Web of Vows and Vengeance: A Dark Enemies To Lovers Fantasy Romance Novel

The Hirathean Path #1

by Aria Ashbrook

"They say vengeance is a blade best kept sharp, and my dagger has been honed with every betrayal."

Web of Vows and Vengeance is the first in a dark, spicy slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy series, perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, The Serpent and the Wings of the Night, and Throne of Glass.

Tropes you’ll love:

Enemies to Lovers

Deadly Tournament

Slow-Burn Romance

Underdog Heroine

Brooding Royal MMC

Forced Proximity

Gods & Goddesses

----------------------------------------------------------

Stripped of power. Fuelled by vengeance.

She lost everything because of his lie. Now the only way to save her sister is to win a deadly competition that could cost her the only thing she has left: her life.

When Prince Kyor twisted the truth about his mother’s death, Rose paid the price. Her family was stripped of their magic, cast into the slums, and abandoned by the kingdom they once served. Now her parents are gone, and her younger sister’s future hangs in the balance.

Rose’s only hope is the Tournament of the Gifting, a brutal competition held once a century, where the victor earns a blessing from the Goddess of Life. The catch? Every other contender wields the very power she was robbed of.

And Prince Kyor is among them. Commander of the armies. Rider of a bonded dire wolf. Wielder of lightning. He doesn’t just want to win for vanity – he wants the gift for himself. But what could a man who has it all possibly want?

Thrown into a world of magic, monsters, and merciless trials, Rose must fight not only for survival but for the chance to reclaim her future. Along the way, she’ll find unlikely allies, ruthless rivals, and a dangerous connection with her greatest enemy – one that could ruin or remake her.

Web of Vows and Vengeance is a dark, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romantasy, set in a Nordic-inspired world, featuring deadly trials, found family, gods and goddesses, political intrigue, and an underdog heroine who refuses to stay broken.

This is a story of heartbreak, vengeance, and the kind of power that can never be taken.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Enemies To Lovers, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Audiobook, Slow Burn

588 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2026

Reviews

[dak ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25☆ 𝓦𝓮𝓫 𝓸𝓯 𝓥𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓮𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 (ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪʀᴀᴛʜᴇᴀɴ ᴘᴀᴛʜ #𝟷)

🗡️ 🐺 🥀 ❄️ 🐦‍⬛ 🌩️

⋆༺𓆩 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 𓆪༻⋆

・❥・ 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚡 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎
・❥・ 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚜
・❥・ 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢
・❥・ 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
・❥・ 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜

we follow ℛ𝑜𝓈𝑒 our fmc as she completes in the tournament of life, a deadly competition, in hopes to win a blessing from the goddess of life and restore her family’s magical powers

this had that classic romantasy vibe but i ate it up. the plot had me saying “𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳”

ℛ𝑜𝓈𝑒 💘 i love her. a independent fierce baddie!! excited to see her pop off in the next book
ohhh and 𝒦𝓎𝑜𝓇 our storm daddy who rides a dire wolf, safe to say 10/10
the romance between the two of them is sooo good. their banter had me giggling and kicking my feet. they got together pretty quick but i love them already so it’s okay 💓

꧁ᬊᬁ 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 ᬊ᭄꧂

and Benny <3 he is such a great friend ugh
Jonas 🙄 annoyed me 99.9% of the time smh (get ‘em outta here)

… what in the … i’m- 😲 kay you dumb bitch!! and fuck the king 💯

[amandathebookworm &#x1f4da;&#x1fab1; · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOLID 4.75 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🌟 I ate this UPPPPPP Y’ALL. Thank you to Hellhound Press for providing me with the copies to read! Let’s get into it 👇🏼


PLOT
Rose is a former noble whose family was stripped of their magic and excommunicated based on a lie, and she’s been in the slums with her sister for the last decade or so. Despite it all, she’s determined to win safety back for her family and plans to do so by being accepted by her goddess into these deadly trials. So she risks it, magic-less and all, to get their life back. But who does she see in the trials? The liar who ruined her life.
- Deadly trials
- love triangle & potentially enemies to lovers?
- direwolves & lots of unique types of magic
- rebellion & court intrigue
- found family
- duet audiobook
- female rage
- med spice


PROS
- I was obsessed with this. I couldn’t stop turning pages & was fiendish.
- I am convinced of you liked Fourth Wing you’ll like this. & not because I think they’re the same (some shared elements sure) but because it sort of just has that *thing* that made me pumped.
- I’m VERY excited for more lore. It feels like we have barely scratched the surface & I am ITCHING. Like there’s so much to work with & I’m QUITE excited.
- I quite liked Rose. She was imperfect but I enjoyed her tremendously.
- The romantic options were hotty pototties. I had my preference naturally but hell yeah.
- THE TENSION, HELLO. They proved to be so hot for each other & it was so fun.
- That ending has me needing more ASAP.


CONS
- The pacing of the romance was great but it did feel like when they finally admitted their feelings the depth of their emotion felt like “whoaaa damn okay.” I know the trials took months so it does kind of make sense, but the depth also felt a little rushed.


I HAD A BLAST. Cannot wait for book 2!

[Rae Quigley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this more than I did.

The actual premise is great, and large chunks of it were really well done. But it just overall didn’t hit for me, and I was unfortunately bored through the majority of it.

I struggled with the pacing, there were a lot of minor moments that felt dragged out and unnecessary. It also felt very YA in a lot of areas, and very tropey. I didn’t really connect to any of the characters in a strong way, and things were happening with no emotional impact (for me). The relationship felt like it was lacking chemistry as well.

It was well written though! I can see why a lot of people would like it, and I would recommend it to others. It just sadly didn’t hit for me, and I think because I found it dragging so much in the middle it affected my ability to connect to the story.

[Natalie "Curling up with a Coffee and a Kindle" Laird · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW.
This audiobook has everything. A gripping pacy story, characters that make your heart ache. The narrators? Sublime. This is a dual narration and it is WONDERFUL. I am so ready for book 2!

[twinreadsandreds-Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 This was such a fun one!! Loved the found family!!

[kitkat (semi-hiatus ♡︎)]

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧
4 stars
⋮ ⌗ ┆ ʀᴇᴀᴅ 3.5.26

overview
to say i was not expecting that ending would be AN UNDERSTATEMENT. i've been struggling with the worst books recently, and let's just say this felt like book vacation. where the writing lacks, the plot makes up because boy, was this a wild ride.

the main character, rose, is a former noble who's been stripped of her magic after an incident years before. she and her sister are just barely staying afloat in the slums, when an opportunity to enter the tournament of the gifting arises. the high risk, high reward tournament offers a way out of their situation, and of course, hot men.

if you know me, then you know i loooove badass fmcs. in the beginning, while she definitely has a badass attitude, she lacks in skills and ability *cough* magic *cough*, so one of the best parts of this book was watching her grow into her own skin.

so, this book is a love triangle, but i'm going to focus on kyor, cause oh mah gawd, this man is HOT. while he is similar to every other romantasy mmc in morally grey fashion, he's also a little bit quirky. in a good way, i promise. instead of shadows, he wields storms and lightning (which definitely makes for some interesting smut). he's also the KING of yearning- i swear, half of this book is him being hot as hell, and the other half is him yearning.

with that being said, the smut was decidedly not that good, but in the general scheme of things, it's easy enough to skip over. the best part of their relationship was the tension before they actually got together, which was gold.

as advertised, this book is enemies to lovers, but i found that their relationship became a bit toxic and all consuming as the book continued. and not in a good "i hate you so much that i'm going to kiss you way" but more of a "screw the plot, lets fuck our way out of this" way. this book is also supposedly a dark romance, but it wasn't too dark romance wise in my opinion. while some of the plot content could be triggering, the actual romance is smut.

the plot shares similarities with many other romantasies (morally grey, magicless fmc, fmc warrior arc, deadly trials, etc.), but i found that the plot twists made it unique. i was genuinely on the verge of tears in one scene, which says something because the only books that i've ever cried for are fourth wing and acotar.

⋮ ⌗ ┆ ᴛʀᴏᴘᴇꜱ
⟢ morally grey characters
⟡ deadly trials
⟢ touch her and die
⟡ YEARNINGGGG
⟢ found family
⟡ single pov
⟢ storm wielder
⟡ revenge arc

my somewhat unhinged thoughts reading quotes from this book

"i’m not him to you. i’m not your prince. your kingdom’s heir. your whatever else other people call me. i’m yours. that’s it. you understand? i’m yours, even if you’re not mine. even if this isn’t the same for you as it is for me. if you don’t …"

SDLKFSDKJKDNFKDNSFKLSDNM

"in a purely platonic way, obviously. the last thing this group can deal with is a love triangle becoming a love quadrilateral, and to be fair, you probably wouldn’t be my first choice out of the trio of possibilities."

that one side character keeping it real

"a corkscrew twists my insides as i consider the conversation we were having just before seiren’s latest episode."

is she getting fucked by a duck?? (iykyk)

"if you’re going for the heart, don’t go for the centre. you’ll hit the sternum and the bone’s too thick there. go to the left, between the ribs. that’s the best shot."

are we joking? blowjobs are the best way to a mans heart

"no one can hold themselves against it. every single person drops to the ground."

*evil smirk*

‘you are the reason i can’t think. can’t sleep. can’t stop imagining the way it would feel if it was my fingers and not my power doing this.’

what the hell is stoping you, dipshit?



♪⋆.˚ now playing: ᴏɴᴡᴀʀᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴜᴘᴡᴀʀᴅ ʙʏ ᴛᴏᴍᴍᴇᴇ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪᴛᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰʟᴇᴜʀɪᴇ

“𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘥? 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦? 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥? 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦?”


overall, if you're looking for a fast paced romantasy (thats also on KU!!), this is a good choice. plus, this is the author's debut, so i can't wait to see where her career leads

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

150 pgs in and I just don’t care.

The author is just working off a list of popular tropes, which makes the whole thing feel so unoriginal and boring.

Everything was insta- instalust, insta friendships, insta boredom for me.

Maybe if it was shorter I could have powered through, but knowing there was approx 550 pages of this book was making me depressed so yeah dnf.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Web of Vows and Vengeance by Aria Ashbrook is the book up for review, and I'm beginning to realize how much I love Romantacy. This will be my second 5 star book of 2026. I was both reading and listening to this book to maximize both experiences.

As for the reading part: this book is very well written. I like the flow of the writing. It's easy to get into and it keeps its strength throughout the book.

As for the listening part: it translates to audio very well, and I feel this is part of the strength at which it was written in the first place. This book was narrated by Amanda Leigh Cobb and Anthony Palmini, and I cannot stress how good of a job they both did. The way I wouldn't have been able to get through the spicy scenes if I had to read this book out loud. 😂😭 They both nailed it perfectly.

As for the story itself: it was quite a wild ride! I love books that keep progressing with each chapter. It was simple but informative when it needed to be, and it was dramatic and extra when it needed to be. I loved the characters. Even the side characters added so much drama. Our main female character, Rose, gets shafted by pretty much everyone else's mistakes and jealousy that stems from her parents, but she never lets it hinder her. Her weaknesses come from being too trusting. It was a good theme for her throughout the book. It created a unique dynamic between her and all the other characters, including her love interest.

The spice, though minimal (it's the first book, duh) was REALLY good. It was built up like a true enemies to lovers story should. It was placed in the parts where it actually made sense and also added to the progression of the story.

This book DOES HAVE CONTENT WARNINGS and I would recommend reading them before picking this one up. The death of the inner circle character(s) was a big one in my opinion.

Overall, this was an extremely strong start to a series. I am really looking forward to the next book coming out this summer. If you like dramatic stories with strong female main characters that overcome the odds, I would recommend this one to you.

Thank you The Nerd Fam and Aria Ashbrook for sending me both a physical copy and audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I appreciate it and genuinely loved this book. My full review will be on my Goodreads.

[Samantha Gaudious · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fabulous!! 🖤🖤

I really loved how we had a great balance of action, twists, romance and spice.
While also having me second guessing and such a lovely found family 🫶
Absolutely love how original the trials felt and everyone’s different magic was so cool!

Rose is a true one!! I love how she stuck to her beliefs no matter what and didn’t let others sway her!! She’s a fighter through and through!

If you loved Fourth Wing and Dire bound you’re definitely gonna want to pick this!

I’m very intrigued to see where this story goes because that ending definitely makes you want more.

This is absolutely a must read for all Romantasy lovers ♥️

[ciana · Rating 5 out of 5]

“because you’re trusting and want to think the best of people. and that’s not a bad thing.”

—

this gave me powerless x fourth wing vibes in the best way. the plot was so entertaining and fast paced that i didn’t want to put it down. the trials, the twists, and the magic system were all super unique.

rose was such an intriguing fmc. she’s lost literally everything and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it back, but i loved that she never lost that part of herself that still wanted to help others, even when it meant putting herself at risk.

kyor. a new storm daddy… sat. the things that came out of this man’s mouth should actually be illegal. someone should’ve sedated me. the slow burn enemies to lovers ATE and the spice?? i had to go reconnect with nature.

benny my love!!! he’s such a perfect friend and so precious. protect him at all costs i stg. oh and jonas… don’t pmo. he was literally dain but worse lol.

the betrayals went crazy and imma need book two immediately because i have questions and i will not be okay until things are addressed. i’m crashing out.

“𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝒊 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍. 𝒊 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒊 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕.”

[Jenn Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 ⭐️ | This is your stereotypically romantasy. The MCs "HATE" each other due to past trauma that was dealt to each of their families when they were children and although we have strong declarations of "love" by the end of the book, we never ONCE got a conversation about moving past said trauma to warrant a relationship. "Do you trust me? Yes." Okay let's bang and love each other now I guess.

I will say that I enjoyed the writing style and the engaging trials. That was the best part NGL. I also liked the two characters that died but kept the story alive.

But outside that, everything was kinda copy and paste of other books I have been reading in this genre for years. Dire Wolves? Cool, we read about them for 5 whole sentences. Female on Female hate for no reason, check. A love match that gets spicy for no other reason outside of sexual attraction, you got it. A blonde haired male interest that is hiding secrets and downplaying the FMC..there's that too in spades.

Even the ending was lame. What do you mean the 18 year sister that is dating a douchebag winds up married to an old rich dude to hide the pregnancy? And then the MMC protects the FMC by giving his cruel king of a dad a speech to get him off his back but ohh, the FMC is gonna take it personally and in that, breaks her heart? COME ON.

I seriously don't know how there are 3 more books to a series that really gave us nothing to build off of outside of the trials to continue forward but here we are.

Thank you to the author and the Nerd Fam for the ARC

[Angie ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted to like this , just as much as people loved it but it honestly took me forever to get into it . To a point where I had to drag it out . I Wanted to DNF it but I decided to push through - the only thing that saved me was the storyline of when Rose gave into Kyor and how much they yearned for each other . Other than that the story was just okay .

How it ended was complete and utter bullshit 😂😂😂😂😂 I felt as though it could’ve ended in a BETTER way and a better plot , but overall it was an ok book .
Would I recommend it ? Of course ; just because it wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it’s not for someone else .

Will I be reading the next book in the series ? Maybe but I’m in no rush .

[Jordan Miner · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay wow. what was in this book and how can I inject it into my veins??

I’ve read my fair share of trial-heavy romantasy, but this one? easily one of my all-time favorites in the “put them through hell and make it hot” category. the stakes were brutal, the pacing relentless, and every challenge felt earned instead of thrown in for drama.

rose is exactly the kind of fmc I live for—resilient without being invincible, emotional without being weak, and sharp enough to survive a world that clearly wants her dead. I adored the side characters and the found family dynamic; every interaction added depth instead of filler.

and then there’s kyor. our sexy storm daddy. the things that came out of that man’s mouth?? the way I blushed so hard should be illegal. the tension between rose and kyor was exquisite torture—slow-burn, electric, and charged in every sense of the word. they gave me major violet-and-xaden energy (hint: lightning hehe), but still felt completely their own. the chemistry? off the charts. the edging? criminal. I needed a moment. possibly holy water.

and that ending??? I had emotional whiplash. just when it felt like rose had finally clawed her way to something resembling peace, everything detonated. that twist—especially that sharp, lingering hint of betrayal—hurt in the best/worst way. I sat there in disbelief. anyway…I am unwell. I need book two immediately. preferably yesterday.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 stars and I think I may have just read my favorite romantasy for 2026. I don't say that lightly this book was amazing. It had everything my little romantasy heart wanted, a tough FMC, storm daddy (my new favorite type of MMC), found family, excellent side characters, wonderful world building and plot, deadly trials, dire wolves, and the pacing was superb. I am a big fan of faster paced fantasy and this book was unputdownable. I ate this up in a matter of a few days and am already downloading the Novella because i just need to be back in this world.

This book features our FMC Rose and her sister Acacia who after the lie by the prince leaves her brother dead, family stripped of their magic, titles, and sent to live in the slums is ready to fight and claw her way back to the life that was wrongly taken from her. Rose looks to enter the kingdom's deadly trials in order to gain the blessing of Etta, a powerful God who can grant you one blessing if you win. Rose is out to win and doesn't care how she has to get there. Our MMC, Kyor is everything. He is broken and because of that he pushes everyone away, everyone but her, which he has a strong desire to guide even though everything about their past says he shouldn't. The tension the sharp banter left me up reading until 3am. Trust me, this is not your traditional trials trope, the trials are immersive and they genuinely make you feel that sense of everything being on the line.

My favorite thing about this book is that it locks you in and doesn't let you go. I needed to know what happened next, the twists and turns, the joy that is felt with Rose opening her heart to her friends and the devastation when....well I won't spoil it but this book does NOT shy away from heartbreak and devastation. Oh and of course the slow burn that left me kicking my feet and smiling. Will I get over this books ending anytime soon? Absolutely not, I need book two immediately and I am so glad that all four books of this series are set to be released all this year. Oh and how can i forget, the audiobook. I love immersive reading this and you have to listen to this book if you get the chance, the MMC Kyor is voiced by the same voice actor as Rhysand and Kingfisher and we all know YOU loved their voice so just do it already! Aria Ashbrook has absolutely earned the auto buy author designation from me!

Thank you so much to NerdFamily and Aria Ashbrook for the early access e-ARC and ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Molly | molls.bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars. What a wild ride & unexpectedly excellent! Some of the best trials I’ve read in a long time.

___

May as well come back and write my full review now as I can’t get this book or series out of my head.

What an incredible debut for this writing duo. I’m not sure what they put into this book but I need more of it.

The characters are dynamic, layered, and complex. The writing is beautiful. The pacing is excellent. The world building is chef’s kiss with some tasty bread crumbs hinting at what’s to come (and giving me tidbits to annotate and highlight to my heart’s content). Everything about A Web of Vows and Vengeance feels intentional.

But that cliffhanger? Brutal. Criminal. Devastating. Downright rude. (I loved it).

Anyways, five stars. No notes. Read the damn book. Go in blind and absolutely get the audio to go with.

[Kimmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man, this was addicting and such a good read. I ended up doing an immersive read following along with the audiobook. Let me tell you, Amanda Leigh Cobb and Anthony Palmini made this story 100% better because their range of voices and accents made it feel like there was a full cast reading this story.

I know Kyor was just a child when his lies caused Rose's family downfall and the stripping of her magic. But that lie destroyed her whole family and ended up killing her younger brother and eventually her parents death occur due to the situation they were in. Rose should have been angrier and more vicious towards Kyor. The romance in the book moved kinda fast in my opinion, she falls for Kyor so quick and their hatred for each other is suddenly forgotten? She should have had him on the ground groveling and begging for her forgiveness for causing her family to suffer. Pretty much the tension and hate between Rose and Kyro was glossed over very quickly in my opinion. They never talk about the issues between them and why Kyro lied about Rose's mother. Zero resolution before they decide to spend time together in bed. This is such a big issue that it should have been talked about and an agreement should have been reached about it. Like WHY did you lie? COME ON. I'm probably the 1% who wished she went for the childhood friend vs the prince. LOL

Anyway, I really enjoyed this story. I love how descriptive the battle scenes were and how intricate the trials were portrayed and written. It had just the right about of stakes, battles, found family, and death. I think the world building could incorporate the magic system in this book a little more because I have some questions about why certain people had powers and certain people weren't blessed. 

Kay is one of the most cruel, stupid, and ungrateful sister ever. I'm going to continue reading this series because it's honestly pretty addicting and I am a curious bitch who has to know if Kyor is a lying scumbag or not. 

Thank you The Nerd Fam and Aria Ashbrook for the ALC and eARC.

[Brooke (The_Brookeshelf_) · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS is what I want when I pick up a romantasy book. It has it all…True enemies to lovers, deadly competitive trials, an FMC built on resiliency, a broody and ruthless MMC, diverse magic, corrupt royalty, traumatic backstories, a delicious slow burn full of tension with a wonderful reward of spicy scenes, and side characters who become family and offer comedic moments that had me laughing out loud. And the banter in this book is EVERYTHING I could have asked for.

Web of Vows and Vengeance provides stunning world building that brings each location to life. The characters are each unique in their personalities, magic abilities, and upbringing, yet the relationships they build with one another is what makes this story so special. How they turn their allegiances into family truly shows the depth of these characters.

The relationship between Rose, our FMC, and Kyor, our MMC, is exactly what you would find in the dictionary next to “enemies to lovers trope.” They journey from blame and hatred for ruined childhoods, to an irresistible attraction, to possibly developing something even deeper is left with a dark cloud of uncertainty looming over their future.

Kyor is the epitome of “touch her and die,” “mine,” and “only vulnerable for her.” The highlighted sections of my book are mostly because of this man…and he’s narrated by Anthony Palmini—need I say more? Rose is the definition of strength, resiliency, and sacrifice. Along the way she finds ways to offer love to others, but still holds true to herself until the very end.

Now I sit here in AGONY while waiting for book 2 because that ending?! *sigh*

A huge thank you to Aria Ashbrook and the Nerd Fam for access to this book. All opinions are my own.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolute whirlwind of a good time.

The plot never slows down, we have trials, we have the appearance of direwolves, we have a neat magic system, AND we have a love triangle!!! The ending was WILD!

I love our FMC, she is strong and fiesty and really works hard in order to try to win back her family’s title and magic.

I love a good love triangle too.

This was such a good time and this book scratches an itch that I think people who like Fourth Wing and The Serpent and the Wings of Night would like!



What took it down a notch for me is that I thought the nickname for our FMC was not very original, our FMC/MMC fall in love veryyy fast for a multiple book series, and it did remind me a lot of Dain/Xaden situation from Fourth Wing.


Otherwise, this was great and I really enjoyed reading this!!

~I received this ARC free from The Nerd Fam. Thank you to Aria Ashbrook and The Nerd Fam!! My opinions are my own and voluntarily given~

[Heather Becht (fantasyromantasy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"One of us!"

Why are more people not talking about this? Web of Vows and Vengeance is freaking fantastic, EASILY a 6 star read! From the first line, I knew this was a book that I wasn’t going to be able to put down. This book has picturesque and fleshed out details, high-stakes action & trials, a true enemies-to-lovers tension (with lots of blue balls), a magic system that is really creative yet easy to follow, fierce found family, dire wolves, and so much more... I absolutely think this book deserves more recognition. That ending had me feral and I can’t waitttt for the feminine rage that’s about to happen in the next book!


𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼:
Dark Slow-Burn Romantasy
True Enemies to Lovers
Fierce Found family
Lightning Daddy
High-Stakes ☠️ Tournament
Gods and Goddesses
Political Intrigue
LGBTQIA+ Rep
Underdog FMC
Brooding Misunderstood MMC
Forced Proximity
Feminine Rage & Vengeance
Rebels
“Good Girl”
Touch Her and ☠️
Jealous and Possessive MMC
He Hypes Her Up
Consent is Sexy

“Have I told you that you are the most beautiful thing I have ever encountered?”
“Today? No.”

[Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 🌟
What a fun perfectly balanced read! I had high hopes for this book and it delivered on plot, characters, and romance. And finally, an author who uses BRITISH SPELLING (I love it!)

Banter
I will lead with the incredible banter because it carried the entire book on its back. The banter between Rose and Kyor is elite.

This man is a broody, insufferable prince with the audacity to be a shameless flirt simultaneously (and ends up worshipping Rose)— and Rose has comebacks for days. I would love to be friends with the author just to hear her jokes. Being in her head during their exchanges was an absolute privilege because I was cackling. If you loved the pacing of the romance in Fourth Wing, with less instant lust, you will feel very at home here.

Rose
Rose is the exact kind of FMC I have been waiting for. She is intelligent, sharp, refuses to take anything at face value and ALWAYS asks the correct questions (thank you for that!). She constantly takes the moral high ground even when the decisions placed in front of her are impossible. She will sacrifice absolutely everything for the people she loves. Being in her head never frustrated me as she was extremely logical and reasoned.

I will root for her unconditionally.

Found Family
What I loved most about the supporting cast is that nobody is morally perfect. Everyone is flawed — deeply, humanly flawed. When characters make poor decisions, Ashbrook writes them with such empathy and authenticity that you cannot help but forgive them for it. They are described like real people. I cared about all of them, which means, naturally, I suffered greatly.

The Trials
If you loved the trials in Serpent and the Wings of Night, you will devour these. High stakes, ruthless/deadly, and leaves time to train and prepare in between. The games are both political and personal, and Rose navigating them with her intelligence whilst keeping her principles intact was very powerful.

The Audiobook
The duet-style narration was beautifully done. Highly recommend the audio format for an immersive reading for this one! Both narrators were great!

🩷 Tropes:
⚔️ Enemies to lovers / Reluctant allies to lovers
👑 Royals & court politics
🎲 Games & deadly trials
🔥 Forced proximity
💫 Gods & celestials
🩷 Love triangle (with a clear main love interest)
🏹 Found family

🌶️ Spice:
Open door — 2/5

Recommendation:
For fans of Fourth Wing, Serpent and the Wings of Night, and The Hunger Games — but with gods, court politics, and one of the best FMC/MMC banter dynamics I have read in a long time.

[Nash Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a point in this book where I wanted to hop through the pages to Mike Tyson a character. That immediately had me hooked. I really enjoyed the story and the redemption arc. I really enjoyed the friendships that developed at least some of them. Betrayal in any form always guts me and this was no different. Our FMC did not lose her compassion even though she definitely could have and maybe even should have. The MMC I lived for his filthy mouth. The audiobook was fantastic and definitely enhanced the story in my opinion. Great time.

[Anna Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in the mood for a romantasy and this was exactly what I needed! The high stakes competition, the magic system, the forbidden love - I couldn’t get enough and I’m desperate for more.

Read this when you’re in the mood for…
- high stakes competition
- training montage
- forbidden love
- powerless in a world of magic
- betrayal
- daddy issues

I am so excited for more to the story and I HIGHLY recommend the audio!

[Bookish_Aly_Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite an addictive read! I had a blast reading this Romantasy and loved the fast pace and the magic system used throughout this story. The FMC, Rose, was strong and resilient which made her easy to root for. Definitely curious to see where the story goes from here.

Read this if you like:
→ Found Family
→ Enemies to Lovers
→ Slow Burn
→ Deadly Tournament
→ Court Intrigue

Thank you Grimm & Co and the author for a gifted copy of the book.

[Claire Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

*RECEIVED AN ADVANCED READER COPY OF THE AUDIOBOOK:

3.25 ⭐️!

I found this book quite enjoyable and will now add it to my collection of recommendations for those reading Romantasy/Fantasy for the first time.

I do believe the plot and magical world system comes across as more YA. It’s simple to follow, while the magic system and how some people come by their powers is never actually explained.

As much as I LOVE a good enemies to lovers, I found it very hard to wrap my head around how Rose could fall for the MMC. What he did was inexcusable, no matter how young they were. And the ending…🫨

I loved Rose as a FMC, she was gritty, and powerful, and unapologetic. I do find it really hard to back a heroine who is fighting for wealth and power she had stripped from her, rather than the greater good. The need to see her younger sister as a lady at court held very little interest to me.

I look forward to the second book and seeing what Rose gets up to!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about as basic as romantasy gets and it is very obviously inspired by a lot of the genre’s biggest hits from the past few years. It also has absolutely no reason to be this long. The audiobook is genuinely great though. Anthony Palmini is basically delivering Kingfisher 2.0, and the narration is the only reason I didn’t DNF.

[Raina H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine if Serpent and the Wings of Night met Hunger Games and Fourth Wing with a dash of Frozen mixed in (trust me, you'll get the reference) and you will get Web of Vows and Vengeance.

Overall I really loved this book and would give it a 4.25 star rating. I was fortunate to receive both an eARC and audiobook ARC from the Nerd Fam and the author in exchange for an honest review. The audiobook is a duet narration, which I absolutely love (nothing ruins a story more than hearing a female narrator trying to *growl* for the male dialogue). Both narrators did an amazing job at inflicting emotions and tension between the MMC/FMC which kept me engaged the entire time. The author has already confirmed that future installments from the series will keep the same narration team, which I was very excited to hear.

The story itself features a strong female lead named Rose who doesn't necessarily come into the Retterheld competition with any advantages: in fact the odds are heavily stacked against her as someone without magic that has a rather large target on her back being the daughter of the "Queen Killer". But she repeatedly finds ways to take advantage of the strengths she does possess, all while forming genuine friendships that help her throughout both the competition and court life. The male lead, Kyor, is your typical excessively attractive, snarky bad-boy with a hard exterior and hidden softie tendencies. This is definitely a true enemies to lovers, as the two are at each others throats for a good portion of the book, with some enjoyable banter and extreme gastrointestinal upset (she accidentally gives him the magical equivalent of norovirus).

While the story is very exciting and does end on quite the cliffhanger, there were moments where I felt like I had read this before. Tropes like magical competitions or an FMC that is putting herself in danger to save her sister are used rather frequently in fantasy, so while Web of Vows and Vengeance does them really well, I just have read so many books that this felt too similar to. While that did impact my rating, I would say it's more of a "me problem" and would still highly recommend the series to romantasy fans. I will definitely be continuing with the next book in the Hirathean Path when it comes out in a few months as I want to see where things go after the way this one ended.

[TK · Rating 5 out of 5]

eArc and audio Arc received courtesy of NerdFam! This book will run you through the gauntlet of emotions. I could not put it down, I read it in 3 days. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for the next one!

Rose Kultavaris lost everything, because of a lie, 14 years ago; her family, her magic, her standing and her home. Now she has the chance to set it right and gain back what she lost. Can she compete and win in the Retterheld and earn the gifting from the Goddess? Five deadly trials and even deadlier competition stand between Rose and her goal.

Stripped of her magic, can she form alliances with magic users to get her through? Does she even need magic? Read and follow Rose on her journey of vengeance, to right the wrongs committed against her and her family so long ago.

Themes:
- Enemies to lovers
- Banter
- Lost magic
- Deadly trials
- Slow burn
- Forbidden magic
- Spice 🌶️🌶️/5

[Olga · Rating 1 out of 5]

another fail

The most boring fantasy I’ve read so far. There is no substance to the book just a whole lot of nothing

[Ellie Mccormick · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC review:
dnf at 78%- I really tried to finish this but my breaking point was when the Kraken showed up

Positives -
Very interesting magic system
good pacing.
writing was good apart from some dialogue

Negatives-
-Overused trope of Girl with no powers (who eventually finds out she has some .. wow) starts to like the boy from her childhood who coddles her too much but then decides to go for the “asshole” bad boy who doesn’t coddle her. (cough.. fourth wing for example). This to me is just very overused.

-Another similarity i read was similar to Powerless by Lauren robert’s in the way she’s from the slums, lost her parents, only has a sister. and also she joins a magic tournament with no magic . literally powerless. I kinda just felt like i was reading those 2 books but combined together and intentional or not it’s just something that’s been done again and again.

Overall it had strong potential as i enjoyed the magic system, world building etc but could have gone in a more unique direction. Dialogue also could be fixed as some parts i did find kind of cringy.

[Joy Belle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I even found the content advisory entertaining. “Characters were harmed in the making of this story. Emotional support tissues recommended.” I knew I would like her writing after reading that. This is a true enemies to lovers story with trials (both my favorites). When I say enemies to lovers, our MMC is responsible for all of Rose’s misfortunes. Prince Kyor lied when they were children about Rose‘s mother killing the queen. As punishment, the king killed her baby brother, and stripped her entire family of their magic and threw them to the slumps. Now in an attempt to give her sister a better life, Rose sneaks into a God‘s temple to plead her case to be placed in trials where they get a wish from the Goddess Etta. She is selected, despite having no magic, but so is the prince. The characters in this book are so well written- from the MC’s to the side characters and villains. I would recommend having that emotional support tissue available if you are a cryer. The ending felt a bit rushed and left so many things unanswered. Particularly one that is driving me crazy! I am grateful for receiving an ARC copy since it was a great book. These thoughts are my own. This is my first book by the authors, but will not be the last. I will definitely read some of their other books and continue this series.

Tropes:
Enemies to lovers
Forced proximity
Found family
Morally grey MC
Underdog heroine
Deadly tournament / trials
Gods and Goddess
Secrets and lies
Political tension