Regno di Sangue e Sale

Blood and Salt #1

by Alexis Calder

Dopo anni di addestramento per proteggere il mio popolo dai nemici, non mi sarei mai aspettata di dovere la vita proprio a uno di loro.
Athos è l’ultima città umana rimasta. Un trattato con i fae tiene lontano il popolo magico, vampiri e mutaforma, mentre combattiamo contro i draghi al confine. Essere umani in questo mondo è difficile e dobbiamo fare dei sacrifici per sopravvivere.
Quando il re dei fae invia la delegazione per esigere i tributi umani, previsti dal trattato, non mi sarei mai aspettata di stringere un legame con il loro capo.
Ryvin è tanto pericoloso quanto attraente. So che è il mio nemico e che dovrei odiarlo, ma resistere diventa ogni giorno più difficile.
Tuttavia, la situazione ad Athos sta per cambiare. Gli umani non vogliono più inchinarsi al re dei fae.
Le alleanze si sfaldano e secoli di bugie vengono a galla.
Devo fare una scelta.
Non importa quanto io lo odi, Ryvin potrebbe essere la chiave per impedire una guerra.
E per farlo, potrei dover sacrificare ogni cosa...

Note per il Primo volume di una saga avvincente di quattro volumi. Il romanzo termina con un cliffhanger.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Fae, Romance, Vampires, Fantasy Romance, Enemies To Lovers

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 30, 2023

About the author

Alexis Calder writes sassy heroines and sexy heroes with a sprinkle of sarcasm. She lives in the Rockies and drinks far too much coffee and just the right amount of wine.

Reviews

[Nicole Hinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

all fantasy book titles are a combination of the same 8 words

[Vee · Rating 2 out of 5]

So today I’ve learnt that if a man really likes you, he will show this by sleeping with other women. He does this because he feels so strongly for you. If he can't have you, he will inevitably get with everyone around you. It's only natural. I'm learning so much from this book🧐

I mean after they first meet and have this initial connection/ flirt, they will probably end up glancing at each other across the ballroom all night...right? Unfortunately, the MMC probably can't see her because he’s in a dark corner with another lady. He then hooks up with a maid. Then she finds him naked with another woman in his bed. Yeah…I’m confused with this character approach…

She then meets with her dad, who is encouraging her to seduce him (it's for political reasons) and she tells him about these other women. It's time for the fatherly wisdom... let's get ready.

His response :
‘Only because he can't be with you’

The same dad who is pimping her out is giving her this glorious take and she is actually excited by this (silence*). I am dnf-ing because I just can't with this level of delusion.

If you have read this, is there another reason he is sleeping with literally everyone? Have I misinterpreted this problematic behaviour? Is he under a spell? Does he need to sleep with EVERYONE for medical reasons? Please let me know, thanks x

I'm giving this 2 ✨ because I read up to 57%. Apologies for all the sarcasm, it just happens...😅

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is literally a crappy and dull version of From blood and ash. What a waste of time

[☾All of Meg☀ · Rating 3 out of 5]

What happened to the dragons though? I’m so confused

[Darcey · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be completely honest, I have no idea what happened in this book. I speed-read it in one sitting, skimming over things because I currently have an incredibly short attention span and a massive pile of uni work that I’m supposed to be doing, and then suddenly it was done.

Nothing really stood out to me… it was definitely captivating enough to draw me in, but I also didn’t properly connect to the characters or the romance. There were scenes that were just a little iffy to me, and our main character kinda irritated me??

Just not really what I expected, but also it wasn’t bad. It just was.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is terrible. The MFC is annoying she’s literally on repeat with everything she says. The MMC is a man whore who sleeps with everyone he can get his hands on but yet he is in love with the MFC? He literally sleeps with someone else and she sees her naked with the MMC and sleeps with him that same day? Um.. no thank you. Gross.
I literally skimmed through the book after the first few chapters and by the end it seems the MFC had zero character development whatsoever and the MMC was still a man whore. Don’t waste your time.

[AvidReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everything was going well and interesting until the hero sleeps with another woman and heroine sees them together at 51%.
Why why Freaking WHY?
Ok, so I know they’re not in a relationship and haven’t even kissed yet BUT there is an intense connection between them and they flirt all the time. Also hero clearly hints that he thinks heroine is his. So why is this necessary.
I lost all the interest in the book then.
Before this there were clues that he slept with another lady and again a maid but I choose to ignore it as it wasn’t clear enough. Yeah, should’ve known.

Later in the second half I didn’t like many of the decisions Heroine took. But I really liked Vanth.

Not continuing the series.

[Zainab Aslam · Rating 1 out of 5]

buddy read w fatima so i blame her for putting me thru this.

the plot of this book would have made more sense if the mc was 16 with the most underdeveloped frontal lobe known to man because she was only capable of make a total of four coherent thoughts, which were repeated on every single page of this shitpile of a book. ohh i love this guy!! but we’re enemies grrrrr. but daddy wants me to seduce him 🥺. but hes gonna kidnap my people 😡 but i love him 😍
worst part was that majority of the story was told thru conversations so there was hardly any sort of world building or descriptions so it read like a bad wattpad book.

[Tara Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I say I skimmed this book, I mean I skimmed it hard! I was 50ish pages in when I had eye-rolled so many times I couldn’t take it anymore.

-Self-righteous FMC ✅
-MMC who is morally gray and the FMC has a ridiculous sexual attraction to. ✅
- love to hate relationship ✅
- multiple forms of betrayal ✅
Etc. etc. etc.

This books is just one more in a sea of hundreds just like it. Literally nothing sets this story apart.

I had barely begun when I decided I hated Ara’s character. My opinion didn’t improve by the end. She is literally awful. She rides her emotions like a roller coaster, all while holding on fiercely to her loyalty, blaming her saviors for protecting her and killing her betrayers. She also sports a self-righteous arrogance that doesn’t truly admit to her own darkness. Gosh I couldn’t stand her.

Ryvin was hardly better. His character had no depth whatsoever. What did we know about him? Nothing. Zilch. Nada. I mean I guess by the end we discovered he has some black, swirly, smoke magic……. Now why does that sound familiar? Oh right! Because a million other books have the exact same character, manifesting the same type of magic.

Honestly, I won’t continue the series. The story just wasn’t engaging enough and there was too much unoriginal content.

Oh well….. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Christy]

DNF. I find it hard to like characters that live comfortably under a system that they clearly know is wrong and then have the gull to pretend like they're a champion for the people.

[Gabi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s like going through Netflix trying to find something to watch and they recommend this because it has everything you enjoy, but the delivery could be 95% better, but like, you were entertained. This was me reading this book. 🤔

[Kimberlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun Story

I really enjoyed the story it had all the elements I like in a fantasy story and I flew thru it. I definitely want to read the next one. The FMC drove me a bit crazy with her back and forth with Ryvin and her anger over certain actions, but overall she was fun to read about. My only issue is there’s several major typos towards the end including a name that didn’t belong to anyone as far as I remembered, but not a deal breaker just know they’re there going in.

[alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boring version of FBAA

[Jen Hawk · Rating 1 out of 5]

The way the author wrote this book is in first person but majority of this read was the FMC asking herself questions, whether its questions about how she feels or the situation at hand. Obviously this wouldn't be an issue but majority of the whole book was just self questions with no answers.
There's a lot to unpack here but I'm going to try to keep it short.
The FMC is Ara, she is very loyal to her father and half-sisters ( there's a mean stepmother)
while reading its obvious that she's being betrayed by people close to her. The ones her kingdom makes clear are the enemies end up saving her life or protecting her countless times but She chooses to stay loyal to the ones betraying her.
Her father mentions that Ara is the wisest person he's ever known but it seems that wisdom is chasing her and she is just a fast runner so i will have to disagree with his statement.

The MMC Ryvin we absolutely know nothing about him except he is a shifter with magic, no explanation of his power or anything.
Ryvin is caught a couple of times with other women (sexual) and Ara is upset, clarifies hes the enemy and she doesnt care but still desires him for no explanation or any reasoning. so that was off putting.

There is this whole big deal about the dragons, towards the end of the book that plot was abandon.
nothing in this book is explained and again the whole entire time was just Ara asking herself questions or trying to hate Rayvin but sleeping with him. Everyone around Ara made it obvious she was being played with from her family and she was the only blind person it seems. its just pathetic.
theres alot more but ill just end this with i don't plan on continuing this series nor recommending it.

[Hailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an action packed fantasy romance and it’s lots of fun! In this world, the human kingdom has made a treaty with the Fae kingdom for protection. In exchange for 14 tributes(sacrifices) every 9 years, the Fae help protect the humans from the other monstrous creatures in the world.

The FMC Ara is an illegitimate princess. She’s feisty and tough and doesn’t like to follow the rules. The Fae king sends a delegation to the human kingdom to complete the ceremony and collect the tributes, and the FMC gets twisted up in the drama. The delegates are non-human, but what they actually are is a mystery. Ara ends up strangely drawn to the dark and ominous lead delegate (Ryvin) even though he’s her enemy, and she tries to resist the temptation.

This is a fun read- it’s quick and entertaining and left me with questions that make me excited to read book 2 when it comes out!

3.75⭐️ I really liked this book! I would’ve given it a 4 but I’m deducting .25 because the MMC canoodled with other women and that made me mad… lol. (It was before he was ~with~ the FMC don’t worry)

[Olivia Hemmings · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was sooo bad. I know what I get myself into with most of kindle unlimited’s selection of free fantasy and this was just a huge combination of every single successful romantasy to exist. Felt like a huge rip off of from blood and ash, and a court of thorns and roses to name a couple.
His name is literally ryvin ? rhysand wannabe and I don’t even like rhysand

I still read the whole thing, and no doubt I’ll waste time reading the whole series because some part of me likes the pain . I liked aspects, like the inclusion of the Greek gods, and some of it is written really well, the plot is just like ? what ? and the characters are just like ? poo ? I need to like them and I don’t like any of them lol

One thing I’ll say is that a lot of popular fantasy books don’t kill people off so there’s no risk to any situation, and at least this book isn’t afraid to make the chop !

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I don´t like the idea of being a pawn in this game."
"We all play our part in the game of blood and salt."

This is a one POV book, told by the POV of Ara.

I really enjoyed Ara´s character. She has this bold, smart mouth fighter personality and a loyality to her sisters that is admirable. I love how she stood up for what she thought was right and how she always tried to go her own way. She was a really "strong" character if that makes sense. I liked Ryvin but I just have to say it: WTF is that name and how do I even pronouce it!? I loved that he was all "touch her and you die" and the hate between the two was simply perfect.

I loved Ara´s sisters, I felt like they had a really close sibling bond between each of them. I also really loved Mira. On top of being a maid she felt like a best friend to Ara and I loved their interactions. I also started to like Vanth and I hope to see him a bit more present in the second book.

Plotwise I guess you can say that this kind of feels like "From Blood and Ash" but with it´s own twist. Yes there are several similiarities between both books, but I would argue that there are enough differences to make this book unique from "From Blood and Ash". I liked the pacing, it almost never felt too slow or too quick and in my opinion there was a good action to character development ratio. My only negative is that the ending felt a little bit rushed. The romance in here is a good enemies to lovers (she truly hates him) with a nice slowburn. You can expect some smut scenes in this ones as well. I liked the world building, although I hope to see more of it in book 2 and I hope we´ll get to see some of those dragons that were mentioned!

Overall it was a good start to a fantasy series and I am excited for book 2.

trigger warnings: attempted rape (not caused by the love interest), death/murder, sexual assault (not caused by the love interest)

[TRIZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall Rating: 3.5⭐️

Romance / Kilig Factor: 3❤️ 

Spice: 3🌶️

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great start to the series. It's a dark fantasy, enemies-to-lovers romance. The ending feels like we have an adventure in store for us next book.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[think for yourself · Rating 2 out of 5]

-Is this a new story?
No. It is a copy of many millions of books.
-Do you want to continue it?
No. I'm sick of the main character's constant sacrifice. Are other people willing to sacrifice everything for you? If you don't have an answer, why throw your life away like that?
I liked only the main male character, who tried to deal with all this shit.

2/5

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read several of Alexis Calder's books now. I pretty much knew what to expect going into this, so I was neither pleasantly surprised nor disappointed. The book was largely as I expected. Ara was as combative and strong-willed as any of the other Calder heroines I've read. Ryvin was as smug and domineering as any good alpha a-hole. The wring was just as readable.

While I did have complaints (which I'll address in a moment), where this book shined for me was in the illustration of navigating complex and conflicting relationships with gray characters. (It's one of the book's themes, in fact.) There were several points in the book where a character was faced with having to decide what to do about loving someone who betrayed them (and being loved by them), protected them despite being an enemy, or had understandable reasons for abhorrent behavior. I enjoyed this aspect of the book a lot.

I did think that the book felt a little rushed and simplistic in the sense that the world is sketched out but not embellished. People exist, but the important cast is small. Emotions emerge, but the reader doesn't get to see what they're based on.

All in all, however, I'd happily continue the story. But I suspect, as has been the case with several of Calder's books, I'll probably forget before I manage to get my hands on the next book in the series.

[kelsey bjorklund · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please tell me this was written as a joke to make fun of kindleunlimited romantasy books, because if so, it did a fantastic job.

This book was actually painful to read because of how cringey I found it. Which might lead you to wonder why I did not DNF it. Well, I was stupid and was led astray by the good reviews. The FMC was annoying, childish, and unrelatable, while the MMC had zero personality. The insta lust (and love) was also WILD, like first interaction instant. Despite this, there was ZERO chemistry and I could not figure out for the life of me why the FMC started to develop feelings for the MMC. The plot and world building was also nonexistent meaning that there was literally nothing that could redeem the bad characters and romance.

I didn’t hate this to the level that I would recommend it to my enemies, but I would recommend it to someone who I strongly dislike and know has zero standards.

1/5 stars

[Alyssa Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

read with summer and melissa;
what to say about this…. just listened to this girls incessant rambling about being horny vs. moral judgment (moral judgement did not win)

[Ren · Rating 1 out of 5]

i want 5 hours of my life back

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️🌶️
Stop it!!

We all know I’m a spicy romance, dark smut kinda girlie who lives for mystery, intrigue and danger… but anything with a touch of high fantasy? Usually not my thing unless it’s absolutely flawless. And this? This was flawless. Chefs kiss, add it to your TBR immediately.

It’s got brutal politics, a FMC who takes zero nonsense, and an MMC who is pure danger wrapped in temptation. The tension is deliciously slow and magnetic, threading through every scene until you’re hanging on each interaction. The world is dangerous and dripping with magic, betrayal and the emotions in this make sure that the pacing never falters, aaaaaand the the chemistry? Beyond addictive.
I closed this book and instantly needed the next one in my hands.

🗡️ Enemies to lovers
🔥 Forbidden tension
🩸 Morally grey MMC
⚔️ Betrayal
🐺 Supernatural factions

[ᴼᴳᴵᴹᴬᴬᴷᵂᴱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn’t much that set this apart from any of the billion other romantasies I’ve read. Deadly and mysterious Shadow daddy with silver eyes. Evil step mother. A bastard royal. A secret in the kingdom. Lots of evil rulers and prejudices. A clueless and selfless fmc betrayed by her family (or at least her father).. That being said I am intrigued enough to continue the series..🤞🏼😬

[Stasie Sats · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t BAD. but I got pretty bored at 70%… I was pretty distracted trying to finish the book. I don’t know if I’ll continue the series. Someone recommended this on booktok of romantasy series to read.

The plot twist at the end I somewhat suspected but not entirely.

[Minni Mouse]

DNF at 7% because immediate Kindle Unlimited allergy.

[leena.reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

holyyyyyy

I want a Ryvin. Someone get me a Ryvin.

SOOOO GOOD. and i'm so angry that I have to wait. until AUGUST for the rest. such a mystery, such intrigue for the rest of the story. GIVE ME MORE. pls <3