DNF @ 22%

The writing is too juvenile and the characters feel like caricatures of the roles they're meant to play. It feels like I can predict where this story is going, and even if I can't, I don't really care enough to stick around to find out.

I received an advanced reader's copy of Shadow Kissed from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Shadow Kissed sees sorcercess Olivia's world change almost overnight when her city is attacked by vampires and she is captured and taken to the vampire kingdom's city of nightmares by Sebastian, her mysterious vampire rescuer. She discovers things about herself that shake her very foundation of who she is, and finds herself embroiled in the politcs and intrigue of the very shadowy creatures that she grew up despising.

This book and series has a lot of potential. The cover and the blurb caught my eye and when I began reading this book, I was intrigued by this fresh new take on vampire lore and mythology. The worldbuilding around vampire culture in this story piqued my interest as well, and I could very much imagine myself in the shadowy, decadent and frightening kingdom of Sanmorte. I was also interested in Olivia' discovering who she was, and what she would do with that knowledge, which kept me reading till the end.

Unfortunately, I couldn't connect much with the characters, plot or the romance. It has all the elements and tropes that I am normally a huge fan of - enemies to lovers, found family, slow burn, fake dating, lost royalty - however, the way that it was put together fell flat for me, which was disappointing, as I was really looking forward to reading this novel.

The ending did give me pause though, and I would still like to know how the characters and the plot will move forward in the second book. Perhaps the second book in this trilogy will take things to the next level for me.

Rating: 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

The premise of Shadow Kissed was truly promising. Plus, I was craving for some vampire book so I gave this a try but unfortunately, this didn’t do for me.

I initially thought this book was high fantasy but it turned out to be urban fantasy. I liked how this book is light and easy to read. It also adhered to certain tropes that readers might wish to see ranging from slow burn, fake dating, and found family. However, on my end, the book is not compelling and felt flat. Moreover, I didn’t care much for the characters at all. I struggled to finish this and I’m not sure if I would still pick up the next book.

Nevertheless, I think that this book might still work if you don’t mind the lack of world building/complexity, enjoy the aforementioned tropes, and prefer urban fantasy and paranormal rather than high fantasy.

Thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for providing me an e-arc for an honest review.

It was kind difficult to rate this book because I really enjoyed the story and I liked it a lot. It hooked from the beginning and I wanted to know more. Also I enjoyed. the enemy to lovers trope, the slow burn and the dialogues between the characters.

About the world-building: it was intriguing but it was poorly done, I think it has a lot of more potential to explore. Also I love to see the map at the beginning of the books and in this case I was a little disappointed about it. Also the characters are interesting but sometimes I felt that the characters lacked more reasons to justify their actions and it confused me.

⭐️4/5 (I liked it)
🔥1/5 (kiss only)

Okay this book took a second to get into but once it caught my interest I was definitely hooked!

I really enjoyed the world building, the fake engaged trope, and the chemistry!! I did like the found family twist! Olivia and Sebastian had excellent banter and I wanted them to be together from the second he saved her!

Vampires. This was the grown up version of mortals and vampires! With that being said, the way it was pitched and the cover made it seem like it was going to have some spice and the spice level was a bit disappointing.

This was my first book by Rebecca L. Garcia and it won’t be my last!!

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook!

A very captivating story. Olivia and Sebastian took us through a ride on this one. The overall plot of the story was very intriguing with quite a few twists coming its way and gets you hooked on to it at the very start. The story do keep us in a cliffhanger, wanting to know what's gonna happen to the characters further. Also the slow burn 'romance' between the main characters was very interesting. Rebecca L Garcia did a tremendous job in making the viewers get very invested in the story and I personally can't wait to read the next book in the installment.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this copy but at around 20% I had to call it quits. This book just wasn't for me. I expected a more adult read but this came off as more of YA fantasy I would have read when I was 15.

That is a heavy accusation to make seeing as I didn't even make the halfway mark but sadly if the writing and the characterization had me bored that early on I don't think much would have changed even if I finished.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a quick and fascinating ride. The story began with action and kept the adventure at a fast pace. The main character, Olivia, was like able and engaging from the beginning. This book was an entertaining read and I cannot wait for the next book. Vampire books are always such a treat to read.

I really enjoyed this book and I would lije to thank netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book early!

this story was very entertaining, gotta say the writing is so smooth that I spent hours reading without realising.
This book is set t in a high fantasy contemporary world, where vampires exists and have their own kingdom. There are quite a few tropes, lost princess, force proximity, fake dating, only one bed and enemies to lovers. The story isn't the most original, the lost princess trope is quite well use, but is well developed and with enough to make it diferent and special. The characters are very likable, deep and variate. There is quite a bit of world building, but still I felt a little lost in this world, i wouldhave love for it to be more clear.
I love how the hero in this book feels real she got so much grief that actually she doesn't see the point in living she wish to be death, and she curl up in bed for days before being able to move and fight. It felt real I felt seen with this. I'm always detached from the heroes that after losing everything just stand and fight without a second thought just pushing their feeling down as if that was something easy. I never feel seen there because I doubt that'll be my reaction, so I can't conect with the hero, and usually don't admire them for it either. But I quite admire Olive, she is a great main character I love how she grows during the book.
Totally recommend this book, specially if you liked acotar, the bargainer, these hollow vows and twilight.

💀 Fake dating
🥀 Hidden identity
💀One bed
🥀 Found family
💀 Vampires
🥀 Slow burn

Blurb: Olivia was raised to believe that vampires are bad… and most of them are. Her and her mother are sorceresses who are part of a guild that hunts vampires. One dreadful night, Olivia’s entire world gets turned upside down when she is taken by a vampire, Sebastian. Determined to find her friend and her mother who were taken as well, she discovers secrets that have been kept from her.

I loved the plot of this book! It had so much potential to be really good but it wasn’t executed very well. The ending is where things really got interesting and I wanted the book to continue 😩 so… I look forward to the next book!

The book lacked substantial world building and character development. I would have loved to read this book as a dual POV! There is a lot going on with Sebastian that I wish we could get a look inside his head…. Seriously didn’t get enough of him in this book in addition to his friends.

Going against how others felt about Olivia, I actually appreciated that she wasn’t a badass FMC. Yes, we absolutely need them in books but not all the time. I think her development as a character was really important throughout the book. Figuring out who she was and what she can do. She came off as weak and lacked self confidence throughout majority of the book; however towards the end, she starts realizing her own potential and growing into her power. I enjoy seeing main characters like this because in reality… they can’t all be kickass female leads.

The romance in this book definitely fell flat. The potential for Olivia and Seb to be 🔥 is there but we don’t get the satisfaction of their relationship forming in this book. One reason, I look forward to the next book in hopes of their relationship developing further.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

Book review will be posted on my instagram @sustainablybookish on Saturday 3/26

eh, this was fine. the first 40%ish had me hooked and feeling pretty excited but it felt pretty lame from there. I didn’t love the world building. the pacing felt rushed with this being a pretty short book (around 300 pages). I also feel like there was some promise of spice that never got quite followed through on which is disappointing. I don’t think I’ll finish the rest of the series when they come out.

I really enjoyed this story. I love how Olivia realizes people manipulate her to keep her down. This is very true for many women in real life. Sebastian is a sexy enigma and I love how he isn’t ancient, as are most beautiful brooding vampires in stories. His friend group is endearing and easy to love and there are plenty of villains to hate. I thought some of the vampire “rules” were too reminiscent of The Vampire Diaries such as vampire blood in your system when you die causing you to turn. As well as drinking alcohol to “take the edge off.” There is even mention of older vampires being stronger. It instantly took me out of this story and in to Mystic Falls from Vampire Diaries. However the story and characters are wonderful and I will absolutely be first in line for the sequel.

So, this book sounded so good and I wanted to like it, but it was just not for me. I was honestly bored.

This book is about a girl named Olivia that lives in a world where they fear vampires. The town that she lives in ends up being attacked by vampires and she is saved by a guy name Sebastian. At the beginning of the book she fears for her life and wishes to escape from Sebastian and his friends but soon she finds out there are bigger things to fear than them. Olivia goes down a journey of learning things about her past and things about the people around her that she never knew.

Sebastian and his friends are probably my favorite part of this book. I enjoyed watching Olivia grow as a person and learn what it is that she wants. Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this book and if you want to read a slow burn book about vampires than this is for you. I will definitely be looking out for the second book in the series when it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read and review Shadow Kissed.

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for the ARC!

This was an enjoyable fast paced read involving sorcerers, vampires, and mortals. The main character, Olivia, is a sorceress who gets captured by a vampire and taken to the City of Nightmares after her guild is attacked. From there, she must figure out what the vampires want with her, find her mother and best friend who were taken, and learn to use her powers.

This book has all of the good tropes - enemies to lovers, fake dating, one bed, “who did this to you?”, etc. It’s great it you’re looking for something fun and easy to read. However, the writing wasn’t perfect and I didn’t find the romance to be all that believable. The (sort of) love interest was kind of irritating at times and Olivia was likable enough but didn’t really stand out to me. Overall if you like stories with vampires, magic, and royalty, I would say it’s still worth a try and the sequel has potential to be better.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Shadow Kissed had the makings of what should have been a really good book. I love fantasy romance with vampires, enemies-to-lovers, found family, with a dash of the one bed trope. Sadly, this book fell flat for me. I'm 75% of the way through and already starting my review because I do not anticipate anything happening that will improve my review.

The first 20% of the book grabbed me and held tight. It felt fast paced and interesting. I am unsure of what happened after that juncture, because the book became lackluster. The world building was minimal and left more questions than answers. The book is a SLOW sizzle. It doesn't burn at any point for me. The relationship between Olivia and Sebastian was adequate, but it felt like it lacked chemistry. There weren't a lot of flirty, sarcastic, or witty dialogues that you would typically expect in an enemies-to-lovers book. To be honest, it felt like an amalgamation of ACOTAR, From Blood and Ash, and The Vampire Diaries.

My biggest issue with this book is that it needs more extensive editing. There are so many run on sentences that are confusing and that threw me out of the story. Example: "I'd become so used to reading my stories to my mom in the evening, while drinking cocoa, and being in the backyard with Draven who persevered in trying to teach me combat, even though I was terrible, and cuddling up with Astor, who held me so tight that I sometimes wondered if he was afraid I'd disappear." Similarly, there were multiple times where the author used the same word twice in a sentence. "Now he was trapped in some gothic-horror castle trapped in the ancient ages, being fed on for fun." Aside from the editing, the book needed some more world building and character development. There was a lot of telling and not showing, as well as info-dumping. I think the plot is definitely a promising framework, but could use some restructuring. At 290 pages, this should have been a one to two day read for me, but instead took two weeks.

Update: I finished the book and wanted to post my final thoughts with this review. The last 10% of the book did pick up a bit and there was a "twist" that I sort of saw coming. I still don't believe in Olivia and Sebastian's relationship. The ending was rushed, thrown together, and just seemed forced.

Would I re-read this book if I found out that it was reworked and edited? Yes. Will I continue on with the series? Probably not, unless I hear that the second book was an improvement on the first. I'm honestly sad because the premise of the book was so exciting and I was looking forward to reading it. The book just did not "wow" me like I was hoping it would. In the end, if you can get past the issues, it is a fun read. The reason I gave it three stars, despite the problems mentioned above, is because I did enjoy parts of it immensely. It does have a lot of promise and has the potential to be a really great series.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and easy to get into.

I love Olivia’s spunk despite the fact she had low self esteem because of her ex.
I really enjoyed the broody Sebastian and his little gang.
The story gave me Kingdom of the Wicked vibes.
I love the found family trope with Sebastian and his friends, you can tell they care for one another.

I can’t wait for the next book!

When this book touted that it was a slow burn, I was into it. I love a good slow burn. Enemies to lovers? Also amazing. But the pacing of this felt all off. The story moved too quickly while the romance moved too slowly. It wasn't until I got to the end that I realized that this was most like the first part of a whole book as it is broken up into a couple of 'books. The two main characters really didn't have the most believable chemistry and I actually found myself wanting her to spend more time with a female side character.

Maybe if it had all been in one book I would have felt like this was a satisfying read, but this particular kind of format kinda turns me off from grabbing more.

‘𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚
𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧. 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙥, 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜.’

******

This book has a lot of good themes and tropes throughout. Enemies to lovers, betrayal, and ofc vampires. It follows Olivia who finds herself kidnapped by a vampire and taken back to his city. She then has to try and locate and rescue her friend and her mother, learning a few things about her family in the process.

I think the main thing that I struggled with when reading this was the fact that there was a lot of telling as opposed to showing. Olivia tells other characters how she feels but we don’t really see it. It’s also enemies to lovers but the enemies element was lacking. We’re told that Sebastian is the bad guy because he’s a vampire but he doesn’t actually do anything all that ‘bad’. There’s no real tension between the two characters, Olivia seems pretty indifferent to Sebastian throughout.

I like the concept of the book, the world building and some of the characters. It was also fast paced, there weren’t really any breaks between the action and no lulls which was great. I feel like a lot happened and it was easy to whizz through the book. However I don’t think that there were any plot twists that really took me by surprise, including the cliffhanger ending. But it does set up a sequel really well as the fates of pretty much all of the characters are unknown when it ends, so it does make you want to read the second book to find out what happens!