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Book: “Reign” by Bethan Croome
Publishing Info: Cosmo Reads, September 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: The Kingdom of Lyonesse is absent of magic but not of rain.
In the rain-soaked Kingdom of Lyonesse, magic is outlawed―punishable by death. So when Niamh’s forbidden witchcraft is exposed, she flees her rainy village disguised as a man. She never meant to end up on a battlefield.
Mistakenly conscripted into a brutal war engineered by a paranoid king against a vengeful sorceress determined to reclaim the throne, Niamh now hides another secret―her womanhood. Between fighting terrifying beasts and confronting arcane powers she once believed were merely folklore, Niamh is thrust into a world where survival relies on more than luck―it demands alliances.
In battle, Niamh must obey Prince Fitzroy, the king’s infuriatingly handsome illegitimate son and sharp-tongued commander tasked with eradicating magic. He is everything she despises…and everything she struggles to resist. Back at camp, she forges a complicated friendship with Bash, a fellow soldier who sees her like no one else does and stirs forbidden feelings that could shatter her disguise.
As war tightens its grip on the kingdom, Niamh is forced to choose: obey the prince who could expose her, trust the soldier who could love her, or embrace the forbidden magic that could save them all.
But war is merciless, and not everyone will live to see which side prevails.
Review: I’ve seen a lot of reviewers mentioning Mulan when referencing this book. And while I get it, that’s one of the most well-known examples of a “woman dressing as a man” story we really have, it’s also a very specific tale, and mentioning it every time a book features a female character dressing as a man just messes with people’s expectations. We might as well reference the “Alanna” series by Tamora Pierce or, heck, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” while we’re at it! Anyways, I’ll get off this weird soapbox and get on with the review.
By the time I finished this book, my primary feeling was that I really wished I had liked it more than I did. There were some good ideas here, and I’ll be honest that some of my struggles came down to my own preferences (we all know my feelings on love triangles by this point). But the book also struggled in too many basic ways to truly be thought of as a successful read or one that I would recommend generally to other fantasy readers.
For one thing, the writing itself was a tough read. It felt wooden and lacked any sense of a unique tone or voice. The structure felt very rigid, and the entire affair left me feeling cold and unable to connect to anything that was happening on the page. In the most basic sense, there was way too much telling throughout the entire book and not enough showing. From character development, to plotting, to world-building: it all felt like a slow progression of checklists just being tacked one upon the other.
The characterization was equally bland. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the dialogue was incredibly choppy-feeling and didn’t read in a way that felt like believable interaction. And while I could appreciate some of the basic components of these characters, they also quickly began to feel overly familiar, without much new to be added or experienced while following their stories. And, of course, this didn’t help the romance. Setting aside the multiple love interests thing, which is very much just a “me issue,” I also simply didn’t buy any of these relationships. It never felt like any true connection was built between these characters. Instead, like everything else, the reader was simply informed that a connection was there.
Overall, this was a very lackluster read. I really enjoy fantasy stories that follow a woman dressing up as a man, as I think this can explore some really interesting concepts of misogyny and the different dynamics between the sexes. But this one didn’t really do anything with all of this. Instead, the wooden and choppy writing took me out of it almost immediately, and the flat characterization prevented me from ever connecting to the story. Readers who enjoy romances with multiple love interests and who want to experience another “woman undercover as a man” story may still want to check it out, however!
Rating 6: I wanted to like this one, but everything fell just a bit short, from the characterization, to the choppy dialogue, to the flat prose.
“Reign” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases
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