Renee

This was definitely a disappointing read. I see it recommended all the time, but unfortunately it fell short of my expectations.

When I read a western romance with an arranged marriage, I'm almost always looking for a book that's full of domestic fluff. I want to read a story of two strangers getting to know each other by working together on a farm and overcoming life's hurdles. This book, for the most part, started out following this formula. Carter wins the wife lottery for Bailee and they are thrown together in an unexpected marriage. Carter is the town outcast that doesn't seem to speak and Bailee has to adapt to her new life. There's some lovely scenes of Bailee doing homely things like baking bread, bringing lunches out to Carter in the orchards, naming his dogs, etc. that warmed my heart. However, the book quickly departs from this cozy home life both figuratively and literally.

About halfway through the book, Carter and Bailee leave the farm after a train robbery occurs in a nearby town. The only survivor is a deaf girl and the sheriffs need Carter's help to communicate with her. From here on out, the book primarily focuses on an external conflict that separates our main couple a number of times throughout the rest of the book. Unfortunately, this is a book that quickly becomes boring when the couple spends large portions of the book in separate locations. On top of that, after only about a week of knowing each other and in the midst of all that external conflict, Carter and Bailee somehow start having feelings for each other. It really ruined their romance for me. I wish there had been more time for them to realistically get to know each other and come to care for one another.

I imagine I would have liked this book just fine if the external conflict wasn't such a prominent part of the story. I'm planning to continue reading the series in the hope that the romance becomes more of a focal point for the other couples' stories.

By far my least favorite entry in the Bedwyn Saga thus far. I actually read the first half of this book last year, and absolutely despised it so much that I had to put it down until just recently.

I don't want to exhaust too much energy on why I disliked the majority of this book. It boils down to the fact that I absolutely detest the main character, Morgan.

I admittedly don't remember much of the first half of the book at this point, but I remember disliking how Morgan stubbornly remains in Brussels. She apparently stays out of concern for Alleyne, but what exactly did she hope to accomplish by staying? Word of Alleyne's demise could have easily reached London without Morgan's help.

Speaking of, I was disgusted by how Morgan handled Alleyne's “death”. Maybe I'm strange, but I don't think my first action upon hearing of my brother's death would be to lose my virginity with my friend. And then deign to be horrified when Gervase insists on proposing. What time period is she living in?? Even once she's returned home and parted ways with Gervase, instead of spending time with her family and mourning her loss, she's constantly thinking about Gervase and wishing to see him again. She truly hardly knows this man, and yet she insists he's a dear friend. I don't buy it.

I have to admit, revenge plots are among my least favorite tropes, but I really don't understand how this one was done so poorly. Gervase doesn't seem to ever truly commit on taking his revenge and ultimately sort of...stumbles into all of his worst acts? Don't get me started on the silly way Morgan decides to get back at him for ruining her. Getting him to fall in love with her so she can dump him? She's only perpetuating her own scandal and self-sabotaging since she already loves him herself. I increasingly hated Morgan as their summer at Gervase's home continued because their families were so happy for them when it was all a ruse. Even after learning the truth of what Marianne did to Gervase, Morgan does not see how she would be doing the same thing (and hurting their innocent families in the process) by breaking off the engagement. She's determined to go through with it until Gervase finally explains how genuine his feelings are.

I truly loved the first few books of this series very dearly. This book felt like a slap in the face in comparison. I would have dnf in a heartbeat if not for the Wulfric morsels (he freaking cries in this book). Having context for the Marianne debacle will make reading his book all the sweeter I imagine.

I really enjoyed this book overall. I liked all the characters, the romance was sweet, and the sex was hot. Ophelia was a goddamn mood and she's my favorite brand of “roll with the punches” heroine. She embraces the new life she's been thrust into with kindness and grace and doesn't cling to her old life. Honestly, with a wet dream like Allerick as your husband, who wouldn't abandon their corporate job for being Queen of Shades. I'm also a big sucker for plotlines where a new queen has to win over her new people/save their world. Would have been nice if Ophelia had left the palace at some point to mingle more with the shade people, but oh well.

All that being said, I took off a star because miscommunication trope! UGH! I don't mind the occasional “can't say I love you” miscommunication shenanigans that usually happens in romance. However, I have a problem when the first half of the book is one big misunderstanding. Basically, the shade monsters can smell Ophelia's emotions, and they all think her "sweet" smell means that she's afraid. Nope! Ophelia is just a certified, grade A monsterf*cker and is hella horny for her new monster husband! Of course, because Allerick thinks she's afraid of him, he makes no moves until he finally finds her monster art about halfway through the book. They could have been having sex much earlier! I feel cheated.

Anyways, I'm excited for where the second book takes us! I feel like Astrid and Soren are going to have a very different dynamic from Ophelia and Allerick, but hopefully it's just as good!

There's something wonderful about reading nearly 500 pages chock-full of two people in love.

Is this a perfectly written story? Hell no. Quite frankly, Kristen Ashley desperately needs the thesaurus entry for “cool”. Frey also exhibits some truly problematic behavior. Without spoiling too much, he makes some very serious life altering decisions without the input or consent of Finnie. Luckily for me, this isn't my first barbarian alpha male and I have no problem turning off my modern sensibilities to enjoy a good romance novel. I did stress about how Finnie would react when she found out, but the plot interrupts the fallout and the actual impact to the relationship is minimal (for good reason imo). There was already a huge falling out in the middle of the book over the “other woman”, so I consider the drama quota filled. All's well that ends well, and ultimately, this was a 5-star read for me, but certainly not for everyone.

I found Finnie to be a delightful character to read. I love her enthusiasm for adventure and her subsequent ability to roll with the punches. The best fish out of water tales have heroines that make the most of it, and that's exactly what Finnie does. When it's finally cleared up that Finnie does not share Princess Sjofn's preference for women, the story really takes off. Frey starts to see Finnie in a new light and they most definitely suit. The sexual tension is fantastic and the domestic shit is even better. As the relationship develops at a slow, but steady pace, you can't help but love these characters more and more. Finnie shows Frey more love than he's ever known (the dragon statue scene had me tearing up). Frey falls for Finnie's compassion and zest for life.

This book has given me a newfound appreciation for romances where the couple is established early on and the bulk of the book details the highs and lows of their marriage. There are too many touching moments to count and the heat doesn't disappoint.

P.S.: This book may contain literally the only occurrence ever where the hero tells the heroine not follow him when he's off to do some important business and, despite her curiosity, she does. Mind b l o w n.

I'll start this review by saying I was mistakenly under the impression that this was a romance novel. It is not. In fact, it's quite dark and unapologetically fantasy. Once I got over the fact this wasn't the fantasy romance I expected, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.

This is a book that desperately needed a map. And maybe some family trees complete with who is alive, dead, and demon dead (because of course these people become quasi-vampires). I eventually made peace with the fact I would have to be vaguely confused by this story if I was going to enjoy it.

I found the first half quite slow as a veritable horde of different characters and povs were introduced. It starts getting good when Daemon is sent to Chaillot and he finally meets Jaenelle. Since we do not get Jaenelle's pov at all during this book, we get to learn more about what she's like through Daemon's interactions with her.

I really don't quite understand how most of the magic mechanics in this world work. Whatever Daemon does at the end to get Jaenelle back is definitely lost on me. However, I do understand that Daemon and Jaenelle are separated and I'm eager to experience that delicious angst in the next book.

In general, I'm interested in seeing how Jaenelle comes into her power and how she creates her court in the future books. It would also be interesting to see how all of the trauma these characters experience will affect them.