Tag: Romantasy

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Book: “Burn the Kingdom Down” by Addie Thorley

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, April 2026

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

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

Book Description: One year ago, Rowenna Harrack, the crown princess of Tashir, left her homeland in a wedding dress of chains—sent away to the enemy nation of Vanzador as a captive bride.

Now, Rowenna is dead. Brought home in a coffin after an alleged fall from a cliff.

Second-born princess, Indira, knows her sister’s death was no accident. Desperate for truth and vengeance, Indira agrees to wed the prince so she can infiltrate Vanzador, find Rowenna’s murderer, and burn their kingdom to the ground.

Indira’s plan is simple, she will make nice until she can find out how to avenge her sister and free her country from the rival nation’s stranglehold. But when Indira arrives, nothing is as terrible as Rowenna described. As Indira grows closer to her new husband, Prince Alaric, and uncovers more about Vanzador, the source of its powers, and what happened during Rowenna’s final days, she’s no longer sure what—and who—to believe. Because everyone, even her sister, has secrets. Deadly ones.

Review: This one wasn’t actually on my radar at all until it randomly showed up on my door, but the book description sounded interesting. And, well, we all know that I’m a sucker for sister stories, so even if the sister in question seems to die immediately to set up the plot itself, it’s still an intriguing driving force for our FMC.

So, this was a fun enough read. What probably stands out the most was the mystery aspect of the story, which you don’t often get in romantasy books these days. That being the case, the plot structure of this one felt very different than the typical action-oriented romantasies with the “stabby” heroines doing their “stabby” thing every second of the day. Instead, the story focuses down much more narrowly on the political situation that Rowenna finds herself in, the myriad dynamics going on between the players at court, and her attempts to unravel exactly what happened to her sister.

This did lead the middle of the book to drag a bit, with the plotting and pacing feeling like they were bottoming out at times. Rowenna spends much of this period of the book circling around the same questions with only the barest hints of any progress to be found. As the story is a slower experience as a whole, this didn’t bother me overly much, but it did feel as if it could have benefited from some editing to tighten up the plot to only what is necessary.

Of course, alongside this slower structure, the romance itself was a slow-burn affair. These are my favorite kinds, so I was happy enough to follow along as our characters slowly began to trust and care for one another. I thought the author did a decent job using this slow-burn approach to build up the tension between the two, and the payoff, when it came, was well worth the wait.

That said, neither of these characters stood out to me particularly. Again, neither was a bad character, but I also never felt deeply invested in them or their burgeoning relationship. The author relied a bit too heavily on simply telling readers how Rowenna was feeling for me to ever have the chance to fully try to understand her, and in the attempt, grow to care about her.

I think this was a decent romantasy read, however! Readers who enjoy political fantasy with court intrigue will enjoy the general plot, and romance lovers who enjoy slow-burn love stories will likely be pleased with the way that portion of the story plays out.

Rating 8: It didn’t blow my socks off, but in a very crowded romantasy field, this one did a great job of introducing a mystery and a true slow-burn love story into the standard plot we’ve come to expect from this sort of book.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Burn Down the Kingdom” can be found on this Goodreads list: April 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases

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

Book: “Mother of Death and Dawn” by Carissa Broadbent

Publishing Info: Bramble, March 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: 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.

Previously Reviewed: “Daughter of No Worlds” and “Children of Fallen Gods”

Review: At this point, I’ve read a few different duologies from this author, as well as a few standalones. Looking back, I think the standalones are the strongest of the group, mostly because both of the series fell off a bit in their final book. Still great reads, of course, but with a few hiccups with pacing and plotting. So, while I really enjoyed this book, it does reinforce this idea: this is a good book, but it’s not as strong as the ones that came before it and once again stumbles a bit in its landing.

But let’s start with the unqualified good things, and that is mostly the characters! Max and Tisaanah remain excellent, both as separate characters experiencing their own arcs throughout this story and as a couple working toward their romantic resolution. And, like both of the previous books, this story doesn’t go easy on them. Both experience some truly traumatic things, and it’s only through the force of their will (and in Tisaanah’s case, her unceasing hope) that they pull through. They are motivated not only by the betterment of those around them, but also to get through their challenges to be there for one another. Amidst all of the darkness and trauma, there’s a truly lovely romance here, and I enjoyed the heck out of it.

As for the other characters, I have mixed feelings. I truly appreciate the inclusion of the villain arcs for Aefe and Caudan. It’s rare for an author to truly make me understand and sympathize with a villainous character. There’s a bunch of drama and angst here, which is an interesting contrast to Max and Tisaanah’s steady, solid love. However, I also felt like Aefe’s chapters were retreading a lot of ground from the first book, hitting repetitive emotional beats and, overall, simply a bit lackluster in comparison to the rest. Perhaps some simple editing—cutting these down to what was truly necessary—would have helped.

I also think the pacing was fairly uneven. The story starts off incredibly slowly and takes a while to truly build momentum. By the midpoint of the book, things begin to pick up. But then, once we get to this point, the book becomes a whirlwind in which one thing after another happens back-to-back in a way that left me looking for an emotional touchstone to connect back to the characters, the obvious heart of the story. Much of what I’ve just written sounds almost word-for-word like my experience reading her latest book in the Nyaxia series. It’s an odd thing, to be both too slow and also too much at times in the same book.

However, this was still a solid read and an excellent conclusion to the trilogy. I really loved following Tisaanah and Max’s story especially, and I think their romance is one of my favorites from Broadbent. If you enjoyed the first two, this is definitely a must-read! And, overall, this is a great fantasy romance trilogy for those looking for love stories that don’t skimp on the world-building and epic stakes of fantasy novels.

Rating 8: A bit of uneven pacing throughout, but the strong characters and swoon-worthy romance make it all well worth it!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Mother of Death and Dawn” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.

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

Book: “The Half-Hearted Queen” by Charlie N. Holmberg

Publishing Info: 47North, March 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: Nym never told Prince Renn she loved him. And now, as a captive and political pawn to the ruthless King Nicosia, Nym finds herself guarding more than her forbidden feelings for Renn as the kingdoms of Cansere and Sesta clash and the bloodshed of war rages. Nym’s connection to Renn is more than just romantic—it’s magical, and King Nicosia will stop at nothing to find Renn’s weakness and claim the kingdoms as his.

Now Nym must find a way to escape the cruel and twisted fate of imprisonment as she faces the unimaginable horrors and dangerous secrets hidden within King Nicosia’s palace walls. With the succession of kings on the line and a dangerous prophecy unfolding, Prince Renn faces his own impossible choice. The future of the throne hinges on a political alliance that means forsaking his love for Nym. If he can’t fulfill his destiny and unite the kingdoms, King Nicosia will destroy them all.

Previously Reviewed: “The Shattered King”

Review: Ok, let’s just get this out of the way from the start: I absolutely adored this duology. There, review spoiled and we can all go on our way! But seriously, this duology really took me by surprise. Like I said in my last review, I had read a book by this author previously, but while I enjoyed it, it didn’t blow me away. But man, she really came with this new book, writing a fantasy romance that feels tailor-made for me!

The story picks up directly after the events of the first book (so mild spoilers if you haven’t read that one), and things are looking bleak. Nym and Renn’s sister is captured by enemy forces and taken deep into enemy territory. Honestly, I was surprised by how dark this book went in this portion, and it’s not a small portion either! There’s probably a solid third of the book that is taken up by Nym’s travails and the ways in which she copes with and deals with the situation she finds herself in. But while these scenes were definitely tough to read at times, they also deeply reinforced what an awesome lead character Nym is.

Her strength is unparalleled, alongside her cool-headed evaluation of the truly desperate situation she finds herself in and the limited options before her. She’s badass in the more realistic ways, the kind that rely on true strength of character in the face of horror. Through this portion of the book and the fallout of these experiences, the author does an amazing job dealing with themes regarding pain, PTSD, and resilience. Nym’s experiences aren’t gotten over easily, but we also follow a character whose strength leads her to rise to meet any and all challenges placed before her.

Readers should also be aware that due to these circumstances, it takes quite a while for our two lovebirds to be reunited. And even then, their path forward is littered with new challenges. I loved the development of this romance and the obstacles they faced. Nothing felt like unnecessary angst or silly miscommunication drama. Instead, the conflict was rooted in their circumstance and the dire state of the war. Renn was such a great love interest throughout this book, and there were a bunch of moments between them that were peak romance for me.

The book also gets more into Renn’s story in the second half, and here, again, the author carefully digs into warfare, violence, and the scars that even justified killing leaves on a person. For Renn in particular, an individual who had been sequestered from participating in the world for so long, these new roles are particularly challenging.

I also really enjoyed the deeper look into the magic system. Nym’s choices at the end of the last book opened up a completely new pathway for the magic system of this world, and I loved learning more about how this worked. The story also addressed the tension between magic users and the rest of the population, noting that it’s not as easy as waving a magic wand to make both groups work well together.

Overall, this was a fantastic sequel and a great conclusion to this duology. I enjoyed the heck out of my read, and if forced to ding it in any way, it would be that it wrapped up too quickly!

Rating 9: Absolutely brilliant! The Half-Hearted Queen manages to be both deeply romantic while also dealing with some incredibly dark themes in a careful, intentional manner.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Half-Hearted Queen” can be found on these Goodreads lists: My favorite Medieval Fantasy novels and A book with a character who has curly hair.

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

Book: “A Rose of Blood and Binding” by Claire Legrand

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, February 2026

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

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

Book Description: The battered Middlemist can barely hold itself together. Olden monsters terrorize the land. The gods are awakening from their ancient slumber, but if the vengeful Kilraith destroys them, all will be lost. And it’s up to the Ashbourne sisters—demigods, daughters of the goddess Kerezen—to stop him.

But the sisters are spread thin. Gemma and Talan travel the world in a desperate search for the gods. In the capital, Farrin and Ryder shelter countless refugees amid roiling unrest. And Mara Ashbourne, bound to the Middlemist and longing for a home she can never return to, is just trying to survive.

Every day is chaos as Mara battles invaders and fights to protect her fellow Roses. The presence of librarian Gareth Fontaine—assigned to aid the Roses’ war efforts—doesn’t help. Charming, brilliant, far too confident, and annoyingly reverent of the Roses—Mara most of all—he’s a distraction Mara can’t avoid or afford. Especially since she can see the shadows of Mhorghast brimming underneath his dazzling smile. Shadows of violence and shame that she knows all too well. Shadows that terrify her more than any monster.

As Mara and Gareth search the Old Country for Kilraith’s final three curse-anchors, a slow-burning passion born of sorrow and solace sparks between them, one that could finally bring Mara to the very home she longs for…or drive her toward the dark fate she secretly craves, and bring both worlds crashing down alongside her.

Previously Reviewed: “A Crown of Ivy and Glass” and “A Song of Ash and Moonlight”

Review: I’ve had a bit of a bumpy ride with this trilogy. Overall, I kept wanting to really love it, but finding myself struggling more often than not. My biggest stumbling block was the main characters in both of the first two books, each seeming to merge into the same self-loathing, fairly whiny person when all was said and done. And here, in the last book, we finally got to follow Mara, the brave warrior daughter who has been an absolute hit during her cameos in the other books. The thought of her getting the same treatment…oof.

But before I get into all of my feelings there, let’s go over other parts of this book and how it holds up as a novel itself and as a conclusion to this trilogy. First of all, I want to again go back to the often-visited trough of writing quality with regards to this trilogy. Like the first two books, this one was tightly written, balancing both detailed world-building and some truly poetic quieter moments of inner reflection. For a series that has dealt so strongly with mental health issues, I want to commend the author for exploring some truly complicated subjects without getting caught up in purple prose or simply telling readers about these struggles, rather than showing them on the page.

Further, I enjoyed the epic nature of much of the plot. As the trilogy has progressed, the world and lore have greatly expanded, so much so that by this book, we are dealing with gods and their fallout so often that it makes the political dramas of the first book seem a bit trite in comparison. Just remember, the first book was likened to “Bridgerton”…. And then here, by the end, we’re fully in epic fantasy with massive, galactic conflict taking up the majority of the plot. It’s truly a wild swing, but one that I think Legrand pulls off well. I’d definitely read more epic fantasy from her!

Unfortunately, I once again struggled with the main character and the romance. At this point, I think these books just aren’t for me as far as my own preferences go with character reading and romance. Critically, however, I do think that the manner in which Legrand explored important mental themes ultimately resulted in her writing three characters who not only sounded very similar, but all dealt with (or didn’t deal with) their individual mental health struggles in exactly the same way. All three: pushing away those they love, incredible levels of self-loathing, an unfortunate tendency to come across as whiny in their own narratives. It was incredibly frustrating each and every time, and all the more so here.

Mara’s story is clearly tragic, being taken away from her family so young and the scars this would leave on her psyche. Further, I loved the exploration of her relationship with the Warden, a deeply unhealthy bond of manipulation and dependence. But for all of these unique factors, and the fact that we’ve had two other books in which to see Mara presented as a strong, brave warrior character, Mara’s narration sounded almost exactly the same as the previous two characters. I can’t speak to every aspect of mental health that has been covered in these books, but from a writing level, it’s frustrating to see these topics covered in a way that now only seems repetitive. Mara’s experiences of her struggles are almost identical to her sisters’, and her arc through the story thus feels incredibly familiar and tired. What’s more, people are more than their mental health struggles, and I have to imagine that different people will respond differently to different challenges. But here we had essentially a bait-and-switch where everything we saw about Mara before was wiped away beneath the burdens of yet more self-loathing and self-isolation, just like the other two.

As for the romance, I was a bit lukewarm on this as well. There was nothing wrong with this relationship, but I do think it suffered a bit in comparison to the more deep and intricately complicated relationship we saw between Mara and the Warden.

Overall, this book was only fine, and I’m truly sad to say it. I was very nervous going in and, unfortunately, that now feels well warranted. Like I said, I do think Legrand is a strong writer, and I enjoyed her character work with pretty much any character whose head we were NOT in at the moment. I’ll definitely consider giving her books another chance, but if there is another strong focus on mental health (for all that it’s a worthy topic!), I might have to pass. I’ve already read that book three times now.

Rating 7: As an epic fantasy, I think this succeeds. But on a character level, I struggled in the same way I did with the first two.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Rose of Blood and Binding” can be found on these Goodreads lists: All the New Romantasy Books Arriving in February 2026 and “Bind” Titles.

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

Book: “Crown of War and Shadow” by J.R. Ward

Publishing Info: Bramble, February 2026

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

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

Book Description: The Fulcrum is failing, and demons are slipping into the mortal world, stalking the night. No one is safe. Especially not Sorrel. An orphan and an outcast, she’s spent her whole life within the walls of her small village, ostracized for her mystical abilities. She wants to survive…and maybe find somewhere she can call her true home. But Fate has other plans.

Sorrel has been chosen. Cursed. She must cross the Badlands to return the Queen’s crown and convince the fearsome female to save their world from destruction. Well aware she’s no brave hero, Sorrel makes a dangerous deal with Merc, a brooding, commanding mercenary known only by his unscrupulous profession. The deal? A night in his bed that she will never forget, in exchange for her safe passage. But Merc has secrets of his own, and even though passion runs hot between them, enemies are around every corner, and danger and betrayal threaten at every turn.

Review: One of my fellow book club librarians is a big fan of this author, so I’ve been wanting to check out her books for a while. That said, her primary series is, uh, long. So I was excited to see she was releasing the first book in a brand new series this spring, an excellent place to jump in!

Overall, this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. That said, I can definitely see the author’s strengths, so without having read her other books, I can’t say whether this was a diversion from quality or not. But to start, her writing is incredibly “readable” right from the start. Readers are quickly brought into this world and given enough information about it, its history, and our main character to quickly become invested in what was going on. So much so that there was one side character who, I believe, only appears in one brief scene who later brought me to tears, all in the first quarter of the book!

I also liked the broad strokes of Sorrel’s character. Unlike many romantasy heroines, she didn’t actively annoy me much of the time. That said, she also fell into a few too many silly tropes. We have her repeatedly denying her own beauty, impulsively throwing herself into dangerous situations where she is actively unskilled, and then miraculously discovering previously unknown abilities, etc., etc. You get the gist. It was all quite familiar and predictable, if still well executed overall.

I did enjoy the slow reveals of her history, even if it felt like these were too easily telegraphed at times. Naturally, it doesn’t make sense for Sorrel to put things together as quickly as the reader, but it was still frustrating to watch her stumble around for as long as she did. Part of this speaks to the pacing issues I had, however. This is a long book, and by the middle portion, I was definitely feeling it. The mysteries that had been hinted at were still only the barest brushes, even if the reader was already a mile ahead of things. And instead of making progress, the book became bogged down in tedious traveling adventures. Sure, there were action-packed scenes happening on the page, but the actual plot itself felt mired in tedium.

This was then contrasted by the breakneck speed of the romance, which jumped immediately into insta-lust on both sides. I liked the general idea of the MMC; he even had some interesting backstory that I enjoyed learning about. But the story opened with a truly ridiculous misunderstanding between these two characters and proceeded to just…go with it. The entire thing could have been cleared up so easily, and it was just such a stupid element that was thrown in as a wrench between these two understanding each other. Honestly, I rolled my eyes so many times at both of these characters.

Overall, I didn’t love this book. The author is clearly talented, and I think there are the bones of a good story to be found here. Unfortunately, this was badly in need of an editor to trim down the fat and focus the story on the plot that actually mattered. With some adjustments to pacing, both of the romance and the actual plot, this could have been a much more fun read. That said, I’d guess that this will still hit well for fans of this author, so if you’ve enjoyed her other books, this is probably for you!

Rating 7: At least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be, this book is a key example of failing to follow the mantra “sometimes you get more with less.”

Reader’s Advisory:

“Crown of War and Shadow” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2026 and 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases.

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

Book: “Silver & Blood” by Jessie Mihalik

Publishing Info: Avon, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: There’s something in the woods…

Untrained and barely armed, Riela reluctantly agrees to enter the forest and kill the deadly beast that has been attacking her fellow villagers as she’s the only mage available—or so she thought. When one beast turns into two, she fears her death is at hand, but unexpected aid from a scarred, strikingly handsome man with dangerous moonlit magic means a second chance at life—and an opportunity to learn more about her own fickle power.

After being rescued and healed from her fight in the forest, Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. Riela soon learns Garrick is not a mortal mage at all—he’s a powerful Etheri sovereign who has been locked out of his kingdom in Lohka for nearly a century, and his powers are weakening.

Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the treacherous woods, the spark of attraction between Riela and Garrick slowly ignites into fiery desire. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets connecting Riela’s past to Lohka, the tenuous threads of trust between them begin to fray because Riela’s life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything Garrick has lost.

Review: I’ll be honest, I was sucked in on this one by the cover art. I don’t often love character art on covers, but something about this one was working for me! The book itself, while not terrible, didn’t hit quite as strongly.

I will say, it started off well. The plot takes off as if its life depends upon it, leaving the reader feeling swept along in a story that has already begun. There were numerous action scenes in the first few pages, and Riela’s POV added an intriguing element. She came across as competent, while also not slotting into the played-out “snarky badass” category. Indeed, I was pleased to see that she recognized that she was out of her depth several times early on.

Unfortunately, after the blistering pace of the first few chapters, once Riela reaches the enchanted castle and meets the MMC, the book seems to run smack-dab into a brick wall. Any pacing or tension that was built up immediately drained away, and the plot began circling the same few beats, chapter after chapter. Riela would explore the castle, look for food, have a brief interaction with the overly mysterious and withdrawn MMC, and then rinse and repeat. This took up the majority of the book, ultimately, with things only picking up again towards the final quarter of the story.

Further, once the pace slowed down and the plot became repetitive, I was left with too much time to think through the ins and outs of this world. And very quickly, much of it began to feel slightly derivative and unimaginative. I enjoyed the “Beauty and the Beast” vibes that made up the basic premise, but I was left wanting a bit more from almost every part of the book by the time we got to the end.

That said, I think the writing itself was fairly strong. Like I said, the book starts off strong, and the main character was written in a compelling manner. I didn’t hate my reading experience by any means, and I’ll definitely check out another book by this author. This just missed the mark a bit, unfortunately. That said, if you’re looking for a romantasy book that checks some familiar fairytale boxes and includes solid writing, this one might be for you!

Rating 7: While the writing and characterization were strong, there simply wasn’t enough plot or pacing to hold the story together through the lagging middle portion.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Silver & Blood” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Romantasy TBR 2026 and 2026 Fantasy Romance Releases.

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

Book: “The Shattered King” by Charlie N. Holmberg

Publishing Info: 47North, September 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: bought it!

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

Book Description: The kingdom of Cansere is on the brink of war. Young men are conscripted from their homes, and a royal decree from the queen has made healing the only legal form of craftlock. Nym, a healer and beekeeper, is the sole provider for her family of seven now that her younger brother has been sent to the warfront. But when a letter comes from the queen, summoning Nym to the palace to heal Prince Renn, the kingdom’s ailing shut-in, Nym finds herself making the tumultuous journey from her family’s apiary to the capital city. Nym is determined to fail the queen’s mission and return to her younger siblings as soon as she can.

But escaping the castle’s hold isn’t as easy as failing a simple test. Prince Renn is cold and distant, and his illness is nothing like Nym has ever seen before, nothing she could ever imagine treating. In a moment of connection with Prince Renn, Nym manages to remedy the faintest symptom of his ailment―only to discover that no healer before has made such progress. Forced to become the prince’s official healer and a ward of the castle, and with her only hope of returning to her family hinging on the prince’s recovery, Nym must navigate the castle’s cruel and twisted court and uncover the haunting truth behind Prince Renn’s illness―even as she finds herself irrevocably drawn to him.

Review: I read and reviewed a book by this author back in 2017, The Paper Magician, but I’ll be honest, as much as I enjoyed that read at the time, I fell off on tracking the author further. This book only ended up on my radar because it was mentioned by a fellow reviewer who has similar taste as I do with regards to fantasy romance.

I absolutely adored this book! It’s rare that I turn the last page on a book and want to then turn around and re-read it immediately, but that was the case here. There were simply so many great things about it! But I think, looking back, one of the things I appreciated the most was the fact that books like this are proof positive that you can write a compelling romance without compromising on other important elements, notably world-building, magic systems, and complicated supporting characters. So, while the romance was one of my favorites as well, it was the strength of these three foundational elements that really raised it above the rest!

The world-building and magic in this book were fantastic. The basic concepts were familiar: magic users who fall into three categories (healing, mind-reading, compelling), who are feared and persecuted to some extent by the nations that house them. But the ways in which this magic was explored, particularly the healing abilities of our main character, were so interesting. Indeed, the author commits a fairly significant amount of page time to exploring how exactly this magic system works, with numerous scenes going into the strengths and limitations of Nym’s abilities. This devotion to detail is then paid off by incredible twists and turns that only come into play late in the book and wouldn’t have worked had the reader not been given a good understanding beforehand.

Further, I really enjoyed the political elements. Much of this was built up in this book and looks to be coming to the forefront in the sequel. But even here, what made much of these political scenes work was the fact that the author took the time to develop these secondary characters in a way that readers were given plenty of time to form opinions and theories about them and their motivations. So then when added layers are revealed or complicating factors introduced, the reader is invested enough to care what happens to them, even if they are not the main characters. Even characters that I thoroughly despised had me on the edge of my seat towards the end!

But, of course, the story really lives and dies on the strength of the romance and the two characters involved. The story is told fully from Nym’s perspective, something that I prefer! Too often I feel like the inclusion of both POVs is used as a crutch by authors to simply tell readers how both parties are feeling, rather than taking the time to show us, as is necessary when the reader only has access to one character’s inner thoughts. Beyond that, the book takes its time revealing Nym’s full history. There are many references to major events in her past, but this information is carefully doled out throughout the book. I love this approach! The author trusts that readers will be invested enough to want to get to know this character further, rather than being spoon-fed her entire history and character motivation right from the get-go.

And Renn was everything I love in a romantic lead! The story is a true slow-burn, with Renn only gradually coming to understand his own shortcomings and the reality of Nym’s experiences. But once he does, boy, is he great! This is solidly a “he falls first” romance, and the author takes full advantage of all the tension and longing that this setup allows. It’s so refreshing to read a romantic lead who is not brooding or overly secretive, but instead is direct about what he wants. And the limitations holding the relationship back are solidly grounded in the realities of the characters and the world, not clearly orchestrated angst that could be solved with a quick conversation.

I will say, the book does end on a fairly major cliffhanger! But never fear, the second book is coming out in a few short months, and I already have my e-ARC in hand! We’ll see how long I can hold out, but if things continue in this direction, I think this duology will easily earn a spot on my Top 10 for next year! If you enjoy fantasy romance with solid character work that doesn’t skimp on the actual fantasy elements, then this is definitely one to check out!

Rating 10: Absolutely brilliant! A perfect melding of the best of both worlds in the fantasy and romance genres!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Shattered King” can be found on these Goodreads lists: My favorite Medieval Fantasy novels and All the New Fantasy Books Arriving in September 2025.

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Book: “A Heart So Green” by Lyra Selene

Publishing Info: Orbit, January 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: After the explosive finale of the Tournament of Kings, Fia and Irian manage to escape to the wildlands, dodging pursuit by her cunning sister Eala. With Fia locked in her own mind, battling a powerful celestial entity, Irian must form new alliances to come up with a plan to defeat Eala’s terrifying magic.

With both the human and fae realm under threat, Eala’s rampage must be stopped, no matter the cost. On Bealtain Eve, when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, Fia and Irian will finally face off against the swan princess and forge the ending to their love story that was written in the stars.

Previously Reviewed: “A Feather So Black” and “A Crown So Silver”

Review: Surprise! I’m back with another review for this trilogy! After my…less than enthusiastic response to book two, I was really wavering on finishing off the series. But Orbit was kind enough to send me a copy, so I thought, why the heck not. Better to be a completionist in this instance and finish up the series.

And while I still didn’t love this one, I was at least better prepared for what I could now expect and ended up enjoying it a bit more. I’ll preface the entire review by saying that I think the first book was by far the strongest and that had the trilogy lived up to that initial potential, this could have been excellent. Unfortunately, many of the choices with regards to the romance and the main character’s arc were very much not to my preference, both in the second book and this one.

This book added perspectives to the story, ending up with a total of four. On one hand, this, blessedly, meant less time spent in Fia’s mind (frustrating) or Irian’s mind (boring). However, on the other hand, neither of these added POVs felt truly necessary to the plot. Like the second book, throughout the entire reading experience I was left asking, “why?” Again, it felt like the author was padding out this book with drawn-out side quests, meandering thought spirals, and heaping piles of angst.

What it didn’t have, however, was a compelling or tied-together plot. Many of the characters and world-building points that were established in the first book were still left hanging with very little resolution here. The pacing, especially in the first half, was glacial, waiting for Fia to solve her particular quandary and being stuck in Irian’s head as he moped over her loss. Things picked up a bit after that, but even then, the plot quickly devolved into seemingly disconnected side quests. And then it ended in a surprisingly tragic and unfulfilling manner, the likes of which I think will frustrate many readers, even those who may have enjoyed book two more than me.

By the end of this one, I’m not sure if the author was pushed to extend a shorter book into a trilogy or whether she simply never had a good handle on what this story was truly meant to be about. The solid characterization and interesting world-building that were established in the first book seemed to fall off a cliff in the second book and never recovered. It almost felt like two different authors wrote the first book and then book two and three. I did bump this one up a notch from my rating for book two, mostly because I think Fia was at least somewhat improved by the end of this book. But I still found this entire trilogy to be incredibly disappointing given how much I loved the first book.

Rating 6: A truly baffling trilogy where the first book stands miles above the second two, and we are left with a tragic, confused ending to the story here in the final chapter.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Heart So Green” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.