The Wolf and the Crown of Blood

The Broken Accords #1

by Elizabeth May

A thrilling and incredibly sexy new dark romantasy series from Sunday Times-bestselling author Elizabeth May, perfect for fans of Phantasma, Gild, and Quicksilver.

A princess and a war-weary god met in the ashes of a broken city, forging a pact in blood and sacrifice.

Now, centuries of fragile peace are on the brink of collapse…

Bryony Devaliant was born to die—again and again. In Vartena, royal blood is the currency of peace, with every monarch sacrificed and resurrected to appease the gods. But when rebellion stirs, the god-king sends his deadliest weapon to restore an immortal assassin known only as the Wolf.

Evander has perfected the art of killing over centuries—until his latest target becomes the one person he cannot destroy. When forbidden desire burns between the assassin and the sacrificial princess, their connection threatens the fragile boundary between gods and mortals. And when that boundary shatters, empires crumble. Because when gods fall in love with mortals, mortals are always the ones to break.

Inspired by Beauty and the Beast and Eros and Psyche, this dark, seductive tale is perfect for fans of Raven Kennedy's Plated Prisoner series, with the wit and spice of Callie Hart's Quicksilver. Packed with dark fairytale vibes, gothic romance, and tropes like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, death pacts, and villain-gets-the-girl, this is a story where love is as deadly as it is irresistible.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Dark Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Spicy

573 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 27, 2026

About the author

Elizabeth May is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Wolf and the Crown of Blood, To Cage A God, The Falconer series, and historical romance novels under the pen name Katrina Kendrick. She is Californian by birth and Scottish by choice, and holds a PhD from the University of St Andrews. She currently resides on an old farm in rural Scotland with her husband, three cats, and a lively hive of resident honey bees.

Reviews

[Esta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monsters aren’t born, they’re made and apparently, also quite horny at least in this allegory of what it means to be a “beast” in this loosely inspired Beauty and the Beast retelling, where the roses are sentient and the libido is high.

So, if it is scorching hot spice you seek, then you may wanna give this one a peek. Although… you may not wanna be reading/listening to this on public transport or in front of your family. That could get awkward.

Conversely, I wouldn’t recommend The Wolf and the Crown of Blood if you don’t like spice. Because it’s abundant and frequent.

Just to set expectations, while this is technically enemies to lovers, it’s also very much instant lust combined with ideological hatred. A bit of “I despise your entire bloodline and totally wanna kill you in revenge… but you’re very hot and I’m DTF.” So yes, this vibe to me was excellent because I loved how it elevated the tension with that push pull dynamic.

In regards to the Beauty & the Beast vibes, what I really appreciated about this aesthetic was the fact that Evander, the wolf (the “beast”), wasn’t Bryony’s jailer. Bryony is free to leave if she pleases, but she chooses to stay with her future executioner for safety reasons, which adds a layer of agency which the OG B&B doesn’t start with.

I think many readers are going to recognise a lot of familiar tropes in this, which is of course an entirely subjective preference. Personally, some tropes I love, some of them aren’t for me, but even the ones I’m not a huge fan of I thought were executed decently.

We're talking enemies to something, forbidden love, touch her and die, who did this to you with a splash of deadly trials. There are a lot more but naming them would be spoiling the fun.

The first half to me was stronger than the second half, but I still had fun.

Here are some aspects that did not quite check my boxes, though they may check yours, because reading preferences and art is subjective: a 21-year-old FMC, ~thousand year age gap and the virginal FMC trope. Personally, I'm bone-deep tired of it. However, I appreciated that Bryony's sister, Theo, doesn't play into the doe-eyed virgin archetype and I'm sure I'd be much more interested in her story.

What I DID love were the themes of sisterhood, grief, choice and agency, female rage and mental health representation.

Fwiw, pretty sure this can be read as a standalone!

Definitely check the content warnings before going in because this is quite a dark and bloody and stabby book.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Daphne Press for the ARC.

TWs: Blood, ritualistic suicide, stabbing, death, violence, gore, torture, confinement, fantasy drugs, trafficking, off-page child death/resurrection, PTSD, panic attacks, war, blood play, blood drinking, genocide

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

Beauty and the Beast but stuck in an endless death & resurrection loop... FMC: This is fine. 🔥

[Kaila.Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a romance (SPICY) fantasy with a heavy emphasis on spice… did I mention spice? The FMC had to sacrifice herself over and over again her entire life because she comes from a cursed bloodline… she’s made an example of by a God and marked for death.. so of course his HOt ASSASSIN, WOLF, comes to get her. But don’t you think he actually kills her????? Now we follow the same formula we all know and love. Will they? Won’t they? Oh.. they will… a lot.

Check yo triggers there stuff like blood play and a list of other things.

Filing under fun spicy standalone!

[Marquise]

50% frustration
+
50% promise
________
100% Marquise pulling her hair out

I . . . let's say the life of a Beauty & Beast reviewer isn't an enviable one after all. Review coming someday!

[Tricia Levenseller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have the biggest book hangover after finishing this one, and I know I’m going to be thinking about it for ages. Didn’t want to leave this world—this one deserves to be the next big sensation. I hope everyone is just as obsessed as I am.

[jenny reads a lot · Rating 5 out of 5]

The TENSION?! The YEARNING?! 300ish pages of SLOW BURN edging?! ABSOLUTE GOLD!

Not to mention gorgeous writing that is brimming with emotional depth.

I was invested in the non-romantic plot but the romance?!!!!?? R U KIDDING ME?! IT WAS SO GOOD!

The Wolf and the Crown of Blood is the best dark romantasy I have ever read.

I need to read everything Elizabeth May has ever written immediately.

Romance is the main plot here, and this is definitely what I would consider a true romantasy. That said… the non-romantic plot was easy to be invested in! The world building feels fully fleshed out but is presented in a way that never feels overwhelming! It also executed ::omitting bc I think it is a spoiler::, one of my least favorite tropes in a way that I loved and that felt so purposeful (once you get to the final reveal, trust the process when this starts). There is an element of mystery that compels you forward (not that you need it bc the romance does that all on its own).

The easy to consume world and romance as the overarching plot makes this book a great read for a romance lover that wants to dip their toes into fantasy!

Now lets discuss the romance a little more…

I hear we want men who yearn and boy do I have amazing news for you…

NO ONE YEARNS LIKE EVANDER. This man can’t decide if he wants to f- her or k- her and he is absolutely TORTURED by that choice. Being in his head (first person multi pov) is an absolute TREAT! I’m pretty sure I highlighted enough quotes to fill a 5 subject notebook.

Never have I read better spice…

This book should be the blueprint for others hoping to write spice that is intentional and meaningful. The emotional development and character growth that happens during the spice is unmatched. Every single tiny hint of spice is laced with intimacy and intention. Even the little snippets we get during side character POVs feels so real, raw, and relevant to the character. It is also really f-ing hot. So much tension and longing! The slow burn is exquisite and breaks at the exact moment when you don’t think you can possibly handle anymore tension!

Ok, last thought… I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW! This is set to be a series of interconnected romances with a new couple in each book and the hints that get dropped as to WHO the next couple is… I am feral. I need them.

I crashed out while reading this book and messaged no less than 6 people to convince them to request this ARC just to have people to talk about this book with. Now I’m here on Goodreads, humbly requesting that you go read this absolute masterpiece of a romantasy! Feel free to crash out in my DMs once you do!

SERIOUSLY STOP READING THIS REVIEW AND GO READ THIS BOOK!

🌶️- this whole book is horny. spice sprinkled throughout.

5⭐️| IG | TikTok |

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.

[Maeghan 🦋 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for a chance to review this ARC!

I haven’t had this type of read or reaction to a book for a long while. So buckle up, grab a popcorn and remind yourself that reading is subjective.

This story was a formula. It’s obviously a formula that works for other people… because it keeps being written ; over and over again. My problem with formulas like this one - is that the narrative never strays from the original idea. I’ve read this book a gazillion times.

I’ll start with the positive - I think the worldbuilding is definitely this book’s strong suit and I wish we got more about the previous war. A prequel novella would definitely be interesting. I also saw the trigger warning lists after getting the ARC and was afraid it’d ruin the read for me - surprisingly enough, they weren’t what hindered my reading experience… so I think there’s praise to give on that font.

Now, as a character driven reader - I wasn’t left satisfied with this. You get to know your characters by what they don’t normally do. Every scene in the beginning starts with something along the lines of : oh I don’t normally do this. I’m not like this usually. This isn’t me.
But what is your normalcy then? And what pushed you to act this way on this specific day? This didn’t work for me as it felt extremely convenient and it was off putting.

The characters were caricatures. I couldn’t take them seriously and I felt like I never knew what or who they were exactly. I think we were meant to believe the stakes were high but the interactions we saw between the MMC & the rest of his gang were so… stilted and awkward. The MMC was being painted as this big bad wolf but he was acting like a big shot and it kept snapping me out. Everyone is terrified of him but she wasn’t (for plot purposes). She even antagonized him on their first meeting… but what pushed her to behave like this? No explanation was ever given. We were just meant to accept it.

Because the characters were fickle - I couldn’t grasp what the stakes were and why they were behaving the way they were.

The main plot (if we can call it that) moved maybe 10% in this whole gigantic book (560 pages). And I’m being generous. It was slow, extremely repetitive, very convenient and made for a slog to get through. It was extremely too long and was hoggled down by unnecessary fillers.

The MCs banter was well done for the first 50% but it switched so fast after that mark. The relationships and conversations between the MCs and the rest of the characters were unnatural and cold.

And then… of course… she was a virgin 🤡 there’s such emphasis on sex in this book that I really wanted to give up when we learn she’s a virgin at 50%. This obsession about virginity is kind of perpetuating a sick mentality and I will not stand for it. We have this virgin FMC whose horniness is up in the roof and a manwhore MMC who probably had sex with half the population on this planet. Please. I will get myself out.

And let’s be for real for a second. You have this « sex goddess » but she’s a virgin… was this written by a man?

I sincerely could go on but I’m giving myself a headache. This wasn’t for me, and I think it needs some work - execution wise. It will find its public but it sadly wasn’t me.

[Rhea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content Warnings: blood play, knife play, breath play, fear, body punishment, S&M, filthy dirty talking that might offend some people, and many other sorts of deranged things.

All these triggers made the book delicious (if you’re messed up like that and I say this with respect for my fellow kinksters). We're talking about cruel, merciless gods and mortals meddling, it's supposed to be depraved and filthy (you don't believe me? have a go at any mythology–Greek, Roman, Norwegian, Celtic, Egyptian, etc.)

No, ‘The Wolf and the Crown of Blood’ is NOT like Quicksilver, don’t compare it to that disaster. The dialogue and dark themes of this book make Quicksilver look like a children's book. There's no puerile banter and foolish dialogue that causes me to roll my eyes in my head at every interaction, and no childish, annoying FMC, so by this simple standard this book is far superior. Not to mention I had to force myself to finish that book while this one held me in a death grip that I relished and finished it in 2 sittings. But enough of this, I digress.

This book was 5 stars until I reached half of it. Then it dropped to 4, and finished with 3 stars.

What was GOOD

The setting is quite original, and you're thrown into the action very quickly. The sort of mythological vibe and world building is just right and so original from anything I read before, and I suppose that's another reason why I enjoyed this romance fantasy book as opposed to any other.

The spiciness is crazy, it's insane, it's my ‘guilty’ pleasure, but I don't care what others will say because it feels too good. It's so sinful you don't care if you go meet the devil afterwards, hell, I doubt he'll judge you for your depravity.

Usually in these sorts of books I enjoy the bantering and teasing parts more than the actual sex scenes, but this book manages to instill in you the same level of interest and excitement even in the climax.

Some might say there is a slow burn in this, but I disagree, the tension between them builds up explosively, there's an obvious passion and fire in both of them, a volcano meeting a hurricane, none of them back down and both enjoy the disaster left behind. They thrive in chaos and darkness and I devoured that all up because it's absolutely finger licking good.

Narrative

We will witness a few different POVs, but primarily his and hers. And as we progress through the story we'll delve deeper into their minds and their conflicting feelings for one another. It was especially exciting to witness Evander’s warring mind as he used logic and duty for the way he thought about Bryony, pinning his wandering thoughts of her to his failed job. It wasn't necessarily beautiful to see this because we get to participate in Evander's emotional journey, but because he showed us that Gods are just as flawed as humans if not more, in the most wonderful way.

Characters

The characters are all entertaining and I'd love to read more about the other enforcers, perhaps we'll get more from them in the future books. Yes, they're flawed, they're foolish, they're weak and vulnerable and try to hide behind indifference, but their actions are honest because they come from that weak vulnerable place. Both MCs are possessive, lusting, craving for each other and they lie only to themselves, playing pretend games.

Evander is not really the brooding type as I'd expect (every single book overuses this trope it's almost disgusting), no, he's playful, he's charming, and a sadistic possessive bastard. What's not to like? Obviously he has a past that still haunts him and the only way to numb the pain is more pain. He begs for it and acts like the monster people made him into because it's easier.

Bryony’s character does actually have some development, she evolves under Evander’s guidance. We all know how in books like this, the FMC always says she hates the MMC but she really doesn't. Well, in this novel, I actually do believe she despises Evander (at least in the beginning) because he represents everything she never had– power, control, strength, resilience.

Story

When the sadistic ‘angel of death’ Evander is tasked to eliminate Princess Bryony for her transgression (betraying the very God who owned her life), he found the mission to be far more complicated than a simple assassination, though not for the reasons one might think.

As soon as Evander is robbed of his mission by a mortal, he decides to put back together Bry only so he can finish the task assigned to him by Alexios (the Gods king). Not only that, but he will build her up from the ashes into something far more interesting, far more dangerous and vicious, just to watch the havoc she'd leave in her wake. Of course, he does all that because his sadistic arse wants to see the pain and blood Bry will bring, right? Only that's not true, the truth is, she's his to claim, his to own, his to play with, his to kill. The power dynamic between them often shifts on many occasions; it's not particularly D/s dynamic.

The love between them is like a Greek tragic story honestly, especially because Evander betrays his kin for her and it literally breaks him to be torn between love and family loyalty.

That first scene when Evander comes after Bry is intense. The heat, the tension, the proximity and intimacy while toying around pain and her inevitable death give me this ‘Eros and Thanatos’ vibe. The two human drives that guide us, where we find beauty and pleasure in death's grip, it was so beautiful, yet esoterical.

What was WRONG/CONFLICTING

The interaction between the MCs does get repetitive after a while and yes this was one of the reasons I deducted one star, it felt like the story dragged on and on unnecessarily just because of these filler pages of the same push and pull interaction between them.

And the second stolen star is because I cannot stand the trope of ‘miracle baby’ which I'm sure will happen, otherwise there wouldn't be a mention of how rare a god and a mortal can procreate. Add in the following contradicting issues to this snatched star:

- ruthless gods would care about consent. Really? I get it, you write a book and don't want to offend the sensibilities of some, but the setting and the world we've been lulled into doesn't seem to have a place for this particular humane trait, now does it? It’s just unrealistic and unbelievable

- the climax of the story is rather predictable given the circumstances and honestly I can't say I've encountered any twists in the novel, I would've loved some

- gods forbid these novels ever offer ‘women going down on men’, no, no, it's always the other way around. Because gods forbid women would actually enjoy pleasing men, eh? We mustn't, it's degrading, right? I'm sorry I had to pick on this but this book screamed of decadent actions and yet we get the most vanilla stuff in bed

- contradicting and unrealistic behaviour in Evander’s character- a centuries old assasin who wipes off villages and bathes in the blood and entrails of his prey, gags and vomits when he witnesses his kin slaughtered; admits he doesn’t enjoy chasing his prey, but he asks Bry to run and give him a good fight

- and last but certainly not least, there is NO WOLF, but this is my misunderstanding I jumped into this believing this sick bastard (Evander) is a shapeshifter, an actual wolf, a god transforming into a wolf or werewolf creature. I kept waiting for him to shift, but nothing. I hoped that would happen during their ‘rut’ phase, but nope, opportunity wasted or perhaps too shy to write that level of perversion? I mean, it's already deranged in the most beautiful way, why not go full blown feral and paint us a wicked picture?

In the end, I do recommend this for the spiciness and original take on mythology, but for me personally some things could not be ignored.

Many, many thanks to Elizabeth May, Daphne Press, and NetGalley for the ARC. This is a voluntary review, reflecting solely my opinion.

[✨⚡ Kelcey (felinebooktrovert) ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept that would have worked more if this wasn't almost exactly the same as ACOTAR.

At first, this was a little slow for me to get into. It didn't feel like a lot was really happening, and the characters were interesting but not enough to have me picking this book up again and again.

Things finally started to get more interesting but within that I really started to see the similarities to ACOTAR. This version is just if Rhys was the MMC to begin and he was a little (a lot) more ruthless and the relationship was fast tracked for one book instead of over two.

Sees him as a predator, stuck at his place for an undetermined amount of time, go through a magical holiday that causes rut, sprinkle in a little starfall, MMC gets himself in trouble/captured, FMC goes to save him and has to make it through three trials, FMC dies, FMC comes back as a higher being, etc.

Now other storylines were going on that were interesting and there were a lot of good side characters that have me pretty interesting the the next installment, but the meat of this story was ACOTAR and so where does that leave us?

I liked Elizabeth's Falconer series, and I still liked the writing here, but I think too much of this story was taken from an existing source...

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Liana Gold]

Got this special edition from Allurial, it’s gorgeous! This is a forbidden love story between a princess and a God who met in the ashes of a broken city.

She is of royal blood set to be sacrificed, he is the immortal assassin, a God. She becomes his latest target but she’s the only person he cannot destroy.

What can possibly happen when a God falls in love with a mortal?

[Books_and_Crafts · Rating 4 out of 5]

If this was 150 pages shorter and had 1/2 of the spice it would have been a 5 star read.

For me, this lost a star because the plot and story was dragged out by unnecessary spice that didn't bring anything to the table but themselves.

The premise is great! FMC is a descendant of a human who wronged the Gods and was responsible for a near collapse of realms. Through a bargain, that human's bloodline would serve to hold the barrier together. For centuries, that bloodline bleed to keep the barrier intact. Until one day, a God set out to teach our FMCs kingdom a lesson.

He branded her a traitor and marked for death... and sent his Wolf to collect.

It has a 'f**k it I'm going to die anyway may as well take what I want while I can' vibe and I'm here for it.

It could have honestly been 2 books with how much was poured into the last 80-100 pages and been great.

[Nicole is Reading Fantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the concept of this book: an enemies-to-lovers dark Romantasy between a god and a human whose sole purpose in life is to be continuously sacrificed and resurrected to keep the peace between their worlds. However, the story fell a bit flat for me in its execution.

Where I struggled the most was with the dialogue, which felt very modern and didn’t feel suited to the high-stakes fantasy setting. I enjoyed the characters, but their internal monologues became a bit tedious as they went back and forth between catching feelings and convincing themselves, and each other, that they can never be anything more than enemies. When our characters finally decided to embrace their feelings, it felt a bit anticlimactic.

The strongest element of this book, in my opinion, was the history and world-building. I’d absolutely love to read a book about the war that took place 300 years ago, when humans began to conquer the gods.

Overall, I think this is a solid, darker Romantasy, but it fell into a lot of the standard tropes and didn’t do enough to stand out from the pack for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Lina · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 / 5 Stars
Boy, oh boy, this book was not for me. I swear, I would read for hours and then look down at my kindle and there would still be HUNDREDS of pages left.

Here is what I liked: the world building and lore were detailed and built out. I liked the side quest where they were trying to figure out who was killing the gods and selling their wings in an underground market. I like Theodora.

I think the main problem is that dark romance is just not doing it from me. If I read this 18 months ago when all I wanted to read was dark romances then this might have been perfect. But dark romance just isn’t hitting the same way for me right now. Maybe it’s because the violence and chaos of the real world is too much and dark romance just doesn’t feel like an escape. Though, I can 100% see how it would be an escape for someone else - a safe place to explore these themes.

And because I couldn't buy into the dark romance of it all, the spice wasn't spicing. The motives weren't satisfying. The declarations started to feel like tell not show. The fact that we started a deadly trial 75% into the book made me infuriated. And everything just dragged on and on. And heaven forbid a man who is THOUSANDS of years old find a woman who is in her 30s attractive (or at least someone older than 21). How about a 40 year old woman who goes on a dark romance adventure? Why not? If you are 21, it is not a statement about you -- just a statement about the patriarchy valuing younger women more than "older" women and that being reflected in our books. It is tiring to me.

This probably should have been a DNF (2026 is the year of DNFs) but I read a spoiler in another review and I wanted to see how it happened and then it didn't even happen! Did I dream the spoiler? Did I misunderstand it? Petty is what petty does and I got hoodwinked on this one.

BUT if you like dark romances and like fantasy then you might really enjoy this. See the tropes below.

You will probably like this book if you like:
🌹 Dark romantic fantasy
🐺 Magic system based on gods, tithing, and war
🌹 Enemies to lovers
🐺 Forbidden romance
🌹 Unhinged MMC X FMC who doesn’t put with up shit
🐺 Touch her and die (because she is mine to kill)
🌹 Virgin FMC
🐺 Lots of spice (check content warnings)

Thank you Bloomsbury USA | Aria and NetGalley for providing this eARC! All opinions are my own.
Publication Date: January 27, 2026
_______________
Pre-Read Thoughts: I am on a romantasy kick. I have heard people ravening about this one so LTG.

[Beck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that was absolutely awful. Overwrought, dramatic, protracted erotica wrapped in edgy language begging to be a grayscale tumblr/pinterest quote. Shallow and hollow and nonsensical.

To start with, the characters didn't make any sense. Their motivations made no sense. I couldn't get a feel for them outside of the very basic paint-by-numbers archetype the author slotted them into. Their decisions weren't rooted in anything other than the story needing them to be in close proximity:
for instance, why would Evander house, feed, and train Bryony, like actually WHY. He's betraying his king, his family, his history, his entire people by keeping her alive, but he makes the decision to do so in the very beginning before he knows her or could possibly have feelings for her. If the king finds out, he'll have Evander tortured. If Evander's brother finds out, he'll do the torturing himself. There is NO good reason for Evander to do this, and no, the whole excuse of making sure she can properly bite back before he tortures her and executes her does not cut it. It's flimsy. It's lazy.

And for Bryony... she is an emotionless shell. She is trapped (but not really) in the castle of the immortals' butcher, she is marked as an oathbreaker which is worse than death in her society, she is separated from her home and her sister, and she feels no particular way about it. There's no anger, no fear, not even relief at being unburdened from her responsibilities anymore. She feels nothing. And unfortunately, this wasn't the author's way of exploring how life and death can become meaningless when you're killed and resurrected over and over again for years; it was just more laziness.

That laziness permeates the entire book. So much of the story was simply skipped over: Bryony has one singular on-page training session and then we're just meant to know they happen forevermore and the narrative will fill us in on whatever character development might happen after the fact. After every training session where she gets her ass beat and her bones broken, she.... straddles Evander's lap and he heals her. First of all: why. Second of all, I imagine a lot of internal conflict could be happening in either character's head while these weird lap sitting moments happen, but do you think we get any of that beyond the first one? Of course not. Bryony also trades letters with her sister throughout her time away and we never see them. These letters could have been overflowing with the emotion Bryony was sorely lacking, they could have been filling us in on the goings on in Bryony's kingdom. They could have given us insight as to how Bryony felt as a captive-not-captive, and they could have helped us get to know Theodora better. But instead, we're just told about them in passing.

The most criminal example of this laziness is in the relationship development, because this IS supposed to be a romance, right? Well, no. It's erotica. There's sex all over every page, but it's shallow and pointless. Like a young teen writing sex into their stories in order to be provocative and shocking, but it's bland and banal instead. (There was also some omegaverse adjacent stuff happening that I'll get to later.) The characters had no chemistry whatsoever, but worse, they had no restraint. To me, sexual tension lives and breathes and dies in the restraint, the push and pull, the will they, won't they. But when your first and second scenes between the leads are erotic in nature, the question of will they, won't they is answered and then the tension is poof, vanished.

The sex here is used as a replacement for actually doing the work of crafting a relationship. Halfway through the book, though the characters don't actually know each other at all and barely speak on page, we're supposed to believe these insane declarations of eternal devotion. And never mind the fact that the text contradicts itself: in one page, Evander will go on about how he could love her if only he had the heart and feelings to do so and then go on to say over the top bullshit like as long as hers is the last face he sees he could die happily. Which is it?? And WHAT has she even done to earn this level of worship, especially when her family is responsible for the destruction of your people and your loved ones? What has she done????

There is so much time devoted to the sex in this book, and listen, I am not a prude, but I wish this has been sold as erotica and not romantasy. Because "fantasy" is supposed to be part of that portmanteau, but it's completely obliterated by the sPiCe. And the spice was kinda weird. An example of this is the celestial event that drives every male of their species into rut, making them slaves to their hormones, mad with lust and not responsible for their actions, and they celebrate this event with orgies in the streets. Everyone does this, including their king. Literally the only people who don't partake are the side characters who are sure to be the leads in the later books in this series. Now, this wouldn't really register to me (I am for better or for worse a sort of expert in omegaverse LMAO) but the horniness wasn't confined to just this species. It bled into everything that even the mortals were doing. One of the first if not the actual first conversations between the sisters was about sex. When Bryony was to be married off, she fixated on becoming a sex slave to her potential husband, for no real reason I could see. Even their uncle, the emperor, was banging on his desk at one point while Theodora had a conversation with him.

All of this page space given to this nonsense, but when it came time to have real, pivotal scenes that would finally move the "plot" (term used loosely) forward, they went by in a flash. There's a break-in and rescue scene that could have been 10% of the page count but it was over in moments, with no hiccups, no tension, no obstacles, nothing goes wrong. There's a revenge scene for one of the characters that the book had supposedly been building toward for some 400 pages, that was over in like three blows. All of the actual progression happened in the last 100 pages of the book and none of it was gratifying at all because of how shallow the characters were leading up to it and how quickly it all went by once we got there.

The real crime here is that this SHOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD. There is so much here that could have been explored but wasn't: the great war that happened before the book started; the flesh trade; the blood tithes; the fact that Bryony dies is resurrected over and over again. The fact that the people LOVE her -- where did that come from? Why are they so devoted? She didn't even rule them, so what did she do to win their hearts? There are generational feuds and traumas happening here that could have been dug into. At the very least, we could have explored how fear and death become meaningless when you're surrounded by it every day. Instead we get unearned declarations of devotion, bland and lifeless characters, and edgy aesthetics that don't actually MEAN anything.

I am so upset. I am so betrayed. I TRUSTED Elizabeth May to deliver on dark, sexy blood magic but what I got was a better but still bad ACOTAR.

Editing to add that I found the overuse of the phrase “catch feelings” in a high fantasy so unappealing ugh ugh bleh also “touch her and die” PLEASE shut up

[TwinreadsandReds-Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Berry ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 / 5 ⭐️rounded up

This was my Allurial pick!

I quite enjoyed reading this! I will say I felt that the plot dragged at one point, and it made me take this book verrrryyyy slowly. I kept putting it down and picking it back up. I did also feel like this was a really big mix of popular tropes, but it was an enjoyable read regardless!

Bryony and Evander were a fun couple to read about! I found them to be quite compelling, but they lacked a bit of depth for me. But.. Bryony's revenge arc? God that was good! I love feminine rage sm!

The worldbuilding was so deep, and I was intrigued by the magic and dynamics between humans, eternals, and demigods.

♡ pre-read ♡

RAAAH im so excited to start this one, it's been sitting on my shelf staring at me for a month hehe. Can't wait to see what the hype is aboutttt

[Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

YUMMYYYYYYY

Some things to expect inside:
~ Beauty and the Beast retelling
~ Forced Proximity
~ Forbidden romance
~ SPPIICCYYYYYY

This book was HAWT. I loved every character in this. They all played a major part in what I'm guessing is going to be a whole storyline through interconnected standalones. I will eat up every single one of them. I still have so many questions that I want answered yesterday.

Bryony is all feminine rage and I'm so here for her. What an amazing FMC. This is what I love to see in romantasy books, yes I love the ones that are a little quieter sometimes but man this girl is my cup of TEA. She literally stabs him over and over again. Who doesn't love that?

The Wolf is generic, but I also love him. The way we watch him slowly coming to terms with the fact that he loves his enemy is so fun to watch.

My only complaint is that the ending was a bit weird to me. Throwing games and trials in there was so random, i get it was for the story and it makes sense after but i felt it was so random.

[⦻ eyeless jack ⦻ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok that was just… bad. I should have maybe given it more of a fair chance but I just couldn’t do it.
The back of the book says “Burn hotter, vicious girl. Let me taste your fury.” and those are the ONLY words semi-worth reading.

[The Chapter Chaser · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.5 stars "Unsettling and trauma-soaked, this story weaponizes intimacy to explore grief and self-destruction, delivering a brutal, haunting journey that might have been unforgettable if its overwhelming ACOTAR influence hadn’t overshadowed the story’s originality."

Thank you Netgalley | Bloomsbury USA | Aria for the ARC

I’m still unsure how to rate The Crown and the Wolf (hovering between 3 and 4⭐️), but one thing is certain: this book leaves a mark—even months after finishing it.

Beneath its fantasy setting, it dives headfirst into the darkest intersections of trauma, sex, pain, self-destruction, grief, abuse, and suicide, following the brutal journey of a woman clawing her way back after being broken and used. And what a fight it is. “Bleed, die, bleed, die… and shut your mouth” just to survive is a powerful concept—especially as we follow the FMC through it—and the world built around this idea is strikingly effective.

This is a story about using sex to outrun trauma—to numb pain, to pretend you’re not splintering on the inside. At times, it’s deeply disturbing. Please read the trigger warnings before starting—not because of the amount of sexual content, but because of its intensity and the way intimacy is portrayed. Sex becomes a weapon here, and the result is raw, uncomfortable, and unsettling in a way that lingers.

I’m torn on the rating because the book walks a fine line between brilliance and over-familiarity. We love ACOTAR for its originality, and personally, I don’t want to see those elements reused in other books —especially when those stories already have the full potential to be brilliant on their own. I struggled with how closely this one mirrors it. The references are hard to ignore: a clear blend of Calanmai and Starfall, the blue dress, renamed rituals, reused beats—rebranded as the Aethertide Festival. It isn’t subtle, and I doubt I’ll be the only reader who experiences that sense of déjà vu.

Which makes it all the more frustrating, because the storyline itself is excellent, and there are moments of genuinely beautiful writing—scenes so emotionally sharp they deserve five stars on their own. Some passages burrow under your skin and refuse to leave. The Beauty and the Beast–inspired forbidden room scene, in particular, is more subtle here but heavy with emotion. That moment completely shattered me—and I don’t cry easily over books.

Still, despite my reservations, this is a book that demands to be felt rather than simply read. Flawed, haunting, occasionally brilliant—and undeniably memorable. I’ll be waiting for the next one, especially because I want to know more about the other sister. I truly hope book two focuses on her.

-------------------------------
Pre-read:
Let’s bullet-points my excitement:

📖 A dark fairytale retelling.
🌸 A resurrected princess.
🐺 An immortal assassin.
🩸 A blood pact between gods and mortals.
💔 Enemies-to-lovers.

I can’t wait to dive into this dark and chaotic romantasy and see where the story leads.
I’m hoping the editing and execution deliver on the promise of such an intriguing premise, and really wishing we don’t fall into the “spice-for-sell faking a plot” book trap.

[Dani (Daniiireads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven’t been hooked by a book from the prologue in such a long time, and honestly loved everything about The Wolf and the Crown of Blood.

Plus I’m a sucker for a forbidden romance, and what’s better than a princess cursed to die and resurrect again and again to appease the gods falling for the very god who is set out to kill her???

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧:
- mortal + god
- forbidden romance
- enemies to lovers
- villain meets his match
- forced proximity
- banter + tension
- feminine rage 🔥

[ciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

“i’d crave you in any lifetime. across every eternity. every version of me would want every version of you, whether i lived one day or ten thousand years.”

—

i went into this blind other than knowing it was loosely a beauty and the beast retelling and somehow still wasn’t prepared for what it actually was. i definitely thought it was about wolves… i was wrong.

the whole gods and demigods aspect, the world, and the magic system were so cool. i always love a good hierarchy woven into the magic, and this one was done really well.

i can see why it’s labeled as a darker romance, but it honestly wasn’t as intense as i expected, which i ended up loving. bryony was such a likeable fmc, and watching her come into herself and gain confidence after a lifetime of sacrificing for gods who don’t even care about her was so satisfying.

evander… yeah. such a fun and yummy mmc. his mouth? ate. his softness for her was also everything. at first you really think he’ll never get there, but he just didn’t know how to love. she really said i can fix him and did — as she should. but then he’d still have those feral moments and i was giggling and kicking my feet every single time!

the romance was done so well — the tension, the yearning, the lust, all of it felt balanced. nothing felt rushed, which was perfect.

the pacing overall was top tier. so much happens, but it never feels overwhelming, and the relationships actually had time to develop and it made me care about all the characters (even alexios you freak).

i also didn’t realize this was an interconnected standalone series but i’m obsessed. they already started setting up the next couple and i just know it’s going to eat — bodyguard trope with an mmc who can’t feel?? give it to me now pls.

i can’t wait to see the other couples get their time to shine, but i really hope we still get glimpses of evander and bryony because i love them sm.

“𝒊’𝒎 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆. 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅-𝒖𝒑, 𝒖𝒏𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆. 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔.”

[Shannon Farley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this book was just not for me.

DNF at 90 pages

Nothing was grabbing my interest in this and the Gore was a lot! Very graphic. The trigger warnings were not kidding.

[Moira · Rating 5 out of 5]

The SPICY ROMANtasy of my dreams. Heavy on the ROMANCE and heavy on the spice. With a little tippy tap of fantasy!!

We have Bryony who comes from an evil bloodline of humans who committed absolute atrocities against the eternals and Demi gods, and she is forced to sacrifice herself on the alter to atone. Eventually she says enough is enough and denies the big bad eternal putting a big ass target on her back.

Enter Evander - the HORNIEST, foul-mouthiest, down baddest eternal of all time. He was SUPPOSED to kill Bryony for good but does he? NAUUURRRR he falls head over heels for that woman and doesn’t look back.

The world building was really good for a standalone fantasy romance and I loved all of the sneak peeks into future interconnected books!

[Jordan Miner · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a world built on a brutal pact between gods and humans, this story immediately hooked me with its premise: a princess whose bloodline is sacrificed over and over to keep humanity alive. Bryony, the “Princess of Blood,” has been killed and resurrected more times than anyone should endure, and you can feel how much that’s broken and shaped her. She’s not soft or passive, she’s defiant, angry, and done being a pawn, which made me love her right away.

And then there’s Evander… an immortal assassin created by the gods, completely feared and seemingly emotionless. He’s spent centuries killing without question…until her. I loved the setup of him being sent to kill her, especially once it becomes clear that she’s nothing like what he expected.

What really got me was how their dynamic developed. Bryony knows he’s there to kill her, and she hates everything he represents. But they’re forced into close proximity as rebellion rises and everything starts unraveling. The tension??? Absolutely unreal. That constant push-and-pull where Evander doesn’t know if he wants to kill her or give in to something else had me giddy. And when that shift finally starts happening…*wink wink* hehe.

I also really appreciated that Bryony isn’t just strong—she’s strategic and willing to be manipulative if it means surviving. And seeing Evander slowly question everything like his loyalty and his identity as a weapon, added so much depth to their relationship. It made their connection feel messy in a way that felt very intentional.

The romance is dark, intense, and definitely leans into morally complicated territory, which I was 100% here for. This is true enemies-to-lovers, with all the power imbalance and emotional tension that comes with it.
And the last 25%?? I could not put it down. The pacing picked up so much, the stakes felt higher, and I was completely locked in.

I didn’t even realize this was part of an interconnected standalone series when I started, but now I’m genuinely excited to keep going because I need more of this world and these kinds of dynamics.

[thebookish.dragon]

Format: 📖 & 🎧
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️


Wow. This was my first Elizabeth May book and now that I’ve finished, I’m racing to read The Falconer series (the rewritten adult version, not the YA). I’m so excited for book 2, and who the MCs will be??? I’m hoping Theo or maybe Amara (and the AH God of Death!!)

I love May’s writing style, she hooked me right away. I love a dry, sarcastic FMC (because jelloooo, I can relate!). I’m actually really upset with myself that I didn’t read this the day it released, aka the day I bought the book (y’all the deluxe edition is GORGINA).

Sprinkle a dash of Beauty & the Beast, a generous scoop of Psyche & Eros, some colorful angel wings, a whole lot of spice and mix throughly 🥣 and VIOLA! you get this 5 ⭐️ read.

Notable tropes & themes —

🐺 godly villain MMC
👸🏼 cursed princess FMC
🐺 enemies to lovers
👸🏼 mortal x god
🐺 feminine rage
👸🏼 forbidden romance
🐺 dark fantasy romance

[Patrycja · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Wolf and the Crown of Blood" is a first instalment in a very dark and atmospheric fantasy series written by Elizabeth May. It shows the world full of violence and devious politics. We meet Bryony, a girl destined to die again and again, sacrificed at the altar of her gods. However, one day the god-king turns away from her and order his assassin to end her life, this time forever. Will she be able to escape him or will she die trying?

On paper "The Wolf and the Crown of Blood" had everything I love about dark romantasy novels. In reality I wasn't engaged in this book as much as I wished. The world building was in fact very intriguing but it was basically the only thing that kept my interest.

My main problem was that I didn't like the characters not understood their relation. It was too much insta love (or maybe insta lust) for my taste. I didn't like the sexual context at all and didn't get all the characters motifs. For me it got very repetitive very fast. I also felt like the pacing was a bit off.

I think it just wasn't a book for me, as I don't enjoy this much erotic context in romantasy novels.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[☀︎El In Oz☀︎]

DNF at 20%

I’m so sad this isn’t working for me but I have too many critiques already.
The writing is far too modern for a fantasy set in a pseudo medieval period, the characters aren’t my cup of tea, and I don’t think the romance is going to be either.

[sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

— 4

i haven’t had this much fun reading a romantasy book in a while. do with that information what you will.


thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the early review copy

[Hannah (The Book Snek) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about a god and a princess who hate each other. Violently.

Let's break down that blurb...

Back in the day, Bryony's ancestor basically brokered a peace treaty with another god, promising her descendants to be continued sacrifices to keep peace between their two worlds and to put an end to all that pesky death. Hooray right?

*buzzer noise*

Nope! It WOULD have been if years later all those pesky mortals didn't have short memories due to, you know, not living forever, and hadn't got fed up with the gods being all aloof. And murderous. Of course the gods very unhappy campers about all the oathbreaking.

What about our cast?

Bryony is our FMC, and is the darling of the mortal realm. The mortals, they like her more than the gods, and she accidentally becomes a bit of a symbol of rebellion. The gods don't really like that either. Poor girl gets sacked off from sacrifice duty with no severance money and a hit put on her. Rude. Enter our MMC Evander, sent by the aforementioned god to be Bryony's executioner. His body count is massive. And he's killed a lot of people too.

It really does promise to be a wonderfully unhinged meet cute.

*smug face*

Bryony basically does what she wants; I approve. She also has oodles of delicious feminine rage crammed inside of her, waiting for it to be unleashed. Evander is the recipient of this unleashing. This is an honour he seems overjoyed with and more than happy to indulge. Because he's got issues. Oh and because he hates her family. Like a lot.

*lol*

Evander is a bit of a dick. But he's a HOT dick. The kind of dick you hate but he's yours to hate and you can change him right?

*nervous chuckle*

Honestly, Evander is completely feral. This might be daddy issues talking, but he's not mindlessly evil and he's not cruel without motivation. Most of the time.

*bombastic side eye*

He doesn't do 'feelings' because you know, you can't be down bad, when you're the big bad, right? It's certainly does set the scene for some top tier banter though! Bryony and Evander are two freight trains meeting on the same track. Blunt force trauma.

Look getting serious for a second; effort has been made to cultivate this rich world, so there is a bit of work for the reader to be done with the world building, getting to know the cast and the terminology. I read this from NetGalley, and I'm not sure if there is a map in the final print versions but the glossary at the back was super helpful with terminology.

This is a DARK book. You need to pay attention to those content warnings before you dive in. Me personally, I read it like a shopping list and I wanted to be FED.

Addressing the elephant in the room. Yes. There is spice.

*cough*

Much like the wing spans in the book, the themes covered here are massive. There's a lot of themes to unpack around agency, trauma, grief, finding of one's self, to name a few. So yeah, in all seriousness, check those CWs and read responsibly.

The series is planned to revolve around separate couples, introduced throughout each instalment, I believe. Which is just as well, as the supporting cast are strong, and I want more.

The lines between good and bad are ambiguous as hell and ever shifting as you unpick the plot and context. I felt more and more intrigued by the chapter and honestly I hated putting it down each time I had to go do real life stuff in the stupid real world. I also enjoyed gobbling up those easter eggs and foreshadowing for future installments. I fell down a few rabbit holes trying to work out who might be the focus in the next book and I'll be there until the next one is out!

Join me.

*pats lap*

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one. It’s about 150 pages too long. I enjoyed the FMC but honestly I feel like there is nothing new here. I have read this all before. I also feel like it might be a set up for additional character spin offs. Which if it’s the sister of the FMC and the Brother of the MMC I will probably torture myself . It’s entertaining, I definitely wanted to pick it up as much as I could, I just felt like the end dragged and was predictable. The first 3/4 of the book was much better.

[⊹ Gabriela | Asternyx ⊹ · Rating 3 out of 5]

‧₊˚ ⋅ Actual rating: 3.75🌟‧₊˚ ⋅

⤏ What to expect:
∘ Adult Romantasy
∘ Beauty and the Beast retelling
∘ Gods & Immortals
∘ Royal treaties & Rebellion
∘ Assassin x Princess
∘ Sisterhood


⤏ Tropes:
∘ Enemies to lovers
∘ Forbidden love
∘ Touch her and die
∘ Who did this to you


⤏ Trigger Warnings: ritualistic suicide, blood, death, violence & gore, panic attacks, blood play, blood drinking, genocide

Firstly, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Daphne Press for the ARC!

✦• ⋯ Thoughts ⋯ •✦
Things started off promising.
A princess loved by her people, who spent her whole life bleeding for a god-king who's ready to give her up at the slightest inconvenience.

Bryony won me over from the very first page. Her bravery, her quick thinking, and even the little acts of rebellion she showed made me admire her even more.
The same cannot be said of the MMC, unfortunately. I don’t dislike him, and I never have, but I think their “relationship” lacks depth.

The "lust at first sight" is one of my least favorite tropes, and unfortunately, that was the case here.
Despite them spending time together in forced proximity, the attraction we were told they felt for each other, and the “who did this to you” and “touch her and die” moments, I still wasn’t quite sold on them as a couple.

The worldbuilding was the thing that saved this book from a lower rating for me.
It has a lot of potential, but I think I'm going to stop at this book.