faeries

Review of Prince of Never by Juno Heart

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Synopsis:
A fae prince with a poisoned heart. A mortal girl with a magical voice. Neither one believes in fairy tales.

City waitress Lara has the voice of an angel and no idea she’s marked as the fated mate of a silver-eyed royal from another realm. When she falls into Faery and meets an obnoxious huntsman who mistakes her for a troll, she’s amazed to discover he’s the cursed Prince of Air in disguise. Ever’s mother, the queen, is less than impressed. The opposing court of techno-loving Unseelie wants her as their very own pet. And an evil air mage wishes her dead.

Held captive by Elemental fae in the Land of Five, she’s certainly hit rock bottom.

But songs wield power, and Lara happens to be a true diva. Now if only she can use her newfound magical skill to make the Prince of Never a little less attractive. The first thing she wants is to find a way back home, and the last is to fall in love.

Prince of Never is book 1 in the YA enemies-to-lovers Black Blood Fae series. Each book has a HEA and stars a different cursed prince and his human fated mate.** Now contains an extended, swoony, all-the-feels love scene that isn’t included in the audio book. No longer fade-to-black due to popular demand! If you have the previous version, contact me to read the new scene.

Review:
This book was interesting. It seemed a little bit too good to be true in the enemies to lovers/insta-love sense. The characters didn’t really take the time to get to know each other that well, and while we are shown they start spending more time together, they never seem to really get to any depth of each other, except realizing that they care for each other. While I didn’t mind the story, I did find that there wasn’t really any bite to it- no stakes that the reader worries about. I hadn’t realized that there was previously a fade to black love scene, though I did think that the “steamy” part was a bit lackluster and didn’t really enrapture me. The word play and teasing back and forth between the main characters was fun, just felt like there should have been something more. There is also no real reason ever given as to why Lara’s singing is so powerful. It wasn’t a hard read, and I did read it rather quickly. Not quite sure if I will continue the series but if enemies to lovers if your MO then go for it.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯

Review of A Taste of Poison: A Snow White Retelling by Tessonja Odette

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Synopsis:
A runaway princess wanted for murder.
A deadly huntsman who’s after her heart…

Half-fae Astrid Snow is used to being disliked. With magic that makes her mirror back one’s worst qualities, she has more enemies than friends. And when she’s accused of poisoning her father, her stepmother—the formidable Spring Queen—becomes her greatest enemy yet. Forced into hiding, she finds solace at the Seven Sins Hotel. It provides the perfect subterfuge she needs. For who could ever find an outlaw in a hotel famed for sin?

Bear shifter Torben Davenport lost everything to the gambling halls. To pay off his debts, he serves the fae royals as their personal Huntsman, locating hard-to-find fugitives with his scent-based magic. When the Spring Queen offers him a bargain that will erase his debts for good, he’s willing to do what it takes—even if it means finding the queen’s runaway stepdaughter and cutting out her heart.

Astrid won’t go down without a fight, even if her assailant is a strikingly handsome Huntsman. If she can evade the bear-shifter’s claws, maybe she can make him an ally. It’s easier said than done, especially after she accidentally gets herself handcuffed to her infuriating captor.

Can Astrid cut through Torben’s icy demeanor and convince him to help her find the real killer? Or will she lose her heart in more ways than one?

ACOTAR meets Kingdom of the Wicked in this standalone fairytale retelling of Snow White. If you like brooding heroes, just one bed, and grumpy sunshine romances, then you’ll love this swoon-worthy story in the Entangled with Fae series.

*NOTE this book is upper YA/NA featuring mature situations, moderate violence and gore, substance abuse, and some adult language. The romance is slow burn but leads to moderate steam.

A Taste of Poison is a complete stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy. Journey back to Faerwyvae or begin your adventure for the first time with this enchanting tale. Each book in the Entangled with Fae series can be read on its own and in any order. Happily ever after guaranteed!

Review:
Wasn’t completely sure how I’d feel about this one since Astrid was so interesting. I quite enjoyed how the Huntsman got caught up and found himself more involved than he intended. I also had figured out who our big bad was going to be which I am quite please with myself for! This story had such depth and I quite loved all of the different places and people we got to meet and experience. It was beautiful seeing Astrid learn to let herself be and feel, and I think that’s something a lot of us relate to. Emotions are hard. It can be very difficult to process them and many times you can find yourself stagnant and trapped by memories and bad things, be that by what you use to get away from it or the thoughts themselves, but it’s important in life to keep moving forward and growing and working through. Quite enjoyed it, and very much enjoyed the connection that Astrid and Torben have!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of Heart of the Raven Prince: A Cinderella Retelling by Tessonja Odette

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Synopsis:
A playboy prince in want of a decoy bride.
A servant girl desperate for a disguise…

Raven shifter Prince Franco is every social climbing debutante’s dream. He’s handsome, heir to the Lunar Court throne, and deliciously single. Every young woman wants to bed him, wed him, or steal a moment of his time. Except, of course, for Ember Montgomery.

Half-fae Ember craves freedom from her conniving stepfamily. As if they weren’t enough to deal with, a chance encounter with the arrogant Prince Franco leaves her humiliated and in a fiery rage. Nothing could convince her the prince is anything but a rake. But when the opportunity to evade her scheming stepmother falls into her lap, she’ll pay the price—even if it means impersonating the prince’s newest flame…

To prove himself a worthy heir, Prince Franco must marry a princess. But after far too many unsatisfying trysts, he’s given up on love. With the social season in full swing, and bringing with it a horde of husband-hungry socialites, he’ll do anything to delay the pressures of both marriage and the crown. And what better solution than an alliance with a desperate servant girl glamoured as his false future bride?

Locked in a bargain, Ember must pose as a princess until midnight at the full moon ball. Until then, all she has to do is wear the glamour, pretend to court the prince, and above all else, not fall in love. But when feelings emerge on both sides, she starts to wonder if there’s more to their contrived courtship than either of them planned…

Can Ember and Franco find love when the masks come off? Or will illusions and lies prove stronger than their hearts?

ACOTAR meets Bridgerton in this standalone fairytale retelling of Cinderella. If you like slow burn romance, fake engagements, and snarky fae royals, then you’ll love this swoon-worthy story in the Entangled with Fae series.

*NOTE this book is upper YA/NA featuring mature situations and some adult language. The romance is slow burn but leads to moderate steam.

Heart of the Raven Prince is a complete stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy. Journey back to Faerwyvae or begin your adventure for the first time with this enchanting tale. Each book in the Entangled with Fae series can be read on its own and in any order. Happily ever after guaranteed!

Review:
I wasn’t sure I was going to love this one as much as I liked the Beauty and the Beast one, because it had been so full of passing wisdom on how people think and act and how easy it was to get lost in a book. Ember has her own passion to be lost in, but she also had to find herself, whereas Gemma already knew herself and was trying to find a place in the world that would accept her. That being said, it’s hard not to love Ember. Ember is a damsel, in distress, that has every intention of saving herself. Her humanity is endearing, and her desire to help others is as well. Seeing how Franco grows from their interactions, as well as what Ember gains in return, is brilliant and I’m so very glad I read this! I had been a little worried that something dastardly would happen towards the end, given how The Curse of the Wolf King had such upheaval when you thought everything was neatly tied together, and there was; just not what I had thought it might be. All in all, I quite enjoy this series, and the underlining perhaps unintentional lesson that one doesn’t need to marry to be whole and in an equal partnership. Also I LOVE the wisps!!!

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of Curse of the Wolf King by Tessonja Odette

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Synopsis:
A beastly fae king with a deadly curse.
A devious bargain to break it…

All Gemma Bellefleur wants is to leave her past behind and forget the day scandal broke her heart. But when she’s captured by a trickster fae king who threatens to hold her for ransom, she’ll find herself at the top of the gossip column yet again.

Unless…

Plagued by a curse that will soon claim his life, the human-hating King Elliot will do anything to save himself. And if Gemma can use that to her advantage, she might be able to bargain her way to freedom. All she has to do is help him break his curse.

There’s just one hitch—to do so, they’ll have to trick someone into falling in love with the beastly, brooding Elliot.

With a devious alliance made, their scheme begins, bringing Gemma and Elliot into very close quarters. Soon, an unexpected desire stirs where once there was only hate. But Gemma must fight it. For when the curse is broken, Elliot will return to his true form—a wolf—and be lost to her for good.

Can Gemma sacrifice her budding feelings to save the king’s life? Or will love force her to give up something even greater…her heart?

ACOTAR meets Bridgerton in this standalone fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast. If you like slow burn romance, wolf shifters, and brooding fae royals, then you’ll love this swoon-worthy story in the Entangled with Fae series.

*NOTE this book is upper YA/NA featuring mature situations and some adult language. The romance is slow burn but leads to moderate steam.

Curse of the Wolf King is a complete stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy. Journey back to Faerwyvae or begin your adventure for the first time with this enchanting tale. Each book in the Entangled with Fae series can be read on its own and in any order. Happily ever after guaranteed!

Review:
Firstly, fairy tale retelling so obviously I needed to read it. I really enjoyed the development of the characters and the way in which trauma is shown. Trauma impacts people far more than most leg on, and honestly, considering that, Gemma is quite well adjusted. I absolutely loved seeing the development of Gemma’s relationships with those in Elliot’s court, but I did think that it was quite obvious what was going to happen. Despite knowing that, it was still quite an enjoyable read. I absolutely adored seeing how Elliot changed and grew throughout the book.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of The Rose Gate by Hanna Sandvig

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Synopsis:
Once upon a time, a human girl was kidnapped by a fae prince…for her own good.

I was just minding my own business in the woods. At night. As you do when your family is as messed up as mine. When I was rudely abducted to Faerie by a grizzly bear.

Okay, so he’s actually a cursed fae prince named Leith. And yes, he did technically save me from the creepily intelligent wolves that were chasing me down. But now I’m trapped at his castle until they go away, and this prince is far from charming, what with the missing eye, and the curse, and did he cut his own hair with a sword?

I suppose it could be worse. Yes, the castle and it’s inhabitants have been cursed by the Unseelie Queen, but I don’t have a fox handmaiden back home to braid my hair every day. Or dresses that shimmer like starlight. And maybe the prince isn’t so bad, when he’s not growling at me. He might even be handsome under those scars.

But that’s besides the point. I’m going to figure out the curse this castle is under, save my new friends, and get back home before I lose my heart to this beast of a prince.

Until then, I hope there’s at least a decent library somewhere in this castle.

**If you wish that The Cruel Prince was a bit less…cruel, or think that Downton Abbey could be improved by having forest creatures as staff, try The Rose Gate! This is a sweet retelling of Beauty and the Beast that kicks off the Faerie Tale Romances series.**

Review:
This book… I power read this book within two days. It was really well paced, well written, flowed well, and almost impossible to put down (alas, sleep and adult responsibilities!) This story was just perfection in both a retelling and overall story on its own– between the perfect Irish faerie tale feel to the depth of the background of both the modern story and the fae one. I loved Leith as a grizzly bear; it was far more true to the original stories while also making it a bit different from most retellings.

I didn’t see right away the connection between two characters, but I found it quite expertly done. I love how time ebbs and flows differently and how that also effects powerful magic and people’s ability to foresee. I was absolutely enchanted with this novel. The characters were well developed and stood on their own, the plot was layered and wonderful and the connections seemed solid and cleverly/slowly built.

I don’t often feel that the ending of novels, especially fairy tales, are as great as they could be, but I absolutely loved this one, and Isobel’s mentality throughout. Isobel is a strong, independent, and resourceful girl, even if she felt like she was bookish, reserved and shy regularly. Perhaps the journey allowed her to find herself, but she doesn’t give up on what is right and who she cares for– refreshing from the usual heroine.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of The Masked Fae by Shari L. Tapscott

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Synopsis:
Never make a bargain with one of the Fae.

It’s a rule everyone knows…and yet it’s one Alice’s family seems to ignore. After her brother loses their entire family fortune in a wager he cannot afford, Alice ventures into the Rose Briar Woods to make a deal with the formidable Fae marquis who now owns her family’s estate—a portrait in exchange for her brother’s freedom.

But instead of Lord Ambrose, the young artist meets a mysterious masked man who saves her when her carriage is attacked by goblins. Even though he warns her to leave the woods, Alice finds herself working in the marquis’s manor.

Right away, Alice realizes Lord Ambrose is not what she expects. He’s kind when the Fae are supposed to be cold, and he’s generous even though he wants to be rid of her. And more, he’s hiding a painful past—one that seems to have something to do with Alice herself.

Soon, Alice is torn between the handsome marquis and the dashing masked bandit who continues to visit her in the evenings, but her heart tells her something is amiss.

Because it seems very likely the two men Alice is taken with just might be the same man…

The Masked Fae is a breathtaking fantasy romance with a touch of angst and plenty of chemistry. Each book in the series is a complete story, and although it’s best to read them in order, there are no cliffhangers.

Review:
This book had me from the beginning. It wasn’t a heavy or hard read, and flowed well. The characters had great depth, and were engaging. I was quite excited to learn more about the way Alice’s fate mirrored another, and many times found myself finding little Alice in Wonderland motifs across the book, which was quite fun. I loved all the twists and turns, and how attention is paid to her virtue. Great read; loved it.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of A Truth in Ruby by Jessica Florence

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A Truth In Ruby (Onyx Trilogy Book 2) by [Jessica Florence]

Synopsis:
Life was supposed to be easy after I rescued the princess from the onyx tomb. She would save the world, while I contently stood on the sidelines after completing Destiny’s task.

But Destiny wasn’t done with me. Everything I went through was for one sole purpose—to save myself.

Now, as the princess of Crysia, I must travel across the continent again to the great city of Crystoria, to find the truth of our origins. I must undo the poison King Verin has cast into our lands.

The journey will be difficult since the Dramens want war and Verin will do everything in his power to stop me. With my friends and a rage-filled mate by my side, I can face the truths and save the world.

Right?

Review:
Honestly, this book was easy to fall into and read, and while there were some surprises, the major plot point was somewhat foreseen and in my opinion, quite overdone in many series. While I did love seeing more of the characters and watching their relationships further and develop, I am somewhat annoyed in what becomes the driving factor at the end, because clearly wanting to save all of your people isn’t enough.

Star Rating: ✯✯✯

Review of The Queen’s Crown by K. M. Shea

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The Queen's Crown (Court of Midnight and Deception Book 3) by [K. M. Shea]

Synopsis:
Since the day I was crowned Queen of the Night Court, someone has been trying to kill me. Yay, me!

Finding my would-be-killer has been last on my to do list for a long time—which should tell you what a dumpster fire my life has been. But I can’t ignore it anymore. Whoever is plotting against me is getting serious. If I don’t do something soon I might not survive their next attempt.

Normally, I’d count on Rigel—my consort, who also happens to be a deadly fae assassin—to have my back. But he’s been gone for two months, and when he finally returns he won’t say where he’s been. Great, that’s totally not sketchy.

To make matters worse, I love Rigel—and he doesn’t believe me when I tell him! How’s that for romance?

New to do list: catch my would-be killer and convince my own husband I love him. All in a day’s work for the Night Queen.

I knew I should have demanded a job description before I took on this queen gig…

Synopsis:
Finally, so many loose ends put together, and relationships mended that have been waited for since the first two books. I absolutely love this series, because Leila remains her feisty sassy human self while still trying to integrate into the role of queen. I also love that as a horse/animal person she is always trying to do what is right for the animals, but also encouraging people to be safe and wear helmets!

I love Rigel so much, and I’m glad to see how things turn out with them in the end.

I unfortunately had an inkling who had caused the attacks, but that didn’t stop the enjoyment of the book or how everything was discovered and resolved.

Leila does what she thinks is good for her people, and it’s so fun seeing her people enjoying casual human entertainment activities, especially with how into it they all seem to get. The absolute end it brilliant and while I never want K. M. Shea’s series to end, it was still sweet.

I absolutely love how empowered K. M. Shea’s heroines are, even if it takes them a while to get to that point–it just makes it that much more realistic! I definitely recommend this series to anyone who loves faeries, though I’ll forewarn you–you end up drinking so much tea while reading it!

Star Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

Review of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

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A Court of Wings and Ruin
A Court of Thorns and Roses book 3
By Sarah J. Maas

Star Rating: 
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Historical
Number of Pages: 720

Date Started: December 30, 2017
Date Finished: January 4, 2018

Synopsis: (From Amazon)
Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

Review:
I thought that showing what happens to one’s psyche during war was well done. There were changes that Feyre didn’t expect, feelings and sights that one cannot simply forget about.

Unfortunately, this book had slow pacing, and while that may be true with getting ready for a war, it made it quite hard to read because it didn’t flow nearly as well together as the first two in the series–it was a completely different type of story/vibe, and it threw me.

Definitely still saying this book isn’t really Young Adult, but New Adult given the copious amounts of intimacy.

There were a few times that I teared up during this one. The ending was decent, and I do want to read the continued stories in the series. I do hope, however, that the characters do not continue to dull simply because they are now at peace. A lot of fire and passion was lost in this book, and while it might be due to worries and time constraints from the war, I hope to see that fire return in any future showings.

Author Biography: (From Amazon)
Sarah J. Maas is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Throne of Glass series, as well as A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury. A New York native, Sarah currently lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and dog.