Kaylina wants to prove herself to her family by opening a successful meadery, but on her first day in the capital, she runs headlong into the powerful royal ranger, Lord Vlerion. He’s aloof, sexy, dangerous, and… he accuses her of being a spy.
To remove suspicion from her name, Kaylina must work with him to stop the real danger to the crown.
But she soon learns that Vlerion suffers from a curse. When he experiences strong emotions, he turns into a deadly beast who can’t tell friend from foe.
Irking him would be a bad idea. Developing feelings for him would be even worse. Unfortunately, as Kaylina spends more time with Vlerion, she struggles with both.
If she can’t keep from rousing the beast, she won’t clear her name, fulfill her dream, or even survive the week.
~
Shadows of Winter is the first in a romantic fantasy series perfect for fans of Beauty and the Beast and enemies-to-lovers stories.
Lindsay Buroker is an interesting enigma for me. Her early works such as The Emporer’s Edge, Dragon Gate, Fallen Empire etc., were surprisingly complex and nuanced series. Then, her work lightened up a bit to include series like “Death Before Dragons” and others. These works still had meat, but also had a good dose of humor and fun.
As time has gone on, however, the lightness and humor has completely taken over any depth and nuance of old. For readers who have enjoyed her books since way back when, this is a constant frustration because we keep expecting more. But, for those who are just now picking up her books, they see a light-hearted, funny, but surface story that is just a charming escape.
This first in a new series goes along those lines perfectly. And, I’ve settled myself into just shutting up (well, after this review) and enjoying this fun, escapist ride. Because, the characters are enjoyable, the story is entertaining and, of course, the humor is delightful.
This book made me curious enough that I want to continue reading the next book. It was not wonderful, but it was entertaining. Very silly heroine, though. I guess that is part of the entertainment.
An excellent and dramatic start to a new series! The slow burn romance and the chaos of political upheaval set against the heroine's goal of just opening her meadery sets a fantastic scene. Absolutely loved it, lots of smiles, laughs, and fear for the characters. I highly recommend it!
I think Buroker might be my new favorite author. This one was so fun. I like how she writes characters that are unique and believable. The magic was interesting and compelling. Really looking forward to the next book; hopefully the wait's not too long!
This isn't a long book, but it drags. There's not much excitement and the action is mostly watered down. I'm not sure what about this makes it high fantasy outside of how slow it is. I did like the taybarris and I'd love one, but like another reader pointed out, I don't really know what they look like. With so little description, I've pegged them as a blue Falcor with fangs. The romance was okay, but lacking interactions that highlight the growth. There are a ton of plot holes. So many things that are not properly explored, so it's obvious that the plot is forced because of it. I'm not really interested in a cure for the curse. I'd rather Vlerion just be that way, it kind of cheapens everything he is by holding a curse over him. I didn't mind Kaylina but she isn't really utilized beyond blushing. She is easily misdirected. She was nonplussed by revelations, which made everything feel kind of bland. She didn't fully explore anything. Nothing was resolved in this book. The same plot devise was used, being arrested for something she didn't do.
I can't say that this was very impressive. But if you don't mind slow everything, this might be something for you.
Kaylina only wants to open a meadery, a honey infused wine, with food served as well. Her brother tagged along when she left home determined to be independent and on her own after her boyfriend rejects her. She gets wrapped up in a cursed castle, a cursed man and a determined revolt by the commoners, but she's fallen for the ranger and she has no choice but to help stop the rebellion and she's beset by the other side who think she is either with them or against them. She just wants her little restaurant. It's a wonderful story and I can't wait for the next installment.
I wanted to like this. The characters are interesting, and the story is told in a way that doesn't feel too formulaic. The world-building seemed promising, and the core character motivations were at odds with the plot, which I always enjoy. Sadly, the author didn’t pull it off in practice. There are just too many inconsistencies in the characters’ behavior. While some parts are clearly well thought out and logical, others make absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I can’t really discuss most of the inconsistencies without spoiling the story, but at least the first example should be safe. The very opening of the story shows the MC and her brother caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, without having done anything wrong. Yet, the rangers (an elite military unit) who catch them immediately assume they are rebel spies and want to arrest and interrogate them. (There is a large and growing underground rebel group.)
This treatment feels extremely harsh, and the story later acknowledges this as well. So far, so good. But later in the plot, a person arrives at the castle where the MC and her brother reside and speaks to her. This person explicitly asks her to help the rebellion by creating a distraction. Their entire conversation is overheard by another ranger, who—rather than arresting this obvious rebel—instead waits for her to leave and then accuses the MC of also being a spy. Excuse me, what the fuck?
This kind of contrivance for drama keeps happening throughout the book in increasingly ridiculous ways. By the time I dropped it, there was a completely absurd and contrived situation similar to the one I just described but a thousand times worse. It made absolutely zero sense, yet all the characters involved acted as though it did. The MC’s thoughts even explicitly state that this makes complete logical sense—as if the author thought that just writing it often enough would make it true.
And it’s not just a single detail either. The author keeps piling on the nonsense, apparently because she couldn’t think of a better way to raise the stakes or introduce divisive conflict. Smaller inconsistencies, like the earlier example, are annoying but ultimately forgivable in the grand scheme of things. However, the later instances are crucial to the plot, and they might as well have been made up by a five-year-old telling a fantastical, fabricated story.
As the cherry on top the book also indulges in all the worst bad-guy clichées, from the villain monologue to the disgusting rapist guards. You can tell how evil a man is in this story by how many inapproriate sexual remarks and gestures they make towards the MC.
This ultimately led me to drop the book at 88%.
This sounds a lot more scathing than I meant it to. I am just allergic to this kind of thing in stories. I’ve already mellowed out over the years in this regard, but this was still far beyond what I can tolerate. And the fact that I’m so frustrated by this shows that I cared—which is already pretty big praise when it comes to me. I really liked the MC and her brother. I liked the slightly contrived but funny and interesting start of the story, where they moved into a literally cursed castle to run a mead brewery. There were so many good parts to this story, but I just cannot with the bullshit.
This is a fun and light-hearted read. The world building is deep enough to satisfy my fantasy loving side too. I very much enjoyed the book (and series) but it lacks the depth, detail and intricacies of this author’s earlier work, such as The Emperor’s Edge.
2nd reading (already). My scoring doesn't change but a couple niggles. ________ Lindsay Buroker has such an imagination!! If you've enjoyed her other stories, you have to read this one.
Kaylina has ventured (more like stomped) away from the comfort of her extended family, accompanied by her 17 y/o brother, Frayvar. Together, they plan to establish a meadery and small eatery, utilizing the family's recipes....as well as their independence. Maybe even branch out into having over night guests!
They're hindered by a cursed abandoned castle, nosy rangers, the competition, and the rebels Kaylina hadn't known to exist. The siblings simply want to be successful with their brews and cooking.
Big question.....when is the next one going to be released?
This kindle e-book novel is from my Kindle Unlimited account book 1 of 2
Lindsay Buroker is one of my favorite authors.
A fantasy world 🌎 novel with interesting characters lots of action, misdirection, and violence . She has moved to the capital to operate a mead store. But everything does not go as planned.
I would recommend this series and author to readers of fantasy world adventure novels. 2024
Good start to this series! I wish a little bit more actually happened, but we've learned a bunch about the characters and setting up the world and the issues to solve, and I love the taybarri.
I really like the way Lindsay Buroker writes, it's fun and intriguing and made me want to read the next one and then the next one. So that's the way to go, Lindsay! And yes, the characters are quite the same, but not, and that's why I liked it.
A beauty and beast story with snark, some silliness, mead, a fur shark, and other carnivorous creatures. The heroine can be irreverent yet the story has fun reading moments. I’ll read the next book.
New author for me but I really enjoyed this book! There is great banter between Kaylina and her brother Frayvar and the rangers, and it has enemies to lovers aspects without the toxic/bullying parts I don't really enjoy. There was a good balance of action, worldbuilding, and romance. The first time Kaylina explored the cursed castle, there were some nice gothic-horror vibes as well. Creepy!
I liked the overarching plot about the Virt rebellion and how Kaylina was inclined to sympathize with the rebels but thought their terroristic/assassination methods were too extreme.
I am glad book 2 came out, as it does kinda have a cliffhanger ending. There are a few loose ends from the beginning of the book (we never learn what Naybor was up to, or the resolution of the "murder mystery").
Good start..lots of repetitive statements…need a better description of what the creatures are in this world…The tayberri is blue with a long neck, back, 4 legged with floppy ears and fangs…yeah can’t picture what that is..fur sharks…is that a furry shark? Needs more descriptions or relatable real creatures to help with visualize what it is. FMC yeah it’s alluded at she had let her anger take over and that is why she is here also that her dad left and her mom is depressed. And her sister is miss perfect…but not what actually happen..also her brother is quite the weakling…think the queen is a B and of course they deserve to be overthrown…the cursed castle…think that is FMC’s home..think the plant is protecting her…think her dad is Druid and she inherited that from him…will I read the next book which is out in July..yes.
I devoured this book in two days! I couldn't stop reading. The enemies to lovers trope seems to be one of my favorites, especially when done right and Lindsay did not miss a beat with this one.
Adored Kaylina's friendship with her little brother Frayvar. It's so rare you get a story where siblings of the opposite sex actually mutually respect each other and also support each other. I loved that. And of course...
Vlerion. I loved his entrance into the novel and couldn't get enough of his interactions with Kaylina. I feel for him and I definitely need more between them. But I loved that they DID NOT have relations in this novel. I love a slow burn romance, the slower the better. I'm almost annoyed with myself for finishing this book so quickly because now I have to wait for the next book! Can't wait to dive back into the world of the Taybarri!
Series review: I would say, overall, all the books in this series were 4 stars. My favourite books were books 1 and 3, though. So what made this series so good… The MCs were just the best. They were funny and engaging. No inta anything. It’s a slower burn with a lot of sexual tension. And the banter was just exquisite. Honestly, their dialogue, as well as the secondary character interactions, was just really funny and entertaining. The overall story line isn’t the most in depth or well fleshed out. All that is pretty superficial but that’s not what we are here for. We are here for entertainment, adventure, and a love story. If you really want, you could pick this story apart and tbh the ending was super predictable but again, this series should be read for fun. And the author definitely delivers on that end.
Listen, this is a very silly, light-hearted fantasy romance. If you're looking for in-depth lore, worldbuilding, magic, politics, yadda yadda, this ain't it. There's some of that, but it's mostly all surface level. This book gives you banter replete with modern language ("zillion," for example), a heroine who isn't really a chosen one or a secret assassin or a princess, a sibling who isn't just a plot muppet, and general fantasy inn vibes with some ghosty secrets. The romance is a very slow burn and not super satisfying since the book doesn't focus on their relationship that much.
I enjoyed it. I liked the trope salad it served up with flair and fun and a non-serious attitude. Let's call it a palette cleanser of a book.
This is a solid 3.5 stars. I wasn’t sure if it should lean towards a three or a four honestly but I ended up going with the former.
Edit- I changed it to 2 stars cause I hated the second book and I don’t trust that this book was good enough for 3.5 stars lol
Random thoughts:
- I honestly liked this story. The fmc wasn’t annoying (like I was expecting), the mmc wasn’t a super asshole (other than at the beginning) and their romance was a decent slow burn (taking into account that they easily fall into liking each other -they don’t go through a friend phase necessarily and they’re not really together).
- MINI SPOILER. They somehow have chemistry together, although at this point in the story that might be all they have. Cause they’re know each other but not really, and they have banter but do they? Like I feel like they’re totally in the liking each other phase and I’m glad they didn’t directly go into professing their undying love for each other. Like it makes sense for where they are in their relationship journey.
- I kind of wanted more scenes with the brother honestly. He seems like a nice guy (not in the bad way) that could be funnier and have more entertaining sibling interactions with the fmc.
- What I do find funny about this story is that there were a few instances where the fmc would make an excuse as to why she’s supporting the rangers and the aristocracy instead of the expected commoner rebels. Like saying “I’m not on either side but they shouldn’t kill to get what they want although I totally agree with them that labor conditions should be better maybe”. Like girl, seriously? She should obviously be with the commoners and help rise the revolution lol like what has the king actually done to help you? If this were a different type of book they would take into account how the monarchy totally conquered her island. It would also have more of a conversation about class inequality and a bunch of other shit that’s related to these topics, but this book reaaally just wants you to focus on the magic and romance aspect of things. This lukewarm political stance didn’t make me suuuuuper annoyed to the point where I wouldn’t continue reading the book although this is why I’m giving it three stars instead of four. I just don’t agree with the way the book handled all of these topics (or completely ignored these themes honestly). They make the rebels the villains in this story which I don’t like at all. I’m honestly giving it a 3.5 cause while I was reading it I was able to only question it in my head and still enjoy the romance, but now that I’m writing this review I honestly don’t understand the choices the author made and I think it might be more of a complete 3 instead of a 3.5. I’m sure she could’ve found a way to not change the main plots of the story while giving it more depth with a better political narrative honestly.
- At the end of the story, the fmc says she wants to “fix” the mmc (cause there’s a curse) and when I read that I was like ew and oh no
I would have rated this book higher, but the narrator was not good. There we so many overly exadurated pauses in the middle of sentences. It killed the flow of the scenes for me.
That was different to what I imagined it would be, after reading a LOT of Lyndsay’s other work. I enjoyed the twists and humour and hope to meet Kaylana’s Grandma who appears to be a force of nature without appearing in book one
I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book but the more I read the more I got into it. It was very intriguing and I am very curious to see how book 2 plays out. I sure hope they resolve the issue with Kaylina being able to prove her Innocence. And getting rid of the curse so Vlerion and Kaylina can be together. I'm curious to see if she becomes a ranger or a mead maker or a meadmaker ranger. Lol. I love a book that can make me feel all my emotions and this one makes me laugh, makes me sad, makes me sooooo mad several times, but its endearing at moments too. I hope book 2 is just as captivating.