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Of Love and Death
I have never thought of myself as evil, despite how others have treated me in the past.
For a thousand years, I’ve escorted untethered souls into the afterlife.
For a thousand years, I’ve hated it.
Until a chance encounter with a human gives me the opportunity to give up being Death for a night.
Now I want something different for myself. I see a different future with him, but he doesn’t know that it was me who took his sister away the first night we met.
Of Love and Death is a standalone fantasy romance, set in the world of Belivar.
This is a character-driven plot with a few twists along the way.
For a thousand years, I’ve escorted untethered souls into the afterlife.
For a thousand years, I’ve hated it.
Until a chance encounter with a human gives me the opportunity to give up being Death for a night.
Now I want something different for myself. I see a different future with him, but he doesn’t know that it was me who took his sister away the first night we met.
Of Love and Death is a standalone fantasy romance, set in the world of Belivar.
This is a character-driven plot with a few twists along the way.
382 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 28, 2024
About the author
Jessica Gleave
33 books54 followersJessica Gleave writes love stories set in fantasy worlds.
In other words, she’s a genre masher. Jessica likes building fantastical make-believe worlds where her main characters fall in love.
When she’s not busy writing her latest novels, she’s a busy mum of two. She lives with them and her husband along the east coast of northern New South Wales in Australia.
Jessica loves nothing more than a glass of bubbly, eating chocolates, and reading a good book. Preferably all together.
In other words, she’s a genre masher. Jessica likes building fantastical make-believe worlds where her main characters fall in love.
When she’s not busy writing her latest novels, she’s a busy mum of two. She lives with them and her husband along the east coast of northern New South Wales in Australia.
Jessica loves nothing more than a glass of bubbly, eating chocolates, and reading a good book. Preferably all together.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 23, 2026
I’m unsure how to rate this book. Although it’s marketed as a standalone, the ending strongly states it’s the beginning of a series. It was published in 2024, and I haven’t been able to find any information about a sequel.
There are a number of loose ends left unresolved, which surprised me given the standalone label. The romantic arc may feel complete, but the wider world building, overarching story, and plot threads do not.
For now, I’ll be rating it as a standalone. If the series continues and those elements are developed further, I’ll happily revisit and update my review, including details.
There are a number of loose ends left unresolved, which surprised me given the standalone label. The romantic arc may feel complete, but the wider world building, overarching story, and plot threads do not.
For now, I’ll be rating it as a standalone. If the series continues and those elements are developed further, I’ll happily revisit and update my review, including details.
May 15, 2026
1 star
spice: 0.5/1
This was genuinely one of the worst books I’ve ever read—if not the worst.
The story already started off feeling strange because everything happened far too quickly and without any believable buildup. Rhiayna gets cast out, arrives in a new land, meets the Dark Witch Queen, and suddenly everyone just goes along with everything without question. The same goes for the character who almost immediately agrees to create an entirely new world for them. Nothing felt earned or properly developed.
That rushed pacing continues throughout the entire book. One dramatic event after another happens so quickly that there’s barely any time to process anything before the story moves on. It felt less like a carefully crafted narrative and more like the author was racing through plot points without taking the time to build tension, emotion, or depth.
The FMC, Rhiayna, frustrated me constantly. Her behavior toward her sister especially made me incredibly annoyed. Her sister followed her into exile, helped create a new world for them, and was even willing to take her place as Death—yet Rhiayna still treats her terribly, even thousands of years later. It became exhausting to read.
Unfortunately, the MMC annoyed me just as much. He repeatedly blames Rhiayna for his sister’s death, despite the fact that she didn’t actually kill her—she simply guided her to peace, which is literally part of her role. Every conversation seemed to circle back to guilt and blame, and after a while it became repetitive and frustrating.
The romance and spice also didn’t work for me at all. There were constant intimate scenes to the point where it became excessive and distracting. Every time the characters saw each other, they immediately jumped into bed, and instead of building chemistry, it made the relationship feel shallow and repetitive. The scenes themselves also weren’t particularly well written.
Overall, the entire book felt chaotic, underdeveloped, and emotionally hollow. The ideas may have had potential, but the execution completely failed for me.
What made it even more frustrating is that the book is marketed as a standalone, even though it clearly functions more like an introduction to a larger world. So many questions remain unanswered by the end, seemingly because they’re meant to be explored in future books set in the same universe.
Unfortunately, this book simply did not work for me in any way.
spice: 0.5/1
This was genuinely one of the worst books I’ve ever read—if not the worst.
The story already started off feeling strange because everything happened far too quickly and without any believable buildup. Rhiayna gets cast out, arrives in a new land, meets the Dark Witch Queen, and suddenly everyone just goes along with everything without question. The same goes for the character who almost immediately agrees to create an entirely new world for them. Nothing felt earned or properly developed.
That rushed pacing continues throughout the entire book. One dramatic event after another happens so quickly that there’s barely any time to process anything before the story moves on. It felt less like a carefully crafted narrative and more like the author was racing through plot points without taking the time to build tension, emotion, or depth.
The FMC, Rhiayna, frustrated me constantly. Her behavior toward her sister especially made me incredibly annoyed. Her sister followed her into exile, helped create a new world for them, and was even willing to take her place as Death—yet Rhiayna still treats her terribly, even thousands of years later. It became exhausting to read.
Unfortunately, the MMC annoyed me just as much. He repeatedly blames Rhiayna for his sister’s death, despite the fact that she didn’t actually kill her—she simply guided her to peace, which is literally part of her role. Every conversation seemed to circle back to guilt and blame, and after a while it became repetitive and frustrating.
The romance and spice also didn’t work for me at all. There were constant intimate scenes to the point where it became excessive and distracting. Every time the characters saw each other, they immediately jumped into bed, and instead of building chemistry, it made the relationship feel shallow and repetitive. The scenes themselves also weren’t particularly well written.
Overall, the entire book felt chaotic, underdeveloped, and emotionally hollow. The ideas may have had potential, but the execution completely failed for me.
What made it even more frustrating is that the book is marketed as a standalone, even though it clearly functions more like an introduction to a larger world. So many questions remain unanswered by the end, seemingly because they’re meant to be explored in future books set in the same universe.
Unfortunately, this book simply did not work for me in any way.
December 1, 2025
This book had me hooked from the first page.
The story follow Rhaiyna as our FMC. Her sister and her run away from their world when Rhaiyna gets banished for having an affinity for dark magic. The girls leave their world and create a new one of their own making however as you'd expect to maintain a world and its source of power, one needs to bring life and the other needs to bring death.
Thousands of years pass and Rhaiyna has done her duty of being death, until one day her duty takes her to a festival. Our MMC is there setting up for the festival and he can see Rhaiyna, no one can as she is using her magic to avoid detection. Instantly they are drawn together but before anything can happen Theo's sister collapses and Rhaiyna has to do her duty and take Theo's sister from this world.
One year later her duty takes her back to the same place and this time she doesn't want to miss another opportunity, so what does one do when they are Death? She gives her powers up for just one night with a man that she hasn't been able to stop thinking about.
The spice in the book is off the charts and watching the FMC and MMC work through their dynamics and grief is truly amazing. I felt every emotion reading these words and fell in love with Rhaiyna and Theo.
This is a MUST read!!
The story follow Rhaiyna as our FMC. Her sister and her run away from their world when Rhaiyna gets banished for having an affinity for dark magic. The girls leave their world and create a new one of their own making however as you'd expect to maintain a world and its source of power, one needs to bring life and the other needs to bring death.
Thousands of years pass and Rhaiyna has done her duty of being death, until one day her duty takes her to a festival. Our MMC is there setting up for the festival and he can see Rhaiyna, no one can as she is using her magic to avoid detection. Instantly they are drawn together but before anything can happen Theo's sister collapses and Rhaiyna has to do her duty and take Theo's sister from this world.
One year later her duty takes her back to the same place and this time she doesn't want to miss another opportunity, so what does one do when they are Death? She gives her powers up for just one night with a man that she hasn't been able to stop thinking about.
The spice in the book is off the charts and watching the FMC and MMC work through their dynamics and grief is truly amazing. I felt every emotion reading these words and fell in love with Rhaiyna and Theo.
This is a MUST read!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews