Roses and Blood

by Colby Williams

Echo Vulpterus was born as the heir to one of the noble houses of the Realm, but has never had a taste for the mantle of expectations that come with his title. Though as the king and his counsel pass decree after decree that displease not only the people of the Realm, but those of the noble houses, he is prompted to use his power of privilege to defend the rights of his people.
Desires and obligations continue to clash as he falls in love with a nobleman who is also the only heir to his house, as even more complications arise and it begins to seem impossible that the two of them can ever be together. Their affair also seems to awaken some dormant magical power within Echo, that even the other sorcerers around him do not understand.
Peace is threatened as those in power hunger for more, and those with the ability to make change prefer to squabble over their differences. Webs crafted by both allies and adversaries will be tested against passion and will in this flourish of romance and political intrigue, as Echo navigates the complexities of his power and position.

Genres: Fantasy

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 21, 2015

Reviews

[Dez Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully crafted LGBT Fantasy novel. Raven does a fantastic job of weaving together world building, politics, and characters with pacing that allows readers to immerse themselves into the world without having to have anything "dumbed down" for them. The descriptive narrative adds so much to the overall tone of the story that you could easily imagine it being brought to life in film form.

[Michelle (Bookaholic Banter) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saga of Shadows: Roses and Blood was different from any other book I have ever read. It had its own unique style and flow. In the beginning of the book we are introduced to a large amount of characters, clans, Royal and Lesser houses. It was a lot all at once and I had a little bit of worry that I wasn't going to remember who was who or what was what. Luckily the author was smart enough to put an appendix at the back of the book for us to refer to if we happen to get confused and have trouble remembering. Believe me, it comes in handy because this is a huge world with a lot of characters and houses.

The world building in this book was on point! The author is very descriptive and knows how to describe this world perfectly in beautiful detail. This world was brought alive in my mind. It is a world you will not easily forget. The descriptive writing was done elegantly. The author has a beautiful way with words.

For full review go here:
www.bookaholicbanter.com

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

[Mary Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so impressed with this story! I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for an author to come along and write for the LGBTQ community where a story is NOT centered soley around the sex! Although I did thoroughly enjoy the sex scenes in this story! Very well written.

This story had wonderfully well defined characters, (Piper being my absolute favorite), political entrigue, and a wonderfully relevant social commentary, which was embedded in the undertones, and not too overtly preachy, which I really appreciated.

From beginning to end, I had a very hard time putting the book down wondering what would happen next.

My one caveat to any future readers, is to push past the opening wedding scene where Silveren goes over the family pedigrees. I think that was a bit lengthy, and made me think, "Oh dear this book is going to be boring..."

However once I got past that single part, the pacing was excellent and the story progressed wonderfully!