[A Quick Note: This is part of the Married to Magic series. Each book is stand alone and can be read out of order. But reading in order is always more fun. This particular copy is from the Fae Crate special editions. If you want a YA romance that has all the fairytale and fantasy aspects youโd like this one.]
โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐๐ง, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ. ๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฏ๐๐ซ. ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ซ๐จ๐ง. ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฒ, ๐๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ง.โ โElise Kova
Floriane must kill the vampire lord. Only then can she free her people from the bloodthirsty monsters. But what if everything she believes is a lie? What if the vampires are under a curse? What if sheโs not meant to kill the vampire lord, but work with him? If she does, can she protect her heart from falling in love?
This was a true enemies to lovers trope. Not only that, itโs a wonderful beauty and the beast retelling. I loved the storyline, the slight deviations from the original fairytale, and the vampire lore. Piecing together the history, the source of the curse, and watching characters who are sworn enemies learn to trust, was enjoyable! I felt kinda meh about the romance. It didnโt hit me hard the way I wanted. But the characters themselves were all well developed.
As with all Married To Magic books. This takes place beyond the mist in the land of the Vampir. Floriane and Lord Ruvan are sworn enemies. She is the forge maiden, revered among her people. He is the stand-in lord of his people. When he kidnaps her from her hamlet, he thinks she will hold the answers he seeks. He is looking for the curse anchor, and if he can destroy it, he can free his people. Thousands of years ago, a terrible blood curse was placed on the vampir, turning them rabid. The only way stave it, is to put the vampir to sleep for thousands of years, until the curse is broken (hello sleeping beauty vibes!!).
When Floriane and Ruvan come together, they both have twisted misconceptions. They both think the other is to blame. She thinks heโs a monster; he thinks sheโs a monster. You get it. More specifically, Ruvan believes Flourianeโs people cast the curse. Floriane believes that Ruvanโs people are all rabid mindless monsters who will kill any human they encounter. Both of them are wrong. Together, they learn to trust, and even fall in love.
The plot itself was really fun. I loved the take on vampires. Their blood lore magic is what makes them โvampiresโ or in this case, the โvampir.โ My favorite parts were when they had to descend into the mountain, the old parts of the castle, and slay the โsuccumbedโ which were basically zombie vampires. It felt like a zombie game. I loved it.
I liked Florianโs character a lot, but I didnโt connect with her. Still, points for being a badass. She knew how to forge weapons and wield them. I mean, she had all the makings of a strong character. She even had the tragic backstory: lost her father, forced to sit back while others make decisions for her, like who she must marry. So why didnโt I FEEL much for her? Idk. Maybe it was just me.
Maybe thatโs why the romance fell a little flat. I didnโt find myself falling in love with either character, even though they were fully fleshed out. I didnโt swoon. I wanted to! But I didnโt. I was just kind of meh. Their romantic interactions fit the correct equation, but I just didnโt FEEL it. There were a couple of tame spicy scenes, by tame I mean flowery with minimal descriptions. It is YA after all. But ultimately, it was the plot and storyline that I enjoyed most. Not the characters. *sigh*
Overall, this read was fun. I burned through it in a couple of days. As with all the Married to Magic books, theyโre entertaining. I enjoyed it and plan to continue with the series as each new book releases.
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐/๐โญ๏ธ
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