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Romance-wise I quite like this one. I like the hesitancy, the chemistry and the main characters too. But… again… for the third book now… why do we need to separate the main characters all the time? This time it makes sense in terms of plot and storyline so I can’t complain, but at this point it’s repetitive and I don’t understand why the MCs can’t have a complete journey together just once…

This book is definitely fast-paced and action-filled so far, however, I just feel like the romance is still very surface level. Yes, we read about all the touches and their eyes meeting and lingering, but I don’t feel the depth yet. Maybe it will come later, but so far the way they are getting to know each other and the way their feelings are growing are lacking depth for me.

At this point this series should be called the Separated Fae series not the Cursed Fae series. These love interests are always separated and spend almost half the books apart. Like what’s the point of the romance then? To rush through it? Feels like it.

Bur at least this had a faster start. That’s something…

I need more time to process this book. It wasn't bad but I also did not like it much. I feel that both the first and the second book are quite surface level and shallow. There's so much that could be explored but we are just passing through the stories. Sure, they are fast paced, but at the expense of the romance and the plot. To be fair, rather than fast paced, it feels rushed and lacking.

Call me a terrible person, but the brothers and Dawn disappointed me. To not spoil who did what and why, the lack of effort and minimal help is a joke.

SPOILER! SPOILER!
SPOILER BELOW!

As for the pregnancy plotline… are we really more worried about a four weeks old clump of cell than our family potentially being hurt, t0rtured and unlived, leaving a friend to fend for themselves and letting a city be overtaken?

So this book separates the couple as well. I don’t get the need for this. Can’t they have a personal journey together? Can’t they develop together? Where is the support for each other that shows that personal character development and journey can happen together not just separately? Can’t characters grow together and find themselves together anymore?

Will this girl ever get to Ethereum? This is a novella within an interconnected series, not a four book series. I understand we needed to see the training but can the story develop finally? I mean things happen to Aribella, but I just want the action to start. Besides, the princesses are not even prepared, so it would have been fun to see one of them being dropped into the middle of this mess in Ethereum.

Oh and the lack of romance. It was lacking for a rather large part of the book. And it was advertised as romantasy so the characters shouldn’t be apart for 1/3 of the book especially in such a short novella.

Overall, it wasn’t a bad book, I liked the MCs, the chemistry and the banter, but the illogical parts, the separation, the lack of romance just didn’t make it exciting. I’d say it was averagely good.

Also I dislike when sthg is illogical and maybe my brain is working differently, but the whole “Let’s not tell Stryker” plot felt forced. Whether they tell him, Arabella could be in danger. Besides, as a ruler he has a right to know what’s happening to his kingdom. So if this plotline happened because the MCs were illogical (not flawed) then it is weak, if it was to build for book 2 then it’s illogical

However, I do not see the reason for separating the MCs for 1/3 of the book. If it was to have a personal journey, sure, I guess but it wasn’t as relevant for Dawn’s path for me to think of it as a personal journey and if it was to have more side-characters, that could have been done with the MCs still being in the same scenes. Maybe I’m picky, but this move took away rather than added to the story for me.

Hmm… I still stand by the fact that I like Leia Stone’s writing style and since I didn’t feel much difference from her other books, I’m assuming Julie Hall has a very similar writing style as they co-wrote this series. I also liked the MCs and the banter between them, they had really good chemistry and entertaining interactions.

I’m not sure if it was the author’s choice to build anticipation or if the characters were just illogical, but this part doesn’t make sense. Especially because as broken as Stryker might be, he is a ruler who prioritises his people. The Wise Ones specifically said that both kingdoms need to heal. I don’t like when MCs are illogical for the sake of the story or when anticipation is built on sthg illogical.

The logic is not logic’ing. Not to be annoying, but they didn’t tell Stryker about the Fall princess because if he knew he might look for her and unalive her. But they knew that even if he didn’t know he might unalive her if she appeared. With all due respect, poor princess will be in danger either way. Stryker has the right to know if the outcome is the same either way.

I am happy that the MCs’ paths finally crossed again, but why did it take 86 pages? That’s almost 1/3 of the book. Secondly, I am all about romance and love, I’m a hopeless romantic, but my god… did they just drop the “M” word before they even said the “L” word? I get it, fate and all, but they are going at a very fast pace when they don’t even know anything about each other. Maybe I’m a sceptic.

Like what’s the point of building up the beginning of a romance plot when the characters are separated for half the book? Like Dawn is going through all these adventures, I get it, it’s her journey, but I wish there was more romance since this was advertised as romantasy. At best this is romantic fantasy not romantasy aka fantasy romance. The characters don’t even appear in the same scene for half the book.

It’s been 70 pages since the main characters aka the love interests have been separated. This is a short novella, only 280+ pages. I feel like this is too long for the main characters to be separated in such a short book. Especially because they weren’t even together for the first 20 pages either and it seems they won’t be together in the same scene for who knows how many more pages.

Come on! What sort of a silent assass!n leaps on the bed of someone they want to unalive when for the last few pages they have been tiptoeing around the place even taking their boots off? This was so unreasonable for someone so well trained. Maybe I am overreacting but… really? Really? Was that the best option?

I absolutely adore the banter and the flirty comments. Zander is entertaining, cheeky and intriguing and Dawn is a firecracker, both funny, grumpy and playful. I definitely enjoy their dynamic.

Lmao, these hand-cuffs are funny. Zander is a cheeky b@stard and he enjoys their situation way too much and Dawn is a little angry bird which I can relate to. I’m enjoying the book so far.

I liked Leia Stone’s writing in the Kings of Avaliar stand-alone series, however, the interconnection of the books took away from the couples as we headed towards the end of the series and overpowered the romance and the characters’ individual plot.

I’m hoping now that she writes with Julie Hall, this won’t be an issue as two authors construct plots differently than how one would.

Overall, it was entertaining read with a fun storyline and an interesting character/ relationship dynamic where the FMC was more dominant and the MMC was more submissive. However, something was missing for me and I can not pinpoint what it was. Which is why it only got a lower 4-star rating.

Ps. Thank god we will get a Rafaela book. I am now absolutely curious.

I enjoyed this book, Aithar was an absolute sweetheart and Michaela was likeable, but for some reason in the 2nd half of the book I couldn’t connect with the FMC which is funny because as a control freak I should have. I just felt sorry for Aithar and hoped for Michaela to just… I don’t even know what I hoped for. Sthg to happen, I guess, for her to be more involved emotionally? Search for her sister?

I absolutely adore Aithar. His innocence and naivety is just adorable with how much love he has to give away. He is an absolute sweetheart. Michaela is a strong woman and I absolutely understand why she is hesitant with Aithar, but I hope she gives in soon because I hate how undeserving of love Aithar thinks he is. It breaks my heart.

Poor Aithar. I get Michaela’s response but I feel so sorry for Aithar. He just wants to love and be loved 🥺

The story was entertaining, the characters were funny and unhinged, and I liked the romance. The writing style was also easy and had a good balance of showing and telling. However, I expected more action. There was some action because of the characters’s professions and the plot, however, I felt that it wasn’t enough. I would have liked to see more. Overall, it wasn’t a masterpiece but it was a fun, short read.

Do I like how unhinged the characters are? Sure. Do I like the romance side of the story? Yes. But I expected more action. I mean the MMC is a hitman and the FMC is an explosives expert. Instead, there is barely any action. I understand it will happen soon because of the plot, but still, I expected and would have liked to see more action because of their profession.

Even though it is a short story and fast paced, and the characters had a sort of insta-lust which I don’t consider insta-lust because they had an unusual history, somehow it feels like the story has a natural progression.

I can’t deal with this book 😅
“Someone’s been looking into you again. […]”
“[…] The woman I’m going to marry is just checking up on me.”
“You’re marrying this woman who’s been st@lking you?”
“I’m st@lking her too. And yeah. […] So now we’re into the first real stages of f0replay.”

“There is something seriously wrong with you!”
“I know. My dad tells me that all the time.”
“You have a dad?”
“Well I wasn’t spawned.”
Lmao, I like Theo, but then both him and Elliana are weird… weirdly funny.

And Jed’s relationship with his brother and his sister in law… like he went to see them, their relationship was a big part of his storyline but the author didn’t think those scenes were important enough to show? It was literally shut down, not even sorted, with one paragraph. And his relationship with his parents? It was a big part of his story as well and it got completely ignored.

This story was so rushed.