Given

Skullstalker Brides #3

by Isabelle Taylor

Weary Skullstalker, Vale, is given a rest from caring for his void when he is summoned to the mortal realm and presented with an a strange, soft mortal woman.

He wants nothing to do with mortals, but it has been centuries since he last had an assistant. So he accepts their offering and spirits the mortal back to his increasingly needy void.

It is an immediate disaster. Not only does his void mysteriously start to rot, but his new mortal gets sprayed by a magical pollen. A pollen that awakens her deepest desires…

-

Meek Ivy Silverpetal has been given one secretly weaken the Skullstalker void so her people can march inside and bind the Skullstalker to fight for them.

Ivy isn’t expecting to get struck down by lust pollen. Vale insists it connects her to her deepest desires, but that isn’t it also connects her to the void she just poisoned. The void that Vale once loved so much that it loved him right back.

With the pollen in her heart and a Skullstalker’s void in her head, it’s impossible to do anything but fall for Vale, who gets weaker with each day. Soon she’ll have to make a stand with him, or let her people claim him?

GIVEN is a high-heat monster romance with more steamy magic; a sentient home, and a HEA. Perfect for fans of Opal Reyne and Katee Robert. It is Book 3 of the Skullstalker Brides series but can be read as a standalone.


-Hurt/Comfort
-"Stay here and be my queen."
-Wilting Flower Turned Badass FMC
-Size Kink
-Sentient Vines Get Involved in Naughty Times
-Plus Sized FMC

Genres: Monster Romance, Fantasy Romance

183 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 9, 2025

Reviews

[Nichole]

I was really looking forward to this one after enjoying the first two books, but unfortunately it didn’t quite work for me in the same way. I still enjoyed it overall and read it quickly, but I kept feeling like it was missing something that made the previous books so addictive.

I think my biggest issue was the romance. Maybe it was just me, but I never felt fully convinced by the love between these two characters. In the earlier books, I completely bought into the relationships and found myself rooting for the couples from the start. Here, I understood that the characters were falling in love, but I didn’t necessarily feel it. The chemistry just wasn’t as strong for me, which made it harder to become emotionally invested.

I also found parts of the story a little repetitive. The whole spell needed to make Vale “fit” felt very familiar because we’ve essentially had variations of that same issue in both of the previous books already. I understand why it’s included, especially since the series is written so each book can be read as a standalone, but as someone reading them back to back, it started to feel a bit recycled rather than bringing something new to the table. The series is marketed as interconnected standalones, so I can see why the author revisits certain concepts, but it stood out more to me this time.

The betrayal reveal should have hit me much harder than it did. I was expecting a lot more angst, tension, and emotional fallout afterwards, but the resolution felt a little too easy considering what had happened. I kept waiting for that gut punch moment that never quite arrived.

That said, there were still plenty of enjoyable moments, and I don’t regret reading it at all. It just didn’t have the same spark, emotional connection, or magic that made the first two books stand out for me. A solid read, but definitely my least favourite of the series so far. It probably doesn’t help that Wick is still my favourite Skullstalker and set an incredibly high bar for the others to live up to, I’m not sure anyone is going to top him for me anytime soon.

[Jade]

A solid 4 stars. There is still not a whole lot of plot in these books, and what plot there is still works to uphold all the smut. And it works out really well in this case. I like Vale, he was a really interesting character. Ivy was really sweet, too. And very much a victim of her uncle's manipulations and gaslighting. I liked getting to see her find herself and her footing to stand up to him, and stand up for herself. And getting to see the unique connection that the skullstalkers with void have with their voids was so cool. It's not a lot, but it's enough that it opens so many interesting possibilities.

[Kay F. Smith]

Another amazing addition to the skullstalker brides

Yet again Isabelle Taylor weaves a tale of deception and terrible humans and an extremely lonely skull stalker who doesn't even know what he is lonely for I just love the characters of ivy and Vale they are perfect together, I'm certainly hopeful that Zax will be the next to find his bride

[Alora]

This was a meh read. The pacing felt really rushed. I didnt feel much of an emotional connection between the characters at all. The conflict felt silly and a lot of the lore/plot wasnt explained well.

[Ravyen♡]

I love Given just as much as Held but for different reasons. Vale being so scholarly was refreshing, and I really enjoyed that there was a bit more plot to his and Ivy’s story! It made for some great development between them.

The void joining in on the fun was a very nice surprise too🙂‍↕️🤭

[DemetraP]

I liked it. They both fell in love. The void wanted them to be together so it keeps growing pollen that makes her very in the mood.

[Lily]

The cover is a blatant rip off of The Ancient Magus' Bride. The story is based off of it as well, just with grown up themes / sex.

[Caitlin]

Love this series! Short sweet and sexy! Give me more!

[Marilyn]

This felt a bit too similar to the first two books and the characters felt a little flat to me.

I enjoyed the plants though!

[Georgina Bartlett]

My favourite so far!! I love Vale & Ivy 🤍🖤

[River]

Not bad kept me entertained