Ruthless Hearts

by E.V. Everest

A library page. A wealthy royal. The last print library in the world.

Enora's parents have her entire life planned out, including her future marriage and career.

When fate brings her to the Bellatonian Archives, the last print library in her world, she meets someone who makes her believe anything is possible.

Perfect for fans of magical libraries, starcrossed lovers, and dystopian twists.

A Doomed Fantasy Romance Short Story

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult

53 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 1, 2022

About the author

Evelina Everest is a tween to teen fantasy author. Ever since she discovered the summer reading program, she's been unstoppable. After all, if books contain worlds, she's pretty much an intergalactic traveler, right?

When she's not visiting other worlds or inventing her own, Evelina enjoys drinking too much coffee, playing her trombone, and petting her four fur babies. You can learn more about her work at www.evelinaeverest.com.

Reviews

[MBAmama at Home · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half a Story, full Cliffhanger

Interesting idea, well-written, sweet characters, but missing half its storyline.

Set in a dystopian steampunk past, with the last remaining part library, a mystery is revealed, and no conclusion is provided.

[Daphne Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐

This novella was absolutely delightful! The sci-fi world was immersive and detailed. I could picture everything perfectly. And the characters were realistic and heart warming.

I want to visit the Archives, ya know, before...[spoilers]

If you're looking for a short, quick paced sci-fi with an intriguing political system and impressive futuristic technology, then READ THIS.

[Mayhem-RW · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of Ruthless Hearts by E.V. Everest from the anthology Ink & Incantation

Enora was almost an adult, but for now, she had to listen to her parents. Her mother had arranged for her marriage to a man a few years older than her but as dumb as a box over rocks. His only interest was in military strategy. In one of her forced meetings with the mother of the intended man, she feigned illness and was able to leave early. Her acting was so good that the doorman called for a taxi for her. Now she had to go home. She could not goof off because the log of where she went would be sent to her mother. So she went to the library, the last physical library on the planet. This is where he met Castien. He knew what romance was, and he began to capture her heart, but her mother would have nothing of it if she found out.

Interesting reality, it has promise. The physical world-building has some fuzzy edges. The ethereal world-building is personal. The character's interaction is believable. The characters history what there is of it is part of the story.

For this story, dystopian and romance are the genres most prevalent. For this story, I give it four stars out of five stars.

[Lauren Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruthless Hearts by E.V. Everest is the perfect prequel introduction to the Shadows and Starlight series. The storyline has the perfect balance of world building information and suspense for the future of the series. The novella has a unique magic system and social structure which was clearly explained in an exciting way. The MMC and FMC were so easy to connect with and root for. When I thought I couldn’t be anymore hooked into the storyline, Everest created an ending that blew my mind. It ensured that I will be finishing the series ASAP. I see some people saying it felt like half a book, but I strongly disagree. It has the perfect amount of information while leaving an opening for information in future books. Its purpose is to draw you in; not to tell the entire story and wrap it up in a neat bow. I highly recommend starting the Shadows & Starlight series with Ruthless Hearts so you can experience the world for yourself.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about Enora and learning about that different families have different powers and enora discovers a magical library and meets castien and her mother is trying to marry her off to someone with potential and it was a quick read and I really liked that enora is straight forward and to the point and not a fan of her father and mother for what they did to enora at the end of the book and love that different families gabe different powers like knowing stuff like with enora father who can see numbers. And enora family is wealthy but not rich rich wealthy and enora didn’t want to marry Peter from her mothers friends and love the magical library and how it is different and stuff going on

Read as an ebook
Quick read
Under 55 pages
Magical setting

[☽ Jess ☕️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️

C'était sympa, j'aime bien le concept de familles avec leurs particularités, l'espèce de bibliothèque avec des salles à thème etc... Mais il me manque un peu de quoi m'accrocher aux personnages... Je sais que même pas 60 pages c'est ultra rapide et que ça introduit un univers de série, mais c'était peu quand même pour moi. Par contre, la fin laisse voir un autre caractère du personnage principal féminin qui pourrait me plaire, donc ça me rend tout de même curieuse.

[Britt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story and a good look at the history of Bellaton. Without giving away too many spoilers I know see how certain characters in the main books of the series act the way they do. This author has such a creative mind and so far I’ve loved everything she has written. I can’t wait for more.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to know more 😭😭😭 I feel duped. This was in a book that was a compilation of stories. I didn't realize that till I got to the end of this one. It was the first story in the book. It was so good but left me wanting more. The end refers you to the author's series but reading the summaries it doesn't seem the characters from this book are featured.

[MGB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Your future is destined from the moment of your birth. Such is the life of a member of one of the royal families. For Enora this results in a dystopian world. What she came to believe descended into madness.

[Marie Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I definitely need more of this! The meet-cute between Enora & Castien is fantastic, the mystery of the library is intriguing, and I want to know how it all ends.

[Cardinal Funky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this short story definitely made me want to read what happens in the full story!

I look forward to reading it!

[Nicole Wisniewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It’s short, but she directs you to the series to read next and learn more about the characters (I think she said in book 3).

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cliffhanger. i do not like cliffhangers.

If it wasn't for that I would have somewhat enjoyed it.

[Breana Nobilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A attention grabbing short story that has hooked me to wanting to read the series.