Broken by Daylight

Beasts of the Briar #4

by Elizabeth Helen

War has come to the Enchanted Vale. Not only am I mates to three of the four High Princes, but I’m also the daughter of the lost Queen. This is my home, and I have to protect it.

For months, I’ve been imprisoned in an underwater cell, and my mates are scattered across the realms, searching for me. The diabolic Kairyn and Nightingale have taken over the Summer Realm and there’s only one way to stop them. The true High Prince of Summer will have to reclaim his throne, and to do that, he’s going to need his full strength.

Which means being with his fated mate … who isn’t me. I always knew the day would come when I’d have to give Dayton up, but now that it’s here, my heart is breaking. At least we have one last adventure together, as we must fight in the Sun Colosseum to reclaim the magical bow that only I can wield.

All the while, my mates battle for the Vale’s freedom from across the realms. Keldarion and my father venture deep into the Below to search for my mother, the lost queen. Ezryn takes a hazardous journey with two young princesses into the unforgiving desert. And Farron must team up with the person he hates most in the world—the Prince of Thorns, Caspian—to confront a dark god who wants to claim the Vale for his own.

I know my Princes are counting on me to be strong. No matter what the Summer Realm throws at us—be it pirates, sirens, or gladiators—I’ll fight for Dayton’s home. And even though I know I shouldn’t … I’ll fight for his heart, too.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Reverse Harem, Fae, Why Choose, Fantasy Romance

672 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2024

About the author

Elizabeth Helen is the combined pen name of sister writing duo, Elizabeth and Helen. Elizabeth and Helen write fantasy romance and love creating enchanting adventures for their characters. When they’re not writing, you can find them snuggling their cats, exploring their rainforest home in British Columbia, Canada, or rolling the dice for a game of Dungeons & Dragons. You can connect with them on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook.

Visit us at:

Website: https://elizabethhelen.carrd.co

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorelizabe...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author.eliz...

Facebook Reader's Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/58300...

Reviews

[Aphrodite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Istg if Dayton is not her mate i'll riot

[Suirene]

I beg you let Dayton finally be her mate

[Emmy Rosam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ (rounded up).

I thought this was fun! Probably one of my favourite books so far in the series with a lot of action and so many answers (finally!!!!). Everything felt really thought out and like it had purpose which I really appreciated as the last book felt quite filler heavy for me.

Elizabeth Helen always kill me with the endings, they know how to end a book!

[Allison 🖤 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Y’all im tired. Why did this plot need more than 4 books? Why has she completely changed the plot in this book? I AM BORED. Please just give the characters their HEA.

[Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, ouch.
What a riot of emotions this was. There’s so many characters to care about and so much build up and tension - I just am lost for words half the time. I kept sitting up straighter while reading as if that would help at all but alas, I am still a screeching mess. Even when I thought I knew where it was going, there would be more elements to the situation that blindsided me. And now I have to sit here with a riot of reactions and wait for more when this book was only just released :’)

The obsession continues. I fear it’ll have me in a chokehold for the foreseeable.

P.S. petition for a Delphie and Nori spin-off

[romantasy girlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

EDIT: After 2 months, I have decided to increase this book from 2 stars to 3 stars because of the one spicy scene with Caspian that I have shamelessly revisited like 10+ times now 😂 honestly makes me think reading this book is worth it just for that one chapter…

This book started off well and actually felt like high fantasy for a bit because the world building and plot setup was so good, but it went downhill quick and for so many reasons absolutely infuriated me by the end of it!! This is gonna be a long review of me ranting because I need to get all my frustration out 😂

The spice in this one is not good. This is my main gripe because THIS IS AN RH BOOK!! Where are the group scenes?? You’re seriously going to only give us one or two sexy group scenes per book when it’s 600+ pages?! And they’re not even written well anymore, it’s gave me the ick. I’m not connecting with it at all and the hard spanking kink is not for me (I won’t deduct stars for this bc I’m all for kinks, but personally this is one that I really don’t like), and the Baby Girl phrase continues to my chagrin… 🤢 I literally have had to go back to chapter 47 in book 3 to feel satisfied, because the spice in this book did absolutely nothing for me. Even the group activities felt weird, like the men just want to get together and Rosalina is just… there? It felt like this was written unrealistically by a woman who wants gay men to love her more than each other and it felt kind of embarrassing to read. 😭 This is especially true when it’s her, Farron and Dayton, where she gets to be mated with them both but they can’t be mated to each other? They can only have a connection through Rose? How SELFISH. And the author is trying to convince us that they love her and want her there too but it just felt so awkward, maybe it’s because this book and the storyline and everything is making me hate Rosalina’s character so much I just want her to leave!!

I guess because this book is so much better than the others story wise, when something is cringey, it is SO noticeable and makes me roll my eyes. Whereas before, I was just used to it being a little trashy I didn’t even notice it. Ugh the chapter where she’s looking in the ocean and feels a connection to everything like “oh the coral and the fish; we’re all connected it’s so beautiful” and Dayton is holding her hand, it honestly made me feel ill. Same with queen aurelia talking about how she “lived” in the human realm. “Oh how I lived. I watched Shakespeare perform in London, had lunch with Anne Boleyn…..” etc etc I honestly wanted to throw up. This took me out of the story completely and sounded so fucking lame. Also made no sense, how does her just wandering into the human realm mean she suddenly has connections to human royalty? Fat fucking chance lol

NONSENSICAL PLOT ELEMENTS
Kairyn could have easily killed Rosalina, AGAIN, having imprisoned her for 3 months, but he doesn’t touch her, barely even questions her except to ask where Day’s necklace is and where Ezryn is, which she obviously wouldn’t know being a prisoner lol and considering she had Day’s necklace in her mattress, and they used truth serum on her, how did they not find it?! The questioning team must honestly be terrible at their jobs if she was able to avoid answering where it was with “it’s not on me right now”. This was just so badly written, and only explained later because of “Kairyn’s respect and love for Ezryn and therefore Ezryn’s mate”, which makes no sense since Kairyn was literally about to kill Ezryn 2 chapters ago before Caspian saved him. The authors are stretching if they’re trying to convince us Kairyn cares that much. In the last book, kairyn said he couldn’t bring himself to kill his brother, which is fair, so he wanted to kill Rosalina in order to break Ezryn. Also fair. But then he does a switcharoo out of nowhere and is suddenly okay with killing Ezryn, but then is not okay killing Rosalina because he’s Ezryn’s mate? Make up your fucking mind! No consistency at all.

The worst thing about this whole book is how annoying Rosalina is throughout- oh my fucking god. Shes had absolutely no growth since book one, except she’s not used all of her power for some reason, she’s only using it bit by bit I guess so there can be a big reveal at the end, but it gets old that she can’t use her queen magic unless one of her mates is in danger. Then halfway through this book she can suddenly access it easily if she just feels for warmth in her heart? Like okay? She’s also so entitled and jealous (4 men being in love with her is not enough, she needs 5 lol) and it really gets fucking old. Her character seems to only be used for the men to get over their own issues, and they constantly say how perfect and beautiful she is, at this point it’s making me feel sick and I can’t relate to her anymore. She gives MAJOR pick me energy throughout this book it’s gross. And the way Wren is written and treated is just awful, which brings me to my next point, the MAIN CRUX of my frustration.

The authors are clearly trying to make us hate Wrenley / The Nightingale, but honestly I feel for her and she’s my favourite character. She is constantly being discarded in favour of her sister Rosalina who is “perfect” and has been blessed for no reason with 5 wonderful and hot Prince mates, while also being gifted with a cute little childhood in the human realm with her only “struggles” being her abusive bf which she got herself into anyway (I don’t agree with this statement IRL, but in a book, yeah fucking grow up and leave the asshole if he treats you like shit! So annoying for her to use that as her “history of struggles”). Rosalina also didn’t have to suffer the horrible upbringing and abuse Wrenley had in the below with Caspian WHERE SHE WAS LITERALLY TORTURED AND WHIPPED. Rosalina also seems more powerful than Wren for no reason, why can Rose wield gold vines and Wren can only wield black ones and that’s worse for some reason? And Wren may have tricked Day about being mated to her, but all she wants is someone to love her, deep down, even if it’s not Dayton. And Dayton and Rosalina are idiots so honestly I think Wren’s plan was pretty good lol Rosalina gets the love of a father growing up and a relatively safe, if somewhat absent, childhood. But Wren didn’t have a father at all, and BONUS, had a dark overlord mother who whipped her and had her abused by monsters constantly. I honestly can’t imagine not having anyone interested in you your whole life as well, even though you’re “objectively pretty” as Dayton puts it, yet your sister gets 5 mate PRINCES for literally no reason who are all obsessed with her and won’t even look at you? Like what the actual fuck?! and Rosalina is so annoying about it as well, like she can have 5 mates and her sister isn’t allowed a single one and when Wren seems to like Dayton, Rose is like noooo Dayton likes ME and not HER! And none of the men like Wren or include her in anything because Wren hasn’t been excluded and unloved enough in her life……. Rosalina is also so stupid for not realising Wren and the Nightingale are the same person for literally 90% of this book, or that she’s her sister, despite the obvious hints Caspian constantly drops for her. Oh and that’s not enough, Caspian also chooses Rosalina, who he’s known for a year, over his adopted sister who he’s known for 25 years. So Wren is left completely alone with no one to support her or love her, with no one choosing her. Honestly how is she the villaint? This also felt out of character for Caspian bc I am obsessed with him and he would not do this 😭❤️ For me, this book has ruined the RH element, not with how shit the spice was in this book, but with how they all seem like villains to me compared to Wren! I hated Wren in book 3, but in this book I’ve completely switched sides after finding out she’s the queen’s other daughter. This honestly just gets worse and worse and I was rooting for Wren to kill Rose at the end of this book when Rose does her bullshit cringe heart to heart with Wren that made me sick. And the only love interest Wren gets is Ezryn’s creepy brother who is such a bleh boring character? And then in his dying breath, he gives ROSE the spring blessing??? Not wren??? Are you fucking kidding me????? He literally HATES Rose and is in love with Wren this is seriously so out of character AND MAKES NO SENSE. Not only could Rosalina easily save the only person Wrenley has ever loved, but Kairyn would have definitely passed the blessing to Wren let’s be real. All Wrenley ever wanted was to feel like she had some power and autonomy over herself, when her birth mother stupidly and selfishly gave Wren up to Sira to be completely controlled body and soul at Sira’s whim. It would have been more merciful for Aurelia to kill Wren as soon as she birthed her. Aurelia is such a selfish stupid bitch, and doesn’t even apologise when Wren goes down to see her at the end of this book. Aurelia just says “this was never a fate I wanted for you” like OKAY GREAT except this is literally all your fault. You thought things through for Rose but had zero plans for Wren when you had 9 months of pregnancy to think of something but came up with NOTHING? Her and Caspian should have been able to do something. And then when the oh so perfect Rose decides to save Kairyn, it’s not even for poor Wrenley, but Rose does it for Ezryn who is such a piece of shit! Wren just wanted to feel loved by SOMEONE and feel encouraging words by SOMEONE. Kairyn and Caspian constantly told her she wasn’t strong enough to do anything, Caspian believed so little in her that he didn’t even tell her who her mother was for 25 years, or that she could wield the bow because he thought she’d do evil things to the realm with it, and he also made her think the queen didn’t want her as a child (when he reveals the secret to her in the last book) which was so shitty tbh, but then Wren STILL goes to rescue Caspian from his fire prison in the last chapter of this book. Honestly Wren is the real hero here and she is surrounded by selfish assholes!! All this, and Kairyn doesn’t even give Wren a small bit of power that she has always been saying she wanted this entire time in her plan to get Summer’s blessing from Dayton. No, the authors won’t have any sort of justice for Wren, she gets NOTHING. Rosalina will always get everything for no reason! I am honestly so angry 😭😭 these authors are savage, Wren deserves 5 prince mates and a fairytale ending of her own imo. Rose deserves nothing the stupid bitch. I guess the authors did something right though because honestly my feelings are so strong I am FUMING. 😭 I feel sorry for Wren. Rosalina is just an annoying fucking pick me girl. I want Rosalina to hurt and be tortured so she can know just an ounce of what Wren has been through growing up in the below surrounded by monsters and constant traumatic abuse. All Wren ever had was the love of her adopted brother Caspian, who OH YEAH leaves her in the end as well in favour of Rose, yet Wren STILL comes to his rescue. Caspian doesn’t deserve Wren. Ugh. I really tried to get over all this to enjoy the book, but after 20% in I literally was just so annoyed at everything happening in this book.

And then I honestly cracked up at Rosalina’s line of “but if it comes down to a fight between me, Sira and the nightingale, whoever has the the nightingale - and that bow - on their side wins”. LOL sorry what?! Is that all you need to take Sira down? Wow that sounds fucking easy, why have you, Dayton and everyone else said Sira was too strong all this time? All it takes is a fucking bow now? And the Nightingale who has barely any power? THIS WRITING IS SO INFURIATING I want to rip my hair out! And Rosalina “saving” Wrenley like “I know how scared you are, we can get through this together”….. I am actually going to angry vomit right now.

So many holes in the world building plot, as well. Why can’t the queen leave her prison? Her bargain with Sira is the same regardless of whether or not she’s imprisoned. Unless when the queen turned herself in, she made a second bargain saying as long as she’s imprisoned then the queen can never take Rosalina? But they were not clear about this and that would be a stupid fucking bargain honestly, and turns out not to be true because at the end of this book Sira has both the queen and Rose imprisoned with no bargain consequences. So this is not consistent.

Why, in the third book, could everyone in the springs see Rosalina when she appeared there naked for Kel when she was actually in a bathtub in a different realm, but then when the same thing happens in the below in this book, Kel says “only I can see you - your dad can’t” like why not? Keep the magic consistent ffs

There is NO reasoning given to why the queen would curse the men of castletree the way she did when she knew Sira would be after her. Her saying, oh I thought I would come sort it out again shortly after is like huh?? You literally JUST tied your husband’s life to the life of castletree bc you love him more than anything else in the world, but would jespordise his life for what? A realm you abandoned so you could have a jolly in the human realms? You curse Castletree to whither away and die within 25 years (therefore cursing your husband to die in 25 years) and the human-looking enchantment you put on your daughter will only last 25 years even tho she’s mated to all those men and you knew that when you cursed them? Honestly this makes no sense, you give you daughter less than a year to find castletree, fall in love with the men and then what? Why would you want her to do any of this when you’re imprisoned and it’s so dangerous? Did the queen just fancy giving her daughter a challenge of having like no time at all to sort all that shit out, let alone figure any of it out when the princes don’t even know any of this?! Literally makes no sense honestly, this was poorly written and planned.

I thought this book would be mostly Caspian, but I wanted even more lol still not enough. He’s literally the only reason I got through this tbh bc all the other characters annoy me, ESPECIALLY Ezryn. Omg get over yourself and your stupid anger issues no one cares!

Sira whipping Caspian all the time and punishing him for stupid shit really doesn’t make sense. Even a villain would know what would push someone to rebel against you, and that surely would lol also him screaming in pain at her vision of his future when the blue lady comes to put the hood on his head, is surely a dead giveaway to Sira that Caspian does not have the same vision as her ?? So he’s not on her side and she needs to do something about it. But no she just floats away doing who knows what with her time. She’s literally never around it makes no sense.

Also Ezryn tangling Kairyn up in his own vines was the dumbest shit I’ve ever read 😂 that was so bad I was honestly cracking up. the way it was written just had me imagining Pedro pascal dancing around Kairyn like a fairy princess while Kairyn “unknowingly” wraps himself in his own weapons and trips on them like a bad cartoon? What’s next will he slip on a banana peel? And then Kairyn can’t tell the vines to unwrap? That makes no sense he’s literally the most powerful being in the realm but can’t untangle himself lol bffr

Farron turning into the villain at the end with Caspian not saying outright what happened in the Below to him and the green pool, and instead speaking to Rose in riddles of “be careful you could get burned 👀 “ is so stupid. I honestly don’t even care about Farron at this point can we just get on with the story lol I just like Day and Farron together and Ros and Caspian together. And because Ros is soooo annoying, I guess that means i just like day and Caspian? Maybe they should have a romance? 😂 I would prefer that honestly.

And Rosalina’s idea to flood the summer city with a literal tsunami on both the evil skeletons, the people who follow Kairyn, as well as the innocent civilians, is such a terrible idea like WTF I’m honestly shocked they kept that bit in this book. Also since when would drowning kill a skeleton that can’t be killed? They would still wreak havoc underwater or whatever. Oh great you floated them away for a little bit. Rose destroying the city buildings, the ancient coliseum, all that history and old murals, all of it absolutely destroyed and in ruins… making the entire city’s citizens uproot and make new homes in an underwater city far away is fucking awful tbh and traumatic. How was this written as a wise and kind decision?! It’s fucking brutal and thoughtless, but the scared citizens when they realise they can grow fins are like “oh wow! Thanks queen! Feel free to destroy my home where I’ve lived my entire life! We love you Rosalina you’re amazing and perfect!”. It honestly made me laugh but I was also frowning at how shit of a storyline this was. Like yeah it’s easy to absolutely demolish someone’s city with a flood when it’s not yours I guess. All their possessions, their livelihoods, their homes, history and memories, fucking gone. But Rose is proud and thinks she’s doing everyone a favour? I honestly hate her character so much lol

Rose then wanting to take the bow from Wren because it’s “my bow”. No it’s not you entitled bitch, Wren is also daughter of the queen, it’s hers just as much as yours! Ugh. And Rosalina jumping into the whirlpool to save her sister is such bullshit. She’s got such a hero complex. Honestly Wren would have been powerful enough to use her briars to save both herself and Kairyn, but no the authors wouldn’t let that happen, Rosalina has to save everyone with her pure fucking selfless heart full of love and compassion. 🙄🙄🙄🤮🤮🤮 this book honestly makes me sick.

I REALLY wanted the twist of this series to be Queen Aurelia was the actual evil selfish one (which imo she definitely is), who bullied Sira and made her feel like an outcast and then turned everyone against Sira just because Sira also wanted to build something for herself. Because honestly the Queen is giving me pick me vibes as well throughout this book! But yeah this did not happen, and all the “heroines” give pick me energy how are the authors not rectifying this behaviour?! Ugh. At the end, when Dayton is killed, I was so angry about Wren’s storyline and everything else that I didn’t even care honestly. Just get this book over with already.

I think overall this book felt more like a high fantasy because the storytelling has become so much more detailed and complex, that I forgot to turn off my cringe monitor and I kept cringing and rolling my eyes at stuff every now and then. I honestly think I would have preferred better spice even if the story was less good / exciting because of the amount of plot holes anyway. THIS IS AN RH we are all here for the spice so stop trying to do high fantasy when you can’t write a consistent story and barely include any spice! I think because the series continues to take itself more and more seriously, I found myself critiquing it more and more seriously the way I would an actual high fantasy series.

This will probably be the last book I read in this series. I adored the first 3 books and it had so much potential, but the lack of plot and character consistencies in this book as well as the shit spice that I thought was so badly written, I can’t go on. Idk how they’re going to drag it out into 3 more books, they should just kill everyone off except Wren, Caspian and Dayton. Those are the only people who deserve to live, BARELY.

[Bee Cee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m fully willing to knuck up over this Dayton BS.

[delaney ₊˚ෆ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean… period?
so much happened but none of it was shocking.
I believe what was supposed to be the “WTF??” moment was just so predictable it hurts 😭
and for the LOVE OF GOD - if you insist on there being smut 24/7, please be good at writing it 😐

(that being said, I did unfortunately eat this up)

[MagretFume · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cliffhanger. I guess I'm gonna have to wait for book 5...

[Thay · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It's like being stuck in the eye of a storm you can't escape. It's suffocating, consuming. It's waking up every day with a weight on your chest, wondering if today will be the day it crushes you entirely. Love is continuing to drink poison because it's also the only antidote. For me, it's a battle that if he wins, I lose, and if I win, somehow, I still lose. Love is the only reason I still choose to draw breath."

Broken By Daylight was a rollercoaster of emotions, literally. I went from feeling extreme happiness to uncontrollable fury to unimaginable sadness to burning lust. This book made me shed several tears (happy, sad and angry) but gave me a feeling of warmth and fulfillment. After waiting so many months for Broken By Daylight to be released after the devastating ending of Forged By Malice, starting this ARC (which was my dream to be approved for) made me feel like I was coming home and reuniting with these characters that I love so much.

Elizabeth Helen, you did it again. I don't know how you manage to outdo yourselves with each book released in this series, but you two are beyond amazing. Broken By Daylight surpassed its predecessor and became my favorite volume in the Beasts of the Briar series. In addition to becoming the best book I've read this entire year so far and a great candidate for my Book of The Year.

I feel like the world that the sisters created was even more explored in this book. We had several groups of characters going on their own quests in many different places and it made me realize how vast and detailed the Enchanted Vale and beyond is. We got to know the people of Summer better in this volume and what was presented was so, so interesting that it left me thirsty to discover more about this realm so rich in culture. I especially want to know more about a certain group of people who have a greater affinity for life in the water and another group who live in the desert. I won't give any more details so I don't end up giving spoilers to future readers. They deserve to discover all of this along with our favorite characters as they adventure through the Summer realm.

Speaking of them, we had a lot of personality and story development, especially regarding our main group of characters, Rosie and her five captivating princes. Dayton, Ezryn and Caspian stole the show for me. I can't even tell how much I was thirsty to know what would happen to them in each of their arcs. Ez and Cas continue to be my favorite princes and the way they grew even more in my opinion in this book makes me so happy, I can't wait to find out what will happen to them in the next volume. Especially after that ending, oh my God.

The secondary characters also had very important roles in this fourth volume and I was curious and worried about what would happen to each of them. I love it when authors give due attention to enriching their stories by developing their secondary characters well and I believe that Elizabeth and Helen do this masterfully. Broken By Daylight only confirmed and cemented this even more in my humble opinion. They have the gift of making me hate and love a character in equal measure. I go from cursing someone to crying for that same person as the chapters go by. It's incredible!

Broken By Daylight ends with a cliffhanger as is customary with all the books in this series, which will make you crazy to read the fifth volume soon. However, I believe in the sisters and I know that when the next book comes out it will make me feel like I'm coming home again after a long time away and that it will be even more incredible than the one I just read. They keep outdoing themselves and I keep becoming more and more of a fan of these wonderful authors, this captivating series and this fantastic world!

P.S.: The art in this book was divine. I was drooling over each one of them, I would like to congratulate the artists for the wonderful work portraying our favorite characters!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction | Magpie for providing and approving my ARC!

✨ RATING
- C (characters): 10/10
- A (atmosphere): 10/10
- W (writing): 10/10
- P (plot): 10/10
- I (intrigue): 10/10
- L (logic): 10/10
- E (enjoyment): 10/10
↬ TOTAL: 10.0 = ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

💦 SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

🔖 TROPES:
- Fated mates
- Forbidden romance
- Forced Proximity
- Why Choose/Forbidden Harem
- "Touch her and die"
- Found Family
- Summer Realm setting

⚠️ Trigger Warnings: imprisonment, abusive parent

"I cannot keep away from you any more than the tides can resist the pull of the moon."

[Maggie G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have so many thoughts, where to begin?? I'm trying to get better at saving the unhinged rants for book groups, so here goes!

I thought this was well worth the wait, for starters. I'm a very, very impatient person when it comes to books and movies/ TV, and it's been a long time since I've started a series that wasn't complete yet because of that reason. In fairness, I didn't realize this had 7 books when I started. Nonetheless, this was SO worth the wait.

Rosie was easily the best part for me. She had a ton of character development, and I've loved being in her head since book one, but she truly gets better and better in each book. I love reading and I love romance, and I'm going to continue doing so no matter how much I scream, but it's really refreshing the way Rosie deals with things and doesn't put up with less than she deserves. I was a smidge frustrated with some of the things Day said to her throughout the book that he really should have been smacked for, but it was just never addressed. But he did give her a heartfelt apology in the end, so that mostly made up for it for me.

This book was tough in terms of Rosie and the five boys being separated for a large majority of it, but it was fun seeing the way everyone paired off for adventures. I LOVED the dynamics, especially between Cas and Farron and Ez and the girls. And there were some really funny lines and moments in this book. I laughed my whole way through.

I also screamed my whole way through. I felt the pace of Forged by Malice was a touch smoother, but overall I still read this entire 650+ page book in 2 days. So that should tell you something. It was plot twist after plot twist, woven together with hilarity and nerve-wracking moments, and I loved it. It was the perfect next addition to the series.

The spice was off the charts. I've read a lot of spicy books. I've read kinkier things than this, worse things than this, more wild things than this. And yet, somehow, I think this is the filthiest thing I've ever read. I blushed and squealed through most of the spice scenes, and honestly, some of them were actually startlingly sweet. The one in the beginning with Rosie and Farron was so heart-melting, and then same with the one with Rosie and x at the end (I don't want to spoil).

The overarching plot twists and plot points in this series are, more often than not, easy to guess. I don't know if everyone feels this way, it could just be because I read a lot of romance and fairytales. But I've never once been frustrated by this in this series. Elizabeth and Helen manage to make things exciting and sometimes shocking even when you've suspected them, and I think that's quite impressive.

And that ending. I have a lot of feelings. I've been saying to my friend for ages now that I think that ending had to happen, and that it would either be the end of this book or the end of the next one. And somehow, I was still shocked when it happened, because it didn't *quite* happen the way I'd expected. The way I hoped? Absolutely. The way I thought they'd do it? No. Not to mention the extra details I didn't expect that were somehow so necessary, so tragically perfect, and completely ripped my heart out at the same time.

I've seen lots of reviews about the Farron situation, so I'm not going to linger on it. I will say though that I totally get how and why that happened, both from a plot standpoint and what it must have been like in Farron's head. Farron had great characterization in this book too. And his ending hurt me, but I do think it was necessary. And it wouldn't have worked with any other character. He's been hurting since the end of Woven by Gold, and no other character would have made that decision. Not to mention I don't know how much of that 'decision' was conscious, but that's another story altogether.

Finally, the only struggle I had with this was the way each chapter ended as like, a mini cliffhanger. I do not like this style of writing. I get it. I can tolerate it and even enjoy it with one or two chapters. But this was in nearly every single chapter, and for the first half I sort of rolled with it because with six alternating points of view and everyone off doing something different, it's the only way to keep it paced. But it was incredibly painful in the second half of the book as things started speeding up. Look, I get that maybe not everyone feels this way, and I'm only taking off half a star for it because the book was so worth it. But it's really difficult for me to read that way. One or two chapters like that give great anticipation. Nearly all of them being that way meant I couldn't read fast enough. And now in a fun, omg I couldn't put the book down! kind of way (though that is also true!). I was so stressed and confused, it made it hard to engage with the new chapter because I was stuck on the previous one. I just preferred the way things were done in Forged. But I thought the storylines were all important in this!

Nonetheless, this was an incredible read and I cannot wait for the next one!! 4.5 stars! See you in Winter, everyone! <3

[sunshine_in_ny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2.5 stars. THIS IS NOT THE LAST BOOK. I cannot believe the series is not wrapped. Still just here for Caspian. Skipped whole sections - just way to drawn out.

[Cassidy Chivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

AHHHHH
I HAVE NO WORDS
I AM HEARTBROKEN AND ALSO HAPPILY IN LOVE
AND I CANT WAIT FOR BOOK FIVE

[Larken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series got me out of my reading slump and now I’m devastated knowing I won’t get another book until September. Wrenley seems sweet but I can’t deny I have a weird feeling about her and am so sad that rose isn’t his mate. Who knows though maybe he is considering rose is mated to kel, ez, farron, and possibly Caspian.

[Emily G · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really great to see how far the authors writing has come since the release of book 1 in this series.
This book was much more fleshed out, articulate and engaging than the first and others in the series.

Broken by Daylight is the fourth instalment in the Beasts of the Briar series, it's a gripping continuation that enhances on the series’ rich lore and conniving betrayals. This book has many moments of high-stakes action but also has those moments of soul-crushing vulnerability, as characters struggle with both their emotions and relationships.

Whilst this book was much longer than the others in the series, I found myself engaged and on tenterhooks for 80% of the book because of how tense it was. Elizabeth & Helen surely know how to keep us waiting, and that cliff-hanger?!

'I cannot keep away from you any more than the tides can resist the pull of the moon.'

I found myself skimming parts of Ezryn's chapters at times due to the way it deviates from the main storyline and I do wish the whole group had been together for more of the novel; but overall, this was a really engaging continuation of the series and I really need to know how this story ends.

How many more books until a happy ending? It will be a happy ending? Right? right?!

Thankyou to the publisher and authors for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review
-----------


I’m choosing chaos and jumping to book 4. No judgement please

[Mamie Diemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Macaroni. I don't even know how to process what I just read?!? (in the absolute best way!)

Trying to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, this is hands down my favorite book of the series so far! I found this one to be a bit more emotional than the others-I definitely cried more in this one than the others FOR SURE. And the one-liners are GOLDEN (pun intended)! I was cracking up the whole way through the book. If I wasn't crying, I was laughing or screaming. There was no inbetween lmao.

I cannot WAIT for this to come out in audio so that I can experience it again with my ears! I was lucky enough to get an ARC from netgalley and the authors (thank you!) and I love getting to experience a book with both my eyes and my ears! I already know the audio production won't disappoint!

The amount of cliffhangers this book leaves us on should be illegal (plural, because yes, there are MULTIPLE!).

Anyway, I'm going to go stare out the window bella swan style until the next book.

[Milk · Rating 5 out of 5]

My jaw? On the floor. My heart? Shattered. My mind? Reeling. I love this series with my whole heart but it is a cruel love because I cannot handle these plot twists. 😭😭😭 No, but in all seriousness Elizabeth & Helen have OUT DONE themselves. This story slowly evolving into a more complex high fantasy world with each book. I feel like this book was so magnificent, the character arcs.. the action.. the magic. I truly think this is their best book yet - in terms of writing. But as a Dayton stan - pls be kinder to me next book. 😭😭😭

[Mel Lenore · Rating 4 out of 5]

AHHHH I love baby Day. This book will literally rip your heart out and tear it to pieces. I loved watching the romance between these two develop further and seeing the relationships between the other characters as well. I do wish things had a bit more stakes and the romance with our established mates a little more depth, a little less spice, but overall I just love this series so much.

[Kelsey H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series...I have no words. The romance, the magic, the plot twists. I feel like my heart was repeatedly torn out and shoved back in, and I don't regret a single moment!

[Miracle · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Broken by Daylight* isn't as bad as the third book, not as heartbreaking as the second, and not nearly as enthralling as the first. As the series progresses, it feels like each installment gets flatter, and this one seems like a desperate attempt to reignite interest. But instead of rejuvenating the series, it does too much, leaving readers spinning and exhausted.

We’re all over the place—jumping across locations and scattered plots, trying to follow a convoluted storyline. The introduction of the new “big bad,” suddenly the real threat after four books battling another antagonist, feels like a rushed pivot that derails the overarching narrative rather than deepening it. It’s disorienting and diminishes the stakes built up across the series.

What’s more exhausting is the endless cliffhangers. Every book in the series ends on one, leading to adrenaline fatigue. When nearly every POV switch also drops a mini-cliffhanger, it stops being suspenseful and just becomes tiresome. *Broken by Daylight* tries to do it all, but in the process, it loses the focus and pacing that made the earlier books work.

[charisse ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

literally im only here for caspian

[hailey&#x1f940;&#x1f9a2;✮˖°. · Rating 5 out of 5]

this series now has me in a chokehold. i’m actually in shambles right now. first of all, how DARE the authors end it like that?? i’m in tears. and as far as i’m aware there’s no release date for the next book in sight.

this is without a doubt the best book in the series so far. they really put their all into this one and now i’m officially obsessed. definitely a new fav series for me now. the plot??! like okay queens y'all did not come to play around. i thought this was just gonna be a fun, silly little rh romantasy series. which it is, but it’s also so much more.

this one hurt so good. i could’ve read another 1000+ pages of this. i love the characters so much i need them to all be happy and okay like idk how we’re gonna fix all this shit! but best believe i will be going along for the ride.

rosalina is that girl. i really do love her no matter what. caspian and dayton are still my favs so of course i’m in pain rn! couldn’t even let me stay happy. keldarion i’m so sorry for ever shitting on you. love that man now. farron??!?! he was barely even in it and now i’m just stressed. y'all better not destroy his character bc he’s the sweetest little nerd ever and i loved that about him. ezryn… you were definitely there! and getting on my nerves almost the entire way through! i don’t even wanna talk about kairyn and wrenley😐 i missed astrid and marigold.

anyways. need the next book in my hand immediately.

[Jocie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️
5🌶️
Good grief. I don’t understand why they want to hurt me, but they do. This book was a roller coaster of emotions. Some stuff happened that I wanted to, but it didn’t end up like I wanted you know what I mean?

First of all what is that ending?? Why do we need to break my heart when I don’t even know when the next one will come out. Is it necessary? Probably to keep me coming back for more trauma and of course I will. I will be reading the next one as soon as it comes out, who knows when that will be though.

Oh my poor sweet Caspian you are worthy of love. And Wrenley I don’t know if I like you yet. Even though I know those last two things weren’t really your fault, I can’t get over the fact that you did it. I wish I could be like Rosie and see past your flaws, but as of right now that is that happening.

Anyway, I loved being immersed in this world once again, but please the next book needs to be the end with a big ol HEA please. I beg of you please.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy *insert swear words of your choice*

That was one **** of a rollercoaster and I don't know if/when I will recover from it. I have screamed, cried, swore and pulled at my own hair in frustration. I am not one to be effected by books in this way but my goodness this series has me by the throat. 5 starts... I would give it more of I could!

[Brittanni Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars!!!!!! I’m not well!!!!!!!!! This is one of the best books I’ve ever read hands down

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently VIBRATING with this visceral urge to scream every obscenity I know. But since NetGalley was SO kind in letting me read this ARC, I am going to try and be on my best behavior. No promises!!!

As you may know, the Beasts of the Briar series is a Beauty and the Beast retelling with our FMC Rosie and (many) Fae princes. These sisters are so talented taking beloved tales and putting their own twists on them. And trust me, THERE ARE TWISTS. This particular book also has a lot of inspiration from The Little Mermaid and Hercules which I adored.

The only way I can describe this series is as "resolution sandwich." You have a conflict, and then a moment of reprieve where we find a solution! But oh wait, there's even more tomfoolery around the corner, EVEN WORSE THAN BEFORE :) :) These sisters know how to keep this story FRESH, keep the reader ENGAGED, keep the spice SPICING. I was worried I would be bored with the spice by book 2, but that is not the case.

I love the relationships, the bonds, the side characters, the dialog. There's so much depth to these books I will never accept ANY criticism of them.

And that ending??? Okay look. There were some twists I anticipated, some I never saw coming, but that cliffhanger ending had me ready to pull my hair out and now I must sit with only my thoughts to keep me company as I stare into the void.

Will I find any purpose in life while I wait for book 5? Maybe, but not likely.

[Holli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please please please Dayton must be her mate! I cannot take it if he isn’t.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning: The following review contains spoilers from the first three books of the Beasts of the Briar Series.

When we last left Rosalina, the Belle to this world’s four Beasts, she had:

(1) adopted a new identity as a fae;

(2) learned that she was the true daughter of the Queen of the four kingdoms, who was currently imprisoned in the Below by the power hungry Sira;

(3) secured her mating bond to Farron, the Prince of Autumn, thereby breaking his wolf curse;

(4) learned that she was also the mate of Keldarion the Prince of Winter, who refused to break his curse, due to a bargain he had once made with Caspian, Prince of Thorns, that could sap Rosalina of her free will, should he consummate their bond;

(5) discovered that she was also the mate to Ezyrn, the former Prince of Spring, now known as the Prince of Blood. (He had also willingly held on to his curse, out of self-loathing, having lost control of his realm to his n’eer-do-well brother, Kairyn, who had aligned with Sira and her adopted daughter the Nightengale to forcefully take over both Spring and Summer;

(6) become deeply disheartened by the revelation that Dayton, the Prince of Summer, had been shown by magic to be, not her mate, but that of the dull milquetoasty acolyte, Wrenley. (Because clearly, having 3 hot Princes as mates and being the daughter of a Queen is not enough for this Belle! She MUST collect them all . . . and quite possibly the Hot Prince of Thorns too!)

The start of Broken by Daylight finds Rosalina a prisoner of Kairyn. Her prompt inevitable escape and reunion with her princes sets the stage for a complicated plan, whereby the group will split up, each with their own essential part to play in the salvation of the Queen from the Below, and the freeing of the realms of Spring and Summer from the toxic rule of Kairyn / Sira.

Rosalina will journey with Dayton and the odious Wrenley to participate in Kairyn’s Torture Games. If the pair are victorious, Rosalina will gain access to a weapon that only a daughter of the Queen can wield and use that to regain control of Summer.

Ezyrn will travel with Dayton’s and Farron’s two respective teenage sisters to the desert on a The Last of Us type journey, in the hopes of gaining the alliance of the powerful Huntresses in the upcoming war effort for the control of Spring.

Keldarion, the Prince of Winter, will head off with Rosalina’s father, George, to the Below to reconnect with the Queen, who happens to be George’s true love.

Finally, Farron and Caspian will travel separately to the Below to concoct some kind of magical plant potion that can free the Queen from her cage.

Is it any wonder why this novel is 644 pages long?

Kidding aside, I genuinely enjoyed this fourth installment of the series! After a little bit of wheel spinning, some massive side quests during the second and third novels, and A LOT of hand wringing to secure some of these inevitable mate bonds, the Beasts of the Briar FINALLY seems to be shuttling toward its inevitable Happily Ever After!

Questions were answered. Revelations were revealed. Loose ends were wrapped up. Mate bonds were secured. A clearer picture emerged of what the series’ Final Showdown would inevitably look like.

Right off the bat, I appreciated that the writing duo of Elizabeth Helen took the time to craft an efficient and complete “realm history,” “summation of the first three novels,” and “character listing” and inserted these all before the novel’s prologue. This was super helpful, both in reorienting me into the story (after having read the last novel in the series nearly a year prior), and serving as a handy reference, as I continued on this increasingly complicated journey.

More fantasy series writers should do this!

Too often, I find myself spending the first 100 pages of a middle book in a fantasy series trying to remember what happened before! Not everyone has time to reread an entire multi-thousand-page series, each time a new book comes out! Elizabeth Helen had the humility to recognize this. I applaud them for it!

As for the tale proper, for the most part, I found it super fun and engaging. I liked the different pairings. I enjoyed getting the opportunity to see different pairs of characters interact that hadn’t had much of an opportunity to do so in past novels.

The character development in the novel was strong, particularly with regards to Dayton and Caspian.
The action sequences in Broken by Daylight were exciting!

While this novel was probably the least spicy of all the books in this series thus far (Our characters were all just SUPER busy saving the world, I guess), the spice scenes we DID get were excellent. They each felt authentic to the particular “reverse harem” participants involved, and their relationships with one another.

The ending of Broken by Daylight provided a satisfying conclusion to some story lines (not to mention avoided a MASSIVELY frustrating cliffhanger, that, based on some earlier reviews, seemed to have been left open in early ARCs of the tale). Yet, there were still just enough conflicts and conundrums remaining to ensure that the readers would be back for the next installment!

On the slight downside, I DO think this book was about 100 to 150 pages too long. Ezryn’s storyline, in particular, seemed a tad less essential to the overarching plotline than the others. To that end, I also occasionally found it frustrating when Elizabeth Helen would leave a chapter on a massive mid-story cliffhanger, only to make the reader suffer through a side story that was in its more plodding stages. I think just a bit of tighter editing could have kept all the separate character stories equally engaging throughout.

That minor complaint aside, I thought Broken by Daylight was an excellent addition to the series. I can’t wait to see what this Very Lucky Beauty and her Very Sexy Beasts get up to next!

[Laura Greenhalgh · Rating 4 out of 5]

excuse me 😭 what just happened?! i have just felt every single emotion under the sun reading this book, i am absolutely traumatised, i need the next book immediately 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[Melanie Jakusz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I’m scared for everyone but DEVASTATED for Cas.