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Hallowed Fates #1
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic
Intended for readers ages 18+ only due to explicit sex scenes, violence, and the description of traumatic events.
"Truly, monsters are made, not born. And I wanted every crooked, broken piece of her. It was no coincidence that they aligned perfectly with each and every shattered piece of me."
*
“You can try to run as far as your heart can take you, but no one will ever be able to fill that longing you have for me in your soul. Not even your pretty fae warrior.”
*
“I’ll happily play the villain if you’re my reward, Mareina.”
*
A Kingdom where you’re only as good as the blood you vow and the magic you wield.
A Queen governed by fear, rules solely to exploit her power.
A Royal Assassin haunted by her past is sent to kill the one who can save her.
An Exile haunted by a vision of the future he can’t escape, seeks to reclaim his home and save his people.
All find a love they might have to die for.
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic is a steamy fated mates romance featuring Vampires, Fae, Nephilim, Gods, and more. It is book one in the Hallowed Fates series.
Tropes
- Enemies to lovers
- Fated Mates
- Forced Proximity
- Captivity
- One Horse/One Bed
- Found Family
- All the Banter
- All the Angst
- Lots of spice & kink
- Touch Her and Be Un-Alived
- Morally Grey Anti-Hero MMC
- Morally Grey Anti-Hero FMC ((A badass female warrior/assassin that finally meets the male that enables her to step into her soft feminine (when he's around at least))
- Revolution
*
“You can try to run as far as your heart can take you, but no one will ever be able to fill that longing you have for me in your soul. Not even your pretty fae warrior.”
*
“I’ll happily play the villain if you’re my reward, Mareina.”
*
A Kingdom where you’re only as good as the blood you vow and the magic you wield.
A Queen governed by fear, rules solely to exploit her power.
A Royal Assassin haunted by her past is sent to kill the one who can save her.
An Exile haunted by a vision of the future he can’t escape, seeks to reclaim his home and save his people.
All find a love they might have to die for.
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic is a steamy fated mates romance featuring Vampires, Fae, Nephilim, Gods, and more. It is book one in the Hallowed Fates series.
Tropes
- Enemies to lovers
- Fated Mates
- Forced Proximity
- Captivity
- One Horse/One Bed
- Found Family
- All the Banter
- All the Angst
- Lots of spice & kink
- Touch Her and Be Un-Alived
- Morally Grey Anti-Hero MMC
- Morally Grey Anti-Hero FMC ((A badass female warrior/assassin that finally meets the male that enables her to step into her soft feminine (when he's around at least))
- Revolution
492 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 6, 2024
308 people are currently reading
4896 people want to read
About the author
Chiara Forestieri
11 books447 followersMother | Author | Lover of Quantum Physics, Health & Wellness, & Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
June 5, 2024
I am starting to wonder if I read the same book as everyone else but alas, here we are. A friendly reminder that while I write honest reviews and they may come off as rather critical, they’re not with malicious intent. That said, here we gooooooo (kind of spoiler-ish without discussing major plot points);
Firstly let’s address the warning of explicit sex scenes: there are no actual sex scenes. There’s almost sex, but in actuality nothing happens. If a book promises me explicit sex, I expect to read explicit sex, not a slow burn leading up to sex in later books.
Out of everyone who was given POV chapters, Malekai was the most solid, his character felt most thoroughly fleshed out which was weird considering he’s not our FMC’s mate (though based off some specific wording in the last bit of the book, I’m sensing multiple mates. Not a spoiler, just a feeling). What bothered me is that our FMC didn’t feel solid in her characterization and she’s literally the most frequent POV in the book. Her build and growth went absolutely nowhere.
The plot, while I promised I wouldn’t discuss specific details here for those who may still want to give this book a try, jumps all over the place, almost as if we’re missing scenes and information that was edited out. We all know that SJM would introduce big twists suddenly in CC but then go back and explain a bit on how we got to that point, and that’s what I feel like the author was trying to do here, but lacked the how we got here portion. Instead we have twist after twist thrown at us like an aggressive game of dodgeball at the very end and the impact of it all fell utterly flat.
Now that said, the twists actually could have been really fun if some of them were saved for the next book for better build. The author could then focus on hammering out and finessing what was introduced in this installment and avoid rushing the plot line, ironing out any plot holes and giving us something really solid.
I have a love-hate relationship with indie publishing, and more specifically, writing style, especially in books with darker subjects. This was slightly better than most I’ve read recently, but again I find myself in the position where the book falling flat for me is very much related to overall writing skill and the ability to really write life into the book. The beginning was rather promising, but then so far in the quality dropped immensely. Lack of consistency from start to finish is disappointing and is starting to get old rather quickly.
There were also a ton of errors in this one. Typically I can look past them, but they were frequent.
Sometimes I wonder if I should be an editor but then again, I’m not entirely certain that anyone would hire me because I don’t coddle and give positive feedback just because I got a free book to read. Growth doesn’t happen that way. Perhaps my expectations are too high, but alas, here we are.
Like usual, if you loved the Bonds that Tie series, you’ll probably love this. If you’re like me and didn’t? Save yourself the disappointment my friends. I took one for the team here.
Firstly let’s address the warning of explicit sex scenes: there are no actual sex scenes. There’s almost sex, but in actuality nothing happens. If a book promises me explicit sex, I expect to read explicit sex, not a slow burn leading up to sex in later books.
Out of everyone who was given POV chapters, Malekai was the most solid, his character felt most thoroughly fleshed out which was weird considering he’s not our FMC’s mate (though based off some specific wording in the last bit of the book, I’m sensing multiple mates. Not a spoiler, just a feeling). What bothered me is that our FMC didn’t feel solid in her characterization and she’s literally the most frequent POV in the book. Her build and growth went absolutely nowhere.
The plot, while I promised I wouldn’t discuss specific details here for those who may still want to give this book a try, jumps all over the place, almost as if we’re missing scenes and information that was edited out. We all know that SJM would introduce big twists suddenly in CC but then go back and explain a bit on how we got to that point, and that’s what I feel like the author was trying to do here, but lacked the how we got here portion. Instead we have twist after twist thrown at us like an aggressive game of dodgeball at the very end and the impact of it all fell utterly flat.
Now that said, the twists actually could have been really fun if some of them were saved for the next book for better build. The author could then focus on hammering out and finessing what was introduced in this installment and avoid rushing the plot line, ironing out any plot holes and giving us something really solid.
I have a love-hate relationship with indie publishing, and more specifically, writing style, especially in books with darker subjects. This was slightly better than most I’ve read recently, but again I find myself in the position where the book falling flat for me is very much related to overall writing skill and the ability to really write life into the book. The beginning was rather promising, but then so far in the quality dropped immensely. Lack of consistency from start to finish is disappointing and is starting to get old rather quickly.
There were also a ton of errors in this one. Typically I can look past them, but they were frequent.
Sometimes I wonder if I should be an editor but then again, I’m not entirely certain that anyone would hire me because I don’t coddle and give positive feedback just because I got a free book to read. Growth doesn’t happen that way. Perhaps my expectations are too high, but alas, here we are.
Like usual, if you loved the Bonds that Tie series, you’ll probably love this. If you’re like me and didn’t? Save yourself the disappointment my friends. I took one for the team here.
September 24, 2024
**𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑨 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒊 (𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑶𝒏𝒆)
Release Date: February 6, 2024
5⭐️5🌶
Y'ALL this book was GOOD! I'm going to be obnoxious about this one and recommend it to everyone. Particularly, I will be recommending it to all of you who love romantasy, touch-her-and-you-die, and reverse harem. I COULD NOT put this book down. I'm so glad that I'm on the ARC list for the second book, because I need the next book NOW!
Mareina is the executioner for Queen Zurie, who has ruled as a feared dictator for far too long. Mareina has always been a survivor, since she crawled her way out of working on the streets to being one of the top commander of the Queen's army. The main problem is, she hates the Queen and all that she stands for. Malekai is her best friend, and they have saved each other's lives on numerous occasions on and off the battlefield. Mareina has been afraid to take their relationship to the next level for fear that she will lose him, as she has lost everything else.
However, Mareina is on her latest mission for the Queen when she crosses paths with her Soulbound aka Fated Mate.
Release Date: February 6, 2024
5⭐️5🌶
Y'ALL this book was GOOD! I'm going to be obnoxious about this one and recommend it to everyone. Particularly, I will be recommending it to all of you who love romantasy, touch-her-and-you-die, and reverse harem. I COULD NOT put this book down. I'm so glad that I'm on the ARC list for the second book, because I need the next book NOW!
Mareina is the executioner for Queen Zurie, who has ruled as a feared dictator for far too long. Mareina has always been a survivor, since she crawled her way out of working on the streets to being one of the top commander of the Queen's army. The main problem is, she hates the Queen and all that she stands for. Malekai is her best friend, and they have saved each other's lives on numerous occasions on and off the battlefield. Mareina has been afraid to take their relationship to the next level for fear that she will lose him, as she has lost everything else.
However, Mareina is on her latest mission for the Queen when she crosses paths with her Soulbound aka Fated Mate.
September 14, 2024
This book was so good!
Chiara perfectly balanced plot, world building, romance and spice. And I have to say, even though they don’t actually do it in this book, the spice was spicing!!!
I loved Malekai and his fierce loyalty to Mareina, and their friendship. The banter between Nakoa and her was also top notch and that ending chaos? Had me screaming.
Book 2 cannot come soon enough!
Chiara perfectly balanced plot, world building, romance and spice. And I have to say, even though they don’t actually do it in this book, the spice was spicing!!!
I loved Malekai and his fierce loyalty to Mareina, and their friendship. The banter between Nakoa and her was also top notch and that ending chaos? Had me screaming.
Book 2 cannot come soon enough!
December 29, 2024
4.5 certified winner
Honestly this was a big old reincarnation fated mates trainwreck, think like a chinese soap opera, (and of course there are gods and they meddle!)
Honestly this was a big old reincarnation fated mates trainwreck, think like a chinese soap opera, (and of course there are gods and they meddle!)
May 24, 2024
ARC REVIEW
4.5
Thank you so much to the author for providing me access to this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I’ll likely replace this with a full review once I’ve fully processed my thoughts
This book completely caught me off guard. It was somehow both familiar, and utterly unique, and for me it was compulsively readable from the very first chapter. Full of morally grey (sometimes leaning toward black) characters conspiring for power, a throne, freedom, and well deserved peace. Chiara took some of my favorite themes (vampires, angels, demons, gods, shapeshifters, blood pacts, and destiny) and put a unique and fresh spin on it all. The last 15 perfect had me literally feeling nauseous with stress, and I personally can’t wait for book 2. I need everyone to pick this up and tell me are you team Malekai? Team Nakoa? I personally am team BOTH 😹
This is a dark, sexy, romantasy series that I think would greatly appeal to fans of Book of Azrael, To Bleed a Crystal Bloom, and Crowns of Nyaxia. It can be found on Kindle Unlimited.
4.5
Thank you so much to the author for providing me access to this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I’ll likely replace this with a full review once I’ve fully processed my thoughts
This book completely caught me off guard. It was somehow both familiar, and utterly unique, and for me it was compulsively readable from the very first chapter. Full of morally grey (sometimes leaning toward black) characters conspiring for power, a throne, freedom, and well deserved peace. Chiara took some of my favorite themes (vampires, angels, demons, gods, shapeshifters, blood pacts, and destiny) and put a unique and fresh spin on it all. The last 15 perfect had me literally feeling nauseous with stress, and I personally can’t wait for book 2. I need everyone to pick this up and tell me are you team Malekai? Team Nakoa? I personally am team BOTH 😹
This is a dark, sexy, romantasy series that I think would greatly appeal to fans of Book of Azrael, To Bleed a Crystal Bloom, and Crowns of Nyaxia. It can be found on Kindle Unlimited.
March 10, 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri is a dark adult fantasy book where there are fae, vampires, gods, and more! Definitely be sure to read the trigger warnings before reading this book!
The world building for this book was amazing and beautifully done! It was super easy to follow, I love a good world building that I can understand and follow along smoothly. The plot twists were also done beautifully! I was left on the edge of my chair the entire book and left completely shocked by each one. I enjoyed the multiple POVs as well! It's nice to be able to see another POV especially to understand how a character is feeling! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I also enjoyed the spice, but I do wish there were more actual "sex" scenes. That's my biggest thing but it was still very spicy! 🥵
I also felt like there was a lot going on towards the end of the book that made it a little confusing but overall I enjoyed the book a lot!
I am really excited for book 2! Now is it team Malekai? Or team Nakoa? I can't seem to choose and I love both 😭 Nakoa did piss me off at times but still love him.
Content:
🗡️Kidnapped FMC by MMC
🩸Found/Chosen Family
🗡️One Horse/One Bed
🩸SPICE!!!
🗡️Enemies to Lovers??
🩸Vampire, Fae, and More!
🗡️Morally Grey FMC and MMC
🩸Bondage, Primal, Praise Kink and More
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri is a dark adult fantasy book where there are fae, vampires, gods, and more! Definitely be sure to read the trigger warnings before reading this book!
The world building for this book was amazing and beautifully done! It was super easy to follow, I love a good world building that I can understand and follow along smoothly. The plot twists were also done beautifully! I was left on the edge of my chair the entire book and left completely shocked by each one. I enjoyed the multiple POVs as well! It's nice to be able to see another POV especially to understand how a character is feeling! I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I also enjoyed the spice, but I do wish there were more actual "sex" scenes. That's my biggest thing but it was still very spicy! 🥵
I also felt like there was a lot going on towards the end of the book that made it a little confusing but overall I enjoyed the book a lot!
I am really excited for book 2! Now is it team Malekai? Or team Nakoa? I can't seem to choose and I love both 😭 Nakoa did piss me off at times but still love him.
Content:
🗡️Kidnapped FMC by MMC
🩸Found/Chosen Family
🗡️One Horse/One Bed
🩸SPICE!!!
🗡️Enemies to Lovers??
🩸Vampire, Fae, and More!
🗡️Morally Grey FMC and MMC
🩸Bondage, Primal, Praise Kink and More
February 16, 2024
Magic, destiny and a fate that seals their world!
I love a fantasy and this has a bit of everything, from romance and spice to secrets and action! My first from author Chiara Forestieri and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
There’s vampires, fae, gods, magic, tragic pasts, hidden secrets, enemies, fated souls, loyalty, long time love, found family, an evil queen and funny insults from the best of friends!
The story follows Royal Assassin, Mareina. She has been tasked with many a mission from Queen Zurie but this one sets her on a path that will change everything.
This has some really good giggles, an unexpected pairing and secret love finally confessed. Malekai is incredibly dreamy and then there’s Nakoa with his family of fun and fab characters that really add to the story. There is a cliffhanger which has left me very interested in where the story is going after the ending’s revelations.
I love a fantasy and this has a bit of everything, from romance and spice to secrets and action! My first from author Chiara Forestieri and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
There’s vampires, fae, gods, magic, tragic pasts, hidden secrets, enemies, fated souls, loyalty, long time love, found family, an evil queen and funny insults from the best of friends!
The story follows Royal Assassin, Mareina. She has been tasked with many a mission from Queen Zurie but this one sets her on a path that will change everything.
This has some really good giggles, an unexpected pairing and secret love finally confessed. Malekai is incredibly dreamy and then there’s Nakoa with his family of fun and fab characters that really add to the story. There is a cliffhanger which has left me very interested in where the story is going after the ending’s revelations.
June 7, 2024
⭐️:3.5
🌶️:2/5
Super super slow burn. Lots of angst, stubborn strong MFC. As two possessive MMCs.
Beginning was kind of slow but the story picked up. Lots of teasing and tension.
Nakoa was very stubborn and acting like an a$$. Mareina was stubborn too but understandably due to her past.
I really like Malekai. He’s my fav in this one. I want more of him in the second book haha
Lots of miscommunication which I find very frustrating lol.
🌶️:2/5
Super super slow burn. Lots of angst, stubborn strong MFC. As two possessive MMCs.
Beginning was kind of slow but the story picked up. Lots of teasing and tension.
Nakoa was very stubborn and acting like an a$$. Mareina was stubborn too but understandably due to her past.
I really like Malekai. He’s my fav in this one. I want more of him in the second book haha
Lots of miscommunication which I find very frustrating lol.
March 9, 2024
It jumped around a lot at the end. The plot kept changing but not in a great, shocking way… wasn’t really needed. Ends on an anti-climatic cliffhanger. The book has so many typos of names and punctuation errors. And I mean a couple in every chapter. It really threw me off….
March 11, 2025
Rating: ★★★★★
Plot: A jaded warrior dealing with her own trauma, must take down a genocidal queen
FMC: Strong, ruthless, loyal
MMC: 2 love interests | Malekai FTW
Angst: 3/5
Dark: 2/5
Spice: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
★.•☆•.★ 𝓼𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 ★.•☆•.★
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri is an engrossing tale of power, sacrifice and overcoming one's fears. Set in a richly developed world where one's designation/magic is both a gift and a curse. The story follows Mareina, a jaded warrior whose trauma follows her everywhere she goes, torn between her duty to a genocidal queen who will stop at nothing to remain in power and the desires of her heart. With a rebellion on the horizon, a fated mate she'd rather not have and revelations about her heritage coming to light, can Mareina get back to the man she loves and eliminate the looming threat of the queen and be free of her demons to finally live her life? Fate has other plans...
╰☆☆ 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 ☆☆╮
I went into this book not knowing much beyond fated mates. I needed something spicy after my last read and this did not disappoint!
What I did not expect, was that AKOBAM was going to drag me into a richly developed story about trauma, guilt, love and fate. Forestieri did an excellent job of examining the FMC's guilt over killing hundreds of thousands of innocent lives at the direction of her queen and the trauma of her childhood growing up in a pleasure house. Mareina, overall, was an incredibly fleshed out character; she was flawed - ruthless, but also kind, loving and loyal. I enjoyed her back and forth with Nakoa (her souldbound) and the banter, both spicy or otherwise, with her true love Malekai was both angsty and funny.
❥ Nakoa
This guy got on my nerves. He started out hot af, charming and genuinely cared for Mareina despite her unaliving so many of his people over the years. He had a great support circle and a loving mother- he was emotionally mature, or so I thought. He quickly became a demanding asshole, who started to think of his soulbound as a means to an end and a funnel to increase his magical prowess. It was his way or the highway. It annoyed me. What he did at the end of the book to Mareina made me lose any respect or goodwill towards him and tbh I don't see how Mareina could overcome what he did to her. He is a hot headed man-child who doesn't deserve Mareina!
❥ Malekai
Malekai is EVERYTHING. He has dedicated himself to Mareina since DAY ONE. Although they are best friends, he loves her beyond measure and she him. He knows that she's afraid of losing him if she lets herself love him, but this man is going NOWHERE. He's the entire package - hot, cocky, loyal, has the dirtiest mouth and would literally die for his woman. The total opposite of Nakoa.
.•☆•.𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽.•☆•.
❥ Spice, tons of smutty spice
❥ A decently developed plot
❥ Fleshed out and evolving characters
❥ Uprisings
❥ Fated mates
❥ Trauma
❥ Sacrifices
❥ Fate meddling
❥ Hidden identities
❥ Seers
❥ Betrayal
❥ Loss
✮⋆˙ 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓽 ⋆˙✮
AKOBAM is a blend of dark fantasy, heart pounding angst, and spicy romance that will leave you thirsting for more. Chiara Forestieri crafts a world so vivid and characters so compelling that you’ll find yourself lost in its pages from the very first chapter. The stakes are high, the magic is intoxicating, and the emotional depth will keep you invested long after the final twist.
Plot: A jaded warrior dealing with her own trauma, must take down a genocidal queen
FMC: Strong, ruthless, loyal
MMC: 2 love interests | Malekai FTW
Angst: 3/5
Dark: 2/5
Spice: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
★.•☆•.★ 𝓼𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 ★.•☆•.★
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri is an engrossing tale of power, sacrifice and overcoming one's fears. Set in a richly developed world where one's designation/magic is both a gift and a curse. The story follows Mareina, a jaded warrior whose trauma follows her everywhere she goes, torn between her duty to a genocidal queen who will stop at nothing to remain in power and the desires of her heart. With a rebellion on the horizon, a fated mate she'd rather not have and revelations about her heritage coming to light, can Mareina get back to the man she loves and eliminate the looming threat of the queen and be free of her demons to finally live her life? Fate has other plans...
╰☆☆ 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 ☆☆╮
I went into this book not knowing much beyond fated mates. I needed something spicy after my last read and this did not disappoint!
What I did not expect, was that AKOBAM was going to drag me into a richly developed story about trauma, guilt, love and fate. Forestieri did an excellent job of examining the FMC's guilt over killing hundreds of thousands of innocent lives at the direction of her queen and the trauma of her childhood growing up in a pleasure house. Mareina, overall, was an incredibly fleshed out character; she was flawed - ruthless, but also kind, loving and loyal. I enjoyed her back and forth with Nakoa (her souldbound) and the banter, both spicy or otherwise, with her true love Malekai was both angsty and funny.
❥ Nakoa
This guy got on my nerves. He started out hot af, charming and genuinely cared for Mareina despite her unaliving so many of his people over the years. He had a great support circle and a loving mother- he was emotionally mature, or so I thought. He quickly became a demanding asshole, who started to think of his soulbound as a means to an end and a funnel to increase his magical prowess. It was his way or the highway. It annoyed me. What he did at the end of the book to Mareina made me lose any respect or goodwill towards him and tbh I don't see how Mareina could overcome what he did to her. He is a hot headed man-child who doesn't deserve Mareina!
❥ Malekai
Malekai is EVERYTHING. He has dedicated himself to Mareina since DAY ONE. Although they are best friends, he loves her beyond measure and she him. He knows that she's afraid of losing him if she lets herself love him, but this man is going NOWHERE. He's the entire package - hot, cocky, loyal, has the dirtiest mouth and would literally die for his woman. The total opposite of Nakoa.
.•☆•.𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽.•☆•.
❥ Spice, tons of smutty spice
❥ A decently developed plot
❥ Fleshed out and evolving characters
❥ Uprisings
❥ Fated mates
❥ Trauma
❥ Sacrifices
❥ Fate meddling
❥ Hidden identities
❥ Seers
❥ Betrayal
❥ Loss
✮⋆˙ 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓬𝓽 ⋆˙✮
AKOBAM is a blend of dark fantasy, heart pounding angst, and spicy romance that will leave you thirsting for more. Chiara Forestieri crafts a world so vivid and characters so compelling that you’ll find yourself lost in its pages from the very first chapter. The stakes are high, the magic is intoxicating, and the emotional depth will keep you invested long after the final twist.
February 21, 2024
Unexpected. Unpredictable. Unreal. A straight-up heroin plot. 4.5/5 ⭐ 2/5 🌶️
What to expect:
Gods, creatures, magic
Love triangle
Action
Forced proximity
Politics
Found Family
All the good romantasy tropes
⚠️ Disclaimer
Thank you to Chiara Forestieri for giving me access to this novel in return for an honest review. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
▪️ Speedy synopsis:
Mareina, a disillusioned assassin, sees no escape from a cause she no longer supports, that is until her latest assignment brings her face-to-face with her fate.
🔺 What I liked:
There are very few books I read where I don’t know what is going to happen next. This is one of them. Better yet, I don’t even know how I WANT the plot to go because I fell in love with so many characters.
Top-class worldbuilding. It hit the sweet-spot of being interestingly complex but easy enough to understand.
It’s a heroin plot: Fast paced and action packed that’ll have you hooked on your first try. It’s also not sacrificed for the romance.
I have to mention the love triangle here. HOLY STEAMY HELL! I’m not sure which love interest I should put my bet on, but I currently love Malekai. I just know whichever way this goes that we can expect an emotional gut punch, and I’m here for it.
Forestieri has mastered the balance of writing with multiple POVs. It doesn’t become boring, slow, or overly complex. It’s *chefs kiss*
The characters are interesting, dynamic, and balanced. There is a lot of intrigue and secrets, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the twists and emotional damage to come.
🔻 What I didn’t like as much:
I’m nitpicking here… but I got a little lost in remembering some of the characters within the found family, but that’s probably due to my attention span more than anything else.
While the sexual tension is great but there were missed opportunities to make us suffer further i.e Malekai accepting that Mareina would share a bed with Nakoa at the inn.
The cover: While I love to read about supernatural creatures get jiggy, I don’t want people on public transport to know that. It also gave away some of the plot, and I like to imagine my own characters. I personally prefer something a bit more abstract.
📚 Summary:
This was one of these books where I didn’t want to return to reality afterward, and I need book 2 now. It’s everything that I’ve ever wanted from a good romantasy. Do yourself a favour and READ THIS BOOK.
What to expect:
Gods, creatures, magic
Love triangle
Action
Forced proximity
Politics
Found Family
All the good romantasy tropes
⚠️ Disclaimer
Thank you to Chiara Forestieri for giving me access to this novel in return for an honest review. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
▪️ Speedy synopsis:
Mareina, a disillusioned assassin, sees no escape from a cause she no longer supports, that is until her latest assignment brings her face-to-face with her fate.
🔺 What I liked:
There are very few books I read where I don’t know what is going to happen next. This is one of them. Better yet, I don’t even know how I WANT the plot to go because I fell in love with so many characters.
Top-class worldbuilding. It hit the sweet-spot of being interestingly complex but easy enough to understand.
It’s a heroin plot: Fast paced and action packed that’ll have you hooked on your first try. It’s also not sacrificed for the romance.
I have to mention the love triangle here. HOLY STEAMY HELL! I’m not sure which love interest I should put my bet on, but I currently love Malekai. I just know whichever way this goes that we can expect an emotional gut punch, and I’m here for it.
Forestieri has mastered the balance of writing with multiple POVs. It doesn’t become boring, slow, or overly complex. It’s *chefs kiss*
The characters are interesting, dynamic, and balanced. There is a lot of intrigue and secrets, and I’m thoroughly looking forward to the twists and emotional damage to come.
🔻 What I didn’t like as much:
I’m nitpicking here… but I got a little lost in remembering some of the characters within the found family, but that’s probably due to my attention span more than anything else.
While the sexual tension is great but there were missed opportunities to make us suffer further i.e Malekai accepting that Mareina would share a bed with Nakoa at the inn.
The cover: While I love to read about supernatural creatures get jiggy, I don’t want people on public transport to know that. It also gave away some of the plot, and I like to imagine my own characters. I personally prefer something a bit more abstract.
📚 Summary:
This was one of these books where I didn’t want to return to reality afterward, and I need book 2 now. It’s everything that I’ve ever wanted from a good romantasy. Do yourself a favour and READ THIS BOOK.
did-not-finish
January 1, 2025DNF at 40% - holy non-con, batman.
I think it needs to be in all caps in the trigger warnings because jeeze.
I think it needs to be in all caps in the trigger warnings because jeeze.
December 19, 2024
DNF at 35% so take my 1 star with a pinch of salt. I’d leave it unrated but it would make my Read list look disgusting.
This book has a very graphic sexual assault scene at 35%. It made me feel a bit sick. This is a me problem for skimming the content warnings at the beginning of the book.
I completely missed it stating “Non-Con/Dub-Con”. I’m able to read this in books but not when it’s literally the MMC who the FMC will end-up with. He’ll never redeem himself in my eyes so no point in continuing.
Not only this, I think this book is super info-dumpy in the first quarter and it put me off so much I actually read a whole other book after getting about 15% into this.
Not for me.
1 star
This book has a very graphic sexual assault scene at 35%. It made me feel a bit sick. This is a me problem for skimming the content warnings at the beginning of the book.
I completely missed it stating “Non-Con/Dub-Con”. I’m able to read this in books but not when it’s literally the MMC who the FMC will end-up with. He’ll never redeem himself in my eyes so no point in continuing.
Not only this, I think this book is super info-dumpy in the first quarter and it put me off so much I actually read a whole other book after getting about 15% into this.
Not for me.
1 star
January 28, 2025
Mareina has spent centuries as a top royal assassin to a ruthless queen whose only desire is to exploit her power. When Mareina is tasked with brining her queen the dead body of one half human half fae male responsible for the uprising tho everything changes. As soon as Mareina sees her prey she begins to feel a pull like nothing else making her task of his death surprisingly complicated. In a word where monsters are made and not born where does Mareina truly stand.
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic was a dark and spicy multiple POV fantasy read that absolutely had me flying thru its pages. The cover alone had me sold pretty early on with these characters. Once I started reading tho I was pleasantly met with exciting and intricate world building, and the for mentioned characters did in fact end up having me in an absolute chokehold. The enemies to lovers in this was sizzlingly strong, angry, and tense. I mean how much more of enemies could they be as our FMC literally tries to kill him. Not only did this book have a well done enemies to lovers trope but also has a love triangle that for the first time ever made it truly hard for me to pick which character pairing I enjoyed more(basically can I pick both🥵) When I say this book has spice I mean it because it was spicyyy. The back and forth, push and pull between Mareina and Nakoa was full of scorching tension and forced proximity that left me feral. This book does have a darker side to it tho with trigger warnings and a bit of bondage so keep that in mind prior to diving in. I honestly can’t wait to start book 2, especially with a cover that’s giving me all the why choose energy that this love triangle is begging for. If you’re looking for a darker fantasy read with morally grey characters, vampirey vibes, fae, gods and goddesses, love triangles, chosen found family, bada** FMC, possessive MMCs, and political intrigue then definitely give A Kingdom of Blood and Magic a read.
March 6, 2024
TYSM to the author for allowing me to read this, she is actually the sweetest person !!
All opinions are my own!
What I liked:
- The world building was great! It was a different kind of magic system than what I have been reading lately, and I appreciate that! Easy to follow too!
- The plot twists were fantastic!! There was a bit of a lull in the middle for me, but it didn't last too long and it went like to 100% full action and twists, hard to put down!
- I love multiple POV's - I always feel it adds more to the story, and it definitely added to more of the mystery and great pacing.
- The spice was pretty decent! But I wish it didn't happen so fast.
What I didn't like:
- Some of the word choices gave me the ick.
- I think the fated mates trope made it tough for me to really feel the tension/ slow burn (honestly that is more of a me issue than the book issue).
- I wasn't entirely connected to the other characters in the story.
Overall, I think most people would really enjoy this book! I think I am being picky with my preferences.
Check trigger warnings as well**
All opinions are my own!
What I liked:
- The world building was great! It was a different kind of magic system than what I have been reading lately, and I appreciate that! Easy to follow too!
- The plot twists were fantastic!! There was a bit of a lull in the middle for me, but it didn't last too long and it went like to 100% full action and twists, hard to put down!
- I love multiple POV's - I always feel it adds more to the story, and it definitely added to more of the mystery and great pacing.
- The spice was pretty decent! But I wish it didn't happen so fast.
What I didn't like:
- Some of the word choices gave me the ick.
- I think the fated mates trope made it tough for me to really feel the tension/ slow burn (honestly that is more of a me issue than the book issue).
- I wasn't entirely connected to the other characters in the story.
Overall, I think most people would really enjoy this book! I think I am being picky with my preferences.
Check trigger warnings as well**
February 20, 2024
ARC Team Member and here is my honest review:
Mareina is no stranger to death, working as the Queen's Irae, and as a soldier in the war, she's sent a lot of lives over to Mors, and she feels every single one of them, at least the ones from the past 20 years.
🖤
Mareina has been through a lot in life, ever since a little girl, and she has emerged victorious from all of her past trauma, conquering a life where she can finally defend herself and earn the respect and fear she deserves.
🖤
Her best friend, Malekai, is always there for her. He is the only one who seems to know exactly how she feels with just one look, the only one she allows into her barriers. And it doesn't hurt that he is ridiculously good-looking, but it does make her feelings...complicated.
🖤
In one mission she meets Nakoa, at first he seems the perfect gentleman and everything a woman would desire in a male, but when secrets come out he shows a whole new side of him.
🖤
Nakoa will do anything to protect those he love and his found family, even putting in dager the one who he's meant to protect at all costs, if it means he gets what he wants. He has a filthy mouth and a wicked tail that drives Mareina crazy with need.
🖤
I don't have words to describe how much I love this book.
Marein's past and personal struggles made me extremely emocional, the way Chiara writes her pain is mesmerizing and touched me profoundly.
🖤
Chiara's worldbuilding is absolutely incredible, with different languages, several creatures and beings, magic systems, realms, politics of the kingdom. It such a rich book.
🖤
Mareina's character relationships with Nakoa and Malekai gives us all the rollercoaster feeling readers love so much, from anger, to lust, shock and swoon head over heels for them, it's just hard to pick which one.
🖤
Side effects: massive book hungover, throwing your kindle, kicking your legs and screaming at the book.
Mareina is no stranger to death, working as the Queen's Irae, and as a soldier in the war, she's sent a lot of lives over to Mors, and she feels every single one of them, at least the ones from the past 20 years.
🖤
Mareina has been through a lot in life, ever since a little girl, and she has emerged victorious from all of her past trauma, conquering a life where she can finally defend herself and earn the respect and fear she deserves.
🖤
Her best friend, Malekai, is always there for her. He is the only one who seems to know exactly how she feels with just one look, the only one she allows into her barriers. And it doesn't hurt that he is ridiculously good-looking, but it does make her feelings...complicated.
🖤
In one mission she meets Nakoa, at first he seems the perfect gentleman and everything a woman would desire in a male, but when secrets come out he shows a whole new side of him.
🖤
Nakoa will do anything to protect those he love and his found family, even putting in dager the one who he's meant to protect at all costs, if it means he gets what he wants. He has a filthy mouth and a wicked tail that drives Mareina crazy with need.
🖤
I don't have words to describe how much I love this book.
Marein's past and personal struggles made me extremely emocional, the way Chiara writes her pain is mesmerizing and touched me profoundly.
🖤
Chiara's worldbuilding is absolutely incredible, with different languages, several creatures and beings, magic systems, realms, politics of the kingdom. It such a rich book.
🖤
Mareina's character relationships with Nakoa and Malekai gives us all the rollercoaster feeling readers love so much, from anger, to lust, shock and swoon head over heels for them, it's just hard to pick which one.
🖤
Side effects: massive book hungover, throwing your kindle, kicking your legs and screaming at the book.
June 10, 2024
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic is really good, I flew right through it! I was hooked from the beginning, and struggled to put it down and go to bed. It kept me pulled into the story, needing to see how everything played out.
The world building, character development, and plot were all excellent! I really truly enjoyed this story!
Mareina was such a good FMC! I love when the FMC is morally grey, it adds a layer of complexity to their character that I love. While she may not be morally grey by choice, she still is. together with her best friend and partner in crime Malekai, she is unstoppable and lives life alone – except for Malekai. He is the only person she has let inside her walls.
Nakoa was weird, wild, and unhinged, and I loved him for it. He was so handsome, interesting, powerful and dedicated to his goal, and I loved it. He was rough with Mareina, and it was so spicy!
The soulbound between them was a super good plot line driver throughout the story. It was so interesting to read about fated mates who kind-of-but-also-not-at-all into each other – it’s like the epitome of enemies to lovers. I really liked how they struggled with it, and fought each other the whole way.
I do wish someone, ANYONE, culminated some of these spice scenes – the scenes as is were oh so good but I wish we had more! I’m interested to see if this comes in book 2, or if we will just be teased through the series… and I am not complaining about that either!
All of the side characters were wonderful and added really well to the story, and I am interested to see how they play a part in the next book.
We end on one heck of a cliffhanger, and I am now dying for book 2! Can’t wait to continue on in this world with these characters.
Overall, I truly enjoyed A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri, and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, romance, fated mates, and a darker more serious fantasy story.
The world building, character development, and plot were all excellent! I really truly enjoyed this story!
Mareina was such a good FMC! I love when the FMC is morally grey, it adds a layer of complexity to their character that I love. While she may not be morally grey by choice, she still is. together with her best friend and partner in crime Malekai, she is unstoppable and lives life alone – except for Malekai. He is the only person she has let inside her walls.
Nakoa was weird, wild, and unhinged, and I loved him for it. He was so handsome, interesting, powerful and dedicated to his goal, and I loved it. He was rough with Mareina, and it was so spicy!
The soulbound between them was a super good plot line driver throughout the story. It was so interesting to read about fated mates who kind-of-but-also-not-at-all into each other – it’s like the epitome of enemies to lovers. I really liked how they struggled with it, and fought each other the whole way.
I do wish someone, ANYONE, culminated some of these spice scenes – the scenes as is were oh so good but I wish we had more! I’m interested to see if this comes in book 2, or if we will just be teased through the series… and I am not complaining about that either!
All of the side characters were wonderful and added really well to the story, and I am interested to see how they play a part in the next book.
We end on one heck of a cliffhanger, and I am now dying for book 2! Can’t wait to continue on in this world with these characters.
Overall, I truly enjoyed A Kingdom of Blood and Magic by Chiara Forestieri, and recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy, romance, fated mates, and a darker more serious fantasy story.
September 2, 2024
This book blew me away!
Have you ever read a book where you know from only the first few chapters that it will be your next 5⭐️ read? A book that you in equal parts want to race though, but yet don’t want it to ever end?
This is one of those books. Dive in I dare you, you won’t regret it.
Do you want:
bad*ss FMC ✅
Explosive action from the start ✅
intrigue ✅
mystery ✅
fated mates ✅
🌶️🌶️🌶️ ✅
Love triangle ✅
Well then this is the book for you.
I really fell for Mareina- a true warrior, she’s trapped in a brutal existence, the executioner for the tyrant queen Zurie. She’s survived things in the last 100 years that would have broken lesser Fae but hasn’t lost her desire to survive. I was drawn to her strength but also her vulnerability, fearing the capacity to love and be loved in return, less it break her.
Her only friend - Malekai, they’ve survived 100 years together and their chemistry could burn the world down 🔥
“… I’d procured a small collection of
mismatching teeth from each male
that had touched her wrongly…………… A token of my undying love
and readiness to f*cking murder
anyone who dared to wrong her...” Malekai,
Enter Nakoa the man she’s ordered to kill, her sworn enemy and soulbound and we have one hell of a ride.
Told from numerous POV, it really works as we experience the story from all angles enhancing the depth and tapestry of the world building and tension. Secret after secret, twist after twist I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough.
Thank you Chiara Forestieri for letting me enter this incredible world
P.S Please read the Trigger warnings below!
-ends on a cliffhanger
-being held captive
-dubious consent
-bondage
-blood Play
-explicit language
-Torture, violence
-Near R*ape of FMC ( not by MMC)
- mention of R*pe
-mention of trauma
-mention of suicidal feelings
-mention of infanticide (that doesn't actually happen)
- mention of genocide ( historically within this fictional world)
Have you ever read a book where you know from only the first few chapters that it will be your next 5⭐️ read? A book that you in equal parts want to race though, but yet don’t want it to ever end?
This is one of those books. Dive in I dare you, you won’t regret it.
Do you want:
bad*ss FMC ✅
Explosive action from the start ✅
intrigue ✅
mystery ✅
fated mates ✅
🌶️🌶️🌶️ ✅
Love triangle ✅
Well then this is the book for you.
I really fell for Mareina- a true warrior, she’s trapped in a brutal existence, the executioner for the tyrant queen Zurie. She’s survived things in the last 100 years that would have broken lesser Fae but hasn’t lost her desire to survive. I was drawn to her strength but also her vulnerability, fearing the capacity to love and be loved in return, less it break her.
Her only friend - Malekai, they’ve survived 100 years together and their chemistry could burn the world down 🔥
“… I’d procured a small collection of
mismatching teeth from each male
that had touched her wrongly…………… A token of my undying love
and readiness to f*cking murder
anyone who dared to wrong her...” Malekai,
Enter Nakoa the man she’s ordered to kill, her sworn enemy and soulbound and we have one hell of a ride.
Told from numerous POV, it really works as we experience the story from all angles enhancing the depth and tapestry of the world building and tension. Secret after secret, twist after twist I couldn’t recommend this book highly enough.
Thank you Chiara Forestieri for letting me enter this incredible world
P.S Please read the Trigger warnings below!
-ends on a cliffhanger
-being held captive
-dubious consent
-bondage
-blood Play
-explicit language
-Torture, violence
-Near R*ape of FMC ( not by MMC)
- mention of R*pe
-mention of trauma
-mention of suicidal feelings
-mention of infanticide (that doesn't actually happen)
- mention of genocide ( historically within this fictional world)
April 26, 2024
⋆｡°✩ Spoiler Free Reviews ⋆｡°✩
I eagerly await book two, despite what the rest of this review says!
The plot - Let’s start with the tropes; enemies to lovers, fantasy, fated mates, Gods, touch her and die, anti hero MMC and FMC. Also got a love triangle (but more on that later..) It is a cliffhanger unfortunately, but book 2 will be out later this year hopefully! There are heavy trigger warnings so; CHECK YA FUCKIN TRIGGERS PEOPLE. Smut was 1.5/5 on the spice scale, plenty of tension and maybe one or two scenes but no full on sex scenes yet.
The love interest portion was aggravating. I get that you’ve gotta keep the reader guessing but we spent so much time pingponging back and forth that I forgot that one of them is supposed to BE ‘The Love Interest’… The plot line kept changing and warping, to the point where I don’t know which way is which at this point. Not a fan. If book 2 has actually CLEARLY DEFINED romance, I may come back and revise this book as using a clever setup as a red herring and change my review.
Otherwise, with no book 2 yet to further clarify, I’m a bit underwhelmed and disappointed that a HEA is not even in the same realm as this book (haha punny).
The characters - the main 3 we need to be concerned with are Mareina, Nakoa and Malekai.
I hated Mareina - she was a whiny bitch, and not entirely the badass she claimed to be. I’d be happy with her internal moral dilemma if it was consistent. And yet, she bounced back and forth so frequently that I got whiplash.
Nakoa was just doing his bit the only way he knew how. I have no qualms with this man, he’s perfect and I’m gutted he got such a shit end of the deal.
Malekei is a prick who only thinks of himself and I truly hate him. There was no need for the level of gaslighting and manipulation he gave to the other characters. Not a fan.
I eagerly await book two, despite what the rest of this review says!
The plot - Let’s start with the tropes; enemies to lovers, fantasy, fated mates, Gods, touch her and die, anti hero MMC and FMC. Also got a love triangle (but more on that later..) It is a cliffhanger unfortunately, but book 2 will be out later this year hopefully! There are heavy trigger warnings so; CHECK YA FUCKIN TRIGGERS PEOPLE. Smut was 1.5/5 on the spice scale, plenty of tension and maybe one or two scenes but no full on sex scenes yet.
The love interest portion was aggravating. I get that you’ve gotta keep the reader guessing but we spent so much time pingponging back and forth that I forgot that one of them is supposed to BE ‘The Love Interest’… The plot line kept changing and warping, to the point where I don’t know which way is which at this point. Not a fan. If book 2 has actually CLEARLY DEFINED romance, I may come back and revise this book as using a clever setup as a red herring and change my review.
Otherwise, with no book 2 yet to further clarify, I’m a bit underwhelmed and disappointed that a HEA is not even in the same realm as this book (haha punny).
The characters - the main 3 we need to be concerned with are Mareina, Nakoa and Malekai.
I hated Mareina - she was a whiny bitch, and not entirely the badass she claimed to be. I’d be happy with her internal moral dilemma if it was consistent. And yet, she bounced back and forth so frequently that I got whiplash.
Nakoa was just doing his bit the only way he knew how. I have no qualms with this man, he’s perfect and I’m gutted he got such a shit end of the deal.
Malekei is a prick who only thinks of himself and I truly hate him. There was no need for the level of gaslighting and manipulation he gave to the other characters. Not a fan.
April 13, 2024
I wanna start by thanking the author for inviting me to join her arc team for this one!
I loved this book so much! Chiara Forestier had me captivated through this whole story. In this book there are vampires, fae, gods and more. This is a dark, fantasy romance!
The plot twists..*chefs kiss* I was on my toes the whole time and couldn’t stop reading, ESPECIALLY towards the end🫢
Mareina (FMC) is a total badass with a secret soft side that only a select few have ever seen. Morally gray is my favorite color, especially on main characters💞
Also some spice never hurt anyone🔥🌶️
This book series deserves all the love
Book 2 cannot come soon enough for me!!
If you love books by SJM and JLA this one is for you❤️
I’m not sure if my review was deleted that I had up here before but I had to repost it to show the love for AKOBAM
I loved this book so much! Chiara Forestier had me captivated through this whole story. In this book there are vampires, fae, gods and more. This is a dark, fantasy romance!
The plot twists..*chefs kiss* I was on my toes the whole time and couldn’t stop reading, ESPECIALLY towards the end🫢
Mareina (FMC) is a total badass with a secret soft side that only a select few have ever seen. Morally gray is my favorite color, especially on main characters💞
Also some spice never hurt anyone🔥🌶️
This book series deserves all the love
Book 2 cannot come soon enough for me!!
If you love books by SJM and JLA this one is for you❤️
I’m not sure if my review was deleted that I had up here before but I had to repost it to show the love for AKOBAM
April 10, 2024
86%
Spoilers spoilers spoilers~~
I was so close to finishing this book. But when it's bad, it's bad. I should clearly say it's just not for me at all. I hate love triangles. The enemies to lovers trope is fun, but when it's the whole book as enemies... where is the romance! Does romance start in book 2?! And then, the fated guy seems like the other man - it's unnecessarily complicated. Kinda makes the "fated " part not necessary. And of course, the other guy (her friend) is the better option by the end. There's emotion there!
Spoilers spoilers spoilers~~
I was so close to finishing this book. But when it's bad, it's bad. I should clearly say it's just not for me at all. I hate love triangles. The enemies to lovers trope is fun, but when it's the whole book as enemies... where is the romance! Does romance start in book 2?! And then, the fated guy seems like the other man - it's unnecessarily complicated. Kinda makes the "fated " part not necessary. And of course, the other guy (her friend) is the better option by the end. There's emotion there!
February 18, 2024
A kingdom of blood and magic by chiara forestieri
“ Oh my lordddd, first of all, this was my first time ever being a ARC reader and i’m so beyond thankful for the opportunity.
Now this book was beyond beautiful, the way it was written just draws you in, i was absolutely hooked and didn’t want to put it down, the spice , the twists and turns oh my god i couldn’t get enough and i’m so sad that i’m done reading it 😭
10/10 reccomend
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥 “
“ Oh my lordddd, first of all, this was my first time ever being a ARC reader and i’m so beyond thankful for the opportunity.
Now this book was beyond beautiful, the way it was written just draws you in, i was absolutely hooked and didn’t want to put it down, the spice , the twists and turns oh my god i couldn’t get enough and i’m so sad that i’m done reading it 😭
10/10 reccomend
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥 “
December 21, 2024
This is a good read, the story was fantastic, the world building was interesting and the characters had depth. In fact the FMC blew me away with her backbone. Most of these stories they give into the MMC wholly and completely. Not our girl.
The loss of the star was the confusing ending… multiple POVs and then the author introduced a female character to rival the FMC… I hope there isn’t cheating because I’m genuinely keen for the second book!!
The loss of the star was the confusing ending… multiple POVs and then the author introduced a female character to rival the FMC… I hope there isn’t cheating because I’m genuinely keen for the second book!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2024
This book has complex worldbuilding with interesting history and magical properties!! It is the start of an epic dark fantasy series I’m certain will have plenty of twists and turns and will keep you guessing till the end!! There’s also plenty of different magical beings like shifters, fae, vampire-like beings, and gods/goddesses. Plus a found family that will make you smile 😊
Morally grey characters
Lots of immediate world building, but it’s not overwhelming
Royal executioner and assassin
Fae, vampire-like species, dryads, shifters
Dark fantasy
Fated mates
Spicy 🌶️
His tail… 😘
One horse
Pleasure inducing venom
Found family
Enemies to lovers
“I’ve been sent to kill you”
Multiple POV
Nakoa and Mareina are both lost in some ways and though the mate bond pulls at them, they don’t give in right away and they continually fight each other and the bond. She is afraid of being used and just wants to be wanted, not just for the bond or what she can help him accomplish, but wanted for HER and I think that is something a lot of us can relate to. It was a different take on soul bonds and soul mates that was really interesting and had me on my toes. I never knew what to expect or who she would choose!
I often enjoy dual POV or multiple POV and this book was no exception!! We get to see Nakoa and Mareina’s POV with a couple of short chapters sprinkled in from other characters as well. I really enjoy seeing things from other characters perspective and it makes me like them more when I can actively see their motivations for doing certain things
The author was so amazing 🥰 she reached out to me to read the book and told me all about which chapters had certain trigger warnings when I mentioned I have certain things I am wary of. She also added me as a supporter to the acknowledgments which is one of the sweetest things ever 💚
I’d definitely recommend this book to dark fantasy lovers and someone who wants the start of an epic fantasy!
Some other random thoughts:
Mareina definitely has past trauma and has done some heinous things to survive but she is strong and she is an incredibly likable character.
The spice is very good but definitely read trigger warnings beforehand!!
Skipped over chapter 31- attempted rape, sexual assault, implied rape, traumatic past (I mostly skipped over this part and that was fine). She was rescued before it went too far
TW: SA, attempted SA, dubcon, acts of violence, kidnapping, torture, and more
Morally grey characters
Lots of immediate world building, but it’s not overwhelming
Royal executioner and assassin
Fae, vampire-like species, dryads, shifters
Dark fantasy
Fated mates
Spicy 🌶️
His tail… 😘
One horse
Pleasure inducing venom
Found family
Enemies to lovers
“I’ve been sent to kill you”
Multiple POV
Nakoa and Mareina are both lost in some ways and though the mate bond pulls at them, they don’t give in right away and they continually fight each other and the bond. She is afraid of being used and just wants to be wanted, not just for the bond or what she can help him accomplish, but wanted for HER and I think that is something a lot of us can relate to. It was a different take on soul bonds and soul mates that was really interesting and had me on my toes. I never knew what to expect or who she would choose!
I often enjoy dual POV or multiple POV and this book was no exception!! We get to see Nakoa and Mareina’s POV with a couple of short chapters sprinkled in from other characters as well. I really enjoy seeing things from other characters perspective and it makes me like them more when I can actively see their motivations for doing certain things
The author was so amazing 🥰 she reached out to me to read the book and told me all about which chapters had certain trigger warnings when I mentioned I have certain things I am wary of. She also added me as a supporter to the acknowledgments which is one of the sweetest things ever 💚
I’d definitely recommend this book to dark fantasy lovers and someone who wants the start of an epic fantasy!
Some other random thoughts:
Mareina definitely has past trauma and has done some heinous things to survive but she is strong and she is an incredibly likable character.
The spice is very good but definitely read trigger warnings beforehand!!
Skipped over chapter 31- attempted rape, sexual assault, implied rape, traumatic past (I mostly skipped over this part and that was fine). She was rescued before it went too far
TW: SA, attempted SA, dubcon, acts of violence, kidnapping, torture, and more
March 16, 2024
A Kingdom of Blood and Magic was such a good read for me, it has all my favourite tropes, spice and it was so well written that it was comforting to read.
For those of you that don’t know anything about AKOBAM, here is a speedy synopsis.
✨ Mareina serves Queen Zurie as an executioner. Malekai is her best friend, teetering on the edge of something more. Nakoa, is the leader of an Uprising; one that Queen Zurie wants gone. In a twist of fate her latest assignment brings her to Nakoa, the Queen wants Mareiana to execute him and bring back his body as proof. However, Nakoa is her soul bonded, which leaves Mareiana a hard decision to make.
You can just tell how much love Chiara (the loveliest person ever) has put into this book, the world building is beautifully done, it’s action PACKED from the first page and I absolutely loved that I had no idea what to expect as I was reading.
No matter what I thought would happen, it was always the opposite and I found myself getting attached to certain MCs really quickly. I loved the harsh backstory of Mareina and I more than adored her relationship with Malekai.
This book is SPICY, it has one of the best love triangles going on, (team Malekai over here.. but wait Nakoa..) and I just simply could not put this book down.
I plan to reread as I brought a physical copy and I can’t wait to annotate it 🥹
I absolutely love supporting self published authors, if I can do anything even if it is just word of mouth to help promote their book, I will do it. Chiara Forestier is someone who deserves to have her book known, it’s the perfect balance of twists, action and romance.
Tropes within A Kingdom of Blood and Magic include:
🔸 found family
🔸 fated mates
🔸morally grey (black almost)
🔸touch her and d*e
🔸vampires, faes, gods and magic
I can’t wait for book two, I am so excited! AKOBAM is currently free on Kindle Unlimited for you all to try and if you end up liking it like I did, please share! 🥰
spicy scale: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
rating: ★★★★★
For those of you that don’t know anything about AKOBAM, here is a speedy synopsis.
✨ Mareina serves Queen Zurie as an executioner. Malekai is her best friend, teetering on the edge of something more. Nakoa, is the leader of an Uprising; one that Queen Zurie wants gone. In a twist of fate her latest assignment brings her to Nakoa, the Queen wants Mareiana to execute him and bring back his body as proof. However, Nakoa is her soul bonded, which leaves Mareiana a hard decision to make.
You can just tell how much love Chiara (the loveliest person ever) has put into this book, the world building is beautifully done, it’s action PACKED from the first page and I absolutely loved that I had no idea what to expect as I was reading.
No matter what I thought would happen, it was always the opposite and I found myself getting attached to certain MCs really quickly. I loved the harsh backstory of Mareina and I more than adored her relationship with Malekai.
This book is SPICY, it has one of the best love triangles going on, (team Malekai over here.. but wait Nakoa..) and I just simply could not put this book down.
I plan to reread as I brought a physical copy and I can’t wait to annotate it 🥹
I absolutely love supporting self published authors, if I can do anything even if it is just word of mouth to help promote their book, I will do it. Chiara Forestier is someone who deserves to have her book known, it’s the perfect balance of twists, action and romance.
Tropes within A Kingdom of Blood and Magic include:
🔸 found family
🔸 fated mates
🔸morally grey (black almost)
🔸touch her and d*e
🔸vampires, faes, gods and magic
I can’t wait for book two, I am so excited! AKOBAM is currently free on Kindle Unlimited for you all to try and if you end up liking it like I did, please share! 🥰
spicy scale: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
rating: ★★★★★
October 16, 2025
This is why I do not trust booktok and not in the good way. I love indie authors. In fact, most of the books I read are from indie authors. However, this book was terrible. The errors were there. However, errors I can excuse from indie authors. They do not have editors, and I get that and I can look past it. I do not want to be rude. However, this book was unoriginal. I know. I get it. “All books are influenced by something.” However, there’s an issue when an author decides to take every single trope in the world and throw it into one book. And this was not in a good way either. This felt like “oh, you know what this book got a lot of attention and had this trope so I am going to use it too.”
On to my next and many complaints. The grammar and the writing was atrocious. The run off sentences were horrible and they filled the book with nonsense. The spice and sex scenes felt forced. Also how are you going to give a trigger warning to explicit sex in a book when there IS NO SEX? Again, it felt like she read one author’s sex scenes and just copy and pasted. There was no emotion or character development. They say it was non/con dub/con, but it was in fact forced and unwanted. At least according to the character that she wrote? In fact I explicitly remember the character’s mind set was “if I let him touch me he will let me go back to my other love interest.” Which is literally just grape. So, maybe the author should go back and read their own book to understand THE CHARACTER THEY WROTE better.
Next, the author wanted to draw focus to Hawai’i. Absolutely not. In fact, this would be offensive to HAWAI’ANS. All the author did was write a book about colonialism and use ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi as a language. For example, their “hawai’i influence would be equivalent to someone describing their book as influenced by the Holocaust, and reading it to only find out that the only “influence” in the book was using “Shabbat shalom” every other sentence.
Good luck if you choose to read this book.
On to my next and many complaints. The grammar and the writing was atrocious. The run off sentences were horrible and they filled the book with nonsense. The spice and sex scenes felt forced. Also how are you going to give a trigger warning to explicit sex in a book when there IS NO SEX? Again, it felt like she read one author’s sex scenes and just copy and pasted. There was no emotion or character development. They say it was non/con dub/con, but it was in fact forced and unwanted. At least according to the character that she wrote? In fact I explicitly remember the character’s mind set was “if I let him touch me he will let me go back to my other love interest.” Which is literally just grape. So, maybe the author should go back and read their own book to understand THE CHARACTER THEY WROTE better.
Next, the author wanted to draw focus to Hawai’i. Absolutely not. In fact, this would be offensive to HAWAI’ANS. All the author did was write a book about colonialism and use ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi as a language. For example, their “hawai’i influence would be equivalent to someone describing their book as influenced by the Holocaust, and reading it to only find out that the only “influence” in the book was using “Shabbat shalom” every other sentence.
Good luck if you choose to read this book.
January 21, 2025
4.25 Stars
This was originally going to be a 4.5 star book, and it had me in the beginning, but lost me towards the end. There are too many timelines and POV's converging at the end. It left me more confused and had more questions. At this point, I'm not sure if I will read book 2 right away, or wait a little bit to pick it up.
What would you do if your fated mate is the person you are have been set out to kill? Mareina is about to find out. Nakoa is her soulbound, but seeing as she was about to kill him, their relationship doesn't exactly start out on the right foot. Not to mention that Mareina is in love with someone back home on the Queen's forces - although she has never told him, and never acted on it. Throughout the book, they built up sexual tension to the max, and things almost happened, but nothing came of it. Which was a little disappointing, because the tension was there, and I was hoping for some more smutty scenes, but nothing happened.
Towards the last 75% is where the book started to fall off for me, and I feel like too many events are being set up for the next book. I was thrown for a loop when the last few chapters had been in completely different POV's than we read through the book, and the last line just has me questioning things more.
Maybe it's because this is the first book that I'm reading after Throne of Glass, but I feel like the author was trying to throw some twists and turns in there like "we will find out the reason for that later" type of deal, but it didn't hit the way I would have liked.
Regardless, like I said, I will read the second book (it was confirmed by the author that they would have sex this book - whew), but I will most likely read a few books in between it.
This was originally going to be a 4.5 star book, and it had me in the beginning, but lost me towards the end. There are too many timelines and POV's converging at the end. It left me more confused and had more questions. At this point, I'm not sure if I will read book 2 right away, or wait a little bit to pick it up.
What would you do if your fated mate is the person you are have been set out to kill? Mareina is about to find out. Nakoa is her soulbound, but seeing as she was about to kill him, their relationship doesn't exactly start out on the right foot. Not to mention that Mareina is in love with someone back home on the Queen's forces - although she has never told him, and never acted on it. Throughout the book, they built up sexual tension to the max, and things almost happened, but nothing came of it. Which was a little disappointing, because the tension was there, and I was hoping for some more smutty scenes, but nothing happened.
Towards the last 75% is where the book started to fall off for me, and I feel like too many events are being set up for the next book. I was thrown for a loop when the last few chapters had been in completely different POV's than we read through the book, and the last line just has me questioning things more.
Maybe it's because this is the first book that I'm reading after Throne of Glass, but I feel like the author was trying to throw some twists and turns in there like "we will find out the reason for that later" type of deal, but it didn't hit the way I would have liked.
Regardless, like I said, I will read the second book (it was confirmed by the author that they would have sex this book - whew), but I will most likely read a few books in between it.
February 15, 2024
Hooked from Page 1
This dark romantic fantasy had me hooked from page 1! The FMC, Mareina, escaped a troubled past and life on the streets by joining the army and now serves as the queens personal executioner. Her latest assignment takes a turn when she realizes her target, Nakoa, is actually her soul bonded mate. Their relationship is hot and cold as they try to reconcile this new, undeniable bond with their history of fighting on opposite sides. Foresteiri keeps you guessing the whole book about whether or not they’ll choose to fulfill the bond and work together to overthrow the queen.
The character development in this book is amazing, I felt personally connected to every member of their found family and could truly understand everyone’s POV and the decisions they made, even if I didn’t always agree with them.
This is the first book in a series with the next one not announced yet. It has an open ending which leaves you dying to know where everything goes next.
Please read the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. There are a few references to r*pe.
I would consider this an intro to dark romance if you are just dipping your toe into the genre. There are about 4 scenes but they are explicit and have a few kinks: bondage, tail play, degrading.
This dark romantic fantasy had me hooked from page 1! The FMC, Mareina, escaped a troubled past and life on the streets by joining the army and now serves as the queens personal executioner. Her latest assignment takes a turn when she realizes her target, Nakoa, is actually her soul bonded mate. Their relationship is hot and cold as they try to reconcile this new, undeniable bond with their history of fighting on opposite sides. Foresteiri keeps you guessing the whole book about whether or not they’ll choose to fulfill the bond and work together to overthrow the queen.
The character development in this book is amazing, I felt personally connected to every member of their found family and could truly understand everyone’s POV and the decisions they made, even if I didn’t always agree with them.
This is the first book in a series with the next one not announced yet. It has an open ending which leaves you dying to know where everything goes next.
Please read the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. There are a few references to r*pe.
I would consider this an intro to dark romance if you are just dipping your toe into the genre. There are about 4 scenes but they are explicit and have a few kinks: bondage, tail play, degrading.
February 19, 2024
I received this book as an ARC and was excited to dive into it.
Mareina is a strong female protagonist who is the Irae (assassin) for Queen Zurie. She is a bad ass Sanguinati (vamp) with a haunted past and a troubled conscience.
Malekai is Queen Zuries General, a fae, and Mareinas trusted friend and someone who has fought alongside her for decades.
Nakoa is the leader of The Uprising, which was founded to fight Zurie and her corruption. Nakoa is fighting for his people to be free of Zurie.
Mareina is sent on a mission to kill Nakoa and to bring his body back to Zurie as proof. Mareina has no idea what's in store for her as she embarks on her mission. She is given pieces of her past she never knew, met people who had been lost to her for decades, and learned of different paths to the future.
Mareina is torn between the present she knows with Malekai and the possible future that could unfold with Nakoa.
Some favorite quotes 😍
...and I did crave him. Like a flower seeks the fucking sun."
"lf you want me to burn the world down for you, Mareina, all you have to do is ask."
"Maha mo'ina li'ili." My little nightmare.
"Lie like that again... You'd look gorgeous with a gag."
"Soon enough, I'll get you to bloom for me, little rose."
"A rose with far too many thorns."
"Oh, maha mo'ina li'ili... your thorns are my favorite part."
"Living in fear is no way to live at all darilin."
Mareina is a strong female protagonist who is the Irae (assassin) for Queen Zurie. She is a bad ass Sanguinati (vamp) with a haunted past and a troubled conscience.
Malekai is Queen Zuries General, a fae, and Mareinas trusted friend and someone who has fought alongside her for decades.
Nakoa is the leader of The Uprising, which was founded to fight Zurie and her corruption. Nakoa is fighting for his people to be free of Zurie.
Mareina is sent on a mission to kill Nakoa and to bring his body back to Zurie as proof. Mareina has no idea what's in store for her as she embarks on her mission. She is given pieces of her past she never knew, met people who had been lost to her for decades, and learned of different paths to the future.
Mareina is torn between the present she knows with Malekai and the possible future that could unfold with Nakoa.
Some favorite quotes 😍
...and I did crave him. Like a flower seeks the fucking sun."
"lf you want me to burn the world down for you, Mareina, all you have to do is ask."
"Maha mo'ina li'ili." My little nightmare.
"Lie like that again... You'd look gorgeous with a gag."
"Soon enough, I'll get you to bloom for me, little rose."
"A rose with far too many thorns."
"Oh, maha mo'ina li'ili... your thorns are my favorite part."
"Living in fear is no way to live at all darilin."
January 15, 2025
✨𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌✨
📖: A Kingdom of Blood and Magic (Hallowed Fates Book 1)
In this book we meet Mareina, the personal mercenary of the queen. Over her centuries of serving dutifully, she’s beginning to wonder if she’s serving the right side (all while ignoring her deep rooted feelings for her best friend and general Malekai). Tasked with a dangerous mission, Mareina is sent to dispatch the very leader of the Uprising, but learns there’s more to Nakoa than meets the eye…
Tropes:
⚠️Enemies to lovers
🫂Forced proximity
🗣️Banter
🏰Political intrigue
❤️🩹Trauma healing
💫Fae, nephilim, gods
🌶️ mild to moderate
This first in series installment is a thrilling character and plot driven story layered with surprising twists and sizzling tension. I loved getting to know these conflicted and complex characters.
In A Kingdom of Blood and Magic, the author crafts a vivid world of power imbalance, intriguing lore, and unique relationships and budding romances between friends and enemies. I cannot wait to further explore these relationships!
🏷️#darkfantasy #darkfantasyromance #vampireromance #enemiestoloversbooks #enemiestoloversromance #forcedpriximityromance #hallowedfatesseries #akingdomofbloodandmagic #romantasy #spicyfantasybooks #darkromancebooks
📖: A Kingdom of Blood and Magic (Hallowed Fates Book 1)
In this book we meet Mareina, the personal mercenary of the queen. Over her centuries of serving dutifully, she’s beginning to wonder if she’s serving the right side (all while ignoring her deep rooted feelings for her best friend and general Malekai). Tasked with a dangerous mission, Mareina is sent to dispatch the very leader of the Uprising, but learns there’s more to Nakoa than meets the eye…
Tropes:
⚠️Enemies to lovers
🫂Forced proximity
🗣️Banter
🏰Political intrigue
❤️🩹Trauma healing
💫Fae, nephilim, gods
🌶️ mild to moderate
This first in series installment is a thrilling character and plot driven story layered with surprising twists and sizzling tension. I loved getting to know these conflicted and complex characters.
In A Kingdom of Blood and Magic, the author crafts a vivid world of power imbalance, intriguing lore, and unique relationships and budding romances between friends and enemies. I cannot wait to further explore these relationships!
🏷️#darkfantasy #darkfantasyromance #vampireromance #enemiestoloversbooks #enemiestoloversromance #forcedpriximityromance #hallowedfatesseries #akingdomofbloodandmagic #romantasy #spicyfantasybooks #darkromancebooks
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