Ashlyn Lance's *Moonlight & Fire* promised a captivating tale of a princess, a prophecy, and a kingdom in peril. While the premise held potential, the execution ultimately fell flat, making me feel as though I had wandered onto a well-worn path in the fantasy fiction genre.

Our protagonist, Princess Lunielle, embodies the quintessential "reluctant heroine." Spoiled and naive, her transformation into a savior feels rushed and unconvincing. Her love interest, Aurion, is equally unremarkable, a cliché of the brooding, mysterious hero. Their romance lacks spark, with their connection feeling forced rather than organically developed.

The plot itself is predictable, relying heavily on tropes familiar to any seasoned fantasy reader. The prophecy, the evil lord, and the magical powers waiting to be unlocked are all disappointingly unoriginal. Although there are glimpses of interesting ideas, such as a unique magic system tied to nature, these moments are quickly overshadowed by the narrative's adherence to formulaic storytelling.

Lance's writing style, while competent, lacks the lyrical quality required to elevate the story beyond its predictable plot. Additionally, the world-building is superficial, providing little depth to the various kingdoms and cultures.

Ultimately, *Moonlight & Fire* feels like a missed opportunity. The novel had the potential to be an engaging fantasy read, but its reliance on clichés, underdeveloped characters, and a predictable plot prevents it from reaching its full potential. Readers seeking fresh and innovative stories in the fantasy genre might find themselves disappointed.

Moonlight & Fire is a book I was not quite sure about when I first encountered it. I finished the book last year, and have taken my time fully exploring the wonders of this book to be able to grasp what our author would like to convey.

Moonlight & Fire is not a book I would normally read - as the romance aspects are not something I read, as I considered this to be a bit heavy with romance and used as a scapegoat - but the story and cover captivated me. After deep consideration, I concluded that this book is not as well executed as I hoped. The plot is primarily driven by an exuberant amount of fluff and filler (hey, someone might like that either way). At the same time, the writing style is not the easiest to understand, and I felt the conversation between characters to be a little stiff and stilted. The wonderful thing about reading books is that while reading you forget that you are reading. This made me realise that I WAS READING, and I was not getting lost in the story, as readers do.

This book has potential, though. It seems to be an interesting concept, it just needs a bit more work to it!

There is some serious potential here, but it just felt a bit lacking for me. There are going to be people who will totally eat this up though. I just unfortunately wasn't one of them.

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

This book took a bunch of well-loved, fantasy romance tropes and started to build a story using those except those bricks were missing their mortar to stick together and be cohesive as an overall story. Excuse my comparison but it's truly how this felt. It was fast paced and easy to get into but that meant the romance didn't have much time to develop properly and I didn't get attached to any of the characters. I would've liked more world building so this universe felt more fleshed out but again, quick pacing so none of that. Some of our MC's decisions made me cringe a lot but she's young so that's understandable and the idea that she would have to step up as her people's savior was pretty interesting. 2 stars.

I loved this book!!
This story has potential!
The author put so much detail into the characters and their emotions and just the story in general. The romance was sweet and adorable. It was interesting to read and witness them growing closer to each other. Aurion was a well-defined character with a deep background. It was action-packed and it ended up being an intriguing read.
I highly recommend this!!

"Moonlight and Fire—a coming of age tale set in a medieval world where magic still reigns. With epic romance, mythical creatures and page-turning battles, this is a book you cannot put down!"

This seemed fun, but I had to DNF. I am not the right audience for this. This book had all the elements of a fantasy romance that I love, but wasn't really executed well in my opinion. It felt like all the major plot points were mapped out first and then everything else surrounding it was used as filler or fluff. It is okay in a lot of situations, but again, it just wasn't executed very well here....

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley sending me a free eARC. All of the statements above are my own opinions.

This story actually has the potential to be further developed. The characters are related and well defined. But somehow it's a little dizzying with the main character, maybe because she's young or incompetent. But on the other hand, the love story in this story is very beautiful, and I'm curious as to where this whole thing leads. Broadly speaking, I was hoping for something more about this fantasy story, but I don't feel the story makes me think it's really crazy or extraordinary. But this story is good to read. If asked to re-read this story, I would think about it first.
Ah, and I find it difficult to understand the writing style of this story hahahaha.

This was a romantasy tale of a young princess sent away to figure out a way to save her kingdom from crisis, a young man with secret lineage, and a villain who may not have the worst intentions.

The story has potential, not boring, and the author put in some well-placed and delightful plot surprises here and there. Unfortunately that’s about all there is to praise about this book. Again, the potential is there but the execution is very amateurish. I am not gonna list or nitpick the stuff that I find lacking about this book, but I believe the author will benefit from reading and writing more stories in this genre. The rating I decided on is relative to the many other books I have read in this genre.

eARC provided by NetGalley.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy of moonlight and fire by ashlyn lance. this was a beautiful fantasy novel about a young princess thrust into a role she isnt sure she wants. the big choice being your people and your. selfishness and selflessness. the world building was alright and the pacing was a little off but the book did keep my attention.

This book had all the elements of a fantasy romance that I love, but wasn't really executed well in my opinion. It felt like the major plot points were mapped out but then everything else surrounding it was used as filler or fluff. That is okay in a lot of situations, but again, it just wasn't executed very well here. That being said, this book was easy to read and was super fast-paced (albeit a little too fast for my taste). The romance develops VERY quickly, and the strife wastes no time showing up. It is written in the 3rd person, which is a personal dislike of mine, and made it hard for me to connect with the characters. The FMC wasn't my favorite, but she's from another time and place so it's not expected that I'd agree with her every decision. All in all, I would still very much recommend this book to people who like fantasy romance, because that is exactly what it is, and what isn't my cup of tea may be perfectly steeped for someone else.

Thank you Netgalley and the author for an ARC copy.

I have to be honest the premise was so good that i was disappointed by the actual book.
The story has so much potential.
The writing style didn’t agree with me, a lot of the book was very confusing.
The characters felt a bit flat. Dialogue could have been better.

But i can imagine a lot of people not having problems with this book. This is mostly personal preference.

Thank you to NetGalley and Independently Published for the opportunity to read, rate and review this arc which was published Feb 23,2023.

It is a romantic fantasy. I liked it but I didn’t vibe with it. It has all the tropes. However the ending was a gotcha moment that had me going oh my god! What?! No way. Overall it was an epic story with memorable characters and plot.

A very intriguing tale of a princess forced to leave her home to save it. The book has themes of love, magic and danger which all added up to an enjoyable tale. I cannot wait to see where the story goes from here.

A spellbinding fantasy novel that will transport readers to a world of magic and romance. With stunning world-building and vivid descriptions, author Ashlyn Lance creates a world that readers will never want to leave. The characters are complex and relatable, and the epic romance between Lunielle and Aurion will leave readers swooning. This is a book that will keep readers engaged from the very first page, and is a must-read for anyone who loves fantasy and romance.

The premise of this book is great, the set up was strong and was looking forward to seeing this play out.

However the style of writing is not for me, it’s formal and felt stilted at times.

I felt the characters lacked depth and would have liked more of their back story to understand their decision making and history.

The scenery and world building is lovely and helped me to picture the world the characters were in.

The pacing was off for me - too quick and the characters seemed to accept things that happened quite passively.

I know some people love this authors writing style but this wasn’t for me.

A captivating fantasy novel that tells the story of Princess Lunielle, who is forced to go on a journey to save her kingdom from ruin. With the help of Aurion, a man with his own secrets, they soon discover an inexplicable romantic pull that changes their destiny forever. But when a powerful lord demands the princess's hand in marriage, Lunielle must choose between her people's future and her own desires. With epic romance, mythical creatures, and page-turning battles, this is a book that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.