[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 you’d like this one.]
“𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧. 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧.” —Elise 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 she’s 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, it’s 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 didn’t 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 he’s a monster; he thinks she’s a monster. You get it. More specifically, Ruvan believes Flouriane’s people cast the curse. Floriane believes that Ruvan’s 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 “vampires” or in this case, the “vampir.” My favorite parts were when they had to descend into the mountain, the old parts of the castle, and slay the “succumbed” which were basically zombie vampires. It felt like a zombie game. I loved it.
I liked Florian’s character a lot, but I didn’t 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 didn’t I FEEL much for her? Idk. Maybe it was just me.
Maybe that’s why the romance fell a little flat. I didn’t find myself falling in love with either character, even though they were fully fleshed out. I didn’t swoon. I wanted to! But I didn’t. I was just kind of meh. Their romantic interactions fit the correct equation, but I just didn’t 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, they’re entertaining. I enjoyed it and plan to continue with the series as each new book releases.
𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝟒/𝟓⭐️
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