The Foxglove King - Hannah Whitten

An impulse selection on NetGalley, the Foxglove King the beginning of a fantasy series by Hannah Whitten. Having not read any of her previous books, I had no idea what to expect.

In a world where poison has recreational use, Lore is a poison-runner recruiting by the King to spy on his son and heir. Villages outside of the central kingdom are being wiped up by an unknown power with no evidence is its wake. Using her birth power of channeling Mortem, Lore teams up with Gabe and Bastian to find out who is behind the murders whilst they also navigate the politics of the court and the religion that rules it.

This is a great first book for a series. The characters have been set up really well; Lore is fierce, Gabe is brooding and Bastian... he's probably the epitome of ideal fantasy guy for me.

I don't want to drop any spoilers but (of course) there's a budding romance but I honestly have no idea which way Whitten is going to go with it.

Will I be eagerly awaiting the second installment? Absolutely.

Comments

The Shadows Between Us - Tricia Levenseller

This was such a fun book. It's very suitable for the YA (Young Adult) market though it could easily - and gratefully may I add - be adapted into a saucy romance if the writer wanted to. The story focuses on Alessandra, an ambitious and power hungry young women that sets her sights on the Shadow King. But he keeps her at arms length, instead, proposing a mutual agreement that gives them both what they want. The book had some serious and well thought out feminist undertones, with both Alessandras encouragement of her friends, the Kings desire to change the way social norms are expected as well as Alessandra's own exploits in knowing her own mind and body. the only thing that threw me off was the time period - though the story is clearly fantasy (you'll be able to tell this early on), the presence of electricity threw me off, combined with the clothing which is described at length, and then the social boundaries and class standings. Overall, I enjoyed it and would ...

A Merry Little Meet Cute - Julie Murphy & Sierra Simone

What a bloody lovely Christmas beaut this was! If you're venturing into spicy romance books and have been on Instagram or TikTok recently, it's likely that you would have seen this little gem doing the rounds. Bee is a content creator for ClosedDoor (think.. OnlyFans) and Nolan is an ex-boyband bad boy that are both cast in a Hope Channel (think... Hallmark) Christmas movie, Duke The Halls. Nolan is reinventing his career and trying to rid himself of the bad boy image whereas Bee is brought in last minute because the Lead Actress has been taken ill. The best part? Bee was a massive fan of Nolan in her teenage years and Nolan has been following Bee on social media for a while. And they're getting paid to get to know each other. I adored this book. It was everything I wanted it to be and is perfect for those of us who love a Hallmark Christmas movie but wished there was a bit heat in the romances. the positive message around Bee's work is brilliantly handled, not to me...

The American Roommate Experiment - Elena Armas

After reading The Spanish Love Deception a few weeks ago - I couldn't wait to get stuck into this one and see Rosie and Lucas' story play out. Whilst I enjoyed watching Lina and Aaron's antics, there was an element of it that felt forced and I had hopes that The American Roommate Experiment would be a smoother story. And it was. Definitely a slow burn, but it felt so much more natural and organic in the way their relationship developed. Rosie is classically awkward in the way that only someone with a secret crush can be and Lucas is cocky without being arrogant, and clearly an absolute snack. Of course, it was predictable, no one wants to read a romance where the couple doesn't get together at the end right? (I'm looking at you, The Idea of You) but it was a lovely read that left you invested in the couple. The American Roommate Experiment was a nice one day read for me and Elena Armas will probably now be auto-buy author for me!

The Little Library Project

Search This Blog