Tag Archives: fantasy romance

the shepherd king duology

Book Review: Shepherd King Duology, by Rachel Gillig

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I was given a paperback copy of Rachel Gillig‘s One Dark Window and then purchased a copy of the sequel Two Twisted Crowns.
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Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

my review

I very much enjoyed this series, the second book slightly more than the first. The villains are a bit cliched, and the focus remains closely focused on the main characters, such that there is little sense of the rest of the people in the world. But the main characters are all interesting and engaging in their own way. I adored Nightmare and his genuine affection for Elspeth, but honestly, they all have qualities I appreciated (not least of which was the genuine familial love on display). The magic of the world is really interesting, the writing is easy to read, and the conclusion is satisfying. I’ll pick up another Gillig book, happily.

the shepherd king duology

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Series Review: The Shepherd King

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Book Review: The Pale Court Duet, by Liv Zander

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I picked up a copy of Liv Zander’s King of Flesh & Bone as an Amazon freebie and then purchased Queen of Rot & Pain.

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Worse than a ruthless king… is a king obsessed.

Isolation, darkness, and rotting flesh,
Surrounds me, suffocates me,
But I am the vile ruler who controls it all.

I long for warmth,
Yet, all that I touch,
Is cold.

Then, she stumbles into my domain,
Lost and frightened,
Alone and confused.

And I terrify her even more.

She calls me the devil,
So I show her pleasure,
Like only the devil can.

I am the heat that stirs her flesh,
The longing that trembles her bone.

She begs her body to refuse,
To escape my embrace,
But I am her master,
The puppeteer of passion.
I am the King of Flesh and Bone.

Welcome to my court, little one.

My Reviews

King of Flesh and Bone:
I went into this one knowing it’s a dark romance, so I won’t do anything more than warn readers to check their triggers. The whole first half (more, really) is full-on non-con—not dub-con dressed up as non-con, but full-on non-consensual in every way. It’s not gratuitous, but it is what it is.

Having said all of that, once the relationship moved past that (which it does quite abruptly), I enjoyed the last half enough to purchase book two. I’ll grant that there really isn’t anything new and exciting. If you read any number of darkish romances, you’ll likely be able to predict the plot points. He’s not likable on the outside, but his internal monologue is. She has a backbone and seems bright enough, but I don’t feel like we got to really see her as much more than a victim until toward the end. Then the whole thing ended on a cliffhanger in the middle of what I would have otherwise called the third-act breakup.

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Queen of Rot & Pain:

Well, I dragged myself through to the end of the series. I accepted, during book one, that rapey is the name of the game. It’s non-con-central over there. But by the end, you get a sense of Ada as a woman, respectably clawing out some agency in a bad situation, and Enosh starts to show his soft underbelly. (He really wants to be a sweet, loving guy.) So, when the book ended on a cliffhanger, I decided to continue to the end. Unfortunately, there’s the big misunderstanding trope, and Enosh goes right back to rapey, but this time, angry rapey. I mean, it’s a dark romance. It’s not like I’m on some high horse about this. It just got redundant and harder and harder to root for the characters. By the end I was kind of just shrugging at it all. it’s an entertaining enough read, but I’m kinda happy to be done with it, too.

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Recent Reads Reviews 📚 King of Flesh and Bone & Queen of Rot and Pain

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Book Review: Valkyrie Bestiary series, by Kim McDougall

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I listened to the first book in Kim McDougall‘s Valkyrie Bestiary series in 2021. This year, I decided to finish the series. But I didn’t remember much from Dragons Don’t Eat Meat, so I went back and reread it, then finished the series (including the bonus novella, Thorn of Vioska).

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The Flood Wars have come and gone, leaving a world at the mercy of magic. Kyra Greene is an exiled Valkyrie who finds her place in Montreal Ward as a pest controller of extraordinary creatures. She already has an apartment full of rescues, including a basilisk who thinks he’s a turkey, a banshee nanny, and a pygmy kraken. She might take care of them, but they also fill her need for family. And when that family is threatened, she’ll risk everything to save them.

my review

This was a 10-book binge. I wrote individual reviews for the first couple of books and then decided to simply review the series as a single whole. What do you say about book 7, after all, that hasn’t been said already?

I read 10 books; I obviously enjoyed the series. I also thought it got stronger as it went along. Kyra was an engaging, loyal main character with realistic flaws that meant she didn’t feel like a Mary Sue. The romance was secondary to the plot but contributed a lot to the story. Though I never felt I knew Mason well, I liked him and thought he was a good match for Kyra. There were interesting side characters and tons of cute critters. I’d probably keep going if there were more books. As it is, I’ll just have to try some of McDougall’s (or her alternative pen name, Eliza Crowe’s) series.

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