Curse of Shadows and Thorns: A Dark Fantasy Romance (The Broken Kingdoms Book 1)

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There was a bit of court intrigue, but to be honest, I had a hard time feeling engaged with the plot and staying interested in the characters.

There were also a couple repetitive plot points (example: the Agitators rising up and getting quelled, rising up and getting quelled…), and the characters just weren’t deep enough for me to really feel connected to them. I think how they tied the blood wraith into who Legion Gray was and how he was and how he is actually valid the last nightprints really sets up the rest of the series and how Ari it comes in to play for the next book. Elise was a fun character to read about; I admired her independence and sense of duty to protect her loved ones. At the end of the book we find the FMC and the MMC separated but you understand why even though the decisions might not be the best You can understand why they're in place and why they happened. Whist at times it’s pretty easy to read and flows naturally, there are words and aspects thrown in that seem to have been taken from the Victorian Era that are not as commonly used.This only really seems to have happened to introduce Legion/Valen and to set her up as rebellious, which for the rest of the book means… she doesn’t think black people should be slaves. This seems somewhat at odds with the surface level messages on race and slavery presented by the book (i. I am glad that she decided not to voice Legion and Casteel similarly to keep some kind of separation. It wasn't perfect and the heroine was a little too naive for me at times, but I tried to be a little less picky and just go with the flow, and I'm glad I did. After the 65% mark the pace picked up way more so the end piqued my interest to see what happens next, but I’m not biting at the bit to read more.

I has some variety but it’s really the same plot so far, almost done with book 2 and it really resembles most of the tropes. And when the betrayals and court politics begin to unravel a lot of it seemed random and opportunistic for the author rather than well thought out. The castle is a long ride away from where she lives but it can always be seen in the distance from other areas.

The repetitive angst, the lack of character growth and the superficial story line could not hold my attention. This book is what you get when you take a pinch of Viking lore and mix it with a dash of Beauty and the Beast. The plot was very predictable but it didn’t distract from the fact that I was enjoying reading the story. I plan on giving book 2 a shot but I just don’t want to have my expectations of it being SPICIER be dashed.

When a coup upends the kingdom, Elise flees with Legion, only to discover he holds more secrets than anyone. This series will be 9-10 books with four different couples, but characters will be interconnected throughout the entire series. I already had it on my kindle and picked it based on the title; not actually remembering any description. So the book starts out FMC has become of age at 20 For marriage and her dowry has been open so people can start bidding her hand at marriage. On the night of her sisters formal engagement to her cousin (the Kings son), the King announces that he is opening up dowry negotiations for Elise.Compared to many other books like it I've read I didn't feel as involved in the characters as I've done other times. Tiene mucha tensión y a lo largo de las páginas empieza a cocerse un romance slow-burn, que estaba disfrutando, pero hacia el final quizás se ha precipitado más de lo que me hubiera gustado, pero aún así quiero ver hacia dónde irá la historia de estos personajes.

My last peeve with the writing was the fact that all the other characters could be referred to by their first name ALONE. You can make the characters use Norse terms, braid their hair and carry hatchets into battle, but it doesn’t make them Vikings. The reason for that may be heavily influenced by two things: (1) it was narrated by Stina Nielsen, who I love, and (2) its plot and characters are VERY similar to the From Blood and Ashes series by Jennifer Armentrout…which was also narrated by Stina Nielsen.Author Note* Be prepared, these fairy tale retellings might begin as a slow burn romance, but the series progresses with the spice and steam. I went along with it and did enjoy the angsty parts, but that one somewhat spice scene we got… I felt it happened too abruptly. I feel like the core story is really good, but there was so much extra fluff and alternative stuff going on that it detached from the main plot.