Tag: Romance

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Book: “Slaying the Vampire Conqueror” by Carissa Broadbent

Publishing Info: Bramble, March 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess–her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street-rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea’s tyrannical king. But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She’s tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust… and kill him.

Atrius is a terrifying warrior carving an unstoppable path through Glaea. Yet when Sylina becomes his seer, she glimpses a dark and shocking past–and a side of him that reminds her far too much of parts of herself she’d rather forget. Sylina’s orders are clear. The conqueror cannot live. But as the blood spilled by Glaea’s tyrant king runs thicker, her connection with Atrius only grows stronger. A connection forbidden by her vows. A connection that could cost her everything.

Review: Bramble’s aggressive timeline to re-printing seemingly all of Carissa Broadbent’s back catalog is really biting into my plan to try and space these reads out! So, here we are, back with the latest, one that’s been out as an indie release for a while now and that I had been saving for a rainy day!

While I’ve definitely had favorites, I’ve always highly rated and greatly enjoyed Broadbent’s books, so I was excited to check this one out. I was particularly excited by the nature of this book, its being a stand-alone rather than part of a duology/trilogy, as many of her other titles are. And this one worked great in this format! The romance is a true slow burn, but one that resolves by the end of the book. The characters are strong enough to be introduced quickly and still pack a punch. And the world-building benefits from the various other books that are set in this same world, but still approachable to new readers, with few references to previous storylines.

Broadbent is one of those authors whose books seem to straddle the line between romantasy and romantic fantasy. They’re definitely romances, with a decent number of spice scenes and HEAs. But she also puts tons of effort into her world-building and magic system, and I think this gives the books good cross-over appeal to fantasy readers in general who enjoy a central love story. All of this to say, this was one of her best love stories yet!

I think the slow-burn nature of their relationship played out in the best way possible, with both characters coming in with their own goals and many pre-existing opinions about one another. But through the events of the story, their relationship begins forming first and foremost around mutual respect for one another’s abilities. Indeed, before the book spends much time at all with thoughts of romantic interest, we see several scenes instead of Sylina and Atrius admiring one another’s battle prowess. All of this ground work makes their eventual romance all the sweeter, as it feels as if it progresses at a natural and believable pace.

I also really loved Sylina as a character! The magic behind her blindness and the way that she interacts with the world was so interesting, from the details of her maneuvers while fighting to simple things like the ways that she and those like her connect with one another. As readers, its easy to have early suspicions about Sylina’s religion and the order that she works for. But the book does a great job exploring her slow path to questioning the way she has been brought up to understand the world, her views on authority and individual judgement, as well as autonomy. Throughout most all of her books, Broadbent has taken a keen look at religious extremism, often drawing neat but profound parallels to our current world, and this one is yet another example of this.

The book also doesn’t shy away from the violence and horror of the conflict brewing on the page. There’s a scene in the last third of the book that took me by surprise with just how grim it became. But, as this is a romance as well, things do get wrapped up with a nice HEA for our main characters. If you’re a fan of Broadbent’s work, then this is a must read! And if you’re looking for an easy entry point to her books, this is also a good place to start as it doesn’t commit you to more than one book!

Rating 9: Enticing and exciting! When you’re not busy swooning, you’ll be on the edge of your seat!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Slaying the Vampire Conqueror” can be found on this Goodreads list: Titles That “Slay”.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Note: Some long-time readers may remember that I reviewed this book 2-3 years ago. Well, T. Kingfisher has seen a surge in popularity since and, as such, many of her back catalog titles are being re-published by Tor/Bramble with new covers and marketing. (I definitely now have to versions of this book, I loved it that much!) As Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors writing today, I wanted to re-surface this review with the updated cover for those who may not be in the know!

Book: “Swordheart” by T. Kingfisher

Publishing Info: Bramble, Feb. 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: Amazon | IndieBound | WorldCat

Book Description: Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws… and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all.

Review: Once I discover a favorite author, it can only be expected that you’ll probably see a lot of reviews for them going forward. So as not to just run through them one after another, I’ve been trying to hold off on picking up a new Kingfisher novel until I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a slump. And, for whatever reason, many of my October books were a bit underwhelming. While this was a bummer, it gave me the only excuse I needed, so I immediately jumped back into the world of the Clockwork Boys with this standalone book.

You would think being left a grand estate and all the wealth and prestige that comes with that would be a blessing. But for Halla, the housekeeper turned unexpected heiress, it has lead to nothing but trouble. Hounded by the relatives of the deceased, Halla has all but given up hope of collecting on her inheritance. That is until, when trapped in a cluttered room in a mansion that should by rights belong to her, Halla draws a dusty old sword and finds…a swordsman as well? One who is enchanted to the sword and sworn to protect its wielder for the remainder of their life. But while Halla seems like an easy enough individual to protect, Sarkis, the swordsman, is in for a surprise.

I think it would be a bigger shock than anything if I read a book by this author that I didn’t enjoy. There are enough strengths in her general storytelling ability, her solid characters, and her witty dialogue that it’s hard to imagine a book that felt like a flop. There have been stories I’ve enjoyed more than others, however. So where does this one fit on that scale?

While much of the appeal of this book lay in the strength of the qualities I listed above, there were a few aspects of this story that I found particularly charming. For one thing, Halla is an “older” heroine, coming in with an age somewhere in her 30s. Kingfisher has used several older heroines like this to helm her books, and it’s something I always appreciate. Life and adventure doesn’t only come for twenty-somethings! And, indeed, we get more variety and life experience with an older lead who brings more baggage (both good and bad) to the story. Halla is an unlikely leading lady in that she starts the book out as a bewildered heiress who seems as if she may have been happier remaining a housekeeper for the rest of her life. What’s more, as the story progresses, her romance with Sarkis comes from the perspective of a woman who has already been married once and knows what’s what.

I also appreciated that this was one of the longer books I’ve read by this author. She tends to write books that come in between the 200-250 page count, just enough to be considered full novels instead of novellas, but noticeably shorter than the average fantasy novel out there. On one hands, this is a quality I love as there are so many massive fantasy tomes out there that not only don’t need to be the length they are (and are often worse for it) but the sheer amount of time it takes to read one lengthy novel necessarily limits how many one can get through. That said, I loved being able to settle in to this story a bit more than I have with past, shorter books by this author. I became highly invested in Halla’s journey towards self-worth and Sarkis’s work to restore the humanity he gave up when he became attached to the sword. We learn a lot about their personal histories, so it’s truly gratifying to see them come up against similar challenges here and make different choices.

That said, there came a point around the three quarters mark where I began to feel like the book was quite literally tracing the same road back and forth. This is played for good humorous affect, but the final go around did begin to feel a bit tedious as I began to wish that our characters could finally have something go right for them.

Overall, however, I really enjoyed this book. It was enjoyable and solid in all of the ways I’ve come to expect by this author, and I appreciated the increased page length to really soak in this particular world and these characters and their romance. Fans of this author or for those looking for a cozy fantasy novel, this is definitely a book for you!

Rating 8: Everything you could want from cozy fantasy fiction!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Swordheart” can be found on these Goodreads lists: CozySFF and Above 30 Romance Heroines.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Wooing the Witch Queen” by Stephanie Burgis

Publishing Info: Bramble, February 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian” is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange – what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? – but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well…

Little does Saskia know that the “wizard” she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he’s in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?

Review: When I requested this one, I expected a fairly straight forward fantasy romance story. If I was lucky, I was hoping the humor would click and this would nail down the “fantasy romcom” vibes that it was giving off. Not only did those things turn out well, but the book actually explored some really interesting ideas regarding gender roles and romance.

As that’s the most interesting commentary I have to offer on this book, let’s jump straight into it. It wasn’t until about a third or maybe even halfway in that I really began to hone in on the approach the author was taking in her depiction of these characters and the roles they played with regards to one another. It was incredibly subtle, but as I read, more and more I became aware of the fact that Saskia, in particular, was being presented through the lens that we are more accustomed to seeing the romantic hero through.

When thinking of Fabian, she (rightly) sees her self as the more powerful of the pair, thus often focusing on the protective feelings she has towards him. And, similar to the romance heroes we all know and love, she would often internally and out loud make threats to any who would attempt to harm him. Even down to smaller concerns with regards to his feelings and the way others treat him, she very much takes on the role of guardian. Further, when thinking of Fabian, while appreciating all aspects of him, she regards his physical form with the same sort of interest and regard that we expect to see from the male POV more often than not. For his part, Fabian plays a much “softer” role, often focused on caregiver roles, like ensuring that Saskia eats when she gets caught up in her magical work.

Interesting, this role reversal carried over into the spicy scenes as well, with Saskia taking on the more more “dominant” (though I’m not sure that’s quite the right word) role. I won’t go into details of how this all presents, but it’s the kind of thing that you’ll definitely notice if you’ve been catching these gender role swaps throughout the book earlier.

This was such an interesting take on a romantic pairing and really made me think about the sort of actions, behaviors, and even thoughts that I typically think of as “male” in romance novels. Nothing Saskia or Fabian say or do has anything to do with their sex, but it’s also clear that, as a reader, I’m used to seeing certain behaviors from only really the men and others from only really the women. Again, the biggest props of all goes to the subtly with which the author explores these themes. It’s entirely possible to read this book as a fun, romantasy romp and thinking nothing of any of these topics because the story is fun and the characters still read as completely natural and fully fleshed out.

As for the rest of the story, the other big pro that stood out was the humor. I really enjoyed the balance of the comedy with the love story and action portions. It was sprinkled into the story at just the right moments, and I feel like the tone of the comedy worked perfectly with the sort of twisted fairytale we were getting.

Some of the larger plot points were perhaps a bit predictable and derivative, but as the story doesn’t set out to be an overly complex fantasy world, I was happy with what we got. I was also interested in the two other “evil” queens we met. There were moments in this book where I found both to read a bit like caricatures (easy enough to happen with side characters who get very little ultimate page time), but there were also hints to more complexity to be found there once we get to their individual stories. We even get a mini look at what’s to come in the next book at the very end of this one, and I’m definitely looking forward to checking that one out!

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun romantasy read that hits your “Wicked”-deprived heart, this is definitely one to check out!

Rating 8: If you’re having withdrawals from “Wicked,” have I got the book for you! Swoon-worthy and laugh-out-loud funny, this book is a perfect fit for romantasy readers looking for a great twisted fairytale!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Wooing the Witch Queen” can be found on these Goodreads lists: [ATY 2025] Witches, Goddesses, or Nuns and Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2025.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “A Circle of Uncommon Witches” by Paige Crutcher

Publishing Info: St. Martin’s Griffin, February 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Doreen MacKinnon is doomed to die of a broken heart – if she can’t break the centuries old curse placed on her family.

Three hundred years ago, Ambrose MacDonald, a powerful male witch, fell in love with a MacKinnon. And when the MacKinnon witches forbade him from seeing his love, by secretly hiding her away, he retaliated by cursing the family and its future generations to never find love. But it wasn’t without a cost. Now, Ambrose is imprisoned by those same witches, trapped in a tempest and doomed to outlive everyone he has ever loved.

But Doreen isn’t like the other MacKinnon witches. As the 13th generation of the MacKinnon line, Doreen is one of the most powerful witches in centuries… and one of the loneliest. So when she discovers where Ambrose has been trapped, she releases him to help her break the curse, once and for all. Ambrose agrees to help, but with his own motive: vengeance. He plans to use her as bait to enact his revenge on her family.

Together, they enter a series of trials, which take them to a castle in Scotland, off a cliff, and into a world beyond their wildest dreams. As they work together, sparks start to fly, but soon Doreen must choose how far she is willing to go to break the curse, and what she’s willing to sacrifice.

Review: Ever since falling in love with “Practical Magic” (both the book and the movie) as a teenager, I’ve always been chasing that high with regards to romantic witch stories. Alas, I’ve never quite found the same, well, magic, for lack of a better word! But, ever hopeful, I requested this one right away when I saw it slated for publication this spring!

To start with what I did like, if you step back from the book and look at the overall plot and the grander design of the world and romance, there was a lot to like. The curse itself was interesting, especially its exploration of the morality of the choice the MacKinnons face: do they ensnare a man to love them through magic or do they choose to die young? Both of these have obvious downsides, and the added factor of manipulated feelings and the guilt that this would cause with regards to the former choice were compelling.

That said, the way this curse, these characters, and this world were first introduced was incredibly disjointed and sloppy. Instead of building up a story and a character who, over the course of the plot, would feed us the necessary information with regards to the curse, we are simply spoon-fed an explanation of the history and curse in several exposition-heaving dialogue scenes early in the book. The best word to describe it is clunky. Beyond that, because some of these greater facts are being presented so early, before I had any time to center myself in this world or care about these characters, I couldn’t truly appreciate the stakes of the curse, which should be dramatic.

Beyond that, I think the romance played out rather poorly. It walks right up to the line of instalove and then seems to tap a toe over it. Nothing is egregious, but it also wasn’t built up in a natural manner. Again, I struggled to become invested in these characters, both alone or together. At the same time, given how quickly they seemed to fall for one another, the actual progression of the romance felt very drawn out. I prefer slow-burns, but if you’re going to write characters who instantly fall for one another, I’d rather they act on that sooner rather than later. Instead, we got a rather frustrating game of hot and cold as the story continued.

There was a lot of potential to be found here, and I’d definitely check out another book by this author. I think there was a lot of potential in this world and concept, but some weakness with regards to pacing and characterization. However, if you’re looking for a fun, fast, witchy romance, this may be one to check out!

Rating 7: An intriguing concept with the magical curse, however the pacing and introduction of the world-building was clunky at times.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Circle of Uncommon Witches” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Blessing and Cursing and Witchy Women.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “A Crown So Silver” by Lyra Selene

Publishing Info: Orbit, January 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: After her sacrifice on the Ember Moon, Fia is flush with powerful magic and eager to rush into battle against her murderous sister, Eala. However, Fia’s new husband Irian suggests they bide their time and retreat to the Silver Isle, a snowy island at the edge of the fae world.

Ruled by the cunning smith-king, the Silver Isle proves far from a safe haven. Fia and Irian become embroiled in the Tournament of Kings competing for a magical forging of immense power. Their relationship will be put to the test as they navigate their conflicting motivations, shifting allegiances, and ancient magic.

With the end of the tournament looming and Eala’s threat growing, Fia must decide just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to defeat her sister.

Previously Reviewed: “A Feather So Black”

Review: This was a highly anticipated sequel for me going into 2025! I absolutely loved the first book, “A Feather So Black,” as it took me completely by surprise with its perfectly tuned fairytale vibes and ability to present both a competent heroine as well as a non-cringeworthy love triangle that resolved in a believable manner. There was also the set up for an excellent villain with the twist that came towards the end. And, well…alas.

I’m really going to try to restrain myself from devolving into an incoherent rant with this one. But man, it’s going to be hard! I would have disliked this book on its own, but as a sequel to one that I enjoyed so much?! It’s hard to swallow. To start from the more broad view, I think this is a perfect example of a series that was unnecessarily extended into a trilogy. I’m not sure if it was the publisher or this was always the author’s plan, but something went very wrong with the pacing and story-structure of this series when we got to this book.

Simply put: nothing much happens! We barely see some of the major characters from the first book (including the original love interest who by his own rights seemed to have an interesting arc set up to follow) or even much of the villain. What plot we do have devolves into what feels like an extended side quest with stakes largely disconnected from the greater conflict as a whole. And that’s not even touching the fact that the first third of this book seems to be one long string of spicy scenes, which could be fine on their own if it wasn’t for the incredibly disjointed feeling this brings to the pacing of this novel, to start so heavily in this and only this area.

This point gets to one of my major gripes, which is with the way the romance was handled. Which is to say, it wasn’t handled well at all. I will acknowledge that perhaps it is more challenging to write a romantic pairing after they have committed themselves to one another, but it is by no means impossible! Especially if you’ve already established your characters as individuals with thoughts, fears, and goals outside of the romance, as well as a greater overall threat that they must face together. Relationships don’t simply become smooth sailing the moment they get together, but at the same time, more and more romantasy authors seem to contort their characters into the most contrived positions possible all in pursuit of “tension” while at the the same time forfeiting all believability or consistency within the character themselves.

We have both main character behaving absolutely terribly to one another (often completely out of character on their own) and then, worst of all, we have the introduction of ANOTHER LOVE TRIANGLE! Look, book one got extra props for handling a love triangle in a good way. But now this one gets extra negatives for the sheer gall and lack of creativity on display in going back to the same well twice (not even the same love triangle, mind you! A completely new character is introduced!!) I almost put the book down for good once I saw this happening.

Fia also read as almost completely unrecognizable from the character we met in the first book. There, she had worked hard to gain the abilities she had, and she was aware of her limitations. Here, in one of the very first action scenes we get, we see her behaving like the most foolish of fools, complete with “snarky” comments of bravado followed by immediate regret as she realizes the idiocy of her decisions. In many ways, she suddenly read like the worst of teenage YA protagonists, rather than the adult woman she came across as in the first book.

I’m honestly not sure what happened here. My best guess still goes all the way back to what I said in the beginning, that there simply wasn’t enough story to justify this book. And, lacking any true plot, the author instead stuffed it full of angst between characters (much of which could have been resolved with frank discussions and empathy for one another) and added another ridiculous love triangle into the mix to boot.

If you enjoyed the first book, buckle in for this one! I guess if you really enjoy love triangles and romantic angst in the form of miscommunication, than you may enjoy this more than me. All I can say is that now I’m going into the third book pretty much peeping between my fingers. Will we get the hat trick of a THIRD love triangle??

Rating 5: Maybe it would have been a “6” on its own, but as it’s a massive letdown from the first book…well, here we are.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Crown so Silver” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Upcoming Sequels.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Immortal” Sue Lynn Tan

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, January 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: As the heir to Tianxia, Liyen knows she must ascend the throne and renew her kingdom’s pledge to serve the immortals who once protected them from a vicious enemy. But when she is poisoned, Liyen’s grandfather steals an enchanted lotus to save her life. Enraged at his betrayal, the immortal queen commands the powerful God of War to attack Tianxia.

Upon her grandfather’s death, Liyen ascends a precarious throne, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them—one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for.

But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal… even if it means losing her heart.

Review: While I haven’t read “Daughter of the Moon Goddess” yet, it’s been on my TBR pile for a while due to the fairly universal acclaim it was met with. That being the case, I was excited to see a stand-alone book coming out by this author this winter that I could use as a dip into this world without committing to the original duology. This can be a bit of a hit or miss plan, however, as there are only a few authors I can name who seem to produce books at the same quality level every time. Others (the normal people, one might say) will often have stronger and weaker entries in their output.

You may have guessed, from this hedging right out of the gate that I didn’t love this one as much as I had hoped. But, per above hedging, I’m still hoping to give the original duology a shot, as the author has some clear strengths that maybe just didn’t come together for this particular book. So let’s start with those positives! For one thing, I think the writing was fairly strong throughout. There was a blessed refrain from modern lingo or overly “quippy” dialogue between characters. The world was described using lush language, so much so that I think it was these descriptive moments that were the true high points of the book. However, even here, as the story continued, I felt as if I was wanting more, with some of these world-building elements and larger plot points seeming to subside beneath the weak romance at the stories heart.

As readers of this blog know, I’m a character reader. You write a great character, and I’m willing to ignore numerous other potential flaws in a book. However, the inverse is also true, where it doesn’t matter how great your world is, how high the stakes of the plot may be…if your main characters don’t hit, I’m probably going to end up not enjoying the book. And that was the biggest problem here. The book starts with a scene that is clearly meant to establish much about Liyen’s character, giving the reader the starting point to become invested in her and her travails. However, I don’t think this event really hit as hard as it needed to (I had just met most of these characters and this world, so I didn’t really care too much about any of these players.) And then Liyen was written in such a way that even if this event had worked, it would have needed to be much more powerful to combat the sheer annoyance and frustration I felt reading from Liyen’s perspective. The best I can say is that this is a very familiar character: plucky heroine who learns she’s all powerful! And, given how often I run across this protagonist, I guess there are a decent number of readers for whom that may be enough. But readers who do enjoy this character type deserve more. More of an effort to create some original and less “paint by numbers.”

The love interest was the same. Yet again, we get a dark and brooding hero who (surprise!) turns out to be misunderstood and who harbors a heart of gold. Worse, he and Liyen seem to fall almost immediately in love (seriously, I think it was around the 1/3 mark of the book that their feelings began to really take hold). And, while the book wasn’t overly quippy, there were enough cheesy proclamations of devotion (especially the ones that came early) to have me rolling my eyes. I enjoy romance, so I can get behind speeches of passion. But I have to buy it! And I didn’t here. And then, as I continued reading, the author threw in a twist towards the end that seemingly retroactively explains their instant connection. But honestly, this was the insult that really broke the experience for me. All this twist told me was that the author understood how ridiculous the characters’ love story was and that she plopped in this explanation towards the end to somehow make the entire thing plausible. Which just feels lazy. Again, romantasy readers deserve better than this.

So, I know that this got rant-y towards the end. But I think part of the problem was how much potential I saw in the general quality of the prose writing and the interesting world-building. To have all of that going for the book, and to then people it with these generic lead characters whom we’ve all read before and who fall in love immediately for no good reason (other than an obviously contrived reason given towards the end), was very frustrating. All of this said, I do still plan on giving the original duology a chance. For one thing, the fact that it is a duology and not a stand-alone book gives me hope that the romance plays out in a more extended manner. Fans of the original duology might want to check this one out, and if you’re unbothered by instalove, then definitely give it a go! But if you’re looking for something that feels fresh or pushes the boundaries at all, this probably isn’t it.

Rating 7: An interesting world and some lush prose was undone by the same lead characters we’ve read a million times before in romantasy fiction.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Immortal” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Fantasy and 2025 Fantasy Novels.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Starlight Heir” by Amalie Howard

Publishing Info: Avon, January 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: copy from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: When the gold-dusted court invitation arrives at Suraya Saab’s forge, she believes it’s a joke. Nobles might seek her skills as a bladesmith—one of few who can imbue her work with precious jadu, the last source of magic in the realm—but she has no qualifications as a potential bride for the crown prince. Still, the invitation is the chance at adventure, and the means to finally visit the capital city her late mother loved.

But what awaits her in Kaldari is nothing she could have imagined—and fraught with danger. It’s not the crown prince, but his impossibly handsome, illegitimate half-brother, Roshan, who draws her interest…and her ire. The invitation isn’t a quest to find a suitable bride, but a veiled hunt for the starbringer—a girl rumored to hold the magic of the stars in her blood. And across the city, unrest is brewing between the noble houses and the rebel militia.

When the rebels carry out a brutal strike, Suraya and Roshan find themselves on the run, trying to deny their simmering attraction and the knowledge that Suraya herself might be the starbringer. But Roshan is hiding secrets of his own. And with no control of the power that seems to be stirring within her, Suraya has drawn the attention of the old gods themselves…and the interest of one dark god in particular might be the biggest threat of all.

Review: Not going to lie, a major appeal point for this book was the beautiful cover! So all props to the artist who put this together! I was also excited by the general premise of the story, especially a story focusing on a female blacksmith and all of the potentially badass moments that could exist for a character like that. On top of all of that, I was simply excited to see this marketed as an adult fantasy novel, as I’ve struggled more and more to find books that fit within this category, with most fantasy falling in either YA or romantasy subgenres. So, let’s dive into what the book actually had to offer!

Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite work for me, all the more frustrating because I think the author had the bones of a good story here. First and foremost, the world-building was interesting, especially everything that drew from Persian culture and history. I particularly enjoyed all portions of the story when we really got a chance to dig into some of these aspects of the world; unfortunately, these bits were few and far between. There were even some glaring missed opportunities to explore this further, particularly with some of the fashion choices at the ball scenes early in the book.

This ball scene also lead into one of my primary points of struggle with the story: it felt like the author couldn’t fully commit to what sort of story she was trying to write. The first thirty percent or so of the book is taken up with this rather silly bride competition (not sure how an author can make that concept NOT silly, especially in an adult book, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong if someone can provide an example!). But then, as the story progresses, we quickly learn that the entire premise of this competition was completely pointless and the story switches gears into a much more action-packed adventure story. The bride competition would likely have always been a bit of struggle point for me, but it was all the worse when it was immediately undercut in this way. Further, the overall pacing of the book felt very strange, with the first bit so fully committing to a much slower “Bridgerton”-esque style plot and then, with whiplash inducing speed, changing pace completely into a high stakes adventure.

As for the characters, I will say that I appreciated that the romantic lead was not of the brooding sort, and instead a much more light-hearted character. I swear, if I read one more romantasy title where the hero is a shadow daddy with black hair and grey eyes, I’m going to swear off the subgenre for many moons. That said, I did feel that this character’s attachment to our heroine walked right up to the line of instalove, coming on very quickly and with very little real foundation to it.

I was much more frustrated with Suraya, however. Part of this comes down to the unfortunate dialogue often given to the character, her speeches chock full of modern lingo that grated on my nerves every time I came across it. At best, this style of dialogue gives me secondhand embarrassment for the author, and at worst, I’m actively cringing. Luckily, by the second half of the book, the story has picked up its pace to the point that the dialogue needed to be devoted to actual plot points, thus reducing these lingo bits. However, throughout it all, I also found myself just wanting…more from Suraya. Her entire concept is one of power and potential, and yet, again and again, she comes across as unable to think for herself or make a decision on her own without reference to those around her. She also spends way too much of her internal musing focused on Roshan’s looks, to the point that it began to be distracting from the rest of the story.

Overall, I didn’t love this book. I feel like the pacing was disjointed and the heroine was let down by poor dialogue. That said, it was also quite readable and I whipped through it fairly quickly. It also reminds me of a lot of other popular romantasy titles that are currently fairly beloved, so I think there are definitely readers out there! I’ll say, it you, too, are tired of brooding heroes, this one might be worth checking out just for the change of pace in the romantic lead!

Rating 7: While there was potential in the world-building and certain plot twists, I struggled with the modern dialogue and the weaker characterization of the heroine.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Starlight Heir” can be found on this Goodreads list: Romantasy 2025