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Book Review: Fate of a Royal by Meagan Brandy and Amo Jones

Jul 9, 2023

Fate of a Royal ( Lords of Rathe #1) by Meagan Brandy and Amo Jones

Pages: 299
Publish date: 7 July 2023
Publisher: –
ASIN: B0CBCKSCN4
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU

“You will go to Rathe University, live among the giftless and those of light magic. You, Knight Deveraux, will learn to coexist.”

I’ve never heard more wasted words in my life. Then again, the gifted counsel never did have much to say that wasn’t. The only members amongst them who speak a thing worth listening to are my parents, the King and Queen of the Stygian’s, the people of Dark Magic.

Unfortunately for me and my brothers, they’ve chosen to play nice instead of sinking their talons into anyone who dares demand a thing from their heirs. In this instance at least.

Every gifted is forced to leave our realm behind after graduation to spend the next four years in a world that isn’t ours while pretending it’s enough for those with something deeper clawing beneath their skin.

It isn’t. Not by a long shot, and while it’s as boring as I thought it would be, we find ways to entertain ourselves.

A little Fae Dust, the power of persuasion, and it’s a party worthy of a royal … or four.

That was fun the first year, but it’s my second now, and the minute I got back to campus, I knew it would be worse than before. I felt it, that pull buried beneath my skin, the whisper of a warning deep in my mind I could hear but couldn’t reach.

It starts with a human party and ends with a fucking nightmare.

A five-foot, white-haired one.
With eyes like ice and a body begging to be bitten, she’s a problem.

A giftless one.

That’s right, she’s human.
Worthless.
And if the shadow circling my soul is telling me what I think it is … she belongs to it.
My new obsession … is my fated mate.

But there is no way the fates would give me, a Lord of Rathe, a heir to the throne of dark magic, a giftless girl.

I’ll prove they got it wrong.
That she’s not mine.

If I’m lucky, I’ll destroy her in the process.

Fate of Royal:

Thank you to Meagan Brandy and Amo Jones for a review copy of Fates of a Royal. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Before reading this book, please check the trigger and content warnings. This is an enemies-to-lovers paranormal fantasy with high spice levels, bully elements, fated mates and more.

Okay, I wanted to love this book so much. It has so much I want from a fantasy and Paranormal book. And while I didn’t love it, I still very much enjoyed it. It’s a solid 4-star for me.

If Knight wasn’t forced to come into the non-gifted world, he would have probably not crossed paths with London. And now all London and Knight seem to be doing is crossing paths. And each time they do, well let’s just say it keeps on getting hotter and hotter. What started with looks turned into something more. But life isn’t easy, and things aren’t what they seem.

As London’s life starts to take a turn and things she would have never believed before start to become a reality, Knight is struggling with the belief that something like London, a giftless is his mate. As the son of the King and Queen of Stygian, people of Dark Magic. She isn’t worthy of him. But things start to heat up fast and the more time London and Knight start to spend together the more their bond starts to form.

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

I liked London as a female protagonist in Fate of a Royal. She just has a lot of fun and didn’t really give a shit of what people thought of her and that makes it entertaining. I think her character development was well done. And with the ending of Fates of a Royal, I am very intrigued to see what happens with London and how her arc goes.

Knight is a douchebag and I love him. He is an arsehole but gosh he is hot. There isn’t much to like about him. But he is an interesting character though and that is what made me want to know more and more about him. We learn a little about him and his world, but we have barely skimmed the surface.

I would not call what these two have right now a romance. Is it intense? Yes! Is it sexy? Yes. Is it hot? Hell yes. Am I excited to see what happens between these two after the ending? Umm, yes, I need to know now!

It’s a slow start in Fate of a Royal, but I didn’t find that to be a bad thing. I thought that it was well done. It slows bought us into a world, which we don’t know too much about. And as the book goes on, we find out a little bit more here and there. I do feel at times I didn’t understand the world fully and hope we get to learn more about it in the next book.

I also don’t think a whole lot happened in this book. It felt like it was a lot of build-up for what is to come. And for me, that isn’t a bad thing either. I enjoyed character-driven and world-building quite a lot. I do feel at times there needed to be a little more action and not the sexy kind. But something a little more to drive the book.

Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

I was very intrigued by this writing duo. It’s not two people that I could even imagine writing together. I just recently read Meagan Brandy’s books, but I haven’t read anything from Amo yet. But I am excited to try. I don’t know how these two wrote Fate of a Royal, but there wasn’t anything distinctive that I could tell when they switched up who may be writing. I like that. There were times when I did feel the writing was a little clunky, but as the book went on, I felt more settled in the book and didn’t notice it as much.

Overall, I liked Fate of a Royal. A lot. I am intrigued, scared, and excited to see what the next book brings. It’s got high heat with a little bully and hate-to-love vibes. It’s a world with monsters and darkness and a lot of secrets hidden away. Meagan Brandy and Amo Jones have created a world that has caught my eye and I am excited to see where it goes. It’s not perfect, it has a few things that I didn’t like, but with how it ended, oh boy do I want to read it right now.

If you like a paranormal romance with hate to love, fated mates and a lot of spice. Fate of a Royal may be the one for you.

Have you read Fate of a Royal by Meagan Brandy and Amo Jones yet? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Nevertheless, are you loving all the paranormal and fantasy coming out at the moment? Because I know am! What are you reading at the moment? So, let’s chat!

Book Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Jun 8, 2023

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros

Pages:512
Publish date: May 2, 2023
Publisher: Piatkus
ISBN: 9780349437002
Purchase: Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

Fourth Wing:

Thank you to Hachette Australia for a review copy. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book. I did try and make this review as spoiler free as I could but a few things may have slipped.

I finished this book over a month ago now, and it’s taken me a while to get all my thoughts together. And I was so excited and nervous going into Fourth Wing. If you didn’t know already, Rebecca Yarros is one of my all-time favourite authors. I have loved every single book of hers. So when I heard she was doing a fantasy, I was fricken excited but also nervous.

But I don’t know what I was thinking, because once again Rebecca Yarros has outdone herself, and my expectations, and Fourth Wing has jumped to my favourite of her books and my favourite book of the year. I know that you are probably seeing this book everywhere at the moment, and that makes me so damn happy because I think Rebecca Yarros deserves it. Don’t shy away from reading it because of the hype.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros follows Violet Sorrengail as she begins her journey to become a dragon rider. She wasn’t supposed to be a dragon rider but her mother has other plans for her. Now she is fighting with hundreds of other candidates to become part of the elite. But being a dragon rider isn’t easy and Violet will need to fight for her life, if her own body even allows it. It’s not just the elements trying to kill her but other dragon riders as well. *cough cough* Xaden Riorson. There are only two ways to finish at Basgiath War College; die or graduate.

Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash

Violet has to be one of my favourite female protagonists ever. I have always loved how Rebecca writes her female main characters and Violet really highlights that. Throughout Fourth Wing, the reader gets to see Violet not only grow strong and find her place in this violent world but understand herself more and more. I really understood her. I adored that she never gave up, even if she wanted to. And I already want to do a re-read and really take in Violet’s growth throughout the book. She really explores herself in Fourth Wing and the reader gets to see her believe in herself more.

Violet is strong but knows her limits. She works around them. And when thrown into a situation that doesn’t seem possible to get out of, Violet works out a way. She is the type of protagonist that I am so happy reading about and I don’t think I will ever get bored of her.

Xaden Riorson? What can I say about him? He is dark, dangerous and exactly what I love. He will kill you, but he also cares so deeply. From the start, I knew I was going to love Xaden. How couldn’t I? He really stands out in this book and boy there were times when I wanted to kill him. But as the story goes on and we find out all the things that Xaden has done to protect those around him. My little heart couldn’t. I also love that he breaks for Violet. We slowly start to see him want to help protect her. Not stop her from doing anything, but help her achieve what she wants. And he does that with a lot of the people around him. He wants everyone to do their best. But he is also a man and makes some dumb decisions, and we will need to wait until the next book before I might forgive him.

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash

Now let’s get into the world. There are two ‘worlds’ in this Fourth Wing. The world of Basgiath War College and the outer ‘real’ world. For most of this book, we are exploring the world of the College. And I found that so fantastic. It’s such a layered world and if we had found out everything right at the start about the whole world it might have been overwhelming. What I loved so much about the world-building is that through Violet’s rambles and the little notes throughout the book we find out about things. We aren’t info dumped but when we need to know about the information it’s given to us nicely and slowly.

I loved how damaged this world is. How hundreds of kids want to be dragon riders and so many die before they even step foot into the college. It’s fascinating and I can’t wait to find out even more. I don’t want to talk too much here about the world-building, because it’s a complex world and I don’t want to spoil anything. But there is magic, war and lots of betrayals coming your way. But this layered world of Fourth Wing is enticing us to know more and that makes everything so much more exciting.

Now it’s time to talk about the dragons. I love them. I love that they are given human traits. It makes the emotional connection between the dragon and the rider mean so much more. We get to see so many types of dragons and the different ways that they interact with riders. I mean if a dragon just doesn’t like someone, they just torched them. This world is brutal. It’s not a nice world. They are in a war college. I just want to love I do love me a grumpy dragon.

One of the things that I don’t see talked about enough and that makes me angry and sad at the same time, is the disability rep and honestly the representation in general. I adored the disability representation in Fourth Wing. There were times when I just felt it. While it isn’t explicit throughout the book, Violet shows signs of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. A genetic condition that Rebecca herself has. What I loved about how it was explored throughout the book was that it wasn’t forgotten, but it also wasn’t just who Violet is. It’s not her disability and that’s it. I loved she was able to adapt – with a little help, but it didn’t stop her. The general representation in the book was also fantastic. It’s just there, like you know, life.

Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash

Now it’s the romance’s time to shine. This angsty, slower-burn romance is exactly what I need. It’s enemies to lovers and so much more. Violet and Xaden have so much tension between the two of them that I was waiting for the pin to drop. I loved that the reader could see the connection from the start and it just slowly built up. One of my favourite things about these two is how much Xaden advocated for Violet without even realising it. It made me so happy. He didn’t stop her. He helped her figure out ways she could accomplish what she wanted. This isn’t just about Violet and Xaden but I adored how sex-positive Fourth Wing was. It just happens. It wasn’t a big deal. They made jokes here and there but it wasn’t like this big thing.

I don’t think I will ever stop thinking about this book. I am telling everyone at work about it, I’m trying to convince every customer to read it. And my family is getting sick of me talking to them about it. But if you love dragons, fantasy with a little bit of spice. And lots of death. Then pick please Fourth Wing up. This new adult fantasy romance is one to keep an eye on. I know that this book won’t be for everyone. I wish it was. But I think a vast majority of you will love it.

Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

Overall Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros has so many elements that I have loved in a book. An angsty romance, a fantasy world that will not leave my mind and characters that took hold of my heart. Plus grumpy dragons just made my day. With a protagonist that has jumped to the top of my favourites list and a romance has me wanting more. And that ending has left me gasping and waiting for the next book. I tried to explain how much I love this book in this review and I do hope that it has come across. But I am so excited for the next one, and I cannot wait.

Have you read Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros yet? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it any time soon? What book has blown you away this year? Let’s Chat!

Dragons and Dark Romance | Mini ARC Reviews

Apr 20, 2023

It’s time for more mini-reviews and this time it’s for two arcs that I have recently read. And I cannot wait to share my thoughts with you all. So today I’m sharing my thoughts on Lies like Rubies, Part One by Poppy Jacobson and Gilded Dreams (Dragons of Sin City #1) by Thora Woods and Shannon French.

I didn’t know too much about these books before I picked them up. I’ve only read Thora Woods before so I was reading books from new-to-me authors. And by these being new books as well I hadn’t heard too much about them. So let’s get into it.

Please read all trigger warnings before picking up both books. They both have dark and quite heavy themes.

Lies like Rubies, Part One by Poppy Jacobson

I received a copy of Lies Like Rubies by Poppy Jacobson for review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings.

I didn’t know much about this book before I went, but it wasn’t what I expected. Now this isn’t a bad thing at all. I actually ended up enjoying Lies Like Rubies quite a bit. But it was different from what I had in mind. It’s dark, dangerous and very smutty. Sofia is a fascinating protagonist and I’m intrigued to know more about her. I liked that she had these moments where she needed help, but then she stood her ground and was strong.

The love interests in this one were very interesting. I liked that each of them had their own story and played their part and I cannot wait to see what they all do next.

The ending though!!! Major cliffhanger and this leaves me hanging for more. I am super excited and terrified to see what is going to happen next. I do want to say normally I am pretty good in regard to triggers and content warnings, but there were times when I was a bit taken aback so just prepare yourself for that.

Overall this is a dark crime filled why choose with heavy themes. But It’s also something you don’t want to put down. I really recommend you read some more reviews and content warnings because this book isn’t for everyone. It’s a great start to this duet and I am intrigued to read the next part.

Gilded Dreams (The Dragons of Sin City #1) by Thora Woods and Shannon French

I received a copy of Gilded Dreams by Thora Woods and Shannon French for review, this has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book before I jumped in. I’ve previously read the Pack Saint Clair series by Thora Woods and really enjoyed it, but this was very different.

I really enjoyed the whole concept of this world. It’s quite different to what I have read before and I was intrigued by how everything world. I did want a little more explanation but that wasn’t a massive deal. This is a dragon shifter Omegaverse romance with other beings.

I liked that we already had an established pack between Viktor, Felix, and Gavril. And then Lyra just knocks her way through. She doesn’t give in. She isn’t going to let them control her and she will get her way.

I do wish we did get a little more romance and connection here, but I also do think it was a great start to the series and I cannot wait to read the rest of the books. Espeically with that ending.

Overall, this book is intense and gut-wrenching at times. But it’s also funny, smutty and keeps you on the edge of your seat. If you are looking for a new omegaverse series to start that has paranormal and fantasy elements, then this is for you.

And there we go. Those are two mini reviews of arcs that I have recently read. I enjoyed both of these books and I am excited to read some more. What have you read recently? Have you read one of the books I talked about today? What did you think of them? Let’s Chat!