#save me good romantasy save me

[andorerso]

sissi i totally agree with you about the current state of romantasy books! i love a classic fantasy book, where romance is much more of a subplot. but sometimes i'm really craving a romance forward fantasy, but actually finding a good one nowadays is abysmal. i know it's partially a personal taste thing, but there is so much insta-love/attraction in romantasy books and i'm like where is the yearning! where is the pining! there's no build up of tension and it's such a bummer. and then also the plot is usually completely thrown out the window to focus on the romance. which i get romantasy is meant to be romance heavy, but i would like a little plot please 😭

no, honestly!! there is literally NO plot, it's just romance in a fantasy setting. except even romance books should have a plot, so it's just vibes and vague worldbuilding with some magical elements. that's it. everyone is super hot and extra badass and they're the most in love to ever be in love. YAWN

and it's a fucking shame because on paper, I should love romantasy. I like fantasy books, and I like it when they're romance-heavy (not the main or sole focus, but I don't mind if it's a large part of it) but the romance should be GOOD! ugh it makes me so mad/sad because I wanna like romantasy so bad!! I just can't 😔

(side note: if you have any romantasy books that are good, please let me know!! I'll gladly take some recs from anyone <3)

[leeldridgeauthor]

“I took the two ends and pulled them around her, twisting it the way I’d seen done.

“Is this too tight?” I asked when necessary. She always said no. It wrapped over her shoulders and around her middle, up between her breasts until I was satisfied. I then used the tie to her robe to bind her hands.

The ropes looked exquisite against her body. “How do you feel?” I asked.

“I’d always liked to be in control,” she said. “But allowing myself to let go with you makes me feel…free.”

I brought her lips to mine. “Good. I want to be that for you.”

I lifted her and brought her to the mirror I had in the corner. I turned her around, holding her hands above her head. “See how sexy you look?” I asked, needing her to see what I saw.

“I see how sexy you are,” she sassed.

I landed a hand on her aşş, and she yelped. “Seemed you needed a spanking.”

art by @cheesomancer

A Yulean Sisters Guide to Getting Married is a 𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝔂, cozy, romantasy monster romance, available in Paperback, ebook, and KU!!

⚔️ fake engagement

⚔️ size difference

⚔️ swordplay as 𝐹𝑜𝓇𝑒𝓅𝓁𝒶𝓎

⚔️ 𝐵𝑜𝓃𝒹𝒶𝑔𝑒

⚔️ grumpy/grumpy

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶ 𝐵𝓁𝓊𝓇𝒷︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

A fake engagement unites them…but is it enough to save them?


SORCHA

I’ve fought tooth and nail to enter the ranks of knighthood. I deserve to be there. But as a princess, the only place I’m allowed is the training yard.

That is until our enemy, Grand Clarak Zarios of Valcor, shows up with an opportunity to save the entire nation from someone in his court trying to dethrone him. It's just what I need to prove my worth.

The catch…I need to pretend to be his intended mate to do it. It begins to seem impossible, especially with new court rules to follow and a grumpy minotaur as a partner.

But this is my one chance, and I won’t let anything stand in my way.

ZARIOS

Everyday it feels as if all I’m doing is putting out fires. Between push back from my own people to traitors in my kingdom, it feels as though everyone is keen to see me fall.

It feels hopeless until I meet Sorcha Yulean, second in line for the throne. With her by my side, fake intended or not, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

This is my last chance to save my kingdom, and my crown, nothing can get in the way.
Not even my budding feelings for the princess.

A Yulean Sister’s Guide to Getting Married is a fantasy monster romance between a stubborn princess who wishes to be a knight and a grumpy minotaur finding love in a fake arrangement. This book is a standalone and does not need to be read in order! This book is spicy, low-angst, with a well deserved HEA!

[hier--soir]

feb + mar + apr reads

norma jean baker of troy by anne carson [★★★★★]

"Sometimes I think language should cover its own eyes when it speaks."

"Is she human? Are you? Is she a beast out of control? There's so much danger. No human can become just a beast, you plunge beyond - beyond what? Remember Jack the Ripper? 'I'm down on whores and I shan't quit ripping them till I get buckled,' Jack wrote in a letter to the newspaper, September 18, 1888. He never did get buckled. Of course insane, his mind blooming with it, who could go down that rabbit-hole or unlock such a puzzle as Jack? - but still, the woman! the thing is! the woman has everything and you smile and you take some."

: ̗̀➛ an exploration of the lives and myths of marilyn monroe and helen of troy.

: ̗̀➛ anne carson is there anything you can't do? please email me back. please.

piglet by lottie hazell [★★★★]

"'I want to make some food,' she said. 'For both of us?' he asked. 'No, just for me.'"

: ̗̀➛ one woman, piglet, and the lead up to her wedding in the face of a big confession from her fiancé.

: ̗̀➛ this one slipped beneath my skin and writhed around the spot inside me where i've tucked away all of my food issues.

merciless gods by christos tsiolkas [★★]

"I'm scared that if I let go, not only the room, not only this city, but the whole world will go cold forever."

"Your false gods cannot save you. There is only one God, my God."

: ̗̀➛ short stories that bash you over the head with how awful things and people and places can be. i did not live for this one... particularly wasn't into the one where a guy jerked his dad who has alzheimers off.

foe by iain reid [★★]

"All day. Time keeps moving. I've always thought that was a good thing. Until recently. I'm not so sure now. Is it good? For time to go by fast?"

: ̗̀➛ they want to send junior to space and replace him with a robot that looks and acts and talks exactly like him so his wife has company in his absence.

: ̗̀➛ marriage and trust and complacency, and a guy called terrence who we get reminded over and over has long gorgeous hair.

: ̗̀➛ a little boring for my taste. i had an idea of where it was going pretty early on, and it took a while for me to be proven right. pretty disconcerting!

acts of desperation by megan nolan [★★★★]

"The need was a true and human part of me, but I could feel nothing else of myself to be true or human, and so the need seemed ungodly, an aberration."

: ̗̀➛ a book full of confession, desire, jealousy, violence, and power. messy messy messy!!!! readers procceed with caution.

: ̗̀➛ shout out to everyone who said i should read this - you were right, it is up my alley.

gone girl by gillian flynn [★★★★]

"My wife was no longer my wife but a razor-wire knot daring me to unloop her, and I was not up to the job with my thick, numb, nervous fingers. Country fingers. Flyover fingers untrained in the intricate, dangerous work of solving Amy. When I'd hold up the bloody stumps, she'd sigh and turn to her secret mental notebook on which she tallied all my deficiencies, forever noting disappointments, frailties, shortcomings."

: ̗̀➛ i have become a gillian flynn STAN this year, it's true. despite having seen the movie multiple times, i enjoyed reading this, and was delighted to find some differences in the texts [for better and for worse].

: ̗̀➛ nick dunne, big fan of the lie of omission, mama's boy whose mama is dead, i'd like to introduce you to couples therapy.

dead beautiful and life eternal by yvonne woon [reread] [★★★]

: ̗̀➛ the first two books in a paranormal romance trilogy. these kinda bang guys, i can't lie. 15-year-old me was onto something when she decided to keep these instead of donating them. however, they DO have some of the worst book covers i've ever seen, sorry yvonne.

fourth wing by rebecca yarros [★★★]

: ̗̀➛ a romantasy book that has dragons, smut, and twists that you'll see coming from a mile away. pretty fun. recced to me by one man in person and a thousand women on tik tok.

: ̗̀➛ no one who has the thought 'double standards for the win' is using 'whomever' in a casual sentence with the guy she's having sex with.

: ̗̀➛ good enemies to lovers should have actual murder attempts. but maybe that's jusT MY OPINION.

my book rating system is as follows:

★ = i felt pure contempt the entire time

★★ = yeah it's a book

★★★ = i liked it!

★★★★ = good fucking book, damn

★★★★★ = blew my dick clean off and i'll throw a tantrum if everyone i know doesn't also read it and love it

[wetcatspellcaster]

I saw you respond that you a very much not an SJM fan 😅 fair enough but I did want to ask what books/series you did like or would recommend that are of a fantasy/romantasy vibe!

lmfao, i am destined to become known for my parasocial enmity with the wingspan lady on this hellsite.

I don't read stuff with the same vibe as SJM all that often anymore. I used to read a lot of paranormal romance but the heteronormativity of SJM clones was upsetting me, so I've turned more towards the romance genre or just straight up fanfic these days.

So these recommendations might not be the perfect overlap but-!

Books with Fey Romances that are good

Holly Black, for all your fey needs. Tithe is the OG (and if you like sad men with white hair, have I got a blorbo for you!) but The Cruel Prince is her most popular series, that most people have read. The Darkest Part of the Forest is also an amazing standalone novel with a bit more creepiness than the other two. Not very explicit sex.

Olivia Atwater's Half A Soul and Ten Thousand Stitches are regency romance novels with fey associations, the first book is about a girl under a fairy curse and the second is about a fairy himbo trying his best at being a fairy godmother. No sex, that I can remember.

Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Fairies. I've talked about this book a lot. If you like my fanfic, you will like this book, because this book was written for Me specifically. Not very explicit sex.

The Falconer series by Elizabeth May. This is the closest in this list to what SJM writes, only this is. um. better. Much sex, but also just... 'what if we started an apocalypse together, and the guilt meant I was scared to touch you, but we've got nothing else to live for now so why shouldn't I just do it?'

Fantasy Books with Good Romance

T Kingfisher's Swordheart and Nettle & Bone - both standalone novels. Swordheart is just Howl x Sophie dynamics, if Howl was a martial class, and also. A sword. Some sexiness.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (if we count the love interests as both the hot sexy wizard man AND the protagonist's gal pal). Some sexiness.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. If you like your immortal/mortal romances, this is a pretty stellar read tbh. Some sexiness.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. This is such a fun book just generally but the slowburn of a 7 year high school romance sent me a little feral actually. Some sexiness.

Daevabad trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. Now, this one is a little bit evil bc its an epic fantasy trilogy that is quite dense, and the romance is amazing but it takes a WHILE. *I* can write an evil slowburn, but there is nothing more evil than what happened in these books bc everyone is so fucking repressed. Alternatively, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by the same author, which cut to the chase a lot quicker, romance-wise.

Fantasy Books that are 😌😌 sexy 😌😌

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman. This is my favourite paranormal romance I've read in recent years, and they don't even have sex but I'm putting it here because um. they did. to me. That's what happens when you write a regency romance where if a woman takes of a man's coat they have 37 horny thoughts about it in real time. Imagine if Darcy and Elizabeth for P&P were also fighting demons at the same time as falling in love (not metaphorically. literal demons.)

Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert. Talia Hibbert's books in general fucking slap but I wish she'd written more paranormal romance than just this ONE story bc um. This was. um. Good.✌️

A Marvellous Light and A Restless Truth by Freya Marske. Freya Marske is also a popular fanfic author, and it shows with the way she writes sex.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming. This author is the one who went briefly viral bc she accidentally has a book cover with Astarion on it lmao. This book was the first in that series, and unfortunately it wasn't for me (dragon shifter porn, I did *not* know going in) but the sex was really, really well-written, if that's something you could be into.

[itmeblog]

WE ARE LIVE!

You can currently find The Unusual Courtship of Pax the Faerie on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on my ko-fi! (In both EPUB and PDF)

And now I get to talk about it!

TL:DR This is how I wrote a novella with

Genderqueer faerie

A human who fae find attractive but not for the reasons you'd think

A couple that is endgame and a couple that is very much not not endgame based on two very different relationships with our titular character.

A deep and surprisingly thoughtful search for oneself and soul

A lot of religious references, just so many references

BDSM vibes

You can enjoy the madness with me. Below. Because this is not what I set out to write. I had intended to follow the standard romantasy script and determine if I wrote something that appealed to major markets if I'd manage to snag myself an agent. This is not what happened.

I wrote this book because I became fascinated by ACOTAR. It is imperative that I make it very, very clear, at the point that I started thinking about Pax, I had never read nor picked up anything written by Sarah J Maas. This story will make no sense if I did. I was only vaguely aware of her existence. I had heard some withCindy rants and then decided to get an overview from someone who genuinely enjoyed the book.

I went into this knowing it was a story about big, sexy, well-endowed men and a girl with perhaps too little fire power between her ears. It is also the book that I consider ground zero of the maleness ("he felt very male"? Girl what does this mean??) epidemic.

And I had questions.

If the fae are beautiful, sexy, and promiscuous then why have fated mates? Why make them stop being promiscuous? Wasn't that some of the fun?

If sex does not have the same weight in their society (presumably) then why is it saved only for romantic partners?

In a world where everyone can shapeshift why so much misogyny? If there is misogyny why do people not shapeshift or dress to pass as male in order to gain some modicum of protection?

Wouldn't it have had to develop in a completely different fashion than we're used too?

Why are the gendernorms so human?

Why would a faerie be interested (romantically and aesthetically) in a human?

So. Many. Straight. Faeries.

Why make the love interest the exception to the cruel nature of the fae when you can just make the human so much worse?

Angels???? ANGELS?????!!

NOTE: At this point I still had not picked up the book.

ALSO PROBABLY IMPORTANT: I am very aro.

Here's what I knew:

Horny

Faeries

Religion??

These are the rules I stuck to. So, while developing Pax, he was meant to be pretentious and very deeply wrong in her understanding of religion and the passages he quotes. I called a friend (from an old school Italian Catholic family, very old school) for some direction.

I explained the premise and she went, "no, you're not looking for passages, you're looking for the Ecstasy of St. Teresa"

This, my friend, is where things got out of hand.

This is the Ecstasy of St. Teresa

Considered one of the most risque statues of the Baroque period. Inspired by this

"I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is satisfied now with nothing less than God. The pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His goodness to make him experience it who may think that I am lying" - St. Teresa of Avila

Needless to say I became obsessed, which is great because St Teresa of Avila was a fascinating woman who sat in Spain, a mecca of Abrahamic religions, during the Spanish Inquisition (there's a lot of overlap in beliefs here). And she wrote a lot.

NOTE: Very important, I had intended to write this as a sexy l'il romp with a slightly toxic pairing, k? Like Pax's infatuation was 110% meant to be a little tongue in cheek. I wanted this to be marketable, I wanted to maybe get published. Yeah? I went wrong immediately when I decided Pax would be genderfluid but shut up. It's fine. We're here, everything is queer, we are rapidly sinking into a mire of 500 year old esoteric religious subtext. You with me? Cool.

I read several dissertations on sensuality in religion as well as many many things about the unintentional yet constant eroticization of pain (it happens so much omg, I cannot look at crucifixes the same anymore). And the break down of St. Teresa of Avila's 7 mansions of the Interior Castle (which I've also read), which explains in detail how to find god within oneself. Some of these papers were 100s of pages long. The pile of research I did for this was honestly bigger than the phone books of my youth.

As I said, this got deeply out of hand.

It also became the foundation for Pax's personality and the lens through which he experiences the world. Note: the woman Pax falls in love with is very much not God, she is also very much not safe.

So now I have this very raunchy book about faeries, religion, and sex, and finally FINALLY only after I finished, did I attempt to read ACOTAR.

And I fucking overshot.

I overshot so, so, so far.

I was aiming for Mars and I've ended up on Pluto. When all you hear about a book is how explicit it is and how it's the fairy porn book you assume it's more than 2 scenes.

You assume a lot of things about those scenes and the responsiveness of the heroine. Tamlin if that was the best you've ever had... what pray tell was the point of making you fae?? Are none of your lovers responsive or could it be you're a pleasure dom? Please, little fae man who has wild spring orgies, speak to me. What is your story?

So now I have a novella with

Genderqueer faeries

A queer love interest

A human who fae find attractive but not for the reasons you'd think

A couple that is endgame and a couple that is very much not not endgame based on two very different relationships with our titular character.

Way too much sex

A deep and surprisingly thoughtful search for oneself and soul

A lot of religious references, just so many references

BDSM vibes

[astridhoff03]

I also watched the Mermaid Magic, the new series from the guy who produced winx club, because I was curious…

And man this show rocks. It’s funny, emotional and has a beautiful message about not polluting the ocean and the environment in general. It shows that Rainbow and Iginio Straffi still got it if Nickelodeon doesn’t ruin their plans.

First to the characters: Merlinda is such a lovely protagonist, how she deals with the loss of her mother, trying to save her father and her kingdom, working together with her friends is just wonderful. She’s a dutiful, driven by loss and love Crownprincess, who be a great Queen one day. She has some great character moments, better than Bloom. My favorite scene is definitely when the whale mother is drowning and Merlinda reminds of the loss of her own mother. This moment and scene montage is for so many reasons one of the best moments in the entire series.

First I thought I wouldn’t like Nerissa and Sasha, especially Sasha because I thought she would annoy me. But she and Nerissa were actually kinda fun to watch. Sasha is so funny and also very nice and smart, how she uses her social media skills to fight the Kraken. Nerissa is the complete opposite, she’s serious and feisty but also selfless. I think she has a softer side to her or she’s just a baddie. So were Tyler and Celia. And we also have a Diaspro in this show lol. Also can we agree that Alex is the hottest guy in the show, Tyler is cute but Alex is Romantasy Material. Seriously he looks like a combination between Xaden and Rhysand. He reminds me a lot of these two. Orca is also a really cool mentor. I really enjoy his teacher-student relationship with Merlinda. He is a really lovable character. His ultimate test for Merlinda was phenomenal, testing her empathy, powers and strength at the same time. Also that he is her uncle really took me by surprise, I wouldn’t have seen this coming.

Second the villains: they were creepy as fuck and I love them. They have really good designs and motivations. Even if it’s revenge, revenge can be some sinister motivation.

Third the world: I love the whole design of Mertropia it’s like a Venice for Mermaids. I just wish we would explore more seas, there’s so much to learn about the oceans of our planet. But maybe in next seasons. I would love to see the girls interact with different species of the ocean, there is so much potential. And I would love to see more of the complex ecosystem of the ocean, the task every single ocean creature has in their ecosystem and they should introduce sharks as harmless and these are also just animals who want to life their life.

Also this show would be perfect for the Sirenix song from Winx Club. It would perfectly fit the ocean theme and how the merfolk is bound to it.

[stellar-solar-flare]

🍂 leaves: what does your editing process look like? how does your wip typically change as you work on it?

👻 ghost: can you tease some wip ideas that have been haunting you/something you want to write in the future?

💜💜

This ask is in response to October Themed Writeblr Ask Game. I apologize for taking forever to answer, and thank you for sending an ask!

Answers as well as a 1k sneak peek to a werewolf Bucky x Reader, Steve x OFC fic I'm very excited about is under the cut!

🍂 leaves: what does your editing process look like? how does your wip typically change as you work on it?

Depends on the fic, really. I don't outline or do a first draft in the very pure sense of the world - I aim to write pretty finished text since my way of writing is mostly about telling myself a story. My editing usually only involves making sure things make sense and elaborating where I need to, such as adding descriptions in between dialogue to make the scene more vivid, or changing sentence structure so that it flows better.

I usually finish an entire scene or even a short chapter before editing, but especially with longer chapters, I often edit in between writing new text since it's a good way for me to get in the flow and do something creative during the days when I don't feel super creative and bright. Most stuff that I publish goes through four phases: 1) writing, 2) general editing, 3) quick once-over, and finally 4) fixes and polishing once it's back from my beta reader (who is a precious angel with the patience of a saint and who always makes my chapters better).

I would say time-wise, writing takes about 70 percent of the time a chapter takes and the rest is editing, unless I end up doing a huge overhaul to a chapter, which happens pretty rarely.

👻 ghost: can you tease some wip ideas that have been haunting you/something you want to write in the future?

Sure! This one is something that right now has a working title Under a Violent Moon. A slow burn romantasy would be how I'd describe it, with some horror and action elements. It'll be an EXPLICIT fic when out but this sneak peek doesn't involve anything beyond a T rating.

CW: kidnapping, mentioned violence, mentioned mob life

The basic premise is that there exists a werewolf underground society that has a lot of mob elements to it - everyone sort of knows about it but it's not something that anyone would want to associate with unless you're looking to do bad stuff. Reader sees Bucky do something that she (or any outsider) should not see, and he panics and forcefully (but not violently) brings her with her to the magically protected place of residence of the pack and in front of Steve, who is the alpha of the pack.

🌙.

There was no sound – at least one you would’ve been able to hear – but regardless, both Bucky and Steve quieted down in the middle of their argument, as if someone had severed their conversation with a sharp knife. Your gaze followed theirs as they turned their heads towards the entrance of the hall and the short woman that had entered.

Save for Steve in his three-piece suit, all the members of the pack that had gathered in the hall favored a mixture of military and hiking clothing. The woman who was now making her way to you was the other exception to the rule; she was clad in a floor-length, flowing white silk dress that would’ve been suitable for a bride at a relaxed beach wedding. Its boat neckline would’ve left her shoulders and arms bare, but her almost white platinum hair spilled down her upper body in a luxurious cascade. Despite it, you could see the scars on her collarbones and arms, and she had brushed her hair away from the left side of the her neck to wear the bite there like a badge of honor.

You did not know which honor, and yet, she carried herself with pride that would’ve hinted at someone important even if every head in the hall hadn’t gently bowed down as she passed. Her eyes, burning bright yellow that shone its own light, locked onto you, and her lips curved up to a smile you didn’t know how to decipher. There was something deeply unsettling abut her, as if the ethereal beauty was simply a skin she wore to get close enough to her prey. She stood against the practical impression you had gotten of everyone else – she was a seeress from a myth, somehow present here and yet truly a citizen of entirely another world.

She was loaded with jewelry; it sparkled on her hair and neck and wrists and even the dress was belted with more platinum and pearls and colorless and yellow diamonds. On her left ring finger sat a giant round diamond flanked by two crescent moons, all set in platinum. Her gaze left you and found another target, her expression melting into a smile. Again, you turned your head to follow the direction of her eyes.

You had thought that getting kidnapped by a werewolf mob would’ve rendered anything else that happened today as entirely unsurprising, and yet, you were struck with shock as you saw Steve, who held the otherworldly woman’s gaze.

The change on him was almost laughable and yet, it made your throat feel tight. He was looking at her with bright, glowing eyes that shone with love and affection, with the kind of smile on his face that would’ve made you believe that she’d personally reached up into the skies and pushed aside the clouds of eternal night to reveal the full moon for him. You hade never seen such warmth and devotion on anyone’s face, and to see it on the face of a werewolf alpha was such a strange thought that it took you a moment to recognize the emotion lingering in your chest as jealousy. Not for Steve but for the love that she had.

You had hear many tales of werewolves – how they were cruel, brutal creatures, more animals than humans and thus unable to process higher emotions than those that followed directly from their animalistic needs. The unconcealable beacon of affection that shone on Steve’s face was the complete antithesis to those claims. No one in the world would have been able to look at him and consider it anything but love stemming from the depths of one’s very soul.

The woman stopped in front of you, turning so that you were standing face to face. Her wolf-eyes searched yours, and for a moment, you felt fear beyond anything you had yet experienced. Whatever power she carried, so plain to see and yet so hidden, was one thing – every hair on your body stood up in her presence as some long-forgotten instinct attempted to define a threat it had could not classify.

The way Steve had been looking at her was another. It was obvious that if anyone would do as much as look at her the wrong way, he would tear them into pieces with his bare hands. They had not spoken, and yet Steve stepped behind her and wrapped his giant arms around her midriff, engulfing her in an embrace and a measure of protection at the same time. She melted back against him, and in the flickering candlelight of the hall, it was almost impossible to say where one of them ended and the other began.

“What brought you here, little human?” she asked, and while the words could’ve been an insult – especially from someone who seemed like she was in her thirties herself, not much older than you if at all – they were too gentle to be that. “It is not often that any eyes that aren’t of the pack see what lies behind our gates.”

You swallowed past your dry throat. The cadence of her speech, as well as the old-fashioned words, reminded you of how different this world was to the one you’d known. Did that mean they would never let you go? But she didn’t seem to be accusing you of anything; she was waiting for your answer patiently, her pale fingers brushing over Steve’s forearm in a caress. The rings that were there somehow made the giant rock of the wedding band look even more enormous.

“I wasn’t given a choice,” you said carefully, deciding that the truth was the best option here.

She smiled. Her hand smoothed another touch over Steve’s forearm, and then she turned her arm so that she could entwine her fingers with his – as your gaze was drawn there, you saw a simple gold wedding band on Steve’s left hand, too. He made a humming sound against her temple as the rings clinked against each other, and her expression turned even softer.

“Fate rarely gives us a choice,” she said gently to you before turning to Bucky, who was standing frozen next to you. “You have brought a human here. You know our ways; you know our law. You know what follows.”  

🌙.

[little-peril-stories]

LPS: Blog (Re)Intro

Little Peril Stories | Kate | adult | she/her

✨ linktree | website | ko-fi | ao3 | oc/wip extras ✨

✨ I post writing/publishing updates every Wednesday and Sunday here. ✨

The Queen of Lies (ongoing): AU for The Prince of Thieves—sheltered, rich sad girl meets snarky criminal; chaos ensues; whumpy, Victorian forbidden love vibes with a side helping of angst and girl power

The Court of Rogues (work in progress): sequel to The Prince of Thieves; in the works but it will be a while before details come out

The Prince of Thieves (complete): guy and gal get arrested and tormented by super cool, totally normal constable while pals on the outside freak out and make bad decisions; fun 1800s prison vibes with a side helping of angst and chosen family

Blood Garnet (side WIP, low priority): girl gets lost in magic woods and gets chased by her hapless cousin and a grump hunter; awkward magic man tries to help; supernatural(ish) romantasy vibes with a side helping of angst and betrayal

Man of Letters (UNRESOLVED; part of Whumptober 2023): awkward scholar boi tries to save the girl he falls in love with and gets way more than he bargained for; light romantasy paired with heavy emo vibes, with a side of helping of angst and torture

Fen and Freddie (complete): gal gets kidnapped, dopey cinnamon roll with hopeless crush tries to rescue her and fails; vague superhero sci-fi vibes with a side helping of angst and pining

The Curiosity Collector (complete): sweet non-confrontational magic boy gets kidnapped and needs rescuing by bf and sis; witchy, autumnal vibes with a side helping of angst and falling in love

This is a whumpblr/writeblr space! Sometimes I’ll post/reblog writerly posts, memes, etc., but a lot of the posts/RBs will be about whump. I post original writing and reblog the work of others that I enjoy, gifs, tropes, prompts, and other such things.

I love comments and feedback on my writing and welcome them with open arms.

A note on age: I know I can’t actually stop you from accessing this blog, but I do not wish to interact with people under 18. It’s not personal, I’m sure you’re great, but it has everything to do with my job IRL. Please respect this boundary and come back on your 18th birthday.

Check out: My Most Common Tropes

My favourite elements of whump have to do with power dynamics, intimidation, dread, and angst. I love captivity-with-a-cause: kidnapping for ransom or as leverage over someone else, prison (in fantasy or historical settings, less so for modern settings though it’s not a hard rule), and the like. Fantasy presents so many creative versions of this trope, so I do love me some fantasy whump! It also gives lots of opportunity for dungeons, shackles, and other fun implements like that. Gratuitous tying or chaining up is always delightful to see. Pining, desperately trying to protect a loved one (…and failing), and self-sacrifice are other big tropes I love, so expect to see lots of those!

As for characters, I love it when they are as far as you can get from perfect, pure, and innocent—when they’re good enough people, but whose flawed or maybe even problematic decisions lead them into trouble. Always, always, I want my characters to have a hand in their own fates. Pure-hearted victims of the narrative who simply fall into a whumpy situation are cute and fun, but not what I tend to write.

A few odds and ends I’m such a sucker for, so you’ll probably find them in my writing:

Sibling relationships

Allusions to songs, books, folklore, and musicals

Nature and weather helping to set the scene (oh my goodness, how many times can I work snow into one story?)

If romance, either slow burn or instant attraction

…with a sprinkling of “huh, I don’t understand what I’m feeling, wtf is going on??”

‘In the nick of time’ rescues

Painfully awkward moments

Fluff and comfort, but only once they’ve really earned it

Almost kisses

Hard choices

Happy endings

You probably won’t find much gore or explicit noncon here, but there might be some elements of those in my stories or in reblogs. I don’t write BBU or pet whump.

My original “whumpy things I like” post can be found here.

Anyway, thanks for reading! 💕 Happy whumping!

[shigariope]

I'm a Writer. What's up?

I totally forgot I even had this until I got tagged today! I should try to use this thing. Let me do an intro post:

I write Huskerdust rom com smut mostly. I have two main AUs

Someone You Can Bet On: Inspired by Celestialalpacaron's Husk Overlord AU, though it's very much its own monster at this point. I liked the ring idea, the casino, and the winning Angel idea. Took those and made it a marriage of convenience with Angel taking control and making a deal with Husk to save him from Val. It's a slow burn rom com with themes of masking, trauma(cPTSD is the main one here), healthy relationships with proper communication, and blood lust violence/murder. Drugs/alcohol are purely mental dependency/addiction not physical in Hell in this AU, so don't be expecting those themes at all. https://archiveofourown.org/works/54446458/chapters/137927506 My other is P0rn(can I say that word here?) Reviewer Husk where Angel is sent to trade his body to get better reviews from Husker the porn critic. Instead, Husk says he can make the porn better and begins to teach Angel how. It's also a rom com and it's my no angst AU. Read it for a good smutty time, with laughs and romance. I'll be consolidating them into one in a couple months and editing them up(not deleting the old ones), but for now they're in a series with each kink tagged (most installments have a specific kink highlighted like bondage, sex toys, tummy bulge, exhibitionism etc) https://archiveofourown.org/series/4061233

So yeah, that's me! I will be releasing OC material in the future as that's my main goal. But for now, enjoy the fanfics and maybe eventually stay for the romantasy novels. I have 3 social media platforms I dabble in to talk about my work, post updates, and talk to my readers, but Twitter is my main go to. So if you're looking for me: https://x.com/poziepie (I post updates, silly memes for my AU, polls to ask my readers what they'd like out of certain things, and this is where the vast majority of the fanart wonderful artists have made for me is. Still regret not making a new one so it was shigariope but here we are!) https://bsky.app/profile/shigariope.bsky.social (I try to mirror my main posts from Twitter here but there aren't any polls so boooooooo) https://www.instagram.com/shigariope/profilecard/?igsh=bGdvd2R1bjQ3bXpj (I rarely use this, just do my weekly updates and follow some artists on here!)

[darthjess-book-reviews]

REVIEW: The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

Summary (Provided by Goodreads)

The heart is a battlefield.

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire's shadows. 

Prince Alaric, the emperor's only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire's rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen. 

Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion--one that could save their world...or destroy it. 

An exquisite fantasy brimming with unforgettable characters, sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, and richly drawn worlds, The Hurricane Wars marks the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new writer.

My Review: 3/5 Stars

I really enjoyed reading this book, and going into it knowing it was romantasy (romance first, then fantasy) really helped me enjoy it more. I loved the relationship between Talasyn and Alaric, and how their relationship grows. I also love the whole enemies to lovers vibe, and the writing was overall wonderful! The world building was also great.

However, this book definitely could've been 4 stars for me, but there are three reasons why it wasn't.

First, the entire first third of the book was kind of boring. If it weren't for my best friend telling me that it gets really good, I probably would've stopped reading it.

Second, I did not care AT ALL about the Sardovians. The main character struggles with her feelings for Alaric, the Night Emperor, because of her loyalties to the Sardovians, and I felt like I was SUPPOSED to care about them, but I didn't one bit. The Night Empire could've killed them all and I wouldn't have minded, in fact I would've honestly preferred that. The author built up no emotional connection to these people even though she focused on Talasyn's time with them for the first 3rd of the book.

Finally, some of the dialogue felt off. Like Talasyn and Alaric would be having some kind of petty banter, and I LOVE petty banter, but then Talasyn would cut it off with a "shut up" or something and it came off as rude and sort of out of character for the specific scenario. I think some of the dialogue was stilted, and also some of the interactions between Talasyn and Alaric could've been written better.

It did make it harder for me knowing that originally, this book was a Star Wars fanfic of enemies to lovers between Rey and Kylo Ren, and if you don’t know me then I’ll tell you right now that I am not a fan of Rey as a character at all. So I think I may have been biased toward the main character Talasyn, knowing she was originally “supposed” to be Rey.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to read the next one! I hope the author improves the things I mentioned, but even if she doesn't, I'm still excited for book 2 of the Hurricane Wars.

[fightingmonsterswithwords]

I’m rattling and gnawing the bars of my enclosure right now don’t tease me with more lucifer without showing me😭😭 i need him so bad. I shed a tear of joy at the way you wrote him in Cursed and Divine, like i can’t explain it you wrote him with this air of sensuality and mystery that makes u wanna know everything about him, the way you write him makes me wanna play captain save-a-hoe and fix everything about his life. I love Alastor but not as much as i love Lucifer when he popped up in the story he got pushed from my mind. sorry for the rambles you’re just a good author 😩

I'm gonna cry for real 😭💖 thank you so much!!

I was honestly very nervous about how the chapter turned out (and I still need to edit it a little bit), especially Luci. He was going to be quite more distrustful, among other things, because things between them are supposed to be slow (I don't see him realistically jumping into a new relationship out of the blue and he doesn't have much love for sinners)... but I guess I wanted to have a nice cozy scene for once. God knows Reader deserves it and both of them needed it - just as much as I needed to have Lucifer there already because I'm too impatient, hahah.

Their dynamic is intended to be very different to all the one going on with Alastor. I still have to figure a lot of stuff out, though. And once they're all in the same place is going to be a proper mess.

As for the other project, like I said it's completely different story (I would say, catered especifically to some of my interests, lmao) and I'm not sure if it would have a great reception, but I haven't succeeded in banishing the plot bunny out of my mind and I'm oficially writing it now, so... we'll see.

Some info: it's an AU with an alternate timeline to that of the show or at least happens at a different time, it takes place almost entirely on Earth, the genre would be something like dark romantasy with gothic vibes (??) in a big oppressive manor and a slightly fucked-up family with an interest in the occult. I would say it's going to be quite angsty simply because neither Lucifer nor the main character are going to have a great time, just a head's up, but I have some really beautiful scenes in mind as well and even an ending planned already. I don't even know, I'm just vibing 🤓

[wicked-witch-for-hire]

Book recommendations for Galemancers

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

This is a thinly veiled attempt to recommend some personal favourites of mine. They are all fantasy novels with the occasional romance woven into it, but they do not belong in the romantasy genre (but if you have a great romantasy rec, or any other recs, please share it).

I have concentrated on newer releases but there will be a list of honorary mentions for all the classics at the end.

I.

- Gale is perfect, and I want exactly that!

Naomi Novik - Uprooted

“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

This is a delightful standalone fantasy based on mostly Polish fairy tales. Our heroine, Agnieska has been plucked from her home by their village's feudal lord to serve him for 10 years. Said lord also happens to be a prickly, impatient wizard who begins to teach Agnieska magic after he discovers to both of their dismay that she is talented.

I don't want to spoil the plot for you, but let's just say that there is an Evil Wood, a handsome prince who wants to save his long lost mother, and nothing will happen as you would expect to happen. It is imaginative, enchanting, engrossing and even funny.

II.

- I like Gale, but I wished to have adventures with Tara!

H.G. Parry - The Magician’s Daughter

“In every fairy tale ever told, it's a bad idea to tangle with a magician's daughter."Nobody, not Hutch, not Rowan, not even herself, had ever referred to her in those terms before. And yet hearing it made her relationship with Rowan so clear and so bright that it hurt. She still didn't know who he was, or why he had done so many of the things he had done. But she knew who he had raised her to be. If he wasn't her father, then she at least was his daughter.”

Have you been wondering if a wizard can be a good father? While an aloof wizard might not be the best choice to adopt a shipwrecked little girl at first glance, Rowan and his intelligent, loyal and kindhearted familiar Hutchington together are more than enough. (You have heard me right, Tumblr! :-P) Thus Biddy grows up on Hy-Brasil an enchanted little island not far from the coast of Ireland.

"Biddy loves her strange little home, despite being unable to use magic herself, but lately spends her time yearning to explore the outside world and meet actual humans (rabbits being notoriously poor conversationalists, after all, and magicians being, well, erratic at the best of times). After Rowan runs into a spot of trouble, inadvertently dragging Biddy into a magical mess almost a century in the making, her wish to explore is granted, but Biddy quickly learns that the outside world is not at all like the storybooks she grew up reading." (Lightspeed magazine)

This is a nice, meandering fairytale of a found family, coming of age and beautiful worldbuilding. It is full of magic, peril and adventure. I was very grateful to experience losing myself in book like a young girl again.

III.

- I love Gale, but I have respecced him... (how dare you! you heathen!) But I still like brooding heroes I need to save from themselves...

Alix E. Harrow - Starling House

"The gates of Starling House don’t look like much from a distance—just a dense tangle of metal half-eaten by rust and ivy, held shut by a padlock so large it almost feels rude—but up close you can make out individual shapes: clawed feet and legs with too many joints, scaled backs and mouths full of teeth, heads with empty holes for eyes. I’ve heard people call them devils or, more damningly, modern art, but they remind me of the Beasts in The Underland, which is a nice way of saying they’re unsettling as all hell.

I can still see the shine of the window through the gate. I step closer, weaving my fingers between the open jaws and curling tails, staring up at that light and wishing, childishly, that it was shining for me. Like a porch light left on to welcome me home after a long day.

I have no home, no porch light. But I have what I need, and it’s enough.

It’s just that, sometimes, God help me, I want more.

I’m so close to the gate now that my breath pearls against the cold metal. I know I should let go—the dark is deepening and Jasper needs dinner and my feet are numb with cold—but I keep standing, staring, haunted by a hunger I can’t even properly name.

It occurs to me that I was right: dreams are just like stray cats. If you don’t feed them they get lean and clever and sharp-clawed, and come for the jugular when you least expect it."

One part Southern Gothic, one part dark fairy tale and also intensely romantic story of two acidic, stubborn people battling monsters and each other.

"We meet Opal, a young woman who’s stuck in the tiny town of Eden, scraping a living so she can get her bright younger brother into a better school. Eden is nowhere, notable only for its connection to the author E. Starling, who wrote a single cult-hit children’s book, then disappeared nearly a century before. The house she lived in, Starling House, still stands, but it and its keepers have long had a mysterious air about them. So when Opal starts dreaming about the house, she wonders what it means. Then, the mysterious resident of the house, Arthur, hires her to clean the place for far more money than her old job, Opal can’t resist. But the house holds secrets—and danger—that she couldn’t possibly have imagined." Link

List of Honorary mentions

Ursula K. Le Guin - A Wizard of Earthsea (1st book of the The Earthsea Cycle)

Diana Wynne Jones - Howl’s Moving Castle

Thanks to @mavka-world

If you want even more:

Charlie N. Holmberg - The Paper Magician (1st book of the The Paper Magician trilogy)

- this is a YA fantasy, some parts of it reminded me of Anne of Green Gables (mostly because it is set in Edwardian times), and there is a bit of an anime flavour to it. All 3 books together is a pleasant albeit a bit formulaic story of girl named Ceony Twill who becomes the apprentice of a famed paper magician, falls in love with him, and of course has to save him :-) It is the perfect book to read if you are in a turkey coma!

Jim Butcher - Dresden Files

- while Butcher has problems writing non-stereotyped female characters (especially in the earliest books) I can forgive some of these tropes in a noire urban fantasy, where our hero happens to be a wizard working as a private investigator. Don't read them, but listen to them because the audio books are narrated by James Marsters (Spike from Buffy) and they are so damned good...

[orphicpoieses]

Writing Log

August 3, 2023

WIP: Project Rosary

Phase: Active Writing

Percentage: ~ 50%

Hello and welcome back to a new writing log.

I am slowly coming near the halfway mark in my Project Rosary Part 1. Even though life is stressful right now (exam season started in Germany two weeks ago), I am fairly consistent in writing every morning before studying.

Creating stories in these times is crucial for me. I immediately feel stressed, when I cannot write (especially if people tell me to not write during the exam phase!). It is like my little escape from everyday work.

But to be honest with you, I am currently a bit unmotivated. Not only because stuff currently happens within my family, but also because everything seems to be quite exhausting. So, what’s been new these days, is that I am trying to get anything down. A new Tumblr post, stuff for my project, new stuff… All of that.

Some of you have already seen that I came up with a new kinda fantasy story, that has no particular meaning, whatsoever.

It doesn’t have a name, beside the codename for Tumblr, so I can tag it: Project Unnamed. It is probably the shittiest story I have ever written. Not only because it is mainly pure Romantasy, which I normally don’t write, but also the fact, that I am writing some elven romance thing while complaining about how many elven or fae romance is out there? It’s kinda ironic.

To give you a little insight in the quick story (including some fancy banners I made for this):

It is about a somehow royal girl (I haven’t decided on that just yet), who lives in a world where magic is banned and seen as a wicked thing. One day, she gets in danger in the nearby woods, where a mysterious man saves her. Fascinated by his ethereal presence, she decides to find him again (which obviously works), where she finds out that he is able to control magic. He seems to come and go like a spirit and so she calls him the white spirit, also because he doesn’t tell her anything about him, besides the facts, that are obvious to her. She gets him to teach her about magic and soon enough, she finds out, that she can use the forbidden force too. They kinda have a secret relationship going on (with probably many red flags - I don’t know if he is a good or a bad guy). The drama comes from the secret relationship and when people find out about the elf in the forest.

I already know that this is going to be bad. I have no intention on publishing it. Maybe one day on Wattpad or as snippets here on Tumblr, but this is probably the most cliché Romantasy story you can come across. Even though I kinda like the characters…

But this is never going to any publisher in this world. It’s to bad for that.

If you are lucky enough to grasp an update on this story in form of a writing log, you are probably blessed. Project Unnamed is not even considered an active WIP.

But back to the original project, of which I am very proud of.

Project Rosary is still right before the half-time of the book, but I only have to finish the current scene and I am done. I like the pace in which things are falling together. Also, because I have the time to come up with solutions to plot holes in the storyline.

Now, as I am slowly coming to the end of one book of the series, I ask myself more, if I should wait until all seven books are done and then publish the first one. If people read the current book first, they will be (a little bit) spoilered for the rest. But if I publish the rest first, they get spoilered for the current book. It’s a bit of a challenge here, since everything connects to each other.

Luckily, I have until the final draft is done, to decide wether or not I publish now or later.

And that sums up, what’s new.

I hope, you enjoyed reading this writing log and if so, please consider to share it and subscribe to my Tag List, so that you get notified when I post.

See you soon and bye bye 💕

From the tag list: @ladyazulina

Other: @writeblrsupport

[tiny-feisty-gay]

I saw in one of your tags a mention of a novel? As someone who is enjoying your Chaggie fics (they're really good!) I'm curious as to what you write when fandom isn't on the brain :D

First of all thank you for enjoying my fics! I love engaging with fandom and the fact I can contribute creatively to the things I love brings me a lot of joy <3

Fair warning there is so much under the cut here oops, you gave me an opening to talk about my original shit and now I'm running with it lol

I have several projects at the moment, but the one with the most traction and an actual finished first draft is an urban romantasy following a chronically ill werewolf and the suffocated coven heir vampire with PTSD (and a service Hellhound) who she falls in love after an abandoned new vampire stumbles into her job, confused and bloodthirsty. The major throughline is a combination of found family, romance and going against what's expected/socially acceptable to find happiness and self-worth.

The one also has the most art!

The MCs from that one are Marie and Alex <3

I have a few other stories set in the same universe as this one ^ Including a hunter/vampire story (Daisy and Vel, feat. Eidolon, Vel's mount, who is my interpretation of a kelpie)

This one was originally inspired by Reinary's song May I Have This Dance and then I just ran with it lol

And a witch/werewolf story (Amaris, werewolf and Raelyn, witch); follows a werewolf collar tech (Raelyn) and the werewolf she met as a child, before she realized what was really happening (her family trains werewolves as guards -- I'm still working the plot of this one because I've had a hard time balancing it in a way that isn't harmful to actual people, and it might end up scrapped or reworked into something else, but I love the characters so they get a mention lol)

I also have a multitude of others, including (another) exes-to-lovers between a muralist and tattoo artist who dated in high school; the muralist bailed after high school in an effort to run away from home/family troubles and left a lot of hurt feelings behind.

Then I have a siren/selkie story where the siren's voice has been stolen by a now-popular singer, and the (chaotic) selkie finds out and wreaks havoc trying to free her.

Irie (top, siren) and Anchor (bottom, selkie)

And most recently, a platonic succubus and the grumpy/intimidating witch she falls in love with while trying to figure out how to navigate and hold onto meaningful friendships.

The first one is obviously my most fleshed out, but basically I write a lot of sapphic romance/romance-adjacent and primarily fantasy.

There's a few other ideas I've shelved temporarily while I figure out what I want to do with them too. One is a full rework of the novel I wrote when I was eleven, which was very much Mary-Sue princess goes on quest to save the kingdom lol. There were dragons and unicorns in that one xD

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to ramble about my original works! I love talking about them but obviously my fandom content is more popular lol

[blackwindsreads]

Powerless - ★★★☆☆ (SPOILERS)

Rating - 3.25

Overview - Set in a world where the magic system allows for a variety of powers, the story follows a human girl Paedyn. Although Paedyn is able to pretend having psychic powers, she is in truth powerless and displays no magical qualities. Paedyn has lost her family and spent years living in the city's slums where she has become a thief to make a living. Through a run in with a crown prince and saving him from a fight, Paedyn gets selected to take part in that year's tournament where she goes against others who have strong magical abilities.

Plot - The world itself is quite interesting and reminded me of Sanderson's Mistborn - we get quite an extensive list of powers that are available and some of these are considered more elite than others. The plot itself moves along quite quickly and did not drag, although I found some of the worldbuilding lacking logic and a clear explanation.

Even though quick paced, the plot did feel like a rehash of some popular books in the genre - the tournament felt awfully close to Hunger Games, especially with its set up of the tournament contestants being a mix between those who joined it willingly and those who were plucked against their will. I never truly understand the purpose and the goal of the tournament and felt like Roberts should have spent more time explaining what the costentants were ultimately fighting for.

Otherwise the plot is driven a lot by the enemies to lover romance between Paedyn and the crown prince Kai. It was a slow burn, and a partially attempted love triangle with Kai's brother thrown in the mix. Now, I do love a good enemies to lovers trope just as much as any other romantasy girlie, but this did often feel like a library of tropes. At times I felt like the plot was moving in a certain direction just so that Roberts could use some of the most famous tropes, some of those being: - Knife to throat - Jealous love interest gets drunk - Who did this to you? - Love interest is injured and is tended to - Training scene gets saucy - Stay with me this night (but nothing really happens)

Characters - Paedyn was a pretty solid FMC in this context, although I found her love for her friend from the slums to be unbelievable - for all of Paedyn's claiming of how she lover her friend, she seemed to remember her barely... ever. Some of the finale of the book therefore felt a lot less emotionally impactful to me.

Kai is an attempted morally grey MMC, but to me his ''grey'' part was settled too quickly and I never believed him to be a villain. I think this was an attemped Rhys (ACOTAR) / Cardan (Cruel Prince) / Jacks (Once Upon a Broken Heart), but the attempt fell flat to me.

Some of the background characters seem to have little explanation for their darker ways and felt quite one dimensional, especially the main female ''villain'' who seemed to hold a lot of grudges that I felt were never really explained.

What I liked most - Even with its overuse of romantasy tropes, I enjoyed the banter and interactions between Paedyn and Kai and enjoyed scenes with them on the page the most. It was a fun palette cleanser between some heavier reads. The twist at the end provides for a good setup for a sequel and I am going to read it to see where the story progresses.

What I hated most - The overuse of tropes and scenes that were more than just inspired by other series but rather rewrites of them. The writing could also use some improvements and felt quite juvenile at points. Would love to see more solid worldbuilding and less one dimensional characters in the future instalment.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb: For fans of Fable by Adrienne Young or To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, this romantasy debut is filled with sirens and mysterious magic, swoony romance and cutthroat betrayal.

This world of sea and storm runs deep with bargains and blood.

On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira’s job is to rescue survivors, if there are any. After all, she never feels the cold of the frigid ocean waters and the waves seem to sing to her soul. But the people of Rosevear never admit the truth: that they set the beacons themselves to lure ships into the rocks.

When the Council watch lays a trap to put an end to the wrecking, they arrest Mira’s father. Desperate to save him from the noose, Mira strikes a deal with an enigmatic wreck survivor guarding layers of secrets behind his captivating eyes, and sets off to find something her mother has left her, a family secret buried deep in the sea.

With just nine days to find what she needs to rescue her father, all Mira knows for certain is this: The sea gives. The sea takes. And it’s up to her to do what she must to save the ones she loves.

Review:

A girl connected to the sea finds herself setting sail to find her mother's secrets... and facing love, betrayal, and discovering who she really is. This is the first book in a series and follows Mira, a wrecker who plunders ship wrecks to make money just like her mother did before her mother died at sea. She lives on the remote isle of Rosevear but when the Council wants to put an end to the wrecking they arrest Mira's father to make an example of him and he is heading towards the noose unless she can save him. Along the way she makes a deal with the mysterious wreck survivor Seth, who has secrets surrounding him and lies on his tongue. Mira has no choice but to trust Seth yet finds herself drawn to him and falling for him... yet one lesson she is about to learn the hard way is that sometimes you have to be careful who you can trust and she's going to need all her wits about her to survive the betrayals that await her at sea. This book unfortunately was a let down for me. I had really high hopes and was so excited for a fun pirate/magic story with romance and adventure. The romance was NOT IT AT ALL, seriously, do yourself a favor and skip this one if you are looking for a good romance. Mira is the most annoying and naive protagonist I have come across in a while. It was so hard to get across this book because every time I would start reading, I would just want to close it and walk away from it. Mira comes off like a naive high schooler and honestly her survival instincts are pretty...bare to none. I just, don't see myself finishing this series and the way this one ends sets it up for the next book. So while this one was a miss for me, I would say if you enjoy younger YA books with romance and quests, maybe give this one a go, maybe you'll have a better time with it than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Inkyard Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*