Deerly Beloved

Raven Falls #0.5

by R. O'Leary

A Raven Falls Cursed Romances historical prequel! See where the curse began!

Every king needs a queen… and every monster needs a heart.

All her life, Abelia has had to pretend to be something she’s not. The dutiful daughter, the quiet princess, and now… the reluctant wife. The last thing the frustrated princess needs is another overbearing man in her life to critique her lackluster embroidery skills—but for the handsome Beast King, she might just be willing to make an exception.

Cern’s not quite sure why he ever agreed to marry a stranger. His kingdom is at war, a coven of witches is demanding a meeting, and now he has to juggle a betrothal as well? He’d rather use his crown as a paperweight and call it a day.

But the strange princess is nothing like he expected. She’s fiery and clever and so much more than he could have hoped for. Cern would rather stay and steal kisses from Abelia than meet with the dangerous coven, but every king has responsibilities.

The sooner he gets the meeting over with, the sooner the Beast King can get back to his princess. But when everything goes wrong… will their love be able to withstand the curse?

Deerly Beloved is a prequel novella to the Raven Falls shifter series! This is a steamy paranormal romance origin story with a sexy monster and his stubborn princess.

Raven Falls Cursed Romances:
1. Furbidden Attraction
2. Unbearable Temptation
3. Howling Devotion
4. Deathly Desire
5. Bewitching Allure
6. Siren Craving
7. Screaming Sins (Fall 2021)

Novellas:
2.5 Frosted Kiss
5.5 Winter Caress

Prequel Novellas:
1. Deerly Beloved
2. Hexed Heart (Summer 2021)

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Romance

195 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2021

About the author

R. O’Leary lives in North Pole, Alaska (no, really). When she’s not spending half the year freezing to death, she’s writing about shifters and aliens and anything else that strolls through her head. Most of her day is spent in pajama pants, chasing the pack of corgis that have claimed her living room as their own.

Furbidden Attraction is the first installment in R. O’Leary’s new paranormal romance series.

Reviews

[Tima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shifter origin story romance

Cern and Abelia, the male and female leads are both dreading the arranged marriage their fathers’ set for them until they meet each other. As they get to know each other, they find that, actually, they are well suited and they care about one another.

Then Cern travels to a mediation organised by witches between his kingdom and four others. And then the head witch is killed and the other witches unleash punishment against them all. Cern is now terrified he can’t keep Abelia safe…

This story is dual POV, well written, and a story I was looking forward to immensely, having read others in this world that the author has written. I was deeply disappointed in the quality of the editing; it genuinely detracted from my enjoyment of an otherwise awesome story.

[McKenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

good story, bad editing

I kept reading because I really enjoy the storyline of this series and the tone of the author, but I have noticed that as I read each book, the editing gets worse and worse. For example, there was an instance where the FMC’s name was spelled as Amelia, even though she’s Abelia throughout the rest of the story. There are also many places where there are words missing or extra words that don’t make sense, and grammatical issues like using “it’s” when “its”should’ve been used.

Overall, I have enjoyed this whole series, but I do wish the editing was better. Nothing rips me out of a storyline more than a mistake.

[Alyson Buxey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had the same issue when reading a prequel t gf at you are always trying to connect what you know with the history as it is being presented. That said it did not interfere with me enjoying this story and I’m glad I went back and read it, the Jack moment was a nice touch. Abelia and Cern were a fabulous pair, the King who is expected everything of and the princess who is expected nothing but propriety. It was lovely that she could get him to smile and that he truly listened to her. I’m glad I didn’t read these before the series as I think might have changed my perspective on the curses, both the inflictors and the recipients

[SJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great read

This is a great read. A fiesty heroine and a slightly whiny but capable hero. We get to see the start of the series and why things are the way they are. A great introduction to what looks to be a great series, romantic and plenty of drama I thoroughly enjoyed the story

[Jasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love the Raven Falls series, this prequel did not vibe as well with me. Seeing the backstory play out brought out some key questions that were skipped and glanced over. Hopefully the last prequel ties things together, but I think the series could have gone without this one.

[Lynall · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story

Interesting, I thought Abelia was a fabulous character it I wasn’t so impressed with Cern and I absolutely adored the horse, Stone. The writing is good, and the story is a great origin story.

[Carol Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the story alone. Would have been 5 stars but... that editing was atrocious. Some of the worst I've ever come across.
Still, ill be continuing the series and hope they got a new editor.

[Leaanne Wright · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF