Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

This was a sweet, engaging poly romance featuring witches, fey creatures, a trans main character, and an utterly charming seaside setting! If you’re looking for a quick but well-developed romance read, I highly recommend picking up this lovely little novella.

This had so much good: vibrant characters, compelling central relationships, magic, an old lighthouse as the main setting, and lovely writing. (Also, if you like your romance spicy, there’s lots to love here!) I was really really rooting for the characters and their relationship by the end, and the epilogue made me feel lots of fuzzy warm things.

I do wish the worldbuilding had been fleshed out just a little more (especially with regards to magic and the fey!!), and there were a couple plot elements that didn’t seem to fully blossom by the book’s end. I do think that it left a lot of room open for more stories set in this world, though, and I would absolutely love to read them.

All in all, definitely recommended, for a short sweet romantic read. Thanks so much to Netgalley and NineStar Press for the ARC!

Thank you NetGalley and NineStar Press!
This book checked off a ton of boxes for me. Cozy romance, magic, some nice spice. This is my first book written by Moon, but it will not be my last after this. Not only are the vibes fantastic, but I really enjoyed the group as they are connected, and it doesn't feel uneven. The romance was soft and tender while also bringing in a nice amount of spice. I a fantastic read with queer characters and just wonderful vibes through it.

Established couple saves a selkie. Set in Iceland. Magical baking. Trans rep. Poly rep. I really enjoyed this one!

"Ethan Shaw carried two knives, one for lilies, the other for veins." This is the first sentence in the book, and I was immediately drawn in. The writing in the book is so beautiful and I really loved it. The setting of the story is also pretty magical, and everything is just described in such a vivid and lovely way. I also liked the characters and how diverse they are.
What turned me off about the story is 100% a personal preference. I saw the tag "cozy romance" and assumed that it meant "cute, but not sexy". There is definitely a lot of sexiness going on in this story. And I personally do not care for that. However, that is literally the only thing about this I didn't like, so I would highly recommend it to anyone who does not have the same preference as me!

This book was really not for me. For a short novella, I struggled to get through it. It wasn't a bad book, but I did not enjoy reading it because it did not suit my taste. I think the description of this book goes not give the complete picture of what is actually in this book. I thought it would be a cute romance with magic and selkies. What I got was mostly porn with barely any plot. And the porn was all about pregnancy, which is not my thing at all. I did enjoy that there was good representation, but that's about it. I had difficulty figuring out where and when something happened in the story, and the pacing was all over the place. There was little buildup until the finale, and it felt just a way to write more porn. As I said, this isn't a bad book, but it was not suited for me. If you want to read about a couple trying to get a trans man pregnant, this would be a book for you.

A short, cute, spicy holiday read. I enjoyed how the combination of Trans representation, polyamory, and fantasy worked. I would recommend this to a friend ✨️

A cozy romance, a likeable and fleshed out cast of characters, an interesting world building. I liked this novel, compelling and entertaining, and will surely read other by this author.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review*

Three Kings is an MMM modern-day fairytale that has magic, a cozy romance, and Icelandic folklore. I enjoyed this novel very much and flew through the pages

I really enjoyed this novella.
This is the second work I've read by Freydis Moon and it certainly won't be my last.
I'm excited to see what they will write next as I'll definitely be reading it.
I really loved the main characters and their romance!
Due to this being a novella it did leave me wanting more but it was still really good.
I definitely recommend this!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like the lyrical, dreamy way Moon writes romance. This was a truly interesting journey, where the idea of opening up a marriage during a time of crisis turns out to be a good decision. I liked this twist on something that's generally held as a bad idea! I was interested for selkie lore, but I did find that a little lacking. It would have been easy for Nico to have been an alluring wounded human with no supernatural aspect and the story wouldn't really have changed much. As far as tastes go, this is for people who like to read sex that's a bit on the rougher side.

Moon is a master of the romantic and the dark. I adore Three Kings and see so much potential in their writing style. I look forward to delving into more of their work!

Freydís moon is a talent in everything they do.

This book was so warm and gentle and completely and irrevocably tender. The minute I met this characters, I knew they would mean everything to me (and they did, of course they did). From the characterisation of a feisty trans witch as he tried to get pregnant, something which I've never before read and desperately wish I could read more of. Freydís gently captures the undiscussed side of transness, struggling for fertility and desperately wishing for life. Thinking yourself less than whole because of it.

Ethan Shaw is a character I will remember and probably forever compare other characters to, he is truly the blueprint. He possesses so much heart and warmth and love, and yet he is as stubborn as they come. The story follows his perspective as he comes to grips with trauma, finding new love and nurturing old love as it all grows together.

But there is something in all 3 of our main characters, the polyamory was so beautifully done and everything I ever dreamed of. It was just so soft.. I loved every second and refused to put this book down until I'd finished.

I wish desperately for more literature like this, and as many more books from Freydís as they wish to write.

I always feel so comfortable in my transness whenever I read their books. I will never be able to write how much that means to me or how much this book is going to mean to others like me.

- 3.5 stars -

"Three Kings" is like a warm cup of hot chocolate in front of crackling hearth in which you're under your warmest, fuzziest blanket and snow is falling heavily in the window behind you. If not for the fact that I'm in finals week, I would have read this all in one sitting! Instead, I supplemented my work by allowing myself five minute breaks to read a couple of pages, which made my experience much more bearable.

Nico, Peter, and Ethan each have their own voice, and the dynamic between them is exquisitely crafted. Despite being a novella from Ethan's POV, I hoped that "Three Kings" would also further explore the Nico/Peter aspect of the relationship, or at least be a tad less insta-lovey. Regardless, this was a sweet, soft read that I would recommend to anyone in need of a little cheering up or, frankly, just wants to smile.

3.75 stars, review posted from StoryGraph

First and foremost, thank you to Freydís Moon and Ninestar Press for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. I was very happy for the opportunity and I hope to see the author continue to flourish in their writing!

This story is very soft and wholesome with a very light amount of angst (with a happy ending of course). The plot is very casual, almost slice of life, and the conflict mainly centers on mental health, navigating polyamory for the first time, and infertility as a transgender man. I appreciated how personal the book felt and how the author was able to reflect on their own experiences within the story. The overall aesthetic would best be described as warmth from a hearth, Yuletide, cocoa and spices, cold ocean cliffs, and European folklore. Definitely the perfect book to read as we approach the colder months here in the northern hemisphere.

To those familiar with Moon’s other works this novella is definitely a change in direction. Both in terms of plot structure, tone, themes, and sexual content. But one constant is Moon’s lush prose and vivid writing style. Regarding spice level, I’d say it’s very mild and so the book leans more towards romance rather than erotica in my opinion. Most of the sexual content is at the very end of the story, with some quick brief scenes sprinkled throughout the rest.

Overall I’d recommend this for those who need a bit of warmth this winter season and those who crave unique stories centered on the trans experience, especially regarding pregnancy which is often overlooked.

As expected, this was absolutely amazing. I love Moon's writing. The atmosphere and characters in each of their books are always so well done. I loved Ethan, Peter, and Nico and seeing them come together. I was very impressed by how cozy and tender this story felt while also tackling some harder issues like infertility.

Freydis Moon is an auto-read author for me. Everything I've read by them I've become obsessed with and I can't wait to see what they have for readers next.

Thank you, Nine Star Press, for allowing me to read Three Kings early.

I had the Three Kings on my TBR for a long time, and I was so happy to receive an early review copy! It did not disappoint. Freydis Moon's beautiful writing style immediately pulled me into the story. Well done!

The world of Three Kings has FaceTime, credit cards, hotels, and Earl Grey tea. It also has witches, among them Ethan Shaw, who brought his fisherman husband Peter Vásquez back from the dead after a dreadful storm three years ago. And it has selkies, among them one drowned in Peter’s fishing net while in the form of a leopard seal. Ethan’s craft brings the selkie back to life, too, and in this brief, loving, sexy fairy tale of lives lost and given, grief and desire, fear and the abandonment of fear, some pain is resolved for all three men. Ethan himself is, in an important way, brought back to life by the bond between him and those he has saved.

It’s hard to know how to judge a story like this. It’s not neatly and elegantly structured — rather, it works by correspondences, much like magic itself. As in Moon’s Exodus 20:3, certain things are taken for granted; for instance. Ethan is female-bodied, and his status as a trans man is irrelevant to his distress at his seeming inability to get pregnant. Again as in Exodus 20:3, there’s a restful matter-of-factness about Ethan’s being a man who has a vulva and a uterus; there’s also a wonderful lushness and intensity in the sex Ethan has with Peter and, later, with both Peter and Nico. Moon writes the sexiest sex.

Also because of the mythical quality of the story, complaints I might have about a more naturalistic narrative become irrelevant. I think it’s important to read Three Kings as an extended folktale rather than as, exactly, a novel. This isn’t a criticism at all; Freydís Moon’s work is sui generis and ought not to be judged in conventional ways. The one such criticism I would make is that some of Ethan’s angry flare-ups don’t seem entirely grounded in their circumstances. Additionally, there are a few usage problems — for instance, “pawned” where “pawned off” would have been correct. But on the whole this was a great pleasure.

Many thanks to NineStar Press and FreydÍs Moon for the advanced copy of Three Kings via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

Three Kings is a beautifully written, beautifully emotional, and at times beautifully painful story. Moon weaves together themes of transgender identity, gay marriage, polyamory, romance when trying for a baby, infertility, interracial relationships, witchcraft, folklore, and mental health.

Many of these themes have been tackled by authors of late, and many have not done them justice nearly as well as Moon has. The emotions written into the stories are described so beautifully, I smiled when they smiled, cried when they cried, felt anxious when they did. And at novella-length, Moon really has done this powerfully.

The real power of their writing, for me, came from conveying underlying emotion without necessarily needing to overtly explain it on the page. The complicated attitude of villagers to Ethan and Peter is clear to understand. It doesn’t require chapters of flowery prose. It’s complicated, but somehow didn’t need 300 pages to describe it.

I loved how self-explanatory everything was. No back story regarding Ethan’s transgender identity. Ethan just is. No unnecessary details. Just the story of Ethan, Peter and Nico.

I loved the sexual tension, the spice and the eventual release.

Wonderfully written, highly recommend. I read it in two sittings.

Moods: challenging, emotional, hopeful, reflective
Themes: Transgender, Gay, Polyamorous, MMM, Interracial relationship, Shifter
Pace: medium
Character development: medium
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: high
Spice: 4/5
Trigger warnings: Infertility, Mental Illness, Pregnancy

Rating 5/5

This review will be featured on my blog at www.mymentalshelf.com in future

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for arc in exchange for an honest review.
This book was a lot shorter than I was expecting it to be, so the pacing was a little weird. At times i was like, how has so little happened and I’m already almost halfway through?, and at other times it felt like the book was moving super fast. It’s kind of weird that the entire book happened in just a few days, but I think that’s a mark of a good author- that they can write a good book even if it’s only set over a small amount of time.
The book also didn’t have a “big conflict”, which was odd, but I kind of enjoyed it because I love reading fluff. I was expecting the fact that the bone marrow was in the cake or whatever to be the big conflict, but they just didn’t care that much, which was surprising.
The representation in this book was really good, in my opinion. Polyamorous relationships, non-binary people, wlw relationships, this book has it all (ok obviously not everything, but the point still stands). I also thought it was cool how Ethan was trying to get pregnant- I think people shy away from the topic of trans pregnancy a lot, so it was cool to read about.
I wasn’t expecting the amount of spicy scenes in this book, I wouldn’t label this YA. I didn’t love the fact there were so many of those scenes, they just kind of made me feel uncomfortable.
I liked Peter and Ethan as characters, and while I liked Nico, I didn’t find myself to be caring that much about him, which took me out of the story a bit. I did like reading about Ethan’s magic and Nico being a selkie though- I love how folklore is tied into the story.
Overall, I mostly enjoyed this book, and I’m glad it was short- it was a nice quick read!