Synopsis
A queen turned mercenary. A long-lost love. An ancient evil reborn.
With her home kingdom destroyed and her family considered dead, Aelia Springborn makes a living, using her abilities to break minds for anyone with enough coin. Content to live a life in the shadows, her world is turned upside down when her former lover, Caiden Stormweaver, tracks her down at the edge of the world with a proposition she can’t refuse…. help him thwart her former husband, King Gideon, from obtaining the deadly army of the Alder King.
With a chasm of hurt between them, the pair strikes a deal; once their mission is complete, Aelia will wipe his memories of their relationship, releasing them both from their tumultuous past.
Bound by magic and aided by friends, Caiden and Aelia set off on a journey to save the continent from ultimate destruction. However, as their mission progresses, Aelia and Caiden find themselves reigniting the flames of their past.
But in Moriana, breaking a bargain is deadly.
Things become even more complicated when Aelia meets Tharan Greenblade, a charming playboy whom she cannot help but fall for. With the threads of their fates entwining, the trio will be forced into a high-stakes game that will test their loyalties and raise the dead.
My Rating: ✰✰✰.5
Where to Buy: Amazon
Release Date: September 17, 2024
It’s been about a week since the book was released and I needed to take time to get my thoughts together officially. I want to say thank you to the author, K.W. Foster, for allowing me to read and give an honest review.
I did like the book, it had the potential to be a great fantasy romance book and I would like to be able to read the next one since I am intrigued with how the ending of the book was and will happen next. The tropes of the book: are lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers again, he falls first, love triangles, and a few others. I was so excited to read it and honestly, I had to put it down (my phone) multiple times.
The world-building threw me off. There wasn’t a map in the book, but it was on the author’s website, which I found out about after reading the book. I’m a little nit-picky when it comes to fantasy and I guess I expected the map to be in the book, but hopefully, for the next book there will be one.
The species that were in the book were confusing. There were mermaids, elves, humans, and vampires that were named sylph I believe from what the description stated. I felt very overwhelmed while reading and just didn’t understand how the magic system worked. I also wanted to know how the different kingdoms and courts work. I honestly couldn’t keep any of them straight. I also wanted to know if there was an emperor since it's an empire named Moriana, but then I got to thinking there doesn’t have to be an emperor for an empire so then what kingdom makes the rules?
The characters. I didn’t feel connected to them at all. The main character, Aelia, she’s 30 years old as a human who is a telepath and a Princess from a kingdom, we don’t get to know any information about. She gets married off to King Gideon and after being Queen for 6 years, her new title is “The Traitor Queen.” We never get to see what Aelia did to become the Traitor Queen and I wish we got to see that. Aelia doesn’t act like she’s 30, she acts like she’s in her teens to early twenties. She felt immature. Aelia’s love interests Caiden and Tharan were okay. I liked Tharan more than Caiden to be honest, he felt more mature for the age of being hundreds of years old. Caiden, honestly felt plain only because there wasn’t any backstory for him. Tharan, there was dialogue when he and Aelia are talking, there was some description of what his life was like. I wanted to get to see how Aelia and Caiden got together and see their love story and then I think I would feel connected to them, there were other characters and it was mostly Caiden’s crew. I didn’t feel connected to them either.
This book felt like it was the second book in the series, not the first. I think K.W. Foster should improve on the world-building, magic system, and characters. The plot is promising, she has a good idea and I hope she expands on that. The book is fast-paced which I did like and I liked the action scenes, they were fun and exciting, so she has a good thing going.
Side Note: The author had dual POVs in the book, but when we were in Caiden’s and Tharan’s POV, it was in the third person instead of first like in Aelia’s chapters, I would like to know why the author chose that patch for the series. Triggers are warning: Violence, Drug Addiction, PTSD, Suicide, and Open Door Sex Scenes.
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