Savannah Davis

WOW! I want to say I couldn't expect better after the first, but I was wrong. This one was even better! This one had me all over the place. Again, devoured. Nisha left no crumbs with this one again! I won't keep y'all too long, so I'll be quick.

First off, I want to thank Nisha, again, for gracing us with this wonderful book & second, for using words the readers want to read/see in sex scenes, especially in fantasy romance books. Those would be cock, pussy, clit, wet, thrust, back of throat, swallow. You got my heart!

• Lor: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Continues to grow and is still that bad-ass I love from the first book.
• Nadir: 🥵 👅👅👅 Listen, if you know, you know. I love him so much!
• The Aurora King: F that hoe!
• Atlas: F that hoe, too!

This book had it all for me. A strong FMC & MMC. Tension building & building & building. Romance. A MMC obsessed with the FMC. Sex, spice, tension (again), regret. "Say you're mine." It was giving shifter/wolf mates AND I'm here for it. I'm here for it all. Nadir's so smart, too. He's actually very cunning to be plotting against his dad and coming up with plans. Only complain is I wish Lor would come up with more plans instead of looking to him or her brother, Tristan, but she does in the end. So I was happy with that. She does have very limited knowledge of the world, so it's understandable she is relaying on someone who knows the world more. The tension and spice between them is hot, hot, hot. That BJ had me looking like 🤤🥵.

The world was very intriguing! We got to know more about the different kingdoms & especially The Aurora. We also got to see some histoy of Serce and Wolf in parallel to Lor and Nadir. Let me just say, Wolf and Serce were hot & crazy. Wolf was bending Serce over that table, and I had to take a minute because I was squealing. I love a man that backs his woman. Even when she's trying to burn down the world. haha

Buckle in for a wild ride again with this one because very second is pretty crazy. I enjoyed every second of it. Am I happy about the ending? NO! I need more now, Nisha! I can't believe we have to wait til 2024. I'm waiting patiently for the next book in this series. It was finger-licking good, hunny.

WOW. Wow. WOW! When I say, "I want to read some Fantasy, High Fae, Romance, with Spice." This book was EXACTLY what I want. This will blow you out of the water! I love this book and it was a top highlight of 2023 for me! It is so well written, and so well weaved I felt like the ancient Greek Seamstresses were telling me this story. It was that good. I devoured this book! Let's get into it!

First off, I want to thank Nisha for gracing us with this wonderful book & second, for using words the readers want to read/see in sex scenes, especially in fantasy romance books. Those would be cock, pussy, clit, wet, thrust.

With a dedication like this I knew I was in for a wild ride.

For anyone who finds themselves driven by both love and rage.

Our main character, Lor, is an all-around bad-ass. She ate and left no crumbs in this book. The first line of the book is so iconic, and that first chapter had me calling two friends and telling them about the book. I was hooked to say the least. Lor has been through a lot, both physically and mentally. She's had to grow up in prison and that, along with her loving & also harden siblings), has shaped her into a truly brave and strong woman. I felt myself rooting for her every move and consistenly backing her up when she was telling someone off. Which was often & I rather enjoyed. It was very nice to see a hardened character taken out of that place and still have that trauma present. Not that I want Lor to suffer, but that upbringing and environment strongly shaped her as a person and it wouldn't have made sense to have her "all of sudden have healed trauma and forget about it all." I think she is a truly flushed out & flawed character. She makes stupid mistakes, but learns from them. She sticks up for herself and doesn't take shit from anyone. She knows who she is. I love reading about a woman who knows what she is and what she wants. She doesn't wallow in self-pity and "I'm so weak as a human". She continues to grow throughout the book and I loved reading every part of her journey. Did I mention she's older than 20? 24, darlings. FINALLY! & she drinks! She drinks to calm her nerves or after a long day. Finally a character that isn't looked down upon for drinking or characters that don't drink at all. She is amazing & the kind of women we need to see more of in these fantasy books.

The other characters... just as good! I felt myself telling off Gabriel and holding back from loving Atlas too much. I got to be hesitant with these first book men. The authors always swing something on us in book two lol. He was HOT, and loved Gold. So much Gold.

Was there sex? Was there spice? Was there tension? Was it actually good? YES! It had me looking around my room at one point, and I'm a 27-year-old living on my own. haha

The way my girl Nisha had Lor getting her coochie ate out. Girlll I was living for her!

We also meet the mysterious, Nadir. Let me just say all these Fae men are sexy. He's got some bad dad issues, but all very warranted if you ask me. Comes with the territory of an egotistical, power-hungry father. His sister, Amya, was just what a supportive sister should be. There to listen and go along with the plan, but call you out on your shit, too. Also, her style is top-tier! His parts are written in third-person and I loved learning more about The Aurora from his and Lor's perspectives. They are vastly different. One as a prince and the other a prisoner in the worst rat hole of a prison, at that.

Lor's POV is first-person, but the way it's written, you're getting all the action. Every detail. I have no complaints. I usually hate first-person pov, but this one was really good! Lor was lying to me the whole time, too! I felt betrayed at the end lol! I don't love the bachelor or competing for men, but I saw it as Lor did; a means to an end to help those she loves. I loved the trials, and how she found ways to get through them. The world-building was at the right pace. I was immersed and could keep up with what was going on. I'm excited to get the next book because I know we get to learn more about all the other rulers. We got a nice tasting at the ball, but I'm ready for more! Honestly, I love this world and the characters and it's just book one. Nisha killed it with this one! You won't regret picking this up.

Let me start with the tropes for all those curious... 😉

• "Touch her & you die"
• Only one bed
• Forced proximity
• Fake relationship (very, very brief)
• Found Family (ehh.. kinda?)

This was read for my bookclub. It started off strong with going to society balls and all the like. Also, pretending to be very human. It was good until it wasn't.

Characters

Envy

I really liked Envy. I don't typically enjoy jealous folks, but I thought he was jealous in a classy way? It's weird to describe haha. He had a pretty strong motive to help his court, but kept finding himself led astray by Camilla. A lot was at stake here. It just didn't make sense to me that he was 'so focused' on his court and would do anything to get it right. Literally this man thought about it non-stop. But was wasting time with Camilla when we had so much to do. He had so much on his shoulders, and I wish Camilla had a better part in this to play, but it felt like she was just there until the very end. He was vain and had a rule to protect his heart. To sum up his personality I'll say annoyed lol. He was always annoyed and in a rush. At the end of the book I felt like I didn't even recognize his character. The wrap up was not good for him or Camilla.

Camilla

Camilla, Camilla, Camilla. I wanted to like her so much, but I don't. I get really tired of women in these fantasy novels being "so gorgeous, but also plain". I liked that she had her own talent. She was a painter and loved art. She told Vexley to shove it. She was so determined in the beginning, but it just started falling flat. I know authors think they're doing something big when they make the FMC stand-up or talk back to the MMC, but we've got to give these women more. Sure she did, but that's it. In dangerous situations, she was constantly looking for Envy to find her and get her out of it. She just felt so so flat. She had silver eyes and silver hair, but nobody was questioning if she was really human except when Envy and his crew showed up? That is a huge main character energy right there as someone that watches anime. Then no one could figure out her truths? You're telling me this is the first time we've seen this? It's just not giving at all. Also, EVERY MAN wanted Camilla. Every single man they approached was beyond interested in her. This is so overplayed and boring. I hate that mess.

A big gripe of mine is her pretending to be human. This is sooo boring. We already have so many books of human women getting mixed up with the otherworldy. I'd love to read a fantasy book where we are the demons or the fae themselves. She wanted to be bad, so bad. SO be it! I'm reading fantasy to escape my own boring reality, and always being human is tired. It's worn out. When the truth did come, she was a whole new person. With no background in it or any formal training? But she's better at running a court than her brother that has lived in Faerie for his whole life? Please explain this to me? She stopped being human, but it still took forever for her to embrace herself. She was barely doing anything at that. Still being rescued, but everyone thinking she's this bad b*tch. Emilia wasn't giving either. We need better women in these stories. Overall I'm not impressed at all.

Wrath & the other Sin Bros.

I loved the brothers the most! They were the reason I kept reading this story. I love how big and messy and nosy they all were. Visiting them and each of their circle's was my favorite! Sloth and Gluttony have my heart lol.

Humans

They were pretty present in the beginning of the book, but became less so after a while. I hated seeing them tortured in the later half of the book. It was pretty gruesome. The Humans are uptight and very prude as to be expected. Vexley was a pest to say the least.

Fae (Seelie & Unseelie)

We don't really see any Seelie in this book. The focus is mainly on the Unseelie and their wonderful ruler, Lennox. This is a twisted court. I wish I could say they were better since they loved the moon, but no they were an awful crew. The visit to the court and torturing the humans was not my cup of tea.

Vampires

They didn't come to play. They reveled on their island and I loved it. Alexie was our only bisexual (or pansexual), and I love him for that. I don't know if Blade's name is a mention to the old movies about Blade the vampire hunter, but I cackled at that.

Plot

I liked the plot. I felt like the plot was def. there, and seemed really fun. I like the idea of figuring out riddles and playing a game. The last book I read that had a game was such a fun mystery to follow along with. It was overshadowed by the 'romance'. Really the romance wasn't there. It was just tension and sex and didn't really feel like a fantasy novel. There was a real connection for romance between Envy and Camilla. I feel like they had mutual attraction, but I was struggling to see where the love or romance came from. They both had on masks the entire time.. and suddenly they're engaged at the end. It was baffling. So out of character for him. You would have thought with his mindset he would wait more than a few months. See if this is what he actually wants. It's just too weird. It was a wrap-up done poorly.

World & Magic & Sex & Everything Thing Else

There were a lot of species and creatures in this book. We got to see glimpses of them. The Vampires and the Unseelie were main stars in this book. I did like the descriptions of the world. That was very well done and I felt like I was touring their homes myself.

We get that you can fast travel in these worlds and make clothes appear. It's magic. I got it. Please find a better way to describe this than 'magicked'. I felt like I kept seeing this over and over and over. It was exhausting, and very boring. Sad that we didn't get to see Envy's wings more.

The sex. What to say. No real queer representation. I saw someone else say, "you blink and you miss it". That is very true in this case. There was two mentions of it and that was it. There wasn't one couple in this book that wasn't heteronormative. Even the new vampire king was going to get a queen. Especially in a fantasy where everyone's immortal.. It was strange that they can all sleep together, but no one wants real relationships with the same sex or any non-binary folks. I do have a suspicion that the reporter they kept mentioning along with Gluttony is male, but I'm highly doubting it.

It was very slow-burn between the main characters. There was a lot of cat and mouse. Chase and catch. The build-ups were nice, but when I was at say 65% and these characters still hadn't had sex I was over the slow-burn. The one penetration scene we had was nice. I liked the other foreplay scenes better. The memory scene was done well I will say. Camilla and Envy I think have nice chemistry for sex. There was no real chemistry for them as a couple falling in love. He liked her mind and they both loved playing games. It was really giving the "I've never met anyone like you before" trope. Camilla told him off and didn't back down. I know she isn't the first woman to tell him off. Literally the Goddess of Death bosses him around and treats him like trash, too. Overall this was not what I expected to read. I wish I could get those hours of my life back honestly.

This was just as delightful as the first! Murderbot is very intelligent and a bit tough on himself at times. I love the introduction of another bot, ART. My favorite part of the book was Murderbot and ART watching their shows together, and how they talk about their humans. It was very endearing. I hope ART is in the next books, because he was a joy, and so clean! I wish the Comfortbot also got to stay. I felt sorry for them, and all of the Comfortbots really. I hope Murderbot can start to call them Comfortbots instead of sexbots in the next installments. The only reason the the half-point is because we should respect all peoples' professions, even those that work in the pleasure industry.

This is definitely character driven instead of plot-driven, but that's what makes me love it. I really love Murderbot! It's still packed with action & sarcasm. I'm very excited for the next adventure!

This was absolutely delightful to read! Like every fantasy book, the beginning of the book with all of the world building, magic system, etc., can be a little difficult, but I love the world Edwards built! It's such a cool concept, and I love the way it was explained. The real highlight of this story has to be the characters. Rune & Brandon (Brand) are the cutest, and I love their banter. Everyone should have a friend like Brand in their lives. Their friendship is so sweet and the love & understanding they have for one another is very clear. I loved getting to experience it. Rune has been through a lot as has Brand. Rune's trauma and experiences are mentioned throughout the book and it can be difficult to read. Addam & his brother, Quinn, are sweet, too! Addam is honestly a really great love interest that I didn't see coming, but I'm glad he's there. I loved seeing all three/four of them interact and they had me laughing out loud more than a few times. Max was a cutie too!

The plot and mystery was very good! When I tell you I had no idea who we were fighting and who was behind the kidnapping, I ain't lying. It was just surprise after surprise for me. Even with Rune and Brand being top tier investigators. It was full of action and so many interesting places. Overall all the characters were extremely well-written, and the world was just so much fun. I can't wait to see more of everyone in the next book! Highly recommend!