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Only Love is Deathless
Sreka’s younger brother, Dobrina, is in love. The only problem is that the law forbids him from courting until Sreka is married. Sreka hires the local adventurer, Košmar, to marry him so Dobrina can wed his love. Even if he has to sleep on the couch, instead of with the crown prince on their farce wedding bed, Košmar will get to live like a king for a year. And once Dobrina is married, Sreka will quietly divorce him and send him on his way with gold for his services. Nothing says destined romance like a battle with a dragon, so Sreka and Košmar stage their first public encounter to fool the royal court. However, as fate would have it, the dragon that was supposed to be as fake as their love is real.
Kindle Edition
Published June 8, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 14, 2020
Cute story with magical creatures and a fairytale with lots of sex. I really enjoyed the beginning, a prince asking someone he doesn’t know to marry him so his younger brother can get married. The two of them are sweet together and I liked how things played out in them making it to the castle.
Kosmar’s true nature added an extra supernatural twist, with a bit of mystery to his character. I liked the card reading and the things that follow. At this point it’s foreshadowing and raising death flags.
I started losing interest in the second half. The honeymoon quest to stop an evil wizard and rescue the prince. For the most part it was fighting monsters, having sex or trying to have sex without being ambushed. I really just wanted the story to wrap up.
Don’t have much to say about the ending because by then I was kinda rushing through it. Saying that, I did like how it ended. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, there was just way too much sex for my liking.
Kosmar’s true nature added an extra supernatural twist, with a bit of mystery to his character. I liked the card reading and the things that follow. At this point it’s foreshadowing and raising death flags.
I started losing interest in the second half. The honeymoon quest to stop an evil wizard and rescue the prince. For the most part it was fighting monsters, having sex or trying to have sex without being ambushed. I really just wanted the story to wrap up.
Don’t have much to say about the ending because by then I was kinda rushing through it. Saying that, I did like how it ended. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, there was just way too much sex for my liking.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2020
*I received an advance copy for free in exchange for an honest review*
Sreka’s younger brother is in love. The only trouble is that as heir to the throne, Sreka must marry first before Dobrina can wed. So Sreka hires Košmar, the son of a famed adventurer, to become his husband for a year. For Košmar it is a pretty good deal. He gets to live in luxury for a year and then paid handsomely at the end of it. In order to stage the perfect meeting to fool the court and his family, Sreka decided to ‘rescue’ Košmar from a dragon. Unfortunately the ‘fake’ dragon turns out to be real.
I really enjoyed reading Only Love is Deathless. It’s a fun and imaginative fantasy adventure set against a different backdrop and meeting for the two heroes. When I first started reading it, I was expecting it to focus primarily on the growing attachment between Sreka and Košmar, and I was delighted that it evolved into much more too. The two of them not only realise that they are developing genuine feelings for each other, but they must embark on a mission to save the entire kingdom.
Only Love is Deathless is a really great fantasy story filled with mythical creatures, dark magic and romance!
Sreka’s younger brother is in love. The only trouble is that as heir to the throne, Sreka must marry first before Dobrina can wed. So Sreka hires Košmar, the son of a famed adventurer, to become his husband for a year. For Košmar it is a pretty good deal. He gets to live in luxury for a year and then paid handsomely at the end of it. In order to stage the perfect meeting to fool the court and his family, Sreka decided to ‘rescue’ Košmar from a dragon. Unfortunately the ‘fake’ dragon turns out to be real.
I really enjoyed reading Only Love is Deathless. It’s a fun and imaginative fantasy adventure set against a different backdrop and meeting for the two heroes. When I first started reading it, I was expecting it to focus primarily on the growing attachment between Sreka and Košmar, and I was delighted that it evolved into much more too. The two of them not only realise that they are developing genuine feelings for each other, but they must embark on a mission to save the entire kingdom.
Only Love is Deathless is a really great fantasy story filled with mythical creatures, dark magic and romance!
November 28, 2020
The story in Only Love is Deathless jumps into the action right away, with a prince coming to an agreement with a thief that they will get married, but it will be a fake marriage and only for a year. This will allow the prince's younger brother to marry his true love, because the rules of the land dictate that a younger member of royalty cannot marry until their older sibling does.
From the start, nothing goes as planned. The fake dragon the thief (who has magic) was supposed to conjure up so he and the prince could "meet" by dramatically battling the beast together, is actually a real one sent by someone unknown (but clearly evil), and the thief gets badly injured. Cue the prince and the thief pretty adorably falling in love with each other while the thief convalesces.
From there, the story essentially follows this format. Sweet love story, lots of battles with mythical creatures, a quest, and some highly dramatic tragedies. Just a note that there are quite a few explicit "strong sexual content" (as the movie rating system would say) scenes in this book. I know some people prefer to skip the erotica, so just a heads up there. The scenes start out well-written, demonstrating the love between the two characters, but then there are so many of those scenes, and they are written so similarly, that it just becomes very repetitive. Some variety in writing style would have helped there I think. But it's an enjoyable read with some sweet romance and a lot of page-turning drama, and flew by pretty quickly.
August 28, 2020
An interesting spin on Russian folk fairy tails and my respect to the author on being so well versed in Slavic literature. Some of the names looked familiar to me but most were not, so I'm curious of their origin.
Overall it's an interesting read, a bit overlong toward the end and has an ending that might indicate a follow up.
I liked the writing style - airy and imaginative but at the same time so tangible that I almost could touch and smell things described.
This is my first read by Sita Bethel and I look forward to check other works.
Overall it's an interesting read, a bit overlong toward the end and has an ending that might indicate a follow up.
I liked the writing style - airy and imaginative but at the same time so tangible that I almost could touch and smell things described.
This is my first read by Sita Bethel and I look forward to check other works.
July 1, 2020
There are so many awesome things about this book:
The characters are great. Everyone is nuanced and compelling and flawed enough to be interesting. Dobrina is my new favorite person. I would give him all the puppies.
The world-building is superb. The author weaves together a lovely, intricate lore where the supernatural seems both familiar and fresh. Rather than bulky info-dumps, the world takes shape organically, and the reader is able to piece things together without feeling lost or being overwhelmed by tons of information. It’s skillfully done, and a pleasure to read.
The handling of the “fake becomes real” trope is also skillfully done. It’s crafted just differently enough to be super interesting— there’s no long belabored process or over-the-top misunderstanding about feelings, but there’s no instalove either, and the source of opposition/tension Sreka and Kosmar face is much more interesting than an inability to properly communicate (can’t say more— spoilers— but trust me).
Finally, the overall aesthetic of the novel is beautiful. There’s a lot of focus on color and light/shadow, and the wardrobe descriptions are absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to reach out and touch every single one of Sreka’s outfits.
This author is new to me, but I’ll be eagerly looking for more of their books, right after I post this review.
*I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily composed an unbiased review.
The characters are great. Everyone is nuanced and compelling and flawed enough to be interesting. Dobrina is my new favorite person. I would give him all the puppies.
The world-building is superb. The author weaves together a lovely, intricate lore where the supernatural seems both familiar and fresh. Rather than bulky info-dumps, the world takes shape organically, and the reader is able to piece things together without feeling lost or being overwhelmed by tons of information. It’s skillfully done, and a pleasure to read.
The handling of the “fake becomes real” trope is also skillfully done. It’s crafted just differently enough to be super interesting— there’s no long belabored process or over-the-top misunderstanding about feelings, but there’s no instalove either, and the source of opposition/tension Sreka and Kosmar face is much more interesting than an inability to properly communicate (can’t say more— spoilers— but trust me).
Finally, the overall aesthetic of the novel is beautiful. There’s a lot of focus on color and light/shadow, and the wardrobe descriptions are absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to reach out and touch every single one of Sreka’s outfits.
This author is new to me, but I’ll be eagerly looking for more of their books, right after I post this review.
*I received an ARC of this book and voluntarily composed an unbiased review.
June 16, 2020
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.25 stars
For fans of the “fake boyfriend” or “marriage of convenience” tropes, this story opens with the scene where Sreka propositions Košmar. Personally, I enjoyed immediately starting with the conceit that brings the two romantic leads together. This also helped speed the emotional plot along, letting me savor the way both MCs are so wary of revealing their deepening feelings because each fears his growing love will be unrequited.Therein lies the elements of slow burn, the frequent reminders that Sreka and Košmar are both afraid they are the only ones falling in love until they eventually get married and realize they actually do love each other.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
4.25 stars
For fans of the “fake boyfriend” or “marriage of convenience” tropes, this story opens with the scene where Sreka propositions Košmar. Personally, I enjoyed immediately starting with the conceit that brings the two romantic leads together. This also helped speed the emotional plot along, letting me savor the way both MCs are so wary of revealing their deepening feelings because each fears his growing love will be unrequited.Therein lies the elements of slow burn, the frequent reminders that Sreka and Košmar are both afraid they are the only ones falling in love until they eventually get married and realize they actually do love each other.
Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.
June 6, 2020
Sreka and Košmar. A prince and an rogue, perpetrate a fraud. Getting in over their heads wasn’t part of the plan. Neither were dragons, all sorts of monsters, a quest, and falling in love.
A good old fashioned fantasy is always welcome.. Good against evil is an old story but it was the the love that set this book apart. Great characters made it even better. Inventive evil doers, magic, death, a bit of snark, and a fairly epic quest awaits the reader.
An imaginative book, full of bright imagery and dark sadness, that will be reread often.
This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review. Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.
A good old fashioned fantasy is always welcome.. Good against evil is an old story but it was the the love that set this book apart. Great characters made it even better. Inventive evil doers, magic, death, a bit of snark, and a fairly epic quest awaits the reader.
An imaginative book, full of bright imagery and dark sadness, that will be reread often.
This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review. Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.
July 14, 2020
This was an entertaining read. I seem to have a thing for romances that are a mix of light fluffy and then hit you with something dark that makes total sense in the context of the rest of the story but means that you're gonna have to read those bits as well. Still all's well that ends well and this story does end well.
I also liked the bits of slavic style myths and folklore and how they integrated with both the story and the world building, the title should maybe have clued me in to one particular myth earlier.
I sped through this pretty fast and I'm a little sorry that it's finished. Maybe someday It'll be one I'll want to come back to and reread.
I also liked the bits of slavic style myths and folklore and how they integrated with both the story and the world building, the title should maybe have clued me in to one particular myth earlier.
I sped through this pretty fast and I'm a little sorry that it's finished. Maybe someday It'll be one I'll want to come back to and reread.
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August 24, 2020For some reason the book is not as popular as it should be.
But again- that's a different topic.
I loved reading it and watching those two fall in love together.
I'm very interested in where the Author got inspiration for the names of their characters, as they all mean something in my language as well.
It's well-written, well-paced and the love scenes between the two main characters were absolute delight.
I hope to read more from the Author.
* ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *
But again- that's a different topic.
I loved reading it and watching those two fall in love together.
I'm very interested in where the Author got inspiration for the names of their characters, as they all mean something in my language as well.
It's well-written, well-paced and the love scenes between the two main characters were absolute delight.
I hope to read more from the Author.
* ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review *
September 20, 2020
I'll admit I'm a sucker for medieval fantasy so I started out biased. As much as I loved the characters and story, there were definitely a few issues. The sham marriage plot was practically ignored after the first chapter. There was none of the sexual tension, pining, slowly growing affection kind of thing that you normally expect. Would have been improved immensely by more character growth, but it did read like a fairy tale and those aren't much known for their in-depth characters.
February 22, 2022
A lovely love story.
It's a beautiful love story, with fantasy.
But this is not an overly complex fantasy, it is simple and built mostly on religion.
It's a beautiful love story, with fantasy.
But this is not an overly complex fantasy, it is simple and built mostly on religion.
January 19, 2022
Only Love is Deathless by Sita Bethel is an erotic fantasy romance novel following Sreka and Košmar as they embark on a grand adventure that starts with a plan for a faux courtship and marriage so that Sreka's younger brother could wed the love of his life.
This story drew me in quick. What was originally supposed to be a small read before bed became a full day binge for me. The fantasy elements were amazing along with the world that the writer had created. The pacing felt believable and the relationships were all quite charming and endearing. There wasn't a character, aside from the villain naturally, that I found myself disliking. While the story ended a bit sooner than I would have liked, it felt complete. It's worth a re-read.
This story drew me in quick. What was originally supposed to be a small read before bed became a full day binge for me. The fantasy elements were amazing along with the world that the writer had created. The pacing felt believable and the relationships were all quite charming and endearing. There wasn't a character, aside from the villain naturally, that I found myself disliking. While the story ended a bit sooner than I would have liked, it felt complete. It's worth a re-read.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews