Thank you to Ever King for the ARC! As always all opinions are my own.
RELEASE DATE: January 26th, 2026
Oh I’ve missed this world so much! I’ve ARC read for the first two as well, and I dont know how i would have waited for this to come out because the plot, the world, the characters?
I’ve not read before this way of splitting an overarching fantasy plot over several couples and interweaving them so much outside of contempory but it works so well – I NEED Tobias and Octavia’s book now! But I also cant wait for Kaspians, and I KNOW Edmund and Liliths is going to be so good so honestly I’m just waiting with baited breath for the next announcement of the new love story I’m going to be getting!
Each of the stories have felt so different, despite sharing the dark academia background, and while book two is still my favourite (Lila and Bastian are perfection!) this one takes us into the world of the witches, which i suspect we are going to see more of in liliths book too!
World – 4/5 – I love the little Greek myth references and wordbuilding details so much!
Romance – 4/5 – it’s not my favourite combination of tropes but the chemistry between them was amazing and I loved when she met his family! If this had been longer I think I would have loved them more because I would have seen more of their relationship.
Characters – 4/5 – I love it when all the characters are going to have their own books because it means we get a really complex cast and well I’ve already said in the main review how much I want the next love stories!
Plot – 3.5/5 – the plot wasn’t quite as strong in this one as the first two, I think it was more of a development of Kiara, Lila and Bellatrix interacting as Starcrossed Warriors than the dark twisty plots we’ve seen in the previous two books!
Romance Rating: Explicit – 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️ multiple sex scenes throughout, they are spicy and a little step further than vanilla so it definitely has ratcheted up several notches from the closed door first one.
Violence Rating: Level 4
Content Warnings: sexual assault/physical assault by a previous boyfriend
Perfection. This is funny but also deep, this is complex but always understandable and fast paced, this is the dragons golden egg of fantasy and i adored it!
To begin with we have this really interesting set up where Evie is the assistant to the villain and the villain is essentially a corporation except his company goals are less revenue and more heads dangling from the ceiling in the foyer. It’s such a breath of fresh air to read a fantasy book that doesn’t center around being a hero, Evie is a willing assaceory to a villain but she is doing it because she needs the money which is such a good villain arc motivator. The question isnt asked directly in the book but i really do think that some amazing analysis could be done of this book connecting with the real world and the realties of supporting evil for money if you work in a big corporation despite doing it for good reasons. I really love how this book isnt just a boss/assistant romance set in a shifty fantasy steryotypical world this is thought through and actually works on a deeper level than just you know that the steryotypical pseudo European fantasy world looks like despite having relatively few settings outside the Villains office.
Evie herself is a ray of sunshine and i loved her. In a world of kick ass FMCs who sass back constantly and have the maturity of a unripe tomato she was so nice to read about because she was sensible and funny and interesting as a character beyond the plot. All of the characters (Kingsley included you little adorable frog prince!) were so interesting and easy to grasp i feel like i could fall right into their world.
The romance had me giggling and it was just so so good that I already have the second book that i cant wait to get started on!
World – 4.5/5 – this is not the heavy duty epic fantasy worldbuilding but i loved the world and atmosphere so much I cannot dock points because this is a five star read and I don’t always need to be able to write a disatation on economics of a fantasy world after reading it!
Characters – 5/5 – yes, yes yes! Even the office rulemaker has depth and i loved it.
Romance – 5/5 – trystan has joined the list of February’s literary valentines and he works so well with Evie their combo is *chefs kiss*
Plot – 5/5 – that cliff hanger? I’m sorry but when did i sign up to have the next week exclusively blocked off for aprentice and acomplicing a villain??
Romance Rating: Sweet – described kissing, make out scenes but goes no further than kissing on or off page.
Violence Rating: Level 4
Content Warnings: Evie does have a past of sexual harassment at work
I wanted a fun light rom-com read and this was not it at all. If this had been the beginning of a revenge arc or a thriller then I would have kept reading but as a rom-com it was awful.
Let me begin with the three main issues
the romantic lead was the most toxic man to ever be put to a rom-com page
Her friends were awful and from the blurb i know it gets worse
The main character had a smoke wisp of a spine and i have no words for how annoying it was to read.
Jay is the biggest red flag of this book which made me DNF it because honestly if she dates him she’s going to end up on an episode of Dateline. The first time they meet he starts of by insulting her on what she is wearing while ogling her (which falls also into section two on the friends are the worst breakdown and then THREATENS TO DROP HER OFF A CLIFF IF SHE DOESNT ADMITT SHES AFRAID OF HEIGHTS! Wtf is wrong with this boy? She is terrified, and he holds her out over the edge of that cliff for several lines of dialogue – it’s not banter it’s the beginning of a trauma dump therapy session or it should be. This should be the end of it – right?
No, no, no this isnt even the start. He comes to the place she works at and antagonises her, admitting that he looked up her skirt when she was on the edge of the cliff and starts asking about her underwear (not the only time either and I dnf’d early from this car wreck). I think this was supposed to be banter, he’s a creep and she’s uncomfortable.
Then THEN! they end up on a blind date (again which needs to fall into section 2 as well) and he asks about the underwear again – seriously why is this supposed to be attractive, this is a first date you weirdo and you literally have been antagonising (and threatening to drop her of a cliff in a mini dress and stilettos). When she texts her friend the exit word – the phrase itself needs to be noted down as a horrible idea “i have a hairy possum” this text accidentally goes through to him (I HATE that accidental text thing, do all female main characters have three thumbs and no names on their phone screens?) and he takes it as a sexual innuendo (because of course he does) and teases her about it at which point I DNF’D and I’m running because I’m not going to stick around for this car wreck, i don’t have enough five stars under my belt to follow this one sink into the negative stars.
Then the friends. Oh boy where do i start? To begin with, they all treat her like she’s pathetic because she’s single and the other two girls in her friend group are paired of. However, her ‘best friend’ is dating the boy she has liked for years whom she KNEW the MC liked, and dated him behind her back. This wasn’t enough for a blow up, no, the mc just held her tongue and DROVE THEM TO A PARTY MONTHS LATER LIKE NOTHING HAD HAPPENED WHILE THEY MADE OUT IN THE BACK.
Of course, Khalei’s boyfriend Emmett is gorgeous and perfect and the one who is trying to include Catrina (our very unfortunate mc in this friend group who should be applying to a university in Australia to get away from these people but instead is staying in Carolina *silent scream of frustration before i close these very long parentheses brackets*). They are doing all these couple activities, and she’s the fifth wheel all the time (because she has had horrifically humiliating failures at dating and so doesn’t want to try again oh and did i mention she’s in love with the boy her darling pyschopath oblivious or perhaps sociopathic best friend is DATING.
To recap, her best friend (imagine the finger quotes here) is dating the boy she has liked for years and her best friend knows and is doing this anyway, they are rubbing her singleness publically in her face, saying she has to get a boyfriend that fits with the group so that they’re not sad and pathetic at prom because Khalei is running for prom queen and a prom queens friend cant be sad and single! (Insert a jab about her talking about colour theory too much because she’s an artist – dear god I’ve read about bullies that pulled their punches less than this, its like a dissertation in how to be spineless and be bullied by your friends), and Emi is playing these weird power games with the rest of them telling them the wrong things to wear so that they turn up at the said party in mini dresses instead of bikinis and not letting them know they are going CLIFF DIVING (sixty feet up!) when one of her friends cant swim and the other one is scared of heights like um what the ——?
The main character would have been relatable but she was such a victim and i need her to run not walk away. She had some spunk when she was fighting back against Pink Shorts but she was a complete floppy spine with her friends. I feel really sorry for her but I’m not staying to see her end up in an abusive relationship so no.
One review said they were DNF’ing because they’re a Christian I’m dnfing because I’m a feminist. My hopes are at the bottom of Jay’s cliff and I hate him so much.
Welcome back to another mini mention for those books that dont quite have enough to chat about that i can write a long usual blog post on them but still deserve a little bit of a spotlight and i want to share the violence and spice ratings for!
The Royal Runaway by Kate O Keefe
This is a fun quick romcom and the main thing i loved was that they both were keeping their identity from each other. It’s not the best place to start a relationship but that they were both doing it made it feel a lot less toxic than some hidden identity romances. I loved all the rules that structured the beginning of the book and the way they slowly dispersed as Amelia gained more confidence. There was an interesting twist at the end which i knew must be coming because there were little odd clues but it was still a little bit of a surprise.
Romance Rating: Soft – just kisses, little to no detail.
Violence Rating: Level 1 – this is a ‘clean’ romance it doesn’t have any violence in it.
This is where I have all my little mini reviews (that you can also find on Fable, StoryGraph and Goodreads, although Fable is my primary short form reviewing platform) for books that were three stars or under and so I’m not going to write a whole blog post for but still want to give you my thoughts and the violence/spice ratings for them!
Royally Off Limits by Kate O Keeffe
This is the fourth book in this series, and it held up to the fun romcom expectations I had for it. This one is I think my favourite of the series so far – Max and Valentina had this amazing tension and chemistry and I always love a good secret identity/backstory. We alternate povs throughout book and overall it was a solid fun rom-com. It didn’t rock my world but it comfortably sat within it and I enjoyed the ride. My favourite part was when Max and Valentina were still in the interview phase, i would have loved more scenes of them interacting like they did at the archery range. Overall if you want a quick light rom-com this is the one to read and it’s a great series to binge over the holidays. I will say that that terse vibe between them in the beginning is perfection though and I really enjoyed it.
Romance Rating: Soft – kissing, little to no description. Violence Level – Level 1 – it’s a romcom we don’t have any violence in it. Content Warnings: none.
This is the place where I mention all the reads that dont quite merit a full review because they are under four stars, but I also have things to say so I can let you know what content is in them (if i finished them or not, i do include DNFs if i read over half way because that has wasted enough of my time that i can have opinions).
I’ve had this book on my TBR for a while and when i saw it came onto Kindle Unlimited i thought why not I’m in the mood for a calm predictable romance. This didnt surprise me, it was exactly what i thought it would be, but i enjoyed it. I felt like the main character was the saving grace of this book, she was interesting and flawed enough to make me continue but I struggled with the chemistry between the characters. I felt like Levi was so perfect that he wasn’t almost real and this may just have been because we were seeing him through Daisy’s eyes whom was head over heels in love with him but i really just thought the romance was underdeveloped. They had this epic love story on paper, but what it really was was a not quite unrequited love from high school and a random meet up that threw them together. This would work as a hallmark romance big city story but i just struggled with the lack of depth anywhere except in Daisy/Dani’s personal journey.
Romance Rating: Sweet – we get a few described kisses, but they are in very little detail.
Violence Rating: this is a tricky one to rate because Daisy is assaulted in the book, she gets away before he can do more than touch her leg but it still raises this quite a lot from a level one. I’m going to put this at a level two because there is no other violence in the whole book at all, and so a level four doesn’t fit it either.
Content Warnings:body dysphoria (experienced by the main character but not named), sexual assault on the main character (she gets away after he touches her leg and tries to pyschologically abuse her into thinking her only chance at success is if he helps her but it is still a significant plot point which was unusually violent in a otherwise calm novel), parental death of a father from cancer
Pub Date: 12th of February, 2026 Publisher: Avon Genre: Cosy Fantasy, Romance Age Category: Adult
I have loved every page of the previous two books and so this one was a no brainer for me instant ARC request and first on my reading list once it was approved. This was extraordinarily good as all of her books are and once again it proves that romance books can be five stars for me just as much as epic fantasy and historical fantasy because honestly it was like she had read my mind and written the perfect book. Let me dive into it.
To begin with Emmeline and Luke have this raw chemistry that is so present in every line and gesture towards each other. It means that even something as simple as handing her a thermos of tea has so much emotional charge and feeling behind it and the whole book was devoured by me in one sitting because I couldn’t go to sleep before I had inhaled every word of this gorgeous gorgeous book.
Their history and rivalry is offset against moments where they genuinely connect and we get this slow growth throughout the book towards each other which is so beautiful to see. Often with enemies to lovers or rivals to lovers which this is, they go from rivals to lovers, its instant and overnight and usually just because they find the other physically attractive. However the way this is crafted makes it a love story that will last not just a lust story that will fizzle out when the pages close like a lot of romance books I read and yes. Just read it. This book is everything that the romance genre should be and it swirls in some gorgeously humerous baby dragon moments too (and also a few references back to the last couples if you’ve read the first two books!)
The character of Emmeline is eldest daughter incarnate, and I love that it isnt hammered home that point but slowly shown and developed through her actions. I may have got a tear in my eye when Luke noticed her efforts and helped her – okay I definitely did – because everything about this book was emotionally perfect and romantic and yet somehow builds upon the world that was established in the first two books. I loved seeing the Chimeras side of the valley and I’ve just got all my fingers and toes crossed that we get another book because this is AMAZING!
World – 5/5 – is it a hardcore epic world no but is it perfect and settled and everything that I need to to be yes.
Characters – 5/5 – literal perfection. I’m going to create a list of the top books I’ve read this year and this is going to be on it because PERFECTION!
Romance – 100000/5 – it’s so good that I cant describe it in any other way than perfectly imperfect and swoony!
Plot – 4.5/5 – I knew what was going to happen, it’s a romance book, they follow a three act structure but the way it happened? The way it was developed? If tropes were always represented like this I wouldn’t get bored of them!
Romance Rating: Suggestive Swoony B – we get some steamy making out and a very slow fade to black/less than a page sex scene with euphemistic language.
Violence Rating: Level 1 – its romance.
Content Warnings: mention of a girl getting her drink spiked at a party years ago and what could have happened if she hadnt been found in time. The man who drugged her drink interacts with some of the characters at one point but no justice is found.
To begin with why is this not more famous than the inheritance games? This book is flawless, and honestly? It deserves the title of the best of series ten times over because what do you mean I was absorbed and obsessed from page one?
Okay so the premise surrounds the FBI and serial killers – the FBI are secretly using children with almost supernatural abilities to track down serial killers and our main character has just been recruited.
To begin with, the way that Jennifer writes the serial killers perspective is just so so stunning and dark, and I absolutely adore that it really shows how psychological it is to have to figure out a serial killers motive. There is this undercurrent throughout that the only way they can figure out the serial killers is because they are one push away from becoming them themselves which is just perfection and I adore a good moral edge.
This is much darker than the Inheritance Games and her debutante series because it focuses on the worse of murders and also abusive households. All of the children in the program come from extremely abusive homes because that is the reason they have developed these abilities – to read emotions, to understand patterns and numbers, to tell when someone is lying perfectly even on paper, to be able to lie over and over and get away with it.
World – 5/5 – dark, gritty, perfection.
Romance – Soft – 5/5 – we have a love triangle emerging but unusually I actually get both the men’s appeal so I’m loving that!
Plot – 5/5 – I was shook by the end! It was so good and so out of no where that honestly you just need to read it!
Characters – 10000/5 – yes. Just yes they are so complex and difficult and I want a spin off from all of their POVS!
Romance Rating: Soft – kisses, low description, no making out.
This was a fun enemies to lovers rom com that I breezed through quickly. It’s light and fun and hits lots of the iconic rom-com moments from movies that Liz loves so much. For me personally I found it a little too surface level, unlike Betting on You the characters didn’t have the same chemistry and tension. This feels younger than Betting on You, (which I loved) which I think is what threw me off. This feels very much younger YA compared to Betting on You and I think that if I had read this one earlier I may have enjoyed it more.
There were just too many things that annoyed me with this book. I felt like Liz changed herself massively for Wes, and in pursuit of the other guy, which I always hate. This was published in the 2020s, we should be over the Girl Changes Herself trope, yet that was a huge part of this book and yet nobody questioned it? Wes was just happy to change her from the ‘odd’ outfits she wore before and enjoyed shopping with her? I think this was supposed to be a cute moment but no. Just no.
I also hated that the childhood friends-to-lovers i was promised was more bullies to lovers. Wes and Liz’s prank war could have been fun if it was in good humour, but Liz wasn’t enjoying it and he was escalating the pranks to a ridiculous degree like duct taping up her car so she couldn’t get to school. It just did not hit well at all, and I am not going to read the sequel because what was this?
If you want to read Lynn Painter I would recommend Betting on You more because it just hit so much harder for me and the romance was sizzling off the pages even when nothing romantic was happening!
Romance – Sweet – 1/5 – its a no from me.
World – 3/5 – its our world but very high school rom-com energy.
Characters – 4/5
Plot – 3/5 – it does what every rom-com plot should, and I cant complain of anything but there just wasn’t anything that really reached out to me and stood out from the other rom-coms I’ve read.
Content Warnings: mothers death, several years prior.
Romance Rating: Sweet – kisses, some making out but nothing close to any doors closed or otherwise.
Let me just say I loved that she made the prince a pirate! It changes the entire dynamic, making them at sea (a place where Celeste the little mermaid) is comfortable and experienced as well as adding extra to the tensions between the two kingdoms! I have read a lot of Little Mermaid retellings that don’t make sufficient changes from the original fairytale that the plot is still entertaining to follow but the reveal at the end (even though there were clues!) I was still surprised by.
I also really liked that Celeste was able to speak and just didn’t because she knew her accent would stand out.
World – 3.5/5 – I mentioned that it was at sea, we get to see a little bit of the palace as well as generally her on the ship and then on the land for a brief amount of time. There isn’t much word building, the focus is Celeste and her personal relationships.
Romance – 4/5 – It was predictable, after all one of the major points of the Little Mermaid is that she falls in love with the prince, but I still liked the journey to get there and Raiden himself was interesting and I would have liked more development of his morals and character.
Plot – 3.5/5 – there was a twist at the end, but the rest of the plot stayed smooth and predictable. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, one of the things of retellings is we know the plot but it’s the journey to get there!
Characters – 3.5/5 – Mauve the Cecaelia was actually my favourite despite her limited page time because she had the interesting position of agreeing with the siren properganda/beliefs but also being friends with someone who is muddying up the waters (sort-of-pun intended!).
Damsel Reader Recommendation: 13+, for lovers of fairytale retellings!
Violence Rating: Level 3
Romance Rating: Sweet
Content Warnings: she is stripped at one point, I was worried it would lean into SA but it balanced on the edge.
Damsel in Delight 