“𝘪’𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
this was my first time reading a book by this author, and it did not disappoint, it was just as good as i had hoped—well-written characters, an engaging plot that never dragged, and minimal spice for my clean-readers out there, plus, the cover is absolutely stunning! What more could we ask for?
“𝘪 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.”
“𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦.” 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥.
at first, i was a little skeptical about how quickly he fell for her, the pacing felt a bit odd in the beginning, and i worried that the romance was rushed, but as the story unfolded, everything clicked into place beautifully, the emotional depth, the tension, the slow unraveling of their connection—it all made perfect sense by the halfway mark.
"𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴."
this book had everything i love in a romantic fantasy: the hurt, the banter, the chemistry, the betrayal, and the rivalry, every emotion was palpable, making for an incredibly immersive read, while i adored Liyen and her fierce, unwavering heart, i couldn’t help but fall for Chengyin and his relationship with Aunt Shou, filled with love, care, and heartbreaking betrayal—moved me deeply, Aunt Shou’s story, in particular, left a lasting impression.
“𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴.”
beyond the romance, this book also delves heavily into politics, which added an extra layer of complexity and intrigue, if you enjoy political maneuvering woven seamlessly into the plot, you’ll likely love this aspect as much as I did.
“𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴?” 𝘪 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.
𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺. “𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴.”
overall, this was a dazzling standalone romantic fantasy, rich in emotion and beautifully crafted, i highly recommend it! 💌
"𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.”
“𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳?”
“𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. “𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦.”
“𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘪 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘪 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭.”
“𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘸𝘯.”
“𝘥𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶.”
𝓹𝓻𝓮_𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭: in desperate need of my monthly dose of fantasy, and this one seems promising, *sigh* i love my fantasy with a touch of Asian magic—hope it delivers! 💌