I was pleasantly surprised with this story! I received an advanced copy to review. I’ve read quite a few fantasy ebooks that were forgettable or stale, I don’t think this book was either of those things. I really think this is the start to a promising series.
The writing was good, and the pacing was well done, I was able to finish the book in 24 hours without once feeling like I had to trudge through pages to get to the next plot point. It was easy to read. It’s a fresh, light fantasy story that doesn’t seem to linger on some of the darker tones that the modern romantic fantasy genre tends to lean into. I dare say that at times the story even felt cozy. Like this was a book you could read on winter or summer vacation and feel content.
The characters were really fun to be introduced too, and I feel that Britt did a great job of giving the readers just enough information about the many side characters to keep you interested without revealing their entire hand. However, I will say the only reason that I gave this book four stars instead of five is because I felt like the main character could have used a little more depth. While the mystery surrounding the romantic interest and his family worked well for the story, I still felt like some of the side characters were more fleshed out and memorable than the main protagonist Darcie.
That being said! I did enjoy Darcie as the protagonist. She wasn’t annoying to read about and she didn’t make painfully embarrassing decisions that makes her unrelatable. She’s a simple girl and thinks about the situation intelligently, (which believe it or not, is a very hard thing to find in fantasy protagonists these days).
I also enjoyed Darcy’s leading man. He seems like a believable romantic prospect. But the thing I liked the most about this romantic arc was how Britt handles the pacing! Oh my gosh, the slow burn! So rewarding and painful but I loved it! The pace of how these two characters slowly grow together into a careful dynamic with each other is believable and it makes sense. So many times with the soulmate trope characters fall into instant love and that’s that, but with Darcie and Des, it builds and it makes you excited to see what Britt is going to do in the next book to further the characters.
I really did enjoy this book, it was a quick and easy read for me. Something that i enjoyed and it got me out of a reading slump. I’m definitely going to be reading the second book when it comes available. I look forward to see where Britt goes with this series in the future.
I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review