled to and from the mortal world. Cardan is just admiring her the whole way.

She wants to fight monsters, and she wants him for a lover, the same boy she fantasized about murdering. She likes nothing easy or safe or sure.

2. Nine year old Cardan is visited by a troll who tells him a story. This was probably my favorite of the book.

3. Tells the story of when Cardan first comes to live with Balekin and meets the door. I do love his door. Also, it's when he meets Nicasia for the first time.

4. Cardan takes one of Balekin's human slaves back to the mortal world.

5. The early stages of Cardan's obsession with Jude.

6. Cardan and Nicasia visit her realm. Spoiler: He's over it.

7. How Cardan obtained the book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glsss, and the return of the troll. This time she tells a new version of the old story.

8. The story of Nicasia's betrayal with Locke. In Cardan's own bedroom no less.

Tell me it means nothing, that it was just a bit of fun, he thought. Tell me and everything will be as it was before. Tell me and I will pretend along with you.

But she was silent.

Oof.

9. Cardan learns of Locke's interest in the Duarte sisters and what follows is a bit of the bullying from book one from his POV.

This one should have been longer.

10. Cardan dines with Jude, Oak, Vivi, and Heather in the mortal world before the tale continues on from the first in this book and comes full circle with the troll. Only this time, it is Cardan that tells a variation of the story.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/51

Goldfinch (Plated Prisoner #6)

I hatched out of a star.

Available at Amazon.com

Goldfinch
Raven Kennedy
Plasted Prisoner, book six
Paperback, 688 pages
Published September 24, 2024
ISBN 9781464224461


The seductive and thrilling dark fantasy romance series comes to an end in this powerful finale.

One king caged my body.

Another has caged my mind.

War has broken out between Annwyn and Orea, though that’s not the only battle being waged.

There’s a fight inside me, and it’s one I’m determined to win, no matter how much they try to strip me down and hollow me out.

Yet they’ve forgotten one thing. The ancient magic of the pair bond. One can never truly be lost when two souls are already bound.

Because Slade and I? We are connected by more than just fated magic, and we will always find each other.

In any life.

The fae king is trying to destroy me. My heritage. My memory. But what he hasn’t realized is this: gold bends, but stone breaks.

And a Goldfinch does not fall.

It flies.

Please note: This adult fantasy book includes dark elements that may be triggering. Full content list will be located inside the book, but it includes violence, death, adult language, and explicit romance. It is intended for ages 18 years and older. Read at your own discretion.

It's a book you're aching to pick up, can't put down, and yet, don't want to read: the final installment of the series.

Of spoilers there will be a few.

Chapter two. Kennedy is always going to get you with her chapter twos.

Slade has promised his brother he would give Orea a chance, give them a chance, because they need him, his power, against the onslaught of fae pouring over the bridge. And he'll do what he can. He'll warn Fifth Kingdom. He'll rot those whose paths he crosses. But Slade's focus is solely, completely, irrevocably, on Auren. And in his race to get to her, Slade is on the verge of death. His heart is rupturing. His body is failing. And it all comes to a head while atop Argo in the clouds.

He falls. Tethered by a single leather strap until that, too, snaps. Swiped from the air by Argo's talons and then dropped into a muddy bog. He takes what would be his last breath, despite fighting for more, when the bond abruptly flares and fuses. It burns and it heals and it mends. And Rip and Rot become one.

And, damn it, Kennedy, my nerves weren't made for your chapter twos!

Osrik. Os, my guy. I appreciate the enthusiasm. I really do. But I love you? Too soon! Far too soon.

That said, Os is likely the first man who ever wanted Rissa for more than a night. The first to offer her any kind of a loyal, romantic future. So, no, I don't fault her at all for grasping the chance with all her heart.

Chapter eight. My eyes bulged at the words. Commander RYATT. We finallyfinallyfinally get Ryatt's POV!

And Slade finally meets Malina. Who is definitely on his rot list. And I am kicking my feet when she drops to the ground in the dirt. And then Slade has his hands around Dommik's throat. The way they all yield to this man!

The man who manifests a dragon.

The man who commands, "Show me her cage."

And there I go reminding myself to breathe.

Chapter 32. They find each other in chapter thirty-two! And there's just enough holes in Auren's memory that she attacks him.

It's a brief scene. Just long enough to actually hurt. But then she's throwing herself into his arms and all is right in my world once again.

Then the payur bond demands a mating and the Lord God King of filthy mouths gets another chance to shine.

Can I get just one man in this series to tone it tf down? Ryatt, pleeease. Because when my eyes landed on Chapter 36: Emonie and my brain thought "We get Ryatt and Emonie?" ...to which my heart cried back Ryatt and Emonie... The way I need them together!

Because although I didn't care for Emonie's sunshine 'let's be friends' intro in Gold, it was here where I possessed the urge to claw myself back into pages of her POV every time the chapters left her. She became my favorite forager. Now if Ryatt can actually handle her? That, I do not know.

The second half of the book is overwhelmed with Slade's thoughts and speech of how proud he is of Auren. He's practically chanting it. I'm just so glad Slade found her in a moment of power and not another cage. Auren's character development is everything in this series.

There were deaths. Too many deaths.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/50

The Serpent & the Wolf (Dark Inheritance Trilogy #1)

Only because of the monsters.

Available at Amazon.com

The Serpent and the Wolf
Rebecca Robinson
Dark Inheritance Trilogy, book one
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published November 19, 2024
ISBN 9781668052488


Perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy and Thea Guanzon, Rebecca Robinson’s thrilling romantasy debut combines high-stakes political intrigue and a steamy, slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance.

All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.

After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.

But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.

This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?

"Perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy" has become my new instantly Add To Cart trigger. No other questions asked. Blurb? What blurb?

Add on "If you enjoyed Metal Slinger..." Put it in the cart. Ebook. Hardcover. Paperback. Put every edition in the cart.

It's been a minute since I've read an arranged marriage trope and was so pleasantly surprised (because what blurb?) to find this book open up on the wedding night of an arranged political marriage. With a bride primed to seduce, misdirect, and threaten her groom before escaping off the balcony and into the night.

Hot. damn.

Vaasa flees the marriage her family traded her into to spend the next three months hiding in the library of her new city-state. Seeking answers. Seeking insight to the shadows that slither from her skin. Seeking a way to save herself from the cruel death that had taken her mother's life mere months before.

Only to find that her husband held the path to those answers all along.

For Vaasa is a witch endowed with the power of Veragi magic. And if she doesn't learn to wield it, it will consume her. So her husband, Reid, makes her a bargain. Stay with him, play the part of a loving wife so that he can garner the support of their people, and in turn, she receives access to everything that position offers. Knowledge and training. For the term of three years. Then, he'll grant her a legal separation and leave her free to carve her own destiny.

If you love a man that surrounds himself with strong women and doesn't shy at his wife's blade but instead invades her personal space every chance he gets... then Reid is the MMC for you.

He falls first. And he falls hard.

Reid is fierce, but he's also a sweetheart. The way I find myself swooning over these leads that just want to dance with their lady. Rhysand. Malakai Azer. Now, Reid Cazden.

My heart was stuttering with his pining. With his fear and his heartbreak.

“Why did you leave the oarsbank?”

If he’d have stayed, he never would’ve been caught. Those men hadn’t breached it. But an awful thought sprang to life—perhaps it hadn’t been breached because they’d already found what they were searching for.

“Answer me.”

Lips pursed, he shrugged. “I was looking for you.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I will never not do that.”

It wasn’t up for debate, judging by the strong hold of his jaw and his unwavering gaze. Or perhaps it was the way he snuffed out the lantern and left her standing in the darkness that assured her he had no intention of admitting his own stupidity.

“You’re a fool,” she snapped, turning and trying not to stumble through the dark to get to the other side of the bed.

“Why am I the fool, Wild One?”

Chapter twenty-four was so heavy.

“She is my wife,” Reid finally said.

“And we will find her.”

“I am in love with her.”

His mother sighed softly, leaning back against the iron railing. “I know.”

“She’s going to leave anyway.”

“I know.”

His voice caught, but he forced out the traitorous words. “What if she already has?”

Silence.

Reid turned, a tear escaping the side of his eye as the lump in his throat tightened. “I want—” He stopped, swallowed. “I want what you and Father had.”

Rip my bleeding heart out why don't you.

The political scheming actually outweighs the romance in this book. It's very much Vaasa's story as she copes with her family trauma while learning to trust others and grasp control of the magic that she's inherited. She is a woman who has never known what it feels like to be safe.

By the end though, Vaasa is a formiddable force that finally gives shape to her magic in a worthwhile, albeit gory, finish. It's one hell of an ending that sets a glorious stage for book two.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/49

Lightlark (Lightlark #1)

Remember us, Heart. Remember it all.

Available at Amazon.com

Lightlark
Alex Aster
Lightlark, book one
ebook, 384 pages
Published August 23, 2022
ASIN B09S6JGRMH
ISBN 9781647006310


Welcome to the Centennial.

Every hundred years, the island of Lightlark appears for only 100 days to host a deadly game, where the rulers of six realms fight to break their curses and win unparalleled power. Each ruler has something to hide. Each curse is uniquely wicked. To break them—and save themselves and their realms—one ruler must die.

To survive, Isla Crown must lie, cheat, and betray. Even as love complicates everything…

When she fell in love with two enemies, in different times… she just doesn’t remember…

Those were the words that inevitably made me decide to pick up this book. Triangles and throuples are not my thing. I've seen the Team Grim/Team Oro posts so I have some idea of what I'm in for. As far as the love interest is concerned that is.

I was not, however, prepared for intricacies of the plot. Less than ten percent in and I'd had so much information thrown at me that it felt like I was about to fail a test. Six cursed realms. Six cursed rulers. Thousands of years and five Centennials of failures.

Were they even trying?

Turns out, deciding which realm to end was just too hard.

Isla is a Wildling. Her kind is cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with and to survive on eating human hearts. She, however, is not. No curse, but also, no power. Also, she portals to other realma using her Starstick, a magical, ancient relic.

Grimshaw: a Nightshade. He is all that stands between the realms and a threat far greater than their curses.

Oro: a Sunling and king of Lightlark. Possesses the powers of all the realms but the sun will kill him.

Celesta: a Starling and Isla's secret ally. Cursed to a short lifespan of twenty-five years.

Azul: a Skyling. Their curse took their ability to fly.

Cleo: a Moonling and eldest of the rulers. They're cursed to be lured to drown in the ocean every full moon.

'Have we met?'

"If we had... it wouldn't have been just once."

What is it you know, Grim? Who are you? More importantly, who are you to her?

Escorts her shopping. Feeds her chocolates. Tips her off to the necessity of a sword. Well he certainly hit the ground running.

For most of this book... it's quite dull. I had to shift to audiobook because my eyes kept wandering from the words on the page.

Isla and Celeste, bless their hearts, have their own plan for breaking the curses on their realms. The youngest of the rulers, first time participates in the Centennial, think they have it all figured out and a good chunk of the book revolves around that doomed to fail plot line.

Did that stop me from ordering Grim and Oro's Dual Crowns book that released while I was working my way through this book? No. It did not.

Because, to absolutely no one's surprise, the leading males are the gravity to this book. Grim is delicious. Dark, brooding, and shrouded in mystery, he's everything I'm attracted to in an MMC. Oro...

Oh, Oro.

He is not so different than Grim. There's a play on enemies-to-lovers in his relationship to Isla. They clash while Isla and Grim seem to blend. Oro is not above using Isla to further his own gain. A fact that urged me to slap Isla upside her crowned head when she deigned to assert that Oro "hadn't really betrayed" her. Tf he didn't! She divulges her most concealed secret, that which has reduced her to a prisoner of her own realm, and not twenty-four later, Oro is announcing it to those that have the most to gain by exploiting it. But he's never lied to her and to Oro, and oddly to Isla as well, that apparently makes up for his transgression against her.

Mister... the way I want to drag you into the sun.

Isla is a terrible judge of whom to trust. Which is why the epic betrayal at the end shouldn't have surprised me. Because I expected that person to die anyway. Somehow it did. Maybe because that person wasn't the person we'd been led to believe they were. It was the how of it, and not the who of it. It was a nice twist; I do love a good female villain.

And why the hell are you spitting at Grim? He maneuvered you like a pawn to save both of your realms but you, Isla, would have sacrificed yourself to save everyone? That's one hell of a twisted outlook. Someone *has* to die but not once did Isla ever offer the Wildling realm as the sacrifice.

She trusts no one but Oro now.

The love of the FMC is a fickle thing.

She's doomed.

The author is a liar and a deceiver. Trust nothing she says and no character she writes.

3 out of 5 stars

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/48

The Keeper’s Codex: World Guide & Dark Fae Novella

We were two halves of something broken,
bleeding out for each other's wounds.

Available from the Author

The Keeper's Codex
Celeanne Dorrington (Author's Website)
Heirs of the Shattered Veil, world guide
ebook, 253 pages
Upcoming Release: October 16, 2025
ARC Review


In the upcoming trilogy The Heirs of the Shattered Veil, our heroes race to heal a catastrophic tear in the Veil. Their only clue is a forbidden legend—the story of two lovers from warring factions whose bond may have caused the very fracture they’re fighting to mend.

This is that story.

A tragic myth from the final days before the world broke, a time before soulmarks and castes decided one’s fate. It tells of a bond that balanced on a knife’s edge between saving the world and shattering it. One choice would reveal their true nature. Were they fated lovers, or fated enemies whose only destiny was to be each other’s ruin?

This is a mature (18+) dark romantasy. Expect explicit sexual content, graphic violence/gore, adult language, and themes of war.

The Keeper’s Codex is a world guide for the upcoming trilogy, The Heirs of the Shattered Veil. It features a litany of character dossiers and creature descriptions that read more like a journal than an encyclopedia. The art is beautiful and there's so much personality woven throughout the logs that I couldn't help but feel like I was selecting my own character on release day of a long anticipated video game as I read through the pages. Also included is the novella, The Mirrored Pair, and a two chapter preview of The Heirs of the Shattered Veil.

The Novella: The Mirrored Pair

The wit. The charm. The banter that was laced with threats. From the very first page, I was enthralled.

Three years ago, the covenant between the Light and Shadow factions of the fae was broken and the Veil thus began to unravel without their joint efforts to secure it. Peace between the two sides has been a precarious illusion fueled by obscure threats and fake smiles ever since. And none execute the game so well as Lyra, princess of Light, and Malakor, the Shadow prince. Each a weapon, born and molded within those two opposing factions.

She, his perfect match.

He, her most egregious inconvenience.

Malakor is gleeful in his taunts of the princess while she firmly and repeatedly warns that the game he's playing at has already been decided by her hand. It's a battle of wills and solely of words... until he drops from the shadows beside her on a balcony and the event unfolds that will irrevocably shatter the peace between their people. Blow for blow, cut for cut, they go at each other with passion and with malice.

Until their spilled blood mingles and begins to sing.

Cue the explosion and flying shards of glass. The two are ripped apart by a force that leaves them shaking, in fear and outrage. Then the delegates and other royals storm the ground and allegations start flying and slicing as furiously as their weapons, Voidbringer and Dawnrender, had. And I'm sinking lower in my seat trying to dodge the strays.

Lyra is left corrupted by Malakor's darkness while he is tortured by the taint of her Light.

From there, it's a race to the Unweaver with each looking to promise a piece of the other's soul as payment for a cure and dissolution to the bond that links them. If they don't kill themselves while trying to inflict pain on the other first.

Lyra is a downright vicious opponent and I loved her for it. They are so beautifully reflected by one another. But though Lyra is dominant in battle, she is quite submissive as far as the spice is concerned. Poor Malakor was doing all the work. With, admittedly, a bit of help from his shadows.

I wanted desperately for more time with them but as the blurb forewarns—this is tale of tragedy. It is an action packed, true enemies-to-lovers story that features fated mates, morally grey leads with a dual pov, and graphic spice.

"You were the only one who fought for me," I said, the truth of it hollow and strange.

"You were the only one left worth fighting for," he answered, and it wasn't a comfort—it was a claim.

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook

2025/47

Kissed by the Gods (Eternal Wars #1)

That wasn't a kiss...
That was a fucking confession.

Available at Amazon.com

Kissed by the Gods
Caty Rogan
Eternal Wars, book one
Kindle edition, 610 pages
Published September 24, 2025
ASIN B0DY51PX3J


Leina has spent a lifetime submitting. Kneeling. Enduring.

Then soldiers come for her brother, and divine fury surges through her veins. She expects execution for the bodies she left in her wake. Her people have met bloody ends for far, far less.

Instead, Ryot, a godsworn warrior born to privilege and raised in order, drags her into a world that was never meant for her. One of divine armies and death demons, winged war horses and monsters, sacred power and royal secrets.

A kiss from a goddess changes everything.

No longer a criminal, Leina is a prize. The kingdom’s most powerful men want what the goddess touched. Leina wants only one thing, though: freedom for her people. And she’ll trade herself for the strength to destroy the kingdom that broke them.

Conscripted into a war she never asked for, fighting for gods she doesn’t believe in, Leina must decide how far she’s willing to go and what she’s willing to lose. Because her power is more than a threat to the kingdom’s buried secrets.

It’s a death sentence.

Twenty-four year old Leina Haverlyn lives with her parents and two younger brothers, Seb and Leo. They're all that's left after Faraengardian soldiers took Alden and her twin brother, Levvi, six years ago. The day they killed Levvi's wife, Irielle. The day Leina relives in her nighmares.

They farm wheat to sell in the markets, barely surviving. Simply enduring in a world where no one outside their kin can be trusted.

Mother is a healer while Leina is endowed with heightened senses that overwhelm her at times, to the point of debilitation.

The Collection has begun again and it's here that the story begins.

The soldiers are coming for Seb and her father commands Leina to take her distraught mother inside. It's an inevitable loss and not something the people can fight.

But fight Leina does.

Compelled to hold her ground, to stand against the king's soldiers who would take her brother and force him into slavery in the mines, Leina raises her scythe in defiance.

And the bodies start dropping.

Her mother. Her father.

And still she vibrates with a calm energy that forces her to act. Her blade slices the captain's throat and clangs against a swordsman's chest. She catches arrows and flings them back.

It's power she's never known herself capable of. She speaks with a voice she's never heard. One that commands. One that threatens pain and death.

A voice that goes unanswered as the last of the soldiers begins to be eaten alive by bugs that spawn from his mouth and eyes.

The premise was strong, with a thrilling start.

Bonded weapons. Winged horses. Mental and emotional projection, both past and present. Ryot.

Thirty-one year old Ryot, Skywarden of Stormriven, is an Altor sent to execute the rebel but upon discovering Leina his orders are immediately null and void. For an Altor is above the laws of man and an Altor is what Leina is. The first female Altor.

And it's now his duty to collect her and deliver their newest warrior to the Synod, and to the Archon leaders, where she's met with contempt and suspicion in varying degrees from among her new peers and overlords.

Leina survives her first challenge, one to the death, and finds a place in a cast. With Ryot. With Thalric and his ward, Leif. With Caius and his ward, Kiernan. With Faelon. And with the medic, Nyrica. They become her only allies. Allies that warn her not to catch feelings. There are rules. And for the Altor, bonds and vows and loyalty exists only in their duty to the gods. They forsake family, past and future.

Leina convinces Ryot to take her as his ward. It's something he isn't keen on, as his last four wards have all prematurely died. But relent he does. "Will you be mine?" he asks.

"I already am."

They take the vows of Master and Ward and Leina feels the bond surge through their grasped bleeding hands. A bond she believes to be a typical Altor connection, until she learns it isn't. She shouldn't sense Ryot. She shouldn't be feeling him.

I tilt my head back, so I can look directly in his eyes. "Yes. Master Ryot."

I mean to say it sarcastically, but it comes out something else altogether. There's a flash in his eyes—it's primal and it burns, and it starts a fire that stirs something in my own soul.

He liked that.

And gods help me, so did I.

One horse. One tent. Mentor/ward. Forced proximity. Possessive MMC. Dream sharing. Forbidden love. Magic/powers.

Leina is a strong FMC. She is also very bitter, has a martyr mentality, and demands that others see the world through her eyes while making zero effort to see it through theirs. I found her furiously annoying at times.

And we're snowballing from there.

I was repulsed by the Crimson Feather. But that's me and my wiring. I'm sure others would be delighted by the place.

It's a fantasy world and men still can't have a contraception method? Ffs. Then Leina gets offended when a man goes to touch her, which yeah, a big no, but she'd already been flicking at his chest jewelry twice. You touched him first, Leina. Don't be a hypocrite.

I am simply not a fan of FMCs whom everybody loves regardless of what they do or don't do. I need characters to call one another out on the bullshit. I need them to grow together. Heal together. Overcome together.

"Don't call her a girl." Tf, Ryot? You've called her Rebel Girl more times than I've cared to count. It was a sweet endearment that you've now just tainted.

The whole 'Don't dictate to me' line... You're his ward! He's your master! He has every right to dictate to you. You chose him, Leina. It's on you. Own it.

How I struggled through the last twenty percent of the book. But in it, the truth of the Collection is revealed and an alternative path for the Altors becomes a possibility.

Does the author have a crush on Hemsworth's Thor? I'd wager on yes. However, her description of Ryot remains the least bothersome of my complaints.

3 out of 5 stars. DNF at ninety-two percent. This is book one of a six book series. It is unlikely I will continue it.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback

2025/46

Gold (Plated Prisoner #5)

I promised her I'd be the villain on her behalf.
So that's what I'll fucking be.

Available at Amazon.com

Gold
Raven Kennedy
Plated Prisoner, book five
Paperback, 754 pages
ISBN 9781464224454
Kindle edition, 646 pages
ASIN B0B4F9G5JD
Published December 7, 2023


Every end is also a beginning.

I thought I was going to die, and would have if it weren’t for Slade. The only way he could save me was to open a rip between worlds. The only way for me to save myself was to go through it.

Sometimes, fleeing one dangerous place just brings you to another.

Annwyn.

The realm of the fae.

There is magic and beauty here, though around every corner, threats lurk.

But I’m a threat too.

I’m not a girl in a gilded cage anymore, and no one is going to stop me from finding my way back to Slade.

But returning home means facing danger and secrets. So I have to burn bright enough to light my own way…

Or else I might be swallowed by the dark.

Please note: This adult fantasy book includes dark elements that may be triggering, including violence, cruelty, death, adult language, and explicit romance. It is intended for ages 18 years and older. Read at your own discretion.

This post will contain spoilers. A lot of spoilers.

The last book ended as Rip tore a hole in the world, allowing Auren to escape into the void where he could not follow. Although he expected to. Eventually. It was an emotionally devastating scene that ripped my heart out. Why must we relive this?!

Auren falls... flies... and lands in Annwyn. Home of the Fae. Her home. And I am screaming, my eyes welling with tears right along side her, as she finds her ribbons *finally* restored. Even if only in part.

And Slade, desperate to find her, desperate to find his mother, desperate to find his people... is left spiralling and the only path he can cling to is one that focuses his attention on those responsible for every wrong Auren ever suffered in a strategically orchestrated rampage that spans the entire series.

Manu for abducting her.

Queen Isolte for torturing her.

King Merewen for the Conflux forced upon her.

Rotting. Torturing. Executing.

He even took revenge on the pirates for taking Auren's damn horse! The traffickers in Derfort. The dew dealers that provided the drug that subdued her back when Midas hacked away at her ribbons.

And lastly, Queen Kaila.

Some have said this book is the filler of the series. While I would say I understand, I also disagree. This isn't filler. This is natural progression.

Malina is falling for the assassin sent to kill her. I swear, this woman needs to spend more time in self reflection. What do you mean you're 'still married in the eyes of the gods'? You've been riding your own exclusive saddle for years. If your gods are okay with that then I highly doubt they're going to smite you for kissing a man.

All the while, the Fae have invaded from over the bridge that Malina herself helped restore and are waging their own death march on the people of Orea.

Unfortunately, Kaila has already won the hearts of the people of Sixth Kingdom. They don't heed Malina's warnings and curse her instead.

Osrik is in his own agony over his Yellow Bell. Rissa hasn't woken up since Manu and his accomplice left her for dead with a knife in her gut. The way they left the knife. Ffs. And now the wound is infected.

Os just wants to buy some yellowbell flowers from a flowershop. Why does that have to be so hard?!

Jude is operating as an envoy to First Kingdom, the only kingdom seemingly not on the receiving end of Slade's fuck it all to hell parade. Until the fool king calls for Slade's attention. It is so not the time, man.

Ryatt? MIA for the most part. He basically shows up long enough to keep Digby from raining fists upon Slade then grounding his brother before he rots himself to death. Ryatt has taken command of the army after Slade promoted him in order for Rip to step down. To be let loose.

Lu? She's more MIA than Ryatt but finally arrives, at the worst forsaken moment, to inform Slade of the Fae's invasion.

Auren is searching the sky every hour for the rip to return. For Slade to find her. Even as the Loyalists begin to gather to welcome their lost princess and protect her from the currently reigning king. Auren is the seemingly last of the Turley line and heir to Annwyn's throne.

Of course, once they start going in on about their plans of revolution, Auren responds with a firm "No" that sounds more like "Nope. No, thank you" and "Negative".

She is so over being a pawn.

But once the threat closes in, Auren's beast lashes out. Our lady is just as feral as her man.

There's so much happening. It's a lot to take in.

And the piece of Slade's power, that part of himself that held firm within Auren is now too far away and the rot is leaking into his body, rotting him from the inside out. He's dying.

The man is truly dying from a broken heart.

While Auren watches the skies, she journeys with Wick, the rebel leader, as he builds his Vulmin army. With Emonie and Ludogar and so many more new characters.

And the return of Stanton Cull.

Auren claims she has no interest in a crown. Even if it were in Fourth Kingdom? The way I'm waiting for Slade to broach that subject. Although... not sure if there will be a place for Slade and Auren in any of the Orean kingdoms after this. Fae that they are. Fae vs Oreans. Fae vs Fae.

Finally. Finally! We come full circle back to Gild and Glint and Gleam and it's confirmed in black and paperwhite that the aura that Slade followed, the beacon that brought the "last two fae" in Orea together has a deeper meaning. Fated mates.

Bonded fated mates.

Päyur, you and I.

It's true. Not for a single second are Auren and Slade together in this book.

5 out of 5 stars. I'm so not prepared for this series to end.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/45

The Queen of Nothing (Folk of the Air #3)

I knew little else, but I always knew you.

Available at Amazon.com

The Queen of Nothing
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book three
Hardcover, 308 pages
Published November 19, 2019
ISBN 9780316310420


'HE WILL BE THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CROWN AND THE RUINATION OF THE THRONE.'

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold on to. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked King Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now, as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is left reeling from Cardan's betrayal. She bides her time, determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose life is in peril. Jude must return to the treacherous Faerie Court and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan.

But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing, and she becomes ensnared in the conflict's bloody politics. When a terrible curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing Jude to choose between her ambition and her humanity...

Well. It finally happened. Someone finally bested Jude.

This book, as with the last two, is divided into two parts. The first here was a tad dull and drawn out. Jude remains exiled from Faerie, living with her sister, Vivi, and foster brother (and Cardan's nephew), Oak, in the mortal world. Until eventually, her twin sister, Taryn, arrives needing help.

And my, were we robbed! Turns out, Taryn has slain her husband. Yep. Locke has died off page and we were robbed of it.

There's to be an inquest and Taryn needs Jude to take her place so that Jude, immune to being compelled by fey magic thanks to Dain's bargan, can lie.

So, Jude returns to Elfhame, despite her exile, fulfills the task, and faces Cardan.

Cardan, who wants to know why she hasn't responded to any of his letters. Why she's pretending to be her sister. Why she expected him not to know the difference. And why... oh why.... has she not pardoned herself and come home.

But before all that, Jude is "rescued" by Madoc and his army while under the pretense of being Taryn.

She thus needs a re-rescue and in sweeps the team to do it. Roach. Vivi. Taryn. Grima Mog. All led by, of all people, Cardan. The man actually did some work!

I tell you, the evolution of Prince Cardan to High King Cardan of Elfhame is something to behold.

After two hundred pages, we are no longer in YA territory.

I slide to my knees in front of him. “Is this what you imagined I’d be like, back in your rooms at Hollow Hall, when you thought of me and hated it? Is this how you pictured my eventual surrender?”

He looks absolutely mortified, but there’s no disguising the flush of his cheeks, the shine of his eyes. “Yes,” he says, sounding like the word was dragged out of him, his voice rough with desire.

“Then what did I do?” I ask, my voice low. I reach out to press my hand against his thigh.

His gaze shimmers with a sharp spike of heat. There’s a wariness in his face, though, and I realize he believes I might be asking him all this because I’m angry. Because I want to see him humiliated. But he keeps speaking anyway.

“I imagined you telling me to do with you whatever I liked.”

“Really?” I ask, and the surprised laugh in my voice makes him meet my gaze.

“Along with some begging on your part. A little light groveling.” He gives me an embarrassed smile. “My fantasies were rife with overweening ambition.”

Ghost! Garrett, you shadow stepping heathen, I knew you were better than betrayal.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

Previously in the series:

2025/44

The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2)

I want to tell you so many lies.

Available at Amazon.com

The Wicked King
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book two
Hardcover, 322 pages
Published January 8, 2019
ISBN 978031631035


I have heard that for mortals the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear. Your heart beats fast. Your senses are heightened. You grow light-headed, maybe even dizzy. Is that right?

Jude has bound the wicked king, Carden, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were biddable. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her, even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

The first book in this series was so pleasantly ridiculous that I've actually been itching to get back into the Folk of the Air.

As Malakai Azer would say: What the hell is wrong with me?

The characters are just bizarre. Cardan, the epitome of "I don't want to be here" and Jude... strategic little Jude who can be utterly oblivious in some regard and a rockstar genius mastermind in others.

You love it. You hate it. You're disgusted. You're enthralled.

It's been five months since Jude managed to have Cardan crowned High King of Elfhame and she is now deep in her life lesson that power is far easier to grasp than it is to maintain a hold of. And despite Cardan being under her command, bound by his vow, it seems far better to leave him to the revelry while she plays at the politics.

Jude's the one doing all the work and yet, somehow, it's still Cardan that's carrying this book. Jude can't read him whatsoever. There's no anticipating the shenanigans Cardan's going to wander into next what with Locke pulling at his strings, Madoc plotting wars with the sea, Nicasia firing off crossbows at his would-be lovers, and everybody else dancing in every corner of the castle.

And yet, when he starts unfurling into his role as High King, ...dayumm.

From

“I have heard that for mortals, the feeling of falling in love is very like the feeling of fear.”

to

“Jude," he’d said, running a hand up my calf, "are you afraid of me?”

Meanwhile... Nooooo! Ghost, why????

In the end, Cardan offers Jude a new bargain in exchange for his freedom. A bargain that will see Jude Duarte, mortal though she may be, as Queen of Faerie.

5 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook | collectors edition

Previously in the series:

2025/43

Powerless (Powerless Trilogy #1)

I want to call you mine.

Available at Amazon.com

Powerless
Lauren Roberts
Powerless Trilogy, book one
Hardcover, 528 pages
Published January 31, 2023
ISBN 9781665954884


She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.

He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

Picked this up in hardcover and seriously, could you have picked a smaller font?! /s

I've seen a number of book boyfriend lists, a game of which I do not partake, but consistently within the top five are Xaden Riorson and Kai Azer. Now that I have experienced both... I get why Azer trumps Riorson on most lists.

Less than forty pages in and I was spiralling into this world. The darkness... the bitterness... Kai and Kitt. Paedyn and Adena. The magic. The Purgings. The trials. Hunger Games be damned. This was that and more.

In my tour of book fandoms, I've hit the motherload of bantor and smooth talk.

There isn't anything I could say that hasn't been said before. The hype is real for this book, and so very well deserved.

Loved Kai's darkness. Although he didn't appreciate it as much as I did. Resigned he is to his fate in life though. Didn't care for his smooth talk. "Darling" came way too soon. His POV chapters though? Best parts of the book.

And when my gears started to grind, I took a mental step back and for a time dwelled on what it was he was doing and the "masks" he wore while enacting it. The mask that smiled and said, I'm happy and I'm charming and I'm okay.

And damn it, Malakai, I did not want to feel that much for you. But the author delivers him so exquisitely. He's not a monster. He takes no joy in the executions, the banishments, or the torture. He plays the part, if only to spare it from defaulting to his brother.

That said, he is not without darkness.

I loved what the author did with chapters 4 through 6 with the overlapping pov's accompanied by the rewind. Expected the tactic to continue throughout but was unfortunately disappointed in that regard.

So what was this book about?

Paedyn Gray. An Ordinary girl living in a world surrounded by magic while she herself has none. Taught to fight by her long deceased father so that she'd have a mere chance at surviving in a kingdom where the Ordinary have been deemed diseased and executed for the greater good that is the survival of the Elite.

Since that devastating night when her father was murdered in their own home, Paedyn has survived on the streets of the Loot by thieving, pickpocketing, and lying.

Until one fateful day when her path intersects with the future Enforcer and he unwittingly becomes her mark.

Kai Azer is the second born prince but a spare not to be wasted. Kai was molded at his father's direction and very hand into a ruthless and unyieldingly loyal killer destined to be his brother's most feared tool. A weapon that can take on the power of any within his vicinity.

She's caught in a storm. He's drowning in an ocean.

Paedyn pockets half his coin, and his heart, before disappearing into the shadows. Leaving Kai to wander into yet another's plot as he's attacked by a Silencer, the one power that brings Kai to his knees in agony.

And Paedyn, in a rage spawned from flashbacks of her father's death, is the lone spectator that chooses to intervene.

Saving the man who believes himself unworthy of any such mercy.

What does she get in return for the savage display of putting such a powerful wielder on his knees? Voted into the Trials. A chance to win a better life. A greater chance to die in the name of entertainment.

And once she's thrust into the royal castle alongside the princes and fellow competitors, Paedyn is introduced to a dangerous new path. That of the Resistance.

Which hands her a new mark: the future king and Kai's older, half-brother, Kitt.

And I'm having to remind myself that this is a woman on a mission and not a girl playing with the hearts of boys because there's a triangle forming and of those I am not a fan.

Nor am I a fan of authors pulling a big fuck you to the reader and calling it a plot twist. False memory? Really?

No. Absolutely not, Paedyn. You have no standing to judge him. As morally bankrupt as you are. As gullible as you have become. As much blood that has been spilled because of you... Don't you dare hold him accountable for what he was forced to do.

Forced to kill your "father".

While you chose to kill the king.

Damn it, Paedyn. Now I have to take a mental step back for you, too.

Kitt. I am disgusted by you. I have been from the moment you watched your brother making a connection with someone and your response was to drag that person into the gardens and demand she look at you.

Thankful to bookstagram and their many spoilers for putting me at peace with an ending that will ultimately follow many a plot twist in this enemies-to-lovers, found family (ha!), star-crossed lovers, arranged marriage saga that will result in a daughter's name that my hands are itching to edit in the metadata. If only. Well, there's always redactions to be made in a hardcopy.

So while this is basically the Hunger Games with magic, complete with the necessity of eliciting the support of the devoted fans, it is, at the heart of it, the story of a boy falling in love with a girl.

And her many threats against his life.

4 out of 5 stars.

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

......

2025/42

Keys to the Crown (Rellmira Duology #1)

I can't seem to run in any direction that does not lead to you.

Available at Amazon.com

Keys to the Crown
Leah Mara
Rellmira Duology, book one
Kindle edition, 460 pages
Hardcover, 522 pages
Published January 9, 2025
ASIN B0DKB4Y8DC
ISBN 9781965527023


A princess-turned-spy goes undercover to catch a dangerous criminal—and falls for him instead.

After her mother’s assassination, Kiera gave up her crown to become a spy. She’s spent years training to earn the title of High Enforcer—the elite embodiment of justice in Rellmira. But first, she must prove she's worthy by hunting down any threat to her father's rule.

When a mysterious prisoner becomes such a threat, Kiera goes undercover to learn his true intentions.

But Aiden won’t reveal his secrets easily. His charming tongue spins lies as deftly as Kiera’s does, and he claims he’s just a thief looking for gold. Upon their escape, Kiera proposes they work together on a risky heist—and Aiden agrees.

But the line between allies and enemies begins to blur as he slowly surrenders the trust she is now reluctant to destroy.

When the embers of rebellion, secrets, and desire ignite their world, Kiera must decide who she will be among the ashes—a traitor to her kingdom or to her heart.

Keys to the Crown is the first book in a fantasy romance duology filled with steamy slow-burn romance, found family, and epic intrigue. Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, Serpent and the Wings of Night, and Blood & Steel. Kiera and Aiden’s story concludes in Book 2.

When a mysterious man infiltrates the Den of the night guard Shadow-Wolves, disguised with a dead Wolf's uniform and weapon, and fails to confess anything of substance after being caught and tortured, it falls to Kiera to extract his secrets.

The princess, now spy, has trained for years, since the assassination of her mother, to be a tool capable of protecting her remaining family and securing her brother's ascension to the throne.

Renwell, High Enforcer of the kingdom of Rellmira and Kiera's mentor and trainer, sends her undercover with the task of freeing the prisoner and earning his trust. And I'm having Metal Slinger flashbacks that bring my heart rate up to a dizzying speed. It's nice to be on this side of the intel this time around though.

Don't fall for it, Aiden!

But damn if our girl isn't about to lose her heart the moment he steps between she and the jailer.

Kiera is starved and thirsty.

And it turns out, Aidan had a plan of escape all along. His friend, Maz, appears, having subdued however many guards, and we're out and off.

Applause for Aiden for side eyeing our girl from the onset. Despite his lack of trust, however, the both of them are mutually tripping over themselves as they fall hard and fast for the other.

Am I a fan when the leading couple's first kiss is a result of a ruse? No. But am I upset about it here? Not a bit. "Not for a single moment."

Kiera eventually discovers Aidan's endgame and her own is one and the same—to put her brother on the throne. And she does what I had ranted and screeched at Brynn of Metal Slinger for not doing when confronted with new intel: reevaluate!

Godsdamnit, Brynn! I hope Acker hunts you down and spanks your ass!!

But here, with Kiera, we basically have Metal Slinger meets Direbound in that she stands in somewhat the same position as Killian. If she hadn't given up her place in line, she would be a false heir to the throne as Killian was. But while Killian sought to unite the false heir to the true heir in marriage, neither Kiera nor Aidan want the crown. Leaving Everrett as both of their choices to take the throne subsequent to Wenlyn's demise.

And no, the comparisons with other books do not end there. Because then I'm screaming out at Slade from Gleam and the whole Plated Prisoner series. Holy Four, this is how you're suppose to talk in the bedroom, Ravinger! If one is so inclined to talk at all.

Now, if we can just get around this betrayal business. I figured early on, since Aiden had already come to terms with the possibility that she was a spy, that he'd be willing to forgive. They had a chance at an easy happy ever after, as long as he wasn't the one that killed her mother.

Oh, ffs.

Touch her and die. One horse. One tent. Mine.

Chapter thirty-four? I read it twice. And immediately, after finishing the book, hunted down the bonus Aiden POV. Go 'head, Aiden, with your "Dance on me, beautiful."

This was such a romantic and suspenseful story with a spy vs spy premise and supporting characters that brought action, bloody violence, and a bit of humor pouring in on all sides.

5 out of 5 stars.

One question though: Why is this promoted as Found Family?

Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback

2025/41

Cruel Prince (Folk of the Air #1)

Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes.

Available at Amazon.com

Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Folk of the Air, book one
Harcover, 370 pages
Kindle edition, 385 pages
Published January 2, 2018
ISBN 9780316310277
ASIN B071XQ6H38


Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

I may be cruel, a monster, and a murderer, but I do not shirk my responsibilities.

Well there you go. Words to live by, ladies and gents.

The fan art made me pick this one up. I was so not prepared.

Seven-year-old Jude was just watching her cartoons and munching on fish sticks with ketchup on the night her mother's redcap husband, Madoc, finally tracked down his wife.

Tracked her down, shoved a sword into the gut of Jude's father, and then threw said weapon into the woman's back.

How's that for a prologue?

Madoc had come for his daughter, Vivienne, Jude's older sister, but left the mortal home with also Jude and Jude's twin, Taryn, in tow, back to Faerie.

Ten years later, the real story unfolds as Jude and Taryn are whisked off to the palace for a royal party by Madoc and his wife, Oriana. Vivi? Like hell if she'll be attending. Total rebel that one.

And so the parade of characters begins. High King Eldred and his six heirs: thorned Balekin, the firstborn; lark Elowyn, the eldest daughter; third born Dain, part deer and leader of the Falcons; their younger sisters, Rhia and Caelia...

And the youngest of the bunch: Cardan, whom Jude proclaims is the absolute worst of them.

And the way my jaw dropped at what happened next. Nope. Won't get an argument from me in that regard. Cruel prince, indeed.

I stand in front of my window and imagine myself a fearless knight, imagine myself a witch who hid her heart in her finger and then chopped her finger off.

Jude Duarte, thou art a glowing a red flag.

Jude is tortured by her classmates in an endless barrage of bullying from Cardan and his trio: Nicasia, Valerian, and the lesser aggressive of the beasts, Locke.

And then Dain recruits her to be his spy against Balekin as rumor of the king's impending abdication slowly comes to fruition. She accepts his bargain in exchange for his protection against being glamoured, controlled, and likewise.

It's during her first mission that she stumbles erroneously into Cardan's bedchambers, intentionally steals his copy of Alice in Wonderland, and unintentionally witnesses his suffered abuse at the whims of his brother, Balekin.

She'll kiss Locke. She'll stab Valerian. Bury a body. Then ultimately stand in the center of a coup.

And my, what a savage coup it was.

These aren't the Fae of our beloved romantic fantasy. Here dwells the classics, the fey, the little shites that steal babes and make wicked bargains.

This is akin to the boy who pulls on a girl's braids in class and pushes her down on the playground. It's annoying and wrong but allowances can be made if we stop holding others to our own predisposed standards. Perception does not dictate intention. Her truth isn't his truth. And so on and so forth.

Have I mentioned I was ill prepared for this? For Cardan!? Absolutely flabbergasted at the cretin. No idea whatsoever what to do with him. He and Jude are their own mood. And Madoc? Live long and prosper, you monster. The way he handled Jude dueling with Taryn—chef's kiss. I could not hate him. Wouldn't trust him, but still couldn't hate him.

4 out of 5 stars.



Available in ebook | hardcover | paperback | audiobook

2025/40