Review Post Date: 5/31/24
Review Sites Used: Amazon, Goodreads

Thank you to NetGalley, Cara Maxwell Romance, and Emberly Ash for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I tell you that this book had me HOOKED from the first few chapters... Call me Harry Potter because I mustn’t tell lies. If I didn’t have any responsibilities, I would have read this in one go after getting the approval email at 10:30pm, but alas... Having to be an adult ruins all of the fun.

Pros: dual POV - anti position of power character

Cons: 87 Chapters felt like a chore after a while, it truly felt like a never ending story (dada da dada da dada daaaa) - the mom

Points that could land in either category depending on the reader: kinda slow in the middle - who the traitors were revealed to be - Veyka’s personality - couple typos and weird syntax - world building - chapter length - fated mates aspect

So, I started by listing my pros and cons (and 50/50s) so I could get the meat and potatoes out in the open so I can go into more detail for those who want to read my ramblings.

- Dual POV
I always appreciate having more than one POV in a fantasy book, especially one with two main characters from different backgrounds. The dual POV allows the reader to get better looks at the characters than a single POV book does, and I will almost always choose the multi-POV book over the single POV book for that reason.

Veyka’s and Arran’s POVs were pretty interesting to read. I really liked that they complimented each other even while being their own. That sentence sounds kinda stupid, but sometimes the different POVs don’t mesh well and it feels like I’m reading completely separate books when they switch... And to some, that might be what they like, but I personally don’t like getting whiplash from POV shifts. I liked getting to see both Arran and Veyka change their perspective on things and watching/reading the progression was cool. I think I might’ve liked Arran’s POV a wee bit better. Like, just a smidge. He seemed a little less... impulsive. For the most part.

- Anti position of power character
Inherently, fantasy books center around some type of power. It was a breath of fresh air to have a main character who didn’t want the throne. Especially considering how Veyka was treated as a child, she only wanted the seat long enough to be able to avenge Arthur, and after that who cares what happens. I guess this could be a tick in the 50/50 box, but I saw it as a pro. I’m not going to lie and say that the way she went about not caring about the throne was my favorite (spoiler: I thought it was childish tbh), because it wasn’t. I agreed with Arran’s assessment and really thought that even though avenging her brother was her main priority, leaving your kingdom to pretty much kind of fend for itself was a little bit fluffed up.

- Book length/boring middle/chapter length
What happened to books that were sub 30 chapters? Where in the fantasy writer handbook does it say that fantasy books have to be over 50 chapters? I guess I wouldn’t have cared as much about the overall chapter count if some of the chapters were either 1. Longer or 2. Omitted entirely. I have a special dislike for one to three page chapters regardless of the genre that I’m reading. Especially in the middle of a book, because I feel like they never really give enough information to be interesting or attention grabbing. This is a personal issue, but it is a con for me. This also plays into the fact that the middle of the book was kind of boring. A lot happened but it felt we were just dawdling? I don’t know. I think the chapter count could have been shaved off a bit. 20 less chapters and I would have been chillin’, but alas. I will say that it didn’t completely lose my interest. There was still enough happening that didn’t make me want to DNF.

- The mother
I’m going to keep this short and sweet: f the mom. The familial trauma got triggered hard with the mom, but I’m glad she didn’t have more appearances than she did, because then I think that would have been the one thing to make me DNF the book.

- Typos and syntax
Nothing major here, I see things like this in every book I read, whether they be self published or published through a widely known publishing group. It happens. People are people and things will get missed in the editing process. Not enough for me to DNF, compared to other reviews I saw for this book. The use of repeated letters to signify a drawn out sound is kind of meh ( example: yesssss). It kind of lessens the overall feeling of what’s written? But again, not enough for me to stop reading.

Who the traitors are/were
I am terrible at being able to tell who is trustworthy or not (both irl and when I’m reading) so I was SHOCKED when the traitors were revealed, but some people might have seen it coming. But I didn’t, and my timbers were shivered. The two most least likely (in my opinion) suspects. One of them was kind of painful, the other made more sense the more I thought about it after finishing the book.

- Veyka’s personality
First things first: this girl was childish as all hell in the first… 75% honestly. I wanted to throttle her half the time. But I think any good book doesn’t present its main character in a way where they’re perfect and enjoyable from the get go or for the entire time. Those books are cash grabs for TikTok and I said what I said. Deal with it. I hate those books, again, deal with it. I already said that I mustn’t lie. So, Veyka being childish, petulant, blasé, what have you, added to her character. Character flaws are so, so, so important to have. The way she acted around people that genuinely wanted the best for her was frustrating. The way she reduced herself to being the cupbearer for her Court was frustrating. The way she stuffed down her feelings and dealt with them was eye roll inducing. HOWEVER!! It all made sense when you look at the bigger picture of her character. She was tortured and hidden away from everyone for 20 years. Anyone who goes through that, in a fantasy world or not, would end up being mentally fluffed up and have questionable, if not concerning, coping mechanisms. No one is perfect. Real or written. I think having perfect characters is actually a disservice to readers and I think Emberly does a phenomenal job with actually developing Veyka’s character (which is why it’s a 50/50 for me, because I hated her in the first half but some people might not be as receptive to the growth in the last half). She did have to speed run growing up within a few months, but I think the turn where she says that she finally feels like living, not only for herself but for the people in her kingdom, was a very powerful realization and I’m glad we got there. For most of the book I was hoping that that was going to happen but wasn’t willing to put money on it, considering the tone she had in regard to her own life. Stellar character development, and I think several authors could stand to take some notes from EA here.

- World building
Little lackluster, but realistically what can I expect from someone who was locked in one area and then locked herself in her room most of the time after being let out? Veyka didn’t really explore. Sure she snuck out of the castle prior to Arran getting there but we weren’t really given much to go off of from her perspective. I did like getting the world building from Arran’s perspective, though. I’m hopeful that now that Veyka is taking the throne that the world building will be a little more prevalent in books 2 and 3. I do know some people who are big on the world building aspect of fantasy books that would be disappointed in this first installment, which is why I lumped it into my 50/50s. It can be taken either way.

- (Fated) mates
Some people love it. Some people hate it. I kind of clocked it early on when they could more or less communicate with each other in their heads. The last page being when it is confirmed is kind of funny. Not in a haha sense but in a cherry on top kind of way. I think (fated) mates is kind of played out in the fantasy genre at this point, but when it’s written well it’s really good and hits the spot. I’m interested to see how EA develops Veyka and Arran’s relationship and the mate bond.

I would have LOVED to have been given the opportunity to listen to the audio book in tandem with reading. I think the narration would have added a little bit of atmosphere. I think the few parts that fell flat for me could’ve been resurrected if I knew how Emberly was intending for it to be read, because with reading, we all have our own ideas of how something would sound and I think having the intended direction would have secured the last 1/2 star. Did I pre-order it on Audible to see if my theory stands true? Maybe I did, and what about it?

As a treat, here are a couple of my favorite highlights:
Chap 11: ...I would be the High Queen of all Annwyn. And then I would banish my mother straight to hell. (felt, Veyka)
Chap 16: She was incandescent. (had me giggling and kicking my feet if I’m being honest. I want to be described like that)
Chap 77: I was as selfish as I’d ever accused her of being. I was in love with her. (we love a man who isn’t afraid to call his own bs out)

Overall, 4.5/5 for the story. I knocked a collective 1/2 star off for the few cons that I had listed, but generally speaking this is a solid book. Rounded my rating up to a 5 due to not really being comfortable knocking a full star off for personal dislikes since most review sites don’t allow for partial stars.

I look forward to continuing to read the series and see how Veyka and Arran get on with their endeavors.

Thank you to NetGalley, Cara Maxwell Romance, and especially Emberly Ash for allowing me the opportunity to read Crown of Earth and Sky.

I will take any Arthurian retelling and gobble it up at any opportunity. Veyka and Arthur are twin siblings, but on opposite ends of the life spectrum. Arthur is heir to the thrown and Veyka is a warrior who was just released from prison, set on revenge. Arthur is taken down leaving Veyka the new queen of her kingdom with an arranged betrothal to Arran Earthborn. The two clearly aren't happy about the situation, but the two find themselves realizing there may be a spark and start forming a family among their friends.

I always enjoy reading about found family and the strong bond and love that can form amongst those that you choose to have in your life. Veyka is thrust into a world of politics, rivalries, and the control of the Dowager. This was such an enjoyable read with an interesting plot twist and just the right amount of spice. There is a cliffhanger ending for those that worry, but there are already two other books published so this should be too much of a deterrent.

I truly enjoyed this story and cannot wait to read the rest of the series. Thank you Emberly Ash and NetGalley for the ARC!

“The one person I’d ever allowed myself to love was gone. I would never again allow myself to make that mistake.”
 
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
 
Opening with “I should have d*ed in the womb,” Crown of Earth and Sky hooked me from the start. An Arthurian retelling with the twist of fae, this book perfectly laced connections to the classic story throughout but kept it unique enough that I was left guessing.
 
Our protagonist is Veyka Pendragon, sister of King Arthur Pendragon – she’s a fierce warrior and her character grows throughout the story from a spare queen into something else entirely. Her betrothed, Arran Earthborn, is an alpha male who wants to do what’s best for his kingdom. 

Overall, Emberly Ash created a beautifully captivating fantasy with romance weaved throughout that will keep most readers wanting more. Plus, the book leaves you with a cliffhanger, but fear not the next books is already out!
 
You should read this if you like: 

✨ Enemies-to-lovers
✨ Found Family
✨ Retelling’s of Classic Tales
✨ Arranged Marriage
✨ Court Politics and Intrigue
✨ Fated Mates
✨ Curvy FMC
 
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐚.

𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘙𝘊. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC! I enjoyed the hell out of this. It piqued my interest from the very beginning and was fast paced throughout. Unique story, very spicy, and just what I like from a romantasy. That cliffhanger ending though!! I need to read book 2 ASAP.

There were a couple of scenes that confused me (cue the opening and white hart), but overall I absolutely enjoyed this book.
- I loved how Veyka made up for something she lacked by working a hundred times harder in the things she could control.
- I love stories with strong themes of friendship, and while that isn't the main plotline in this book, the relationships between characters is evident.  Arran and Gwen, Veyka and Parys, Veyka and Cyara, and more.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book!  (bar the horrible ones xD)
- Veyka, our struggling FMC who must decide to overcome her own self
- Arran, our grouchy, overprotective, somewhat-violent MMC
- Parys, the FWB with a keen mind and sharp sense of humor
- Cyara, the strong and beautiful and faithful maid
- Lyrena, the lovely and fierce guard
- Gwen, the queen everyone needed and no one deserved

Read this if you like:
- Arranged marriage
- Slow burn enemies-to-lovers romance
- Strong friendships
- Betrayal (fuckkkkk)
- Fae court politics

Spoilers . . .
(Spoiler alert incoming)
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- I'd bet that Veyka IS NOT powerless!!!!  fucking cliffhanger
- Gawayn's betrayal was 🤯
- I love Parys OMG lol, fwb relationships are some of my favorites to read
- Gwen is just so majestic
- Veyka and Arran are both annoying but they can annoy each other xD

Veyka Pendragon a newly crowned fae princess (after the death of her twin brother Arthur) is set on revenge. With an arranged marriage to Arran Earthborn, The Brutal Prince set on the cards, how can she complete her revenge task and run away from the hand that she has been dealt.

A steamy, enemies to lovers, high fae romance, with a few references to Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and a great plot twist/cliff hanger - you have definitely got me wanting to read book two.

I found the book interesting and enjoyable, story and smut is always great… but personally I did struggle with some of the grammar and word choices (I had to highlight words quite a few times to see what they meant). I really liked the character development from both of the main characters. I really do think this book could be ELITE with the right editing - there’s such a good base for story and that’s why I have rated it 4🌟.

With my star ratings, if I tell people about a book (like think dms etc, not just posting a review) because I enjoyed it and think they would too then it’s a 4 🌟

There are a few trigger warnings so please check those out before starting.

@emberlyashauthor I can’t wait to read book 2 and I really have enjoyed connecting with you over this book.

Thanks to @netgalley for this opportunity to review 💪🏼😎

4.5 stars! I really enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing the series! Veyka is so strong and sassy, she's one of my favorite FMC's!

2.75/5 ⭐️
Spiciness: 4/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Cara Maxwell Romance for the opportunity to review this ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

General tropes/themes:
- Fantasy romance in a fae realm
- Enemies to lovers
- "Touch her and die"
- "She is mine"

This book had such good potential. I really enjoyed the general path of the story. Like, I really enjoyed the general premise of the story. There were a few twists that I gasped at! It was compelling and I really enjoyed elements of this story. This story follows the joining of two fae realms, the elementals (who have earth, air, fire, and water magic), and the terrestrials (with shifting or plant based magic). There is revenge, betrayal, and romance!

I think that my biggest critiques of this story would be that I prefer books with more world building. I wanted a chapter to immerse me in this world and allow me to escape! It was more than 75% in that we learned about the powers that the terrestrials have, and it seemed that things would be brought up sporadically, but I still have so many questions. There are humans in this world that our main character (an elemental fae), absolutely despises (I am talking immediate death on discovery of any humans), however we don’t get a lot of background on this hatred. What happens in the terrestrial territory as their royal convoy comes to the elemental kingdom. I want more history, even just the little things, but to give more dimension and depth to this world. Without it, it felt a little 2-dimensional and I was left lacking. All of this is infuriating because I did really love the idea for this story overall!

This is a spicy book, but I really struggled to see some of the chemistry between Veyka and Arran. It didn’t feel as fluid as I normally enjoy. I wanted more tension and banter, but it felt a little more instant love/lust.

Overall, the premise of the story is so engaging. I am curious to see where this goes!

This book is a different take on the classic King Arthur tale. Veyka Pendragon, who is the twin sister of Arthur, has been name Queen of the Elemental Fae after Arthur was murdered shortly before his Joining with Gwen of the Terrestrial Fae. She is now forced to marry the general of the Terrestrial Fae, Arran Earthborn. Consumed by vengeance, Veyka sets out to find who is responsible for murdering Arthur. Arran decides to help her and learns a secret that could have Veyka killed. They must work together and learn to trust each other in order to find out who murdered Arthur and keep from being killed themselves.

I really liked this book and I will definitely be reading the next one. I will say there are parts of the book where I feel the spice takes over the story instead of adds to it. I was sure this was going to be a 3 star book because of that, but the story really picks up towards the end. That completely changed my mind! I can’t to see where the story goes with Veyka and Arran!

this was a decent book. i’ll be interested to see where it goes from here for sure. needed some more editing though.

Crown of Earth and Sky does a good job of world setting for a first book. I enjoyed the take on King Author and faes mixed together. Veyka and Arran are great characters and their chemistry is great. I hope the next books explore of of the topics and mysteries started in the first book.

Great book! I had just come off of another series with a similar premise but I will say in some ways this captured my attention more! I related strongly to the loss of a love one and the grief and anger that can come with that. I liked reading the romance slowly develop between Arran and Vayka and I most certainly didn’t expect that ending!

Veyka and Arthur. The twins who should not be. Arthur the heir to the Kingdom. Veyka the newly released prisoner, tortured survivor and now talented warrior. But when Arthur is struck down, Veyka finds herself was the unwanted queen and heir. Now she must navigate court politics, Fae rivalries and the machinations of the Dowager!

Arran Earthborn may be her intended but she won't be submitting to anyone, ever again. But can Arran make Veyka see that life can be worth living after loss. That arranged marriage can lead to true love. That sometimes creating a family of friends, can be stronger than that of blood relations.

I really loved Veyka. She has taken her trauma and turned it into her super-power. She's decided that if she doesn't love anyone else, then it won't hurt if anyone else is taken from her. She turns from tortured, self-loathing, powerless survivor to powerful warrior, fated mate and queen of the realm. Arran may be the strongest fae for centuries but for a warrior with a fearsome reputation he has strong friendships and quite a tenderheart under all those muscles. when he finally sees past Veyka's outer shell of "doesn't give a s**t" and sees the self-hate boiling there, he drags her soul kicking and screaming into the light. He refuses to allow her to die and shirk her duty to her people.

Revenge, hope, triumph over abuse, found family and dealing with prophecies all mix together into a fabulous story. Some parts of the story are hard to read due to the themes being dealt with (child abuse, torture, confinement and suicidal thoughts) but they make Veyka's triumph that much more sweeter.

This book follows Vekya as she has to deal with her entire life being thrown upside down. First, her brother, who is the King, is murdered, which leads her to become the Queen she never wanted, or expected, to be, while also dealing with the grief of the loss of her twin. Also, she ends up getting placed into an arranged marriage for continuing peace. Due to all of this happening at once, Vekya does not know how to properly deal with her grief and her new responsibilities, and instead of becoming the Queen that she needs to be, she becomes focused on getting revenge on her brother's murderers. Her new Fiance comes to realize very fast that Vekya does not seem to care about what happens to her (now their) people, and does his best to wake her up and bring her back to her new reality and realize that she needs to do more for her people. Throughout the book, Vekya and Arran work together to discover who is wreaking havoc and killing those they love and are sworn to protect.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had the perfect amount of action, tension, and spice. Things were constantly happening until about 10% of this book and then it picked back up again around the halfway point. The spicey scenes were superb. Although there were times where I got annoyed with Veyka, and then I remembered everything what she went through (which you learn more about as you continue to read). I was also slightly annoyed with the amount of times where the main things used to describe Veyka were about her breasts and body, instead of her oh so shining personality and how great of a fighter she actually is.

I do think there could have been more world building. I was confused sometimes throughout the book.

I am an absolute sucker for enemies to lovers and ESPECIALLY arranged marriage to an enemy and this book encompassed both perfectly. The slow progression of their relationship away from enemies to lovers was the perfect speed and absolutely not insta-love on one side like it usually is. It's just all around perfect.

Also, the dedication has my heart.

Thank you to Emberly Ash, Cara Maxwell Romance, and Netgalley for the books in this series, and I will be binging all of them <3

Thank you, Netgalley, Victory Editing, and Emberly Ash for an arc copy.

This book has a solid
4.5 🌟 🌟 rating
🌶🌶🌶 spice

✅️enemies-lovers- in love
✅️ betrayal
✅️ chosen one


This was a really good Arthurian retelling. Veyka want supposed to be queen but she's her people's only hope. She's bent on revenge and at least securing the peace for her people. However, destiny has other plans.

Veyka can be a tough girl to like sometimes, but once you understand her past, then you understand why she's got a tough exterior.

Arran isn't a total A-hole, but sometimes ya just want to slap the man.

The author gets bonus points during the sex scenes for the verbiage she uses to describe body parts. I strongly dislike seeing folds to describe a pussy

This book ends on quite the cliffhanger! I'm ready to read book 2 cause I need to know what happens.

3.5 Stars

If Silver Flames was your favourite of the ACOTAR books then this is definitely for you. Full of political drama, action, and of course lots of spice Crown of Earth and Sky is a fantastic romantasy read. The plot immediately pulls you in with a dramatic death and intriguing world building but it does slow down a lot in the middle and I struggled with continuing on. But I am glad I did because the 3rd act is so worth it. The ending draws you back in with so many plot twists and a fabulous cliff hanger.

The world building is really interesting and well thought out. The characters are complex, flawed, and loveable. The FMC Veyka is stubborn and headstrong but also brave and fiercely loyal its hard not to love her and emphasise with all she's been through. Arren, the MMC, is quite a typical fantasy male, tall, dark, and brooding, although we got glimpses of his backstory it didn't go into much detail and I really hope we delve into his character more in books 2 and 3. Every side character was very well written and each felt like their own person who contributed to the story I look forward to diving more into their stories, Gwen especially as she is such an interesting character.

The slow burn romance was well done, with the 2 main characters having obvious attraction while not liking each other but falling into the love the more they got to know each other. The fact we have a plus size main character love interest is also fantastic! There isn't enough plus size fmcs in fantasy or romance. Though for me I felt the author maybe objectified Veyka a little too much, there was very very few chapters that didn't mention her ass, curves, or breasts, which I found a little over the top but I am not a fan of smut or sexual writing so this is very much a personal issue.

On the topic of smut there was just too much of it for me and ultimately it did negatively affect my enjoyment of the book. The amount of times it mentions Arrens cock getting hard honestly made me uncomfortable. But if you are a spice lover this will be right up your street.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I would have rated it higher but the slow point in the middle and the amount of smut really let it down for me. Nonetheless I am still excited to get stuck into book 2!

Thank you Netgalley, Cara Maxwell, and Emberly Ash for this arc.

I enjoyed reading this book so much, it took me on a magical, twisty journey. It gave me enough information and I read between the lines about the type of magic Veyka had, she could talk to Arrans beast after all. I absolutely treasured every time I got to sit and read it. This has been one of my top fantasy books...... But the ending, the ending, I would have screamed out loud if I didn't have a small sick person sleeping beside me.

If your anything like me and find yourself absolutely falling in love with reading this book, have book 2 waiting to pick up straight away.

⚔️Crown of Earth and Sky⚔️

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️

“Touch her, speak to her, breathe in her direction- and I will hold you down whilst she shreds the skin from your body slice by slice”

Thoughts💭
The first instalment in the series. Veyka is a strong character with so much mystery to her. Arron is just dreamy! The story is beautifully written with a big cliff hanger to end with.
The spice in this book is like nothing I’ve read before! It did not disappoint.
Growing up I was a massive fan of Merlin so was so excited to see the nights of the round table references.

3.5 stars
So I really, really, really liked this book in the beginning, but unfortunately it just got way too long and meandering that I ended up getting really bored about 60% of the way through.
This book had a very strong beginning. You are immediately sucked into the story with action and death and a little bit of mystery. The characters are being introduced very well and are all very different and interesting. Veyka was a complex person with her own strengths and weaknesses that are explored throughout the book. Arran was the typical brooding, powerful MMC but it definitely wasn't overdone. We know he spent a good part of his life fighting for his people, but we never really get that weird plot device of whether or not he's a good person and whether or not Veyka can love him because of that. I know this is done a lot in romantasies, so I appreciate that this isn't the case. Yes, Arran is a brutal killer but it's never questioned whether or not he'll do the objectively right thing. The only conflict like this is whether or not Veyka and Arran's goals actually align but it's pretty quickly resolved.
I am very interested to learn more about their backstories, specifically Arran since we saw so little about him and his people. I would say the only critique I really have is that there was maybe too much of the spice in this book. Not necessarily full smutty scenes, but the amount of times that Arran describe his c*ck getting hard after looking at Veyka was a little ridiculous and honestly made me uncomfortable a few times.
The side characters were also very fun to read about and had good roles in the story--no one seemed pushed to the side (except Evander, I still don't understand why Veyka hated him so much).
Now my biggest issue with this book is that it could definitely be at least 100 pages short than it is. The middle of the book is just so bogged down with nothing happening. There's a little bit of world-building going on and personal conflicts, but nothing that is really advancing the plot. Besides the very beginning and end of the book, there are maybe two or three scenes that really advance the plot. The humans aren't really explored even though they advanced the entire book's plot. As someone so bent on revenge, we don't really see Veyka doing too much to investigate who actually orchestrated her brother's assassination. Honestly if there was more minor conflict between the main characters and better emotional development of their relationships, I wouldn't mind the lack of action, but that was not the case. I didn't really feel any major chemistry between Veyka and Arran outside of physical attraction. There was a lot of good groundwork for other relationships (both romantic and platonic), but they're never really explored. As someone who loves books in which I can really relate to or fall in love with the characters, this book really fell short in that area.
Overall, I think this series has insane potential, it just really needs to be edited down and focus more on plot/characters than smut.

The Queen of Secrets was never meant to rule. Upon the untimely and brutal murder of her twin brother, King Arthur, Vekya Pendragon is crowned the Queen of the Elemental Fae. She is wrought with grief and has no desire to rule. She can't even imagine going on after the loss of her brother. Her only goal is to find his killer and seek revenge. At least that was her only goal until the Brutal Prince, Arran Earthborn of the Terrestrial Fae, and her betrothed. The Brutal Prince is less than thrilled with Veyka and think of her only as a selfish brat. As this thrilling and twisted tale unfolds Arran and Veyka learn to live with each other uniting in a common goal, to bring peace to their Kingdom.

Holy moly, I started this while I was on a road trip, it got me through the most boring part of my drive with excitement. It starts off with Veyka who at the first page I couldn't relate to. She comes across very much like the "spare," and feels no self value. You can feel the love between brother and sister though, she is very loving towards her brother, King Arthur. I'll be the first to say I was skeptical of the book but as soon as Arthur is murdered I was hooked. I was so surprised by the twist this book took as a fan of King Arthur lore. I loved the dynamic between Arran and Veyka even all the attempts of Arran to despise his betrothed.

I love the emphasis on having a curvier FMC. I love that our Brutal Prince (because yes he now belongs to all of us) loves her curves. This man may despise her for a time, but he worships her curves. Speaking of worshiping those curves. the Spice is Spicing. Excuse me, Emberly Ash you can write smut any day. It was 5/5 for spice.

The world building was beautifully done, the set up of the magic was so intriguing. Lady Guinevere, um hello bad ass! I almost wish we had seen her as Queen she would've absolutely SLAYED. The character development and slow burn romance was not what I was expecting. By the end of the book I couldn't imagine not loving Veyka. Her character growth blew me away. I like Lady Guinevere would've knelt down to Queen Veyka and served her.

That cliffhanger of an ending!!!! I am so glad I had book 2 ready and waiting, or I would've had the worst book hangover! this was a 4.5/5 stars for me. I am so glad Briar Boleyn posted about the book series, it deserves so much recognition.

I have to shout out the writing about grief and trauma. You can tell there was a lot of thought that went into this and it was a way of self expression for Emberly. I would highly advised to adhere to the content warnings. This book doesn't shy away from the hard stuff.

Thank you Netgalley, Emberly Ash for the e-book in exchange for an honest review.