Tag: fantasyromance

Review: Spin the Dawn

Published on by Erica

Synopsis:

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia makes the ultimate sacrifice and poses as a boy to take his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors in a cutthroat competition for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the unthinkable final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the sun, the moon, and the stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this fantasy novel is not to be missed.

My Review:

This is the second book I’ve read by Elizabeth Lim. I really like her writing growth between this one and Six Crimson Cranes. I also grabbed the Unravel the Dusk to start reading.

Spin the Dawn is a beautiful story about love and family. I knew straight from the opening that this would have an epic romance. I was not disappointed. Maia would give up the sun and moon for Edan, and he would do the same for her.

I can’t wait to see where the next book takes me.

Content alert: There is a scene with off-the-page/fade to black sex. And another scene with heavy kissing and necking.

Review: The Sea Rose (a Vella story)

Published on by Erica

Synopsis:

Lord Peter West could not marry Lady Bannister. Her eyes bore into him like daggers; her voice filled him with dread. Knowing this, his resolve thinned as the day neared to announce their union. He could not have imagined as he fled the party that he would find himself stranded in the district of the Half-Merpeople. No one had told him that those with ocean-blood lived such wretched lives. Most of all, he could not have dreamed that the once-vanished Lady Rose Finch walked those streets.

My Review:

I have another Vella story to share. This one is great. It has two things I love, it’s a Regency romance and it has magic. And not just any magic, it’s merpeople.

From the opening, I was hooked. We start off with Peter at a ball meant to announce his engagement to a proper young lady by the name of Meredith. It doesn’t go as planned and Peter runs away. Leaving Meredith to an unfortunate fate. I wasn’t sure about her in the beginning. But there is a reason she behaves the way she does, and it tore at my heart as it unfolded.

Peter’s escape takes him to the poor area where the merpeople live. Shunned by society, it is quite dreadful there. Peter wants to make changes, and I look forward to seeing that journey.