3/5

For fans of: Vampires, NA fantasy, fantasy romance, enemies-to-lovers, arranged marriage, spicy books, smutty books

Synopsis: To save her people from bloodshed, Isolde of Lara agrees to marry the ruthless and mysterious King of Battle and Blood, the vampire Adrian. To save all the land, she vows to kill her betrothed, but something dark and passionate stills her hand. Can she find a way as a mortal to rule as queen in his vulgar court or will he lose control and turn her into a monster?

Review: Booktok and Bookstagram really sold this story to me. It checks off so many boxes in my favourite tropes list. For about 80% of the book, I was hooked. There really is nothing new in this story. The world building, conflict, magical system, all of that is familiar, which is fine. I went into the story looking for comforting familiarity.

Isolde quickly became one of my favourite heroines. She is smart, loyal to her people, a warrior first, she knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. She also suffers no fools, especially the foolish men around her who think they can boss her around or the women around her who think they know better than she does. She is quick-witted, knows her way around court politics, and can defend herself no problem. Adrian has been compared to many hot, ancient, powerful, fantasy males and the comparison is apt. He is hot and ancient with godlike power, but is wrapped around Isolde’s little finger. Why, you may ask, is the big question. The big obvious question. The big, obvious, in literally everyone’s face and boy don’t you forget it question.

Which brings me to what didn’t agree with me. Things got a bit repetitive about halfway through the story, Even the smut got a tad repetitive and I am someone who doesn’t mind a healthy amount in a fantasy romance. But honestly, I feel for whichever lady-in-waiting had to wash Isolde’s underthings because she is soaked literally every single page. That cannot be comfortable. But what really didn’t work for me was the last 100 or so pages. The whole plot, characterization, and big reveal just all fell apart. It definitely felt rushed with a concept that was sloppily foreshadowed throughout the books yet almost feels like a deus ex machina in its use. The actions of several characters at the end made absolutely no sense. The conclusion was purely unsatisfying. There are some great ideas in this book and the characters are great, but after a slow build up throughout the book, the end just fell flat. I will not be finishing this series.