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The Faerin #2
Falling for the Leonidas
From award-winning Lisa Kumar comes a contemporary fantasy romance of a fae lion shifter in the guise of a rich businessman and the human woman who shakes up his ordered world.
When Riley Robbins has a run-in with businessman Ivander Northland, his cold personality chills her to the core. But that soon changes as he pursues her with an ardor she's never known. Some things are too good to be true, and she's scared that he falls under that category.
Businessman Ivander Northland doesn't care for many people other than his family and extended clan. But when he meets his fated bondmate, who happens to be the all-too-human Riley, he scrambles to court her. Even though she thaws the ice encasing his heart, he fears she'll take off once she discovers who and what he is.
This story is the second in The Faerin series but can be read as a standalone. Also previously published as Claiming Riley in the anthologies Adamant Spirits and Like a Firework. This novella contains adult content and is perfect for fans of Tasha Black, Sarah J. Maas, C.N. Crawford, and Alessa Thorn.
When Riley Robbins has a run-in with businessman Ivander Northland, his cold personality chills her to the core. But that soon changes as he pursues her with an ardor she's never known. Some things are too good to be true, and she's scared that he falls under that category.
Businessman Ivander Northland doesn't care for many people other than his family and extended clan. But when he meets his fated bondmate, who happens to be the all-too-human Riley, he scrambles to court her. Even though she thaws the ice encasing his heart, he fears she'll take off once she discovers who and what he is.
This story is the second in The Faerin series but can be read as a standalone. Also previously published as Claiming Riley in the anthologies Adamant Spirits and Like a Firework. This novella contains adult content and is perfect for fans of Tasha Black, Sarah J. Maas, C.N. Crawford, and Alessa Thorn.
99 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 21, 2022
10 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Kumar
33 books74 followersI'm a mother and romance writer who grew up in small-town Indiana. I studied psychology in college and worked off and on in the mental health field over the years. I now reside in Southern California. When not spinning tales of romance and fantasy, I can often be found with my nose buried in a book. I also love going for walks with my youngest son and taking Zumba classes. One of my stories, Bound to the Elvin King, won Ind'Tale's 2015 RONE award for best Sci-Fi/Fantasy.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 10, 2024
2.5 stars rounded down because it doesn't deserve three.
The story was OK, but the fact he’s a “leonidas” (whatever that means, because it’s not explained very well) has absolutely no bearing in the story. It’s better than the average Billionare romance, but only because the fact he’s a billionaire doesn’t impact the plot either. There’s mention of characters from the Mists of Eria series, but they also have no impact on the plot. They’re just mentioned. So a lot of unimportant things are mentioned. The pacing is weird too. At times it seemed to move slower than a snail, and then there were time skips, and then they went from snail to cheetah for a while just to have another time skip.
Another thing was that Ivander flipped a switch and went from cold, dismissive and flat out racist to the most caring and understanding man in the universe. He began the book thinking the bond as a burden, only to act like it’s the ultimate gift a chapter later. I didn’t like the way he thought of Riley as “one of the good ones” when it came to humans. He was also very manipulative.
The writing is not bad, and it’s easy to read.
The story was OK, but the fact he’s a “leonidas” (whatever that means, because it’s not explained very well) has absolutely no bearing in the story. It’s better than the average Billionare romance, but only because the fact he’s a billionaire doesn’t impact the plot either. There’s mention of characters from the Mists of Eria series, but they also have no impact on the plot. They’re just mentioned. So a lot of unimportant things are mentioned. The pacing is weird too. At times it seemed to move slower than a snail, and then there were time skips, and then they went from snail to cheetah for a while just to have another time skip.
Another thing was that Ivander flipped a switch and went from cold, dismissive and flat out racist to the most caring and understanding man in the universe. He began the book thinking the bond as a burden, only to act like it’s the ultimate gift a chapter later. I didn’t like the way he thought of Riley as “one of the good ones” when it came to humans. He was also very manipulative.
The writing is not bad, and it’s easy to read.
December 11, 2023
[ BOOK INFO ]—————————
★★★☆☆ 3/5
tags: contemporary fantasy, romance, f/m, fated mates, shapeshifter
Pages: 98
Chapters: 9 (excluding epilogue)
POV(s): 👥 dual: Riley, Ivander
Ending: HEA (Happily ever after)
Series? Yes, but can be read as standalone
INCLUDES
✛ blurbs for other books by author
✛ link to author newsletter
————————————————
Heroine: Riley Robbins— a human. Works as a secretary/administrative assistant for a small manufacturing company. Logical, cautious, decisive, and hates being the centre of attention.
Has only really been comfortable having sex with people she’s already in a committed relationship with which is why she surprised when she hooks-up with Ivander. Doesn’t know about the bond and is sceptical about anything else coming out of their time together but decides to date him out of curiosity to try and figure him out.
Hero: Ivander Northland— a leonidas (type of faerin). A businessman who owns several companies and is motivated by the challenge. Hates humans, arrogant, likes to be in control, ambitious, practical and competitive. Recognises the bond between Riley and himself immediately and pursues a bond with her.
[ CONTENT WARNINGS ]————
[ Q’s ]————————————
Q: Sex scenes?
Q: Love triangle?
Q: unrequited love?
Q: virgin trope?
Q: Character death? (of those in main cast)
💬 [ REVIEW ]————————
📓 includes age-gap because the ‘faerin’ live for significantly longer than humans. Ivander is ~400. Riley is 25.
📓 started out disliking Ivander because of his condescending way of thinking when reading from his POV. The condescending speech seemed to fade as the book goes on.
📓 insta-lust/connection. They almost immediately have sex the second time they meet (at 33% of the book). Felt entirely led by the ‘bond’ which Riley doesn’t know about.
Riley’s reaction the next day kind of improved my opinion on the trajectory of the story though. Instead of them just continuing to have sex and falling in love, she’s cautious and thinks through her decisions. She proposes they get to know each other before having sex again and he respects her decision. Gave them time to build their relationship outside of sex.
📓 the complete emotional 180 by Ivander doesn’t sense. When reading from his perspective, he’s very condescending, seeing the bond as a burden more than anything. (The image of a person brushing a speck of dust off their suit comes to mind when I think of him) But then he turns into this thoughtful and considerate person that just don’t make sense.
If it was just that he seemed outwardly cold but was actually unsure how to react, that would make more sense. This sentence just proves that it was a persona:
📓 questionable action by Ivander. He hires a private investigator to gather information about Riley once he sees her for the first time and recognises her as his potential bondmate.
📓 quite a lot of highlighting how different he’s acting and feeling around Riley compared to other women. This change of behaviour is very much written as due to the bond to which he had conflicting feelings about and says:
📓 he reveals his true identity as a faerin very late in the book (82%). He starts out wanting to make sure he liked her enough that when he revealed his identity, she wouldn’t be scared off but it doesn’t change the fact that he had lied to her for the majority of their relationship.
📓 In chapter 8, from Ivander’s POV, they begin talking about the Erian exiles/greykindred which is very sudden, never talked about again and felt irrelevant to the plot. I’m guessing this is a crossover hint at the author’s other books which is kind of cool though the author kind of lost me when they began talking about it.
📓 would have liked more setting descriptions to get a more immersive read and also just for the vibes.
[ CONCLUSION ]————————
a nice, light romance and a quick read. If you’re looking for fated mates with insta-lust/connection in a contemporary setting, then you’ll probably like this book.
★★★☆☆ 3/5
tags: contemporary fantasy, romance, f/m, fated mates, shapeshifter
Pages: 98
Chapters: 9 (excluding epilogue)
POV(s): 👥 dual: Riley, Ivander
Ending: HEA (Happily ever after)
Series? Yes, but can be read as standalone
INCLUDES
✛ blurbs for other books by author
✛ link to author newsletter
————————————————
Heroine: Riley Robbins— a human. Works as a secretary/administrative assistant for a small manufacturing company. Logical, cautious, decisive, and hates being the centre of attention.
Has only really been comfortable having sex with people she’s already in a committed relationship with which is why she surprised when she hooks-up with Ivander. Doesn’t know about the bond and is sceptical about anything else coming out of their time together but decides to date him out of curiosity to try and figure him out.
Hero: Ivander Northland— a leonidas (type of faerin). A businessman who owns several companies and is motivated by the challenge. Hates humans, arrogant, likes to be in control, ambitious, practical and competitive. Recognises the bond between Riley and himself immediately and pursues a bond with her.
[ CONTENT WARNINGS ]————
[ Q’s ]————————————
Q: Sex scenes?
Q: Love triangle?
Q: unrequited love?
Q: virgin trope?
Q: Character death? (of those in main cast)
💬 [ REVIEW ]————————
📓 includes age-gap because the ‘faerin’ live for significantly longer than humans. Ivander is ~400. Riley is 25.
📓 started out disliking Ivander because of his condescending way of thinking when reading from his POV. The condescending speech seemed to fade as the book goes on.
📓 insta-lust/connection. They almost immediately have sex the second time they meet (at 33% of the book). Felt entirely led by the ‘bond’ which Riley doesn’t know about.
Riley’s reaction the next day kind of improved my opinion on the trajectory of the story though. Instead of them just continuing to have sex and falling in love, she’s cautious and thinks through her decisions. She proposes they get to know each other before having sex again and he respects her decision. Gave them time to build their relationship outside of sex.
"Though they’d already slept together, he knew the bond had sort of forced the issue because of the intense desire which it brought. She seemed to want to back up and take things slower. He would try to honor that, at least for a while”
(chapter 5)
📓 the complete emotional 180 by Ivander doesn’t sense. When reading from his perspective, he’s very condescending, seeing the bond as a burden more than anything. (The image of a person brushing a speck of dust off their suit comes to mind when I think of him) But then he turns into this thoughtful and considerate person that just don’t make sense.
If it was just that he seemed outwardly cold but was actually unsure how to react, that would make more sense. This sentence just proves that it was a persona:
"He reined in his usual cynicism and disdain for most things not his family or his immediate clan. With Riley, he found it easy; Kaiden was another matter, though he bore no real grudge against Ashlee.”
(chapter 3)
📓 questionable action by Ivander. He hires a private investigator to gather information about Riley once he sees her for the first time and recognises her as his potential bondmate.
📓 quite a lot of highlighting how different he’s acting and feeling around Riley compared to other women. This change of behaviour is very much written as due to the bond to which he had conflicting feelings about and says:
"He wasn’t sure if he liked that change, but he was smart enough to know he shouldn’t hinder it.”
(chapter 3)
📓 he reveals his true identity as a faerin very late in the book (82%). He starts out wanting to make sure he liked her enough that when he revealed his identity, she wouldn’t be scared off but it doesn’t change the fact that he had lied to her for the majority of their relationship.
📓 In chapter 8, from Ivander’s POV, they begin talking about the Erian exiles/greykindred which is very sudden, never talked about again and felt irrelevant to the plot. I’m guessing this is a crossover hint at the author’s other books which is kind of cool though the author kind of lost me when they began talking about it.
📓 would have liked more setting descriptions to get a more immersive read and also just for the vibes.
[ CONCLUSION ]————————
a nice, light romance and a quick read. If you’re looking for fated mates with insta-lust/connection in a contemporary setting, then you’ll probably like this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews