Category: Fantasy

Review: Bespelled (Bewitched, #2 by Laura Thalassa 

Rating: 4.25⭐️:  

Bespelled is a strong sequel to Bewitched by Laura Thalassa about a young witch coming to terms with duel memories, a ancient morally ambiguous soul mate and a terrifying mystery that threatens her friends and future on the very campus she fought so hard to attend.

In Bewitched, Selene’s memories of her previous life as Roxilana are back so she’s able to use magic without the curse of memory loss.  And the truth of her own death and role in Memnon’s entombment is revealed as well changing their dynamics.

Thalassa balances the conflicts and emotional tension between Selene and Memnon with the complex storyline of the investigation into the events of the witches murders and those beings at behind the plots. 

It has great action sequences and a strange cliffhanger that’s not exactly one that’s logical when you consider the elements of the events that just happened. 

Next book is a prequel so it might be a while before we see the cliffhanger resolved. 

I enjoyed Bespelled, anticipated some of the elements here and remained invested in the story and the relationship. 

Recommended!

Bewitched series:

Bewitched #1

Bespelled #2

The Curse that Binds – a prequel story/ July 1,2025

Buy link 

        Bespelled (Bewitched Book 2)

    

Blurb 


“Neither magic, nor time, can keep us apart. We are like the stars. Eternal.”

No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.

After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.

But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

  • Publisher: (May 17, 2024)
  • Publication date: May 17, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 506 pages

Review:  The Games Gods Play (The Crucible Book 1) by Abigail Owen

Rating:  4.5⭐️

Another new series and book by another new to me author, Abigail Owen’s. The first in Owen’s The Crucible series, The Games Gods Play is reimagining of Greek mythology and the Greek pantheon crossed with a Hunger Games along with a slow burn romance that ends on a cliffhanger. 

I really enjoy how different Authors put their own vision into the recognizable Greek mythology to make the Gods and Goddesses as well as their respective relationships acquire a new histories and dynamics. Owen’s book does this while retaining some of the old foundations and essential elements key to the Greek pantheon. 

I quickly found myself engaged by the premise and main characters. Primarily Lyra, a young woman cursed at birth and part of a Guild of Thieves. She’s one of the 13 human champions chosen by a Greek God or Goddess. They then represent each of them in The Crucible, a series of trials set by the same Gods, the winner of this will have unimaginable honors and their God will rule Olympus for the next 100 years. 

That’s the barest of things. But the storyline is so great. Primarily due to the fact that the other main character is Hades, God of the Underworld, and Lyra already has an unfortunate relationship with the Gods. 

The trials that the champions have to compete in are well crafted, terrifying, and make for a fast paced storyline, full of exactly what you might expect, characters that don’t survive, bloodshed, and heartbreak. 

As Lyra is navigating the intricacies of Olympian pantheon dynamics, and that of her fellow champions, there’s a slow burn romance trying to happen with Hades.  

Owen’s has some terrific support characters including Charon and Cerebus the three headed dog of Hades. 

I could wish that more of the other characters were better layered or the Gods/Goddesses had been more defined, but it’s a wild ride with a good many mysteries involved and a new twist on the Hades/Persephone relationship mythology that I loved. 

Actually, it’s more Percy Jackson than Hunger Games. I believe it is fine for young adults as it is for adults. Very engaging , well written, and highly entertaining.  I’m onto the next book when it’s available to see what happens! 

A definite recommendation! What a wonderful book.

Cover art and design by Bree Archer and LJ Anderson, Mayhem Cover Creations

The Crucible series:

The Games Gods Play #1

The Things Gods Break #2 – September 25,2025

Buy Link

        The Games Gods Play (The Crucible Book 1)

    

Blurb 

The gods love to play with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them…

I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.

Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.

The worst god. Hades.

For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.

So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?

I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?

Because Hades is playing by his own rules…and Death will win at any cost.

  • Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books (September 3, 2024)
  • Publication date: September 3, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 645 pages

Review:  Betrothed to the Emperor (Emperor’s Assassin Book 1) by Kai Butler 

Rating: 4.5🌈

Kai Butler’s new fantasy series, Emperor’s Assassin, gets off to a fast, and absolutely magical start with Betrothed to the Emperor.  Right from the beginning, Butler plunges the reader and her protagonist into a strange, and mystical realm where the wealthy are masked by not only the makeup and outfits they wear but the rigidity of the culture and politics of the Empire that has consumed so much of the Kingdoms around it. 

It’s a highly detailed and disturbing place, a perfect place to start a plot of assassination. And a story full of twists and tricks and incredible creatures . 

Butler really is creating a universe that can expand with its series storylines, going forward into other parts of the world, exploring new cultures and their unique instruments of war. 

As this happens, so does a remarkable relationship between Emperor of the Southern Imperium, Emperor Tallu and Airón of the Northern Kingdom, who gets chosen to be his consort. 

 

Exactly how that occurs and all the events that happen afterwards are just why I can’t wait for the next book to be released.  The chemistry is excellent, the cast that surrounds the pair amazing and equally interesting.  And the various layered aspects of the storyline that are being generated by Butler are so intriguing that I want to see more of everything the author is planning. 

If you are a fan of this author, like me, I’m sure you’ll have grabbed this up. I’m highly recommending it to fantasy lovers too. 

Emperor’s Assassin series:

  • Betrothed to the Emperor #1
  • Emperor’s Wrath #2 – June 23,2025

Cover by Hannah Latham at oexasart. 

Buy link 

        Betrothed to the Emperor (Emperor’s Assassin Book 1)

    

Blurb 

I was born to kill the emperor, but first, I must marry him.

I trained as an assassin while my twin sister trained to be the empress. My life will be forfeit once I murder the most powerful man on the continent, but I have no choice. If I fail, the Imperium will consume our nation and anyone who rises against them.

Too soon, we walk into the glittering imperial court, each step taking us closer to the dangerous man on the black throne, my sister’s future husband, the newly crowned Emperor of the Southern Imperium. Emperor Tallu has more spies than fish in the sea. He poisoned his own father to secure the golden crown.

When his sharp eyes skim over us, they don’t catch on my sister. They land on me, his killer.

“I choose you, Prince Airón of the Northern Kingdom. You will be my consort.” Tallu’s smile is mirthless. “Or I will reduce your entire nation to ashes.”

Betrothed to the Emperor ends with more story to tell, but the characters end on a HFN

  • Publication date: February 24, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 282 pages

Review: Fate & Furies (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 3) by Helen Scheuerer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

I tried reading other books but knowing this series was complete I simply couldn’t resist and had to finish this amazing epic fantasy adventure featuring one of my new favorite characters. That would be Thea Voltaire. 

Fate & Furies is the perfect, or near perfect penultimate book to build the up the drama and start to pull all the complex storylines of these incredible characters together before the final climactic battles, revelations and wholly satisfying ending. 

Fate & Furies begins with a vengeful Thea on the hunt for ex-Warswords Wilder Hawthorne, traitor, whose betrayal has cut deep. With her is fellow warriors and friends Kipp and Cal, who are also aware of her real identity as well as her powers. 

Helen Scheuerer’s story is heartbreakingly raw, filled with fury, pain, and, on Thea’s part, an almost mindless need to drive herself towards capturing the person who has betrayed her and the country.  It’s so vividly written that the character’s state and actions are pouring off the page, as she’s burning herself out in grief. 

Wilder too, is seeking redemption, from new characters who have been only quietly been mentioned in the other books. Here they come to the front of the action and the storytelling. Also all the issues I had with Wilder are brought up here by the characters and discussed in a well thought out conversation. He becomes, in a way, the character that, has grown considerably since the beginning. 

The battle scenes are tremendous, the twists startling, and still looming over the relationships between the characters and their families and friends is that Thea’s time is running out. 

That’s always a sorrowful note for whatever victory or moment of joy that occurs. 

One more book. This is quickly become a series for my bookshelf. 

Highly recommended. Love Thea Voltaire.  And author Helen Scheuerer

Covers. Love the simplicity. 

The Legends of Thezmarr – 4 books completed:

Blood & Steel #1

Vows & Ruins #2

Fate & Furies #3

Shadow & Storms #4

Sequel series (Wren and Torj) :

The Ashes of Thezmarr (2 book series to date)

Iron & Embers #1

Thorns & Fire #2 – July 31,2025

Buy link

        Fate & Furies: An epic romantic fantasy (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 3)

    

Blurb 

“I always knew you would be the end of me.”

With darkness cursing the world around her, Althea Zoltaire is desperate for vengeance. But as she hunts Wilder Hawthorne across the kingdoms, brutal secrets begin to unravel.

Not knowing what – or who – to trust, Thea and her companions find themselves entwined with a destiny far greater than one man. Together, they must navigate the haunting revelations that could shatter the very foundations of the midrealms.

Yet it’s not only the world at stake, but Thea’s heart too. As everything teeters on the verge of destruction, her fate collides once more with Wilder’s.

Will their reunion ignite the fiery passion between them amidst the ashes of betrayal? Or will it end in a heartbreaking, deadly showdown?

In a journey fraught with danger, where the lines between enemies and allies blur, Thea must decide where her loyalties lie, and who will stand at her side against the looming evil.

Get ready for an epic adventure brimming with steamy romance, and a sprawling world of magic and monsters. Fate & Furies is the penultimate book in the spellbinding epic romantic fantasy series, The Legends of Thezmarr and is perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, The Bridge Kingdom, and The Witcher.

  • Publisher: Alchemy (February 22, 2024)
  • Publication date: February 22, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 466 pages

Review:  Two Thousand Promises  ( Kings of Chaos Book #5) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4🌈

Two Thousand Promises finishes the Kings of Chaos series with the last of their clan to get their fated mate so they can all finally go back home to China.

Jocelynn Drake’s series has been excellent. From the beginning, the Chinese vampire, the cultural elements, and their history has added a richness and depth to a well developed, and thoughtful fantasy universe.  Dragons, elves, witches, and Chinese warrior vampires! What an incredible combination!

And Two Thousand Shadows, the fourth book, gave us and the series a fantastic dramatic ending, full of vivid battle sequences, emotional moments and scenes that tied up major plot lines and character relationships.  Realistically, that book was the series finale. 

And the clan started to prepare for their journey home, back to China. 

That left just the relationship between Xiao Dan and Huli, the fox spirit, unresolved.  That’s the storyline of Two Thousand Promises.  It’s a sweet addendum to a basically finished series, a group of alternating chapters where we see the progression of their relationship over time.

And a protagonist who has been in Huli’s life but just appears now as a dramatic character. 

Huli is a sweet character, Drake captured the essence of a nonhuman  who’s in love with a man so well. And Xiao Dan is someone we’ve gotten to know over the series, together , stumbling towards a relationship, it’s a sweet romance.

Honestly, I wish they could have been folded into the other book, Min the villain just doesn’t have the same energy as the rest of the characters. 

But it’s been a fabulous series and a grand finale. One I highly recommend reading.

Love the covers, the concept. Fantastic.

The Kings of Chaos :

  • Two Thousand Dreams #1
  • Two Thousand Tears #2
  • Two Thousand Blades #3
  • Two Thousand Shadows #4
  • Two Thousand Promises #5

Buy link

        Two Thousand Promises (Kings of Chaos Book 5)

    

Blurb 

He promised me forever…But she came to take my soul.

Huli had dedicated his entire existence to making himself into something worthy of Xiao Dan.

But as he stood on the brink of claiming the vampire’s heart, an evil deal he’d made centuries ago was coming due.

Min wanted Xiao Dan’s soul.

Would he lose Xiao Dan when he confessed his ugly promise? And could he stop Min before it was too late?

Two Thousand Promises is the fifth and final novel in the Kings of Chaos series. This book contains a reluctant vampire who is finally giving in to the thousand-year seduction of a sly fox spirit determined to claim his mate, a nosy family who wants all the spilled tea, snark, angst, magic, found family, brotherly bickering, chaos, cuddles, secrets, and an endless love.

  • Publication date: February 21, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 230 pages

Review: Vows & Ruins (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 2) by Helen B. Scheuerer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

What an incredible story. I’ve already said that Thea Zoltaire , a young woman with a short time in which to make her own legacy, is one of my favorite characters.   Here she starts to become the warrior of her dreams, the one of legends. 

As with everything in her world, her advances come with even greater challenges and personal costs.  

Scheuerer’s writing style is vivid in imagery, powerful in her plotting. She carries us emotionally alongside the characters as each navigates through learning to deal with the lightning magic that the sisters have, the horrifying dangers that the enemy is bringing to the battlefield, and the hidden secrets within the world around them. 

The biggest challenge is the relationship that still developing between Thea and Warsword Wilder Hawthorne.  Torn between being solely responsible for her skills and survival as her mentor or those of her lover, Wilder is vacillating with his feelings and his orders, as well as his own tortured memories. 

Here I was so throughly invested in Thea’s growth as a warrior and individual, her depth of character that had to accept some brutal truths about her own life and background and then resolve them into her current emotional state and situation.  The author really did a fantastic job in creating the inner turmoil of Thea’s journey and the maturity that had to occur if she was to survive and move forward.

If I had any issues, it’s with Wilder’s character. Any main character, but especially if they are men, that decide that withholding information, highly major details, from the other person, is the only possible option is a lessening of that individual. I’m sure it’s an important part of this series arc but it destroys the integrity of the dynamic and any respect for the woman.  It’s a typical “I love you too much to let you make your own decisions/choices “ relationship, and I hope that we get past this, eventually in the future for romance relationships. 

This book ends on a fabulous cliffhanger of an ending and as the other books are out to go read, I’m heading right into the next one. 

Highly recommended. Love Thea Voltaire. 

The Legends of Thezmarr – 4 books completed:

Blood & Steel #1

Vows & Ruins #2

Fate & Furies #3

Shadow & Storms #4

Buy link

        Vows & Ruins: An epic romantic fantasy (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 2)

    

Blurb

Against all odds, Althea Zoltaire emerged from her trials as a champion. Now, she must train even harder and prepare herself to become a true warrior of Thezmarr.

But Thea’s world is turned upside down as she struggles to navigate her newfound magic and uncover the secrets of her past. Slowly, she begins to untangle the truth about her family, her powers and the evil that threatens to engulf the kingdom.

When Wilder Hawthorne returns to be her official mentor, everything changes. Dark forces are gathering, and he will stop at nothing to prepare her for the challenges to come, even if it means breaking her.

As war looms and their quest for answers leads master and apprentice deeper into danger, the undeniable connection between them intensifies – defying all odds, but also threatening to tear them apart.

With secrets unravelling and evil closing in, Thea and Wilder fight to save the world, and each other. The fate of the realms rests in their hands – will they emerge victorious, or will the darkness consume them both?

Full of action, adventure and steamy romance, Vows & Ruins is the second book in the spellbinding epic romantic fantasy series, The Legends of Thezmarr and is perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, From Blood and Ash and The Witcher.

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  • Publisher: Alchemy (September 21, 2023)
  • Publication date: September 21, 2023
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 536 pages

Review:  Devoted (Hopeless Blessed Book 2) by Lark Taylor

Rating: 3🌈

Having read all the preceding series and the first book in the series, which I really enjoyed, I find myself puzzled that I just couldn’t get connected to the characters and story of Devoted.

Hopeless Blessed, is the third of four series in this large universe that Lark Taylor is constantly exploring in her many books of overlapping characters and their stories. 

I’m not sure why I had such difficulty reading this book or staying involved in the storylines.  Sam is a well written character, one that Lark has invested with many of her personal life qualities per her author’s notes. 

Sam suffers from OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), GAD (generalised anxiety disorder), panic disorder, and sensory processing disorder. That is a major element of his story and a constant thread throughout the book. How Sam is dealing with situations, how characters are reacting around him and what they do that contributes to exacerbate his many issues. It’s a huge part of his story and the relationship. As well as putting the emotional issues that Angel Zeke carries around with him, damaging father abuses and severe anger management problems. 

Then there’s all the angels and their personalities that Zeke/Ezekiel lives with, his “band of angelic brothers “. Who frankly, with one or two exceptions, don’t stand out from each other, the nine or however many  just blended together in the book. 

Perhaps my take on this is that Lark spends so much time on Sam’s disorders in the book, constantly explaining to various characters (readers) what they are and how they should be treated and addressed, when a plot line pops up, it feels unwieldy. Because the author hasn’t laid any foundation for this anywhere in the book. 

There’s other things, an odd area of non-consent weirdly enough, more new areas about Sam’s brain, that I started skimming through to the end.

As much as I connected with Conflicted, I was just as left with no attachment to Devoted, and unsure about continuing with the series.  Too many characters I’m not sure about and personalities that feel one dimensional. 

Loved the original and sequel series. Those were amazing. 

Reckless Damn Series – first series 

  • Devil’s Mark #1
  • Devil May Care #2
  • Deal with the Devil #3
  • Luck of the Devil #4

 

Damned Connections – sequel 

  • Patience #1
  • Justice #2
  • Temperance #3
  • Humility #4 – finale

Hopeless Blessed – Seraphim sequel series 

  • Conflicted #1
  • Devoted #2 
  • Guarded #3 – Jan 31,2026

The Wild Edges (wolf shifters sequel series)

  • Finlay #1 – July 10, 2025

Buy link

        Devoted (Hopeless Blessed Book 2)

    

Blurb

Fate always has a plan.

Even if you don’t agree with it.

Ezekiel

Starting that online game was my attempt to find happiness. Something to fill my life other than the demands of Heaven and the rest of my unit.

I didn’t expect to find Sam.

Even with screens between us, Sam makes me feel more alive than I have in millennia. I find myself counting down the minutes until I can go online and be with him.

He’s my perfect match. In any other circumstances, I’d be doing whatever it took to make him mine.

But I’m not human. And, unlike humans, I have no say over who I spend eternity with. Fate decides who my mate will be, whether it’s the person I love or not.

Sam lives in the same city as me. If he were my mate, I’d have met him by now. I’d feel a pull towards him that I couldn’t ignore.

The right thing to do would be to end this. To put up walls between us to keep both our hearts safe. Instead, I find myself tearing down the barriers, falling faster for him every day.

I know how this story will end, but I can’t stop myself. I don’t care what plans fate has for me.

I want to make Sam mine.

Devoted is a gripping, hurt/comfort, angel x human, MM PNR romance. The second in the Hopeless Blessed series, each book follows a different couple with a guaranteed HEA.

  • Publisher: Lark Taylor (February 19, 2025)
  • Publication date: February 19, 2025
  • Language: English
  • File size: 1.2 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Screen Reader: Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Print length: 474 pages

Review: The Courtship of Julian St Albans (Consulting Magic Book 1) by Amy Crook

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Courtship of Julian St Albans (Consulting Magic Book 1) by Amy Crook is this author’s first published novel and it’s an absolute delight.  A steampunk murder mystery romance, it’s got a grand cast of characters, an intriguing system of magic, and a combination of historical and cultural influences  in the narrative that make the atmosphere and situations so different.  

The ritual around courtship and Suitors is given its own special treatment here when Julian St Albans’ longtime Suitor is found dead. It restarts the process of finding Julian, the heir to substantial lands and fortunes, a new Suitor to run the family and take over the titles. 

Alexander Benedict is a magical investigator and consultant to the police, especially in high profile cases or where magic is used.  Julian’s case involves both.

Crook’s take on an historical murder mystery and romance is a cleverly crafted story. Steampunk narrative is threaded throughout with fantasy characters and elements to my absolute delight.  The author dives into the details of her magical world, from the magical bespoke clothing worn to balls to the dangerous and fascinating crafted instruments used by the villain to threaten and destroy.

The slowly developing relationship between Julian and Alex is lovely. Determined by the rituals of Courtship and the fact that Alex realizes he’s falling for Julian, not just because he’s involved in the case, draws out the romantic tension. 

How it ends , for Julian and Alex, and sets up the next step in their relationship is so satisfying.  I’m thrilled to have found a new author and series to recommend and read. 

Check it out.  Series is complete!

Consulting Magic series:

The Courtship of Julian St Albans #1

The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans #2

The Guardianship of Julian St. Albans #3

A Flutter of Fae #4

I love the simplicity of design of these covers. Beautiful, important to the story (that’s Horace) and elegant. 

Buy link

        The Courtship of Julian St. Albans (Consulting Magic)

    

Blurb 

Alexander Benedict is a misanthropic thirtysomething magical consultant, working with the Agency’s top homicide detective, and perfectly content with his life, thank you very much. 

Julian St. Albans is the youthful heir to his family’s fortune and affiancéd to his beloved Cecil Mandeville, a family friend as well as Julian’s lover. 

When Mandeville is murdered using magical means, Alex is brought in on the case. It’s the worst day of Julian’s life, but until they meet, it’s just another case for Alex. Neither of them have any idea how their lives are about to change.

Alex has to disentangle the magical threads until he can catch the murderer, and to do that he has to put himself right in the thick of things. His long-denied family connections get him invited to participate in Julian’s Courtship as a Suitor, where he can observe the suspects firsthand. He just has to stay alive long enough to figure out which of the competition thinks Julian is a prize worth killing for.

  • Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. (June 25, 2013)
  • Publication date: June 25, 2013
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 361 pages

Review: Blood & Steel (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 1) by Helen B. Scheuerer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

YOU DO NOT BECOME A LEGEND OVERNIGHT

HE TOLD HER QUIETLY “A LEGEND IS FORGED WITH

BLOOD AND STEEL”

Another new author, another great series and strong heroic female character.  Albeit one with a highly tragic twist to launch her story and goals. 

Althea Zoltaire knows that she will die at the age of 27. It’s a fate she’s always known will happen. Now she’s got just 3 years to become the legend she needs to be. A Legendary Warsword.  In a land that’s forbidden women to hold weaponry.

That’s the dynamic theme and the epic storytelling that takes Thea forward towards her goals along with her sisters is such a compelling emotional journey.  Thea Zoltaire is rapidly becoming one of my favorite characters of the season.  Tragic background that’s she’s used to push her towards a forbidden goal of becoming a female Warsword. And not just a powerful Warsword but a legendary warrior in the time left to her is a a woman of strength and character.  

The trials, the challenges and battles she faces, from family to those of royal legality are ones that the reader is so emotionally invested in, right along with her. 

Scheuerer brings in a cast of equally diverse and interesting characters to surround and support Thea here. The first being Wilder Hawthorne, a Warsword whose role varies from frenemies to reluctant mentor to more. There’s the other people trying to become Warswords and facing the same trials, and her Alchemist sisters. 

The world building is great and will be expanded upon in the next books as Thea’s story continues. 

Highly recommended as a favorite of mine this season. Plus it’s a complete trilogy. Another plus.

The Legends of Thezmarr – 4 books completed:

Blood & Steel #1

Vows & Ruins #2

Fate & Furies #3

Shadow & Storms #4

Buy link

        Blood & Steel: An epic romantic fantasy (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Perfect for fans of The Bridge Kingdom, From Blood and Ash and The Witcher, BLOOD & STEEL is an epic romantic fantasy with enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn spice, found family, and a sprawling world of magic and monsters.

With her death foretold, Althea Zoltaire only has three years to become what she’s always dreamed of being: a warrior legend.

Women are forbidden to wield blades, so she has trained in secret her entire life. Now racing against the clock, she fights to secure her place in the elite guild charged with the protection of the five kingdoms.

The sparring and hazing of the new trainees border on deadly, but even more dangerous is her growing attraction to Wilder Hawthorne, her unwilling warrior chaperone.

All around them, schemes are afoot and darkness looms.

Will Althea pass the perilous initiation test and take her place as a champion of Thezmarr – or will the invading evil snatch away her dream before it starts?

If you like fierce sword-wielding heroines and brooding, tortured heroes, you will devour this sexy, addictive fantasy adventure.

Blood & Steel is the gripping first book in the heart-pounding, epic romantic fantasy series, The Legends of Thezmarr.

  • Publisher: Alchemy (February 16, 2023)
  • Publication date: February 16, 2023
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 550 pages

Review:  Mother of Death and Dawn  (The War of Lost Hearts, #3) by Carissa Broadbent

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Mother of Death and Dawn is the final story of Carissa Broadbent’s fantastic dark fantasy series, The War of Lost Hearts. 

Broadbent’s epic series has crossed oceans, venturing into various worlds and reaching beyond into many magical realms. She’s created a multitude of cultures, mythologies, and monsters who both have helped,hindered, and destroyed the many paths that the main characters Tisaanah, Max, and Aefe are on to the final tumultuous battle. 

There’s no question that the author has done a superlative job in this book.  The sheer number of storylines and characters that have been created throughout in the series, then had their roles and personalities developed fully for greater purpose, is astounding. It comes to a fruition here as plot lines are gathered in, explanations given, actions held accountable, and the characters are all there , as needed, for that final memorable battles and emotional drama.

There are some characters I never could throughly understand. Ones who I felt never really got the consequences of their actions, as heinous as they were. Nor were the characters who were sorely affected and damaged over time as deeply explored as I had hoped. Aefe is such a unique character that I would have liked to have a different arc for her. 

That finale and those battles were rich in detail and magically dark. Fantastic action sequences!

I loved how the story ended and this series is one that I am highly recommending for fantasy readers and great characters. 

The War of Lost Hearts:

Daughter of No Worlds #1

Children of Fallen Gods #2

Mother of Death and Dawn #3

Buy link

        Mother of Death and Dawn (The War of Lost Hearts Book 3)

    

Blurb 

Tell me, little butterfly, what would you do for love?

In the wake of a crushing defeat, Tisaanah and Maxatarius have been ripped apart. Tisaanah is desperate to rescue Max from his imprisonment, even as her people’s fight for freedom grows more treacherous. But within the walls of Ilyzath, Max’s mind is a shadow of what it once was… leaving his past a mystery and his future at the mercy of Ara’s new, ruthless queen.

Meanwhile, in the Fey lands, Aefe has been dragged back into this world by a king who vows to destroy civilizations in her name. But even as her past returns to claim her, her former self is a stranger.

Tisaanah, Max, and Aefe are thrust into the center of a cataclysm between the human and Fey worlds. The unique magic they share is key to either winning the war, or ending it.

But that power demands sacrifice. Tisaanah may be forced to choose between love and duty. Max cannot forge his future without confronting his past. And Aefe must decide between reclaiming who she was, or embracing who she has become.

The choices they make will either reshape this world forever…or end it..

In the harrowing finale of the War of Lost Hearts trilogy, a tale of romance, magic, vengeance, and redemption comes to a close — perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy.