Tag: first in a series

Review: The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni

Rating: 4.5⭐️

The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni is a gripping fantasy novel, the first book in a trilogy of the same name by Lynette Noni.  She’s another new established author for me and I’m so excited to have found her and this series.

It’s equally great reading for adults like me who love fantasy with well developed characters and plots with unseen twists but could be read by young adults readers in the top range as well.  The reason for this comes from the fact that the storyline is firmly rooted in a death prison, one that’s remarkably well defined and detailed. 

The magical use comes slowly although the types of magic and how it’s been developed and divided throughout the kingdom historically is revealed early through internal storytelling by the characters. 

So the story is concentrated on the character of Kiva Meridan, first traumatically as a 7 year old on the day her family was shattered and she, along with her father, was sent to the infamous death prison, Zalindov. 

There are similarities that can be drawn between Zalindov and the German concentration camps of WWII, crematories, prisoners having numbers carved into them for identification purposes. Zalindov is a death sentence, it doesn’t matter why age you are, or why you are there.  While I don’t believe that Noni is overly graphic about the horrors of the prison, there’s enough scenes that contain disturbing details or content of deaths and other violent acts that if this is problematic for you, be aware. 

The Prison Healer jumps in time from that horrific day to present, and Kiva has survived, endured 10 years as a prisoner and a healer here. It’s been every bit a monumental struggle for her as you could expect.  One might, as a reader, find it difficult to connect with Kiva at times, due to her locked down mentality and the reduced sense of self that the prison life has left of her at 17 years.  She’s surviving, barely. 

Then the arrival of several prisoners and a sweeping deadly illness change the status quo of the prison life. 

Kiva is beautifully rendered, shutdown, hope sputtering out, you forget how young she is, as she quietly walks through the prison halls, hiding, looking out for the younger boy Tripp , trying to heal those who are in the infirmary. Being despised by all.  It’s scary, heartbreaking, and filled with fear and suspense. 

With the introduction of the dying Rebel Queen into the prison and the infirmary, the thrilling story begins to take shape on an ever larger scale. 

There’s not a romance, she’s young, and she doesn’t want to let anyone close, or to lose anyone else. 

There’s 3 incredible trial and an inventive use of space by the author to enhance her narrative. Also at the end , a fabulous twist that will send you running right into the next book to see where Kiva’s story goes!

Maps are fantastic. And I love the cover. 

Map art © 2021 by Francesca Baerald Cover illustration, design, and lettering by Jim Tierney

The Prison Healer series (completed):

The Prison Healer #1

The Gilded Gage #2

The Blood Traitor #3

Buy link

The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer, 1)$9.59Amazon.comFree returnsStore rating 4.5/5

Blurb 

Seventeen-year-old Kiva Meridan has spent the last ten years fighting for survival in the notorious death prison, Zalindov, working as the prison healer.

When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.” Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

From bestselling author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, and Sabaa Tahir.

Publisher. Penguin Random House Australia (March 13, 2023)

Language: English 

Pages: 448

Review: A Lair of Bones (Curse of the Cyren Queen Book 1) by Helen Scheuerer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Sheer utter cruel fantasy and I’m here for it.  With A Lair of Bones, Helen Scheuerer really cemented herself as one of my top authors of favorite fantasy novels. 

With top tier world building, hauntingly vivid imagery, as well as the ability to create characters that start as raw flawed beings that shift and develop emotionally as this story and their journey begins , A Lair of Bones by Helen Scheuerer is a classic of epic fantasy.

This isn’t a romance, but truly a fantasy epic adventure told from the perspective of a young female cyren. We see her born to a prisoner, Cerys, a cyren who’s been imprisoned for centuries having committed the ultimate crime of using her death song against her own kind. 

This parentage makes Rohesia, our main character a Isruhe , a deeply injurious slur, “vermin of the deep” and those beings are marked by a golden circlet about their heads.  She and those of the lower depths of the Cyren island of Saddorial have the most disgusting and dangerous jobs. In her case, she and her friends are bone cleaners. 

The author has created a cruel, proud race of creatures we’ve known from mythology, expanding and evolving them into a evolved, highly predatory water dwelling species that lives in architecturally beautiful structures made entirely of the bones of those they’ve killed, mostly humans.  These aren’t a kind or forgiving race. 

Their main mantra is no Cyren is to be trusted. Everyone wears a mask. 

This is the world that our bone cleaners are born into and the one in which Rohesia, aka Roh will undertake the biggest challenge and transformation. To become the next Queen of the Cyrens.

This story will focus on Roh’s schemes to become a participant in the royal Queen’s Tournament and the surprise addition of a human being as a partner to keep alive and in good condition to compete the trials. 

Scheuerer has added so many fantastic aspects to this Tournament as well as characters that are ones that will have impactful roles to Roh in the series.  

Throughout the story, more of the history and magical systems, Cyren and mages, are incorporated into the narrative in dramatic moments and highly emotional scenes.

Roh is a very driven personality, scarred, ambitious and determined to rise above the scorned vermin she’s seen as. Her character is shown to evolve along with her perspective on her species and history as she undergoes the brutal challenges and has to interact with those around her. 

A Lair of Bones is such a compelling story with Roh and her companion’s’ journey a gripping suspense-filled tale, that I read it in one evening. And went immediately onto the next. 

I highly recommend reading A Lair of Bones (Curse of the Cyren Queen Book 1) by Helen Scheuerer. It’s top of my book list of favorite reads.

Cover design by Deranged Doctor Design

Curse of the Cyren Queen finished series:

A Lair of Bones #1

With Dagger and Song #2

The Fabric of Chaos #3

To Wield a Crown #4 – finale 

Buy link

        A Lair of Bones (Curse of the Cyren Queen Book 1)

    

Blurb 

As the daughter of an infamous criminal, Roh only cares about three things: her friends, finding her deathsong, and the upcoming royal Queen’s Tournament. 

A treacherous competition determines the ruler of magic every fifty years. This is Roh’s chance to change her life. Change her destiny. 

But she’s not the only one who wants to win. Champions from every land will fight to the death for a chance to wield unimaginable power.

The challenging part of the Queen’s Tournament for Roh is keeping her human partner alive. She can’t win or survive without him. Together they’ll have to face the most cunning, and dangerous warriors magic can throw at them. Together they’ll face more than enemies. Together, they’ll learn the meaning of true friendship.

Get ready for flawed heroines, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, epic worldbuilding, stunning magic and found family. Readers will love this fast-paced exhilarating fantasy.

  • Publisher: Alchemy; 1st edition (July 13, 2021)
  • Publication date: July 13, 2021
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 476 pages

 

 

Review:  Iron & Embers: An epic fantasy romance (The Ashes of Thezmarr Book 1) by Helen Scheuerer

Rating: 4⭐️

Iron & Embers picks up four years after the end of events of The Legends of Thezmarr series and Wren Embervale has been quietly working her way through the list of people who were responsible for the deaths of so many of those she lost. She’s anonymously become The Poisoner, an assassin traveling through the Kingdoms eliminating various targets never held accountable for their actions and crimes in the recent war.

Wren was an excellent, well written character we got to know in the first series . But next to the brilliant driven warrior that was her Warsword sister, Thea, and her powerful storyline, even with that magical role towards the end, it’s clear that she had more to say and depths to her character. 

Scheuerer starts here by sending an embittered Wren off to an alchemy academy of Drevenor, an ancient school where she’s going to be taught spells and learn areas of alchemy she’s never heard of. 

The school has been mentioned before in the previous series and several strong women characters are back in impactful roles here. 

The romance is between Warsword Torj Elderbrock, a man who was forever changed by his and Wren’s last battle with the Dark forces. Channeling Wren’s lightning power changed his hair silver and left him with lightning made scars across his chest.  And it has left other deeper changes. 

I expect that the author will keep the main characters apart from each other as part of a frustrating series romantic storyline.  Wren starts off with a noncommittal idea about love and affection with regards to romance and the book ends on a note that for me feels more “contrived “ then one that feels more a naturally flowing piece of the same plot. 

A “oh no, I need to pull them apart. This should do” sort of moment in the story. When if they actually chatted it would have been resolved. 

The Academy is a grim institution, instead of a place of learning. Think more body parts and bags than plants, marigolds, and medicine.   So yes, scenes of torture and death ensue. 

Which brings me to another point. In the first series, the women were coming together as a powerful force , a team and family. Here just the opposite seems to be happening. It’s disappointing and discouraging to see women characters I admired change and lessened here for plot purposes. 

So, yes, I like Wren as a character. Vote is out on most of those characters around her, including Torj Elderbrock, a fascinating character who hasn’t yet learned to communicate. 

There’s an overall series mystery developing around anti- magic, anti-royalist sentiment groups that might be more than just what they appear. 

I admit Thea is an almost impossible act to follow. She is a Legend after all.   So I’m onto the next when it’s released to see what legacy Wren makes for herself. 

Recommended. Read The Legends of Thezmarr first. Excellent reads every one. 

Great covers continue in this series.

The Legends of Thezmarr (4 book series (foundation series)

The Ashes of Thezmarr sequel series:

Iron & Embers #1

Thorns & Fire #2 – July 31,2025

Buy link

        Iron & Embers: An epic fantasy romance (The Ashes of Thezmarr Book 1)

    

Blurb 

“I’ve made no secret of what I want… You. It’s always been you.”

Wren Embervale, alchemist-turned-assassin, finds solace in only one thing: seeking vengeance for the death of her friends. The wars of the past may be over, but her thirst for revenge is far from quenched.

For years, she has been content with her poisons and potions for company, but when an unknown form of alchemy is used to attack a king of the midrealms, Wren’s time in the shadows comes to an end.

She’s offered a place at the ancient alchemy academy of Drevenor to find a cure to the dark magic threatening the kingdoms. To win her spot, she must conquer the Gauntlet, a grueling series of deadly trials that could cost her sanity, or her life.

More is at play than sabotage from fellow competitors. Magic wielders are being targeted and Wren becomes tangled in a dangerous web of deception and bloodshed that puts the entire realm at risk.

But the biggest threat of all might come from the man assigned to protect her—Torj Elderbrock, the silver-haired war hero who has hated her since she assassinated his last charge.

Their shared history ignites a simmering tension that threatens to consume them both.

Peace is fragile, trust is scarce and enemies lurk around every corner… Will love heal all wounds—or will it be the most lethal poison of all?

Iron & Embers is the breathtaking first installment in the epic fantasy romance series, The Ashes of Thezmarr. With its lush world-building, sizzling chemistry, and heart-pounding action it’s perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, From Blood & Ash, and The Bridge Kingdom.

  • Publisher: Alchemy (January 28, 2025)
  • Publication date: January 28, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 586 pages

Review:  The Wren in the Holly Library (Oak & Holly Cycle Book 1) by K.A. Linde

Rating:  3⭐️🌈

🌈 for Bisexual main character 

I really wanted to like this story but issues just kept creeping into the narrative that stopped me from being fully invested in the characters, their relationships and motivations as well as the mythology that Linde insists on using as a framework for her storyline. 

It’s not the dark fantasy, because I’m a true fan of the genre, it’s in the manner that the author is constructing the characters and storylines. 

Kierse, the damaged thief with the abusive background from her criminal mentor is the Belle substitute here. She’s the thief who’s caught in the Holly Library the “Monster” (it’s in the description) , also known as Grave .  

Their relationship is part of the issue.  Or maybe her treatment is. There isn’t much chemistry between them and the romance just seems to appear, albeit with Kierse making the obligatory resistance response.

She’s got a bisexual background with a missing ex girlfriend that is part of an underdeveloped storyline. As well as a well described traumatic history that gives her the realistic, raw foundation her character would require.  

But how the dynamic plays into the physical abuse and the future degradation that is inflicted upon her as part of her “roles” with Grace starts a strange division and changes her past/current personality and the new narrative path of the author’s without the needed context.

Grave, the mage “Monster “ , is a person who has an otherworldly framework around him that’s easily recognizable ,as is the other main enemy MC. This aspect of his character and storyline is primarily due to the many hints and story Easter eggs the author has scattered throughout the book. Grave just isn’t someone who is an engaging personality.  Again, Linde works against the story romance by having every single character (Kierse’s friends and frenemies) repeatedly telling Kierse exactly how untrustworthy Grave.  

After a while we have to figure this is a major plot point. 

Then for me it’s the mythology and underdeveloped magic which didn’t really make sense.  Linde chose to use certain snippets or aspects of certain myths of Irish or Celtic culture but it’s not clear or successful.  Especially with her  usages of wrens. She’s partly using St. Stephen’s , a tale of unfortunate timing, as well as some Druids mythology that includes wrens, none of which translates well to a North American continent where our numerous species of wrens do just fine in winter and this aspect of the book would have not context.  So without going beyond the surface or substance or making the material adjust accordingly ( as other authors have in great detail and depth), this just doesn’t work. 

This came very close to a DNF but I wanted to see where Linde was going with the characters and story. Disappointing and not sure I’m going forward with the series.   Too bad because it had such potential. 

Cover art and design by Bree Archer Deluxe Limited endpaper illustration by Melanie Korte Deluxe Limited case design by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

The Oak & Holly Cycle series is best read in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 The Wren in the Holly Library

Book #2 The Robin on the Oak Throne

Buy link

        The Wren in the Holly Library (Oak & Holly Cycle Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Can you love the dark when you know what it hides?

Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.

In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce…of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse—a gifted and fearless thief—will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library…not knowing it’s the home of a monster.

He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.

Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.

But he’s been playing a game across centuries—and once she joins in, there will be

no escape…

The Oak & Holly Cycle series is best read in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 The Wren in the Holly Library

Book #2 The Robin on the Oak Throne – June 17,2025

  • Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books (June 4, 2024)
  • Publication date: June 4, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 495 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:  Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

Rating: 4.5⭐️

“Here is your campus map. 

Note to all students: Vampire bites, loss of limbs or getting lost in the wailing wood will not count as a valid excuse for being late to class.”

— Zodiac Academy: The Awakening by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

This series has been out for a while now but it’s only recently that I’ve been made aware of the multiple series universe and the authors behind it.

Zodiac Academy turned out to be a fantastic read. A darker urban fantasy series that tilts towards the type of storytelling of magical schools and mythological creatures and enormously powerful barriers to overcome for the main characters. In this case female twin sisters and the school, Zodiac Academy, is far more brutal, abusive , and deeply damaging than Hogwarts could have imagined. 

Multiple points of view, primarily Darcy and Tory Vega, the Gemini twins, yanked from one world into another. I found these two voices so compelling, different from each other and yet they are still so similar in their foundational core. At least for now.

Because as a reader, you’re getting a glimpse that this Academy is going to  pull each one apart almost to their cellular level and rebuild them before the end. It’s that brutal. And they are that unprepared. 

The Academy is magical, is separated in factions and the basics. The map helps to reinforce the magical system and the power structure in place.  It’s also overlaid with the typical clique behavior and favoritism found in any school district anywhere, only hopped up to the inth degree by power and control. Never a good thing. 

The young women are determined, resilient, and as strong as their background has made them. I immediately connected with Darcy and Tory, impulsively raging or fighting or whatever they were doing. 

This ends on a bit of a challenge for them and I can’t wait to read Ruthless Fae to see what happens next.

Highly recommended for lovers of dark urban fantasy and strong women characters. 

Zodiac Academy (12 book series):

The Awakening #1

Ruthless Fae #2

The Reckoning #3

Shadow Princess #4

Cursed Fates #5

Fated Throne #6

Heartless Sky #7

Sorrow and Starlight #8

Beyond the Veil #9

Restless Stars #10

The Awakening As Told By The Boys #11

Live and Let Lionel #12

Buy link

        Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

    

Blurb 

Amazon.com and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling dark fantasy romance series from authors Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti – a Booktok sensation!

I’m a Gemini. Impulsive. Curious. Headstrong. A twin. Heir to a throne I know nothing about. And it turns out, I’m Fae.

But of course there’s a catch – all I have to do to claim my birth right is prove that I’m the most powerful supernatural in the whole of Solaria. And sure, technically that’s true as I’m the daughter of the Savage King. But the bit they didn’t put in the brochure was that every single Fae in this Kingdom would claim my throne if they could.

The school they’ve sent me to is both dangerous as sh*t and one helluva party. Vampires bite weaker students in the corridors, the Werewolf pack has orgies in the Wailing Wood at every full moon and don’t even get me started on the dark and twisted ways the Sirens use their powers on people’s emotions, or how my sinfully tempting Cardinal Magic teacher hosts detentions that leave people needing therapy.

Classes are totally interesting if you manage to live through them. And that Gemini star sign I mentioned? It now determines my elemental magic and affects my destiny, so learning astrology is essential if I’m going to beat down my classmates – which is actively encouraged by the way.

My biggest problem is the drool worthy Dragon shifter who has his eyes on my throne. He and his three psycho friends are determined to make my time here hell.

All I’ve got to do is survive. But fate might have other ideas.

Dammit, why couldn’t I have gotten a letter to Hogwarts?

***This is a enemies to lovers romantasy – don’t go expecting a sweet school for magic with friends around every corner. Fae fight for everything they own and Zodiac Academy is a cutthroat school for students aged 18+ where only the strongest prevail. There’s no Dumbledore here to save anyone’s ass and Lionel Acrux will give Voldemort a run for his money in the evil dictator category. So hold onto your stardust (broomsticks not required) and get ready for a bumpy ride***

  • Publisher: King’s Hollow (August 2, 2019)
  • Publication date: August 2, 2019
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 420 pages

Review:  One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by Rachel Gillig

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Another new author, another absolutely amazing novel.  This one actually had me sobbing, shattered at the end, even though the author’s story and characters said it was coming. 

I’m was and am so immersed in this dark world that Rachel Gillig has created, full of mystical elements, mythical beings, and sheer terror lurking in the shadows.  Literally a magical vindictive mist that’s slowly enveloping all the woods around the town and its people , able to infect them with an  sickness that turns their blood black with a magic that will eventually kill them. By immediate discovery by the cruel King’ magic hunters or by a slow disintegration by the magic itself.

Our main protagonist is young Elspeth Spindle. Infected and hidden from the hunters by her ex hunter Father himself in his brother’s house and raised with her uncle’s family, Elspeth immediately grabs our minds and hearts. One of my favorite characters of late. 

She’s got plenty of secrets, reason to keep them and herself hidden and emotionally isolated, resourceful and, naturally mistrusting.  In Elspeth, Gilleg has crafted a stunning character. She’s quietly brilliant in her unexpected qualities, so vastly multi dimensional in the depths of her needs , that an accompanying darkness feels even more terrifying. And shattering. 

The highly complex and imaginative use of a magical Deck of Cards as a base element in the series arc and storyline is so satisfying and powerful. There’s a number of interesting aspects to this facet of the series and it’s beautifully written. 

So is the many “historical poems “ or repeated quotes from the important texts that appear throughout this book and, I imagine the next.  They contain the clues to the story and the characters dramatic moments and quests. 

That said, it in no way lessens the impact of each scene and moment as it occurs.

These are fantastic characters and impactful storylines. They are filled with pain, horror, tragedy, and death.  While Gillig has included some very funny bits of conversation and humorous moments to lighten the tone, the main themes and plots are consistently dark and gothic.

The names the author has chosen are intriguing and greatly tied into the story. I always wonder what the author is thinking when creating the characters names and towns like Blunder. The main character of Ravyn Yew, a layered well defined character and great balance for Elspeth, is one who has a meaningful name that makes sense the more the story unfolds. I love this aspect of this book. 

There’s multiple points of view but it’s absolutely necessary and well written.  Three main ones to be exact.  Instead of being distracting, it becomes an integral component of the characters and their journey. 

I absolutely adore this cover and would have been drawn to it even if I didn’t love the description already. 

I love One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by Rachel Gillig even if it left me sobbing at the end of the book. Now I’m on to see how this aspect of the story is handled in Two Twisted Crowns, the finale. 

Highly recommended and thrilled to have found this author. 

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio.

The Shepherd King Duology-complete:

🔹One Dark Window #1

🔹Two Twisted Crowns #2

Buy link:

        One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1)

    

Blurb 

For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn’t the only threat lurking.

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. 

But nothing comes for free, especially magic. 

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason. 

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

  • Publication date: September 27, 2022
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 423 pages

Review:  Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts, #1) by Carissa Broadbent

Rating: 5⭐️

I’ve recently started reading what’s called romantasy, a broad term that covers a range of tropes that, honestly, don’t involve my interpretation of romanticism. 

The War of Lost Hearts, a fantastically well written complete fantasy trilogy, is an excellent example of a that. 

Daughter of No Worlds is the first novel in the series and introduces Carissa Broadbent’s fantasy world and incredible characters.  The author dumps the reader immediately into chaos, a war torn world and the most horrifying of choices forced upon the two main characters at moments that inflicts severe pain, deep damage, and forever changes the course of their lives. 

For Tisaanah, a child who becomes a slave, her distinctive appearance and “touch of magic “ identifying her to the slavers as a Fragmented one, not a true Valtain

Too young for to be sold as a prostitute, her ability to use magic,  be a Wielder, sees her sold away from the mines and as a slave to a Master in a city. 

That’s just the end of the Prologue. And where our story begins. Tisaanah is a character so beautifully written with complex layers that slowly reveal themselves throughout the storyline. We able to feel her rage, her endless well of determination and endurance as she struggles through unbelievable humiliation and crushing cruelty to obtain her goals. 

Broadbent doesn’t shy away from the violence but while the storyline and Tisaanah refer to her own life as a woman who was assaulted by her master and as a part of her life as a slave, it’s not a on page act or memory. She very clearly has taken charge of how she’s views the path she’d having to take, and vocal about how her actions have impacted it. 

The other main character is Max, a former member of The Order and a person who, unwillingly at first, becomes Tisaanah’s teacher and mentor.   He’s not as compelling as Tisaanah at first because she’s so powerful and magnetic a personality that it takes a little bit to find the balance between them.

But the author’s writing, vividly capturing Tisaanah’s learning process when it comes to languages as well as magic, and both of them awkward in their respective roles, it just works. 

This is an epic fantasy story, one of revenge, monsters, magic and triumph over extreme tragedy.  It really doesn’t need romance, and here the slow burn romance barely gets under way. 

The potential for greatness and for even greater evil is built in every where here. That’s a fantastic element of the story and series. A character that appears to be a true friend could easily become a force for the villain. Or the villain itself.  

Broadbent is building an imaginative immersive world, one that continues to expand and evolve as the story develops.   I couldn’t put this book down. 

The cast of characters is just as powerful and fascinating as the main characters they surround. It helps sustain the beliefs that this universe exists and that our connection to it has deep believability. 

I’m immediately onto the next book . But I highly recommend reading this. BookTok has jumped all over this and I absolutely agree. I love it. 

Now a word about that cover . If I was going on covers alone, I wouldn’t have picked up the book.  It’s not as good portrayal of the character, imo, based on the author’s description. Tisaanah is a striking character. A Fragmented person, whose appearance reflects that:

“her skin and hair that was totally white, completely sapped of color, while splotches of what would have been her natural deeper coloring crawled across her skin. One green eye, one white. Streaks of dark mingling in silver hair.”

Her body is also heavily covered in scars, front and back.  That’s a person who has many unique features.The cover just doesn’t do her justice. My opinion.

Cover art by Ina Wong doesn’t work for me for very specific reasons. 

The War of Lost Hearts:

Daughter of No Worlds #1

Children of Fallen Gods #2

Mother of Death and Dawn #3

Buy link

        Daughter of No Worlds (The War of Lost Hearts Book 1)

    

Blurb 

A former slave fighting for justice. A reclusive warrior who no longer believes it exists. And a dark magic that will entangle their fates.

Ripped from a forgotten homeland as a child, Tisaanah learned how to survive with nothing but a sharp wit and a touch of magic. But the night she tries to buy her freedom, she barely escapes with her life.

Desperate to save the best friend she left behind, Tisaanah journeys to the Orders, the most powerful organizations of magic Wielders in the world. But to join their ranks, she must complete an apprenticeship with Maxantarius Farlione, a handsome and reclusive fire wielder who despises the Orders.

The Orders’ intentions are cryptic, and Tisaanah must prove herself under the threat of looming war. But even more dangerous are her growing feelings for Maxantarius. The bloody past he wants to forget may be the key to her future… or the downfall of them both.

But Tisaanah will stop at nothing to save those she abandoned. Even if it means gambling in the Orders’ deadly games. Even if it means sacrificing her heart.

Even if it means wielding death itself.

Fans of epic romantic fantasy like Sarah J. Maas and Raven Kennedy will devour this tale of dark magic, passionate romance, vengeance, and redemption.

(Note: This book contains adult material.)

  • Publisher: (January 7, 2020)
  • Publication date: January 7, 2020
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 520 pages

Review:  A Spark of Something (A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery Book 1) by Shelby Rhodes

Rating: 4.5🌈

It’s always exciting when Shelby Rhodes releases a new book, yet alone one that’s the start of a new series, but A Spark of Something (A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery Book 1) is exactly that. 

A new LGBTQIA paranormal romance thriller that has all the elements we hope to see in a Shelby Rhodes novel, it sets the foundation going forward with the characters and world building for the books to come.

It’s horrifying, sexy, otherworldly, humorous, and funny. And leaves plenty of room for exploration and expansion in this series.

It starts with a sweetheart of a person, Oliver ‘Ollie’ Cross, who lives above his family’s building, Cross Heritage Private Library.  He’s 30, orphaned from a wealthy family, and takes incredible pride and delight in sharing his love of books and the collection with children of his community and his diverse employees. And his irascible black cat, Red.

Who and exactly what Noble Vincent is, the man who enters Ollie’s life, is a major storyline and won’t be spoiled here. This is a two person POV, one of which is Noble’s. That’s important because of his type of character and history, only an inkling is implied.

Ollie’s employees are amazing and that library has wonders yet to come, I’m sure. It’s definitely got ghosts. 

I thought it was a little unbalanced in terms of character storytelling at the beginning. But that changed dramatically as the two characters met and their relationship created a new dynamic. And Ollie became aware of the otherworld. 

Noble’s element is horrifying and that, honestly, makes his quick relationship with Ollie a bit problematic for me. Rhodes has so many open opportunities for this story to move forward. And it’s just beginning to lay out the details of Ollie’s history and current situation. Nobles as well. Don’t get me started on Red and that book. 

So I’m extremely excited to see where this author goes next. Surprising, terrifying, sexy and amazing.  I’m there for it! 

Highly recommended. 

Fantastic cover design.

Cover Design: Tails Bee 

A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery:

  • A Spark of Something #1
  • Villain of My Heart #2 – Sept 30,2025

Buy link:

        A Spark of Something (A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Hello there, I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Well, if you are new, welcome. I’m Oliver ‘Ollie’ Cross, owner of the Cross Heritage Private Library, and I have a problem. Several actually. To explain the full weight of my conundrum, I feel I have to put out there that I am skeptical of all paranormal ‘things’, and always have been. Mostly, I just find the supernatural a bunch of nonsense. At least…I did…until ghosts started appearing…and my cat started talking to me… And if that weren’t enough, there is a book that constantly insults me, while claiming that I’m a witch!

So, as you can see, I have quite a conundrum on my hands, in that I…may be losing my ever-loving mind.

On a positive note, for the first time in my life, a man may actually like my tendency to babble, so…winning there? But then, Noble Vincent is perfect… Mysterious, but perfect. Though my cat doesn’t like him, and my best friend thinks he is hiding something. But if anything that’s happening is reality…my cat also lied to me my whole life…and my best friend usually thinks everyone is hiding something, so…opinions rejected!

Anyhoo, things are fine! I’m fine! What’s a few life altering events, some breakdowns, and…multiple people trying to kill me—hah… Things will be okay! I hope…

Author Note: A Spark of Something is the first book in the MM paranormal romance series, A Librarian’s Guide to Witchery, a series that is meant to be read in order. Please see inside or my website for content warnings.

  • Publisher: (January 29, 2025)
  • Publication date: January 29, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 375 pages