Based on the description I thought this would be right up my alley but found it lacking. It took a while for me to get into the book with little world building or introduction of main characters. You jump straight into the relationship with no prior understanding of what's happening or what fae or mortals are capable of. Would seem there was a lot of assumed knowledge from the reader.

I think if it had been fleshed out a bit more with an emphasis on improving the world building and introducing the characters it would have been a much easier read.

This book did a slow-burn romance very well, and the tropes - forced proximity/marriage - were well executed once they had been laid out. The best part of this book was the mystery, it was very intriguing and I loved it

DNF, There was no world building, If there is no good world building in a fantasy story that’s a big negative and the story will just go downhill from there for me.

Too many holes in the story, lack of information which led to things just not making sense. The characters weren’t terrible but felt underdeveloped to me.

The premise drew me in, but the execution and the plot was just lost, such a let down.

Unfortunately, this book was a struggle to get through. I found the blurb very intriguing and was so excited to read this. I'm sad that it fell flat.

The story arc had some obvious holes in it and it wasn't super developed. I felt like some things needed more information to make sense and then other parts, I needed less. These holes made the pacing slow. There were parts that I forced myself to read, even though it had no bearing on the overall story and other parts left me confused. There was a lot of explaining and repeating which makes it hard to develop characters and stay connected.

The characters are okay. Carra felt underdeveloped to me, and I didn't feel a lot of connection to her. Her issues with memory and/or forgetting everything that happened really didn't sit well. Straid is more developed, but I felt him also to be wishy-washy. Considering the characters are leading the charge in this book, it was underwhelming.

Overall, it's okay. There are some interesting ideas, but the execution wasn't the best.

I received this book as an ARC. I would describe it as a fantasy mystery novel.

While I think it could have been an interesting premise, it lost the plot (literally) as the book progressed. I have read many Fae books but this story harped repeatedly on what not to do with Fae without explaining anything else. There is no world building or describing of the quarters that would draw a reader in. There are also inconsistencies in chapters, such as describing the plants in the garden as wilted due to the heat late at night yet stating that the FMC is shivering from the cold and chapters later describing the FMC as getting carried away while cleaning a room and removing all the dead plants, before stating a few paragraphs later that the MMC and FMC worked in tandem to remove the dead plants from the room.

The FMC lacked any endearing qualities and seemingly jumped from being unable to remember a single thing about her past to immediately jumping into her profession. I understand her desire to remember her life, but it seems so far-fetched that it would be the first step she would take.

I think the book needed to be more fleshed out in order to make sure the story made sense.

In thanks to NetGalley, I got an early read of this book before its October 10th, 2024 release. The ending was a the best part, creative and surprising! leaving a cliffhanger that is very intriguing for a sequel!

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the main character, I felt she was lacking a little bit in staying consistent, with her memory seeming to fade in/out while she’s supposed to have amnesia.

While I did enjoy this reading experience, I most likely won’t think of this book much or re-read, I wish it was a bit longer with more character and relationship development between her and the MMC.

This was an interesting read. I’m a sucker for the amnesia trope and the main character is a human who is saved by a fae man and she can’t remember anything. The cliffhanger was so good and I can’t wait to pick up the next one!

I really enjoyed this book. I hope the author continues to write more books in the future. I can't wait to see what this author releases in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Mortal Memories by F.A. Eden follows an amnesiac human woman and a fae lord that saves her from a terrible fate. This book is full of tropes that I, personally, adore:

Amnesia; a courtesan and the one lover she wants but can't have; arranged marriage; and a decent, engaging plot to split up the erotic scenes. Many people tend to think that erotica is just fine without plot, but I find that every story is spicier with a little bit of drama and intrigue, which Eden captures perfectly. There were admittedly a few errors within the text, but as it's still early in ARC, I didn't feel like that needed to be taken into account at this time.

I ate this right up. I'm a little upset that I have to wait so much longer for the second book now! It ends on a cliffhanger, which I thought was perfect. Eden doesn't show her entire hand while committing to her storytelling, and between our two narrators, we don't get the full picture of what's going on behind the mystery.

It's also a DELICIOUS slow burn. Yes, there's smut, as the main character is a courtesan, and her profession is respected entirely throughout. However, the main couple don't immediately fall for each other, or fall into bed together. For me, this was a beautifully frustrating slow burn, something I didn't realize I'd been craving in media for a while.

Is it perfect? Nope! But I loved it, and I'm so excited to read more.

Actual rating more like a 4.5, rounded up! :)

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book!
I'm sorry to say that I didn't really enjoy this book, which is a shame because the blurb really interested me. I found the world and character building a bit lacking, and I found the dynamic between Straid and Carra a bit bizarre. I know the book was left on a cliffhanger but I won't be reading the next one

Mortal Memories has an interesting premise, with a human girl being caught alone in fae territory and entering into a marriage of convenience to save herself.

It is very fast paced, which - in my opinion - hurt the story. There’s a lot that could be expanded on, a lot of missing backstory (maybe it’ll come into play in the next book?), and the characterization/character development feels…off.

(SPOILERS)

Carra can’t remember her life at all, suddenly remembers her…spicy profession…and is full on dedicated to it. Straid at the beginning doesn’t match Straid at the end at all, really. Character development and all but this was a big jump.

(END SPOILER)

Overall, if you want a fast paced, spicy romantasy with marriage of convenience and forced proximity, this book is for you. Do note that the spice is purely based in professional manners and not between a couple.

**Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book for review consideration**
Rounded up from 3.5 stars on account of the ending alone.

This read like 2 different books. The first half reminded me of a mash-up of ACOTAR and (more vanilla) Kushiel's Dart. Spoilers beware - if you aren't ready to read spicy scenes with <spoiler> anything resembling a monster romance, there is a scene in this that definitely qualifies </spoiler>. But the back half actually saved the book, with the threads of a mystery and the well-laid plot of a slow-burn romance twisting together into a truly shocking cliffhanger ending. When the second volume comes out, I will read it.

This book did a slow-burn romance very well, and the tropes - forced proximity/marriage - were well executed once they had been laid out. The real shining star of this book, though, is the mystery element - and you would not necessarily know this going into it, which is somewhat of a shame.

Things I did not enjoy: The *spice* in this was not really to my taste - and not just because the <spoiler> MC is a sex worker who has sex with characters who are not her husband.</spoiler>. Having the MC be a <spoiler>SW </spoiler> was actually very interesting and treated very respectfully, which I appreciated. I don't think the spice necessarily added much to the plot, and the scene <spoiler> with the ~humanoid~ client felt like it came out of left field, which I didn't exactly appreciate, but my yuck may not be yours!</spoiler>

Other things that didn't quite make sense have been mentioned - the setup of the forced marriage/proximity didn't quite make sense to me given Straid's later characterization. But overall, this was an interesting read and I'll be back for round two, whenever the author writes it!

Thanks to NetGalley, I got an early read of this book before its October 10th, 2024 release. The ending was a standout—creative and shocking, leaving a cliffhanger that promises something wild. However in truth, it took me a while to get into the story.

The growing relationship between Carra and Straid was a highlight. I enjoyed seeing their connections develop and appreciated the normalcy of their interactions. While the world-building was minimal and I would have liked more, Straid's family and history added depth.

Carra's character left me wanting more. She is portrayed as a human prostitute who lost her memory. One moment she doesn’t know who she is, and the next, she’s eager to return to her work despite her amnesia. This felt inconsistent and hard to believe. Her profession played a significant role in the story, often feeling as if the plot would unnecessarily centre around it. Almost all spicy scenes focused on her work rather than her relationship with Straid, which pulled my rating down from 3 stars to 2.5.

The book, still in its final stages, sometimes lacked the ability to keep the reader interested and felt as if it needed further background development and maybe even character and world building. Despite these issues, the book had a decent flow and an exciting ending. I'm curious to see how this will be adapted and really believe it has potential for a thrilling series, especially after the amazing cliffhanger.

Please be warned that there is sexually explicit content and wording present.

I rated this one a 4 but really it's a 3.5 for me. Not my style with this level of spice I can't skip if I don't feel like it, so I'm rounding up. Amnesia, Fae, Secrets, and a man who has a lot of love to give if he was any more in touch with his feelings. An unexpected twist and an immediate reread to figure out what I missed the first time through. The first book isn't out yet and I can't wait to read the next one in the (I'm assuming) series.

This was an interesting read! I believe fans of Bridgerton and Jane Austen would enjoy this because it's around the same era but also has a modern enough feel to it that it's not like reading a classic, it just has the nostalgic feeling to it. It also has magic and Fae in it with a cool political intrigue in power classes of human and fae relations. Overalls this was an interesting read! There's a lot of mystery and twists and some spice!
Thanks netgalley for the arc!

This was a difficult one for me. I enjoyed the plot, however the writing style just wasn’t one I could get into. Sometimes a repetition works, but when used intentionally and sparingly. There was a lot of repetition to this book that felt like it happened at least once per paragraph. I think this book has a lot of potential, but could do with a little more editing to tighten the writing.

The ending was so unexpected. Wow. Waiting for the next two books is going to be a huge struggle! The romance in this book was simply amazing. There was a slow-burn that didn't feel forced at all, and the characters were so well developed without the need to info dump at any point. I highly recommend this book to anybody who loves romantasy, because this was so much fun to read.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and F.A. Eden for a copy of this book! I loved it and cannot wait for the rest.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for a copy of this book.

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book. The way the main FMC talks and acts toward the MMC is degrading at times. I really don't understand their dynamic.

World building is lacking.

Also I don't understand the impulsive decisions the FMC makes at times

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC of this book!

The cover art is what snagged my attention first it's gorgeous and I am always a sucker for Fae stories, and forced marriage tropes.

There is some great stuff here but a few pitfalls.

Our FMC is found with no memories and is saved by our MMC who is fae, we are off to a great start. We get some excellent world building, I love some of the descriptive language used in this story but I just could not get over the fact that Carra is suffering from ameneisa, finds out she was a successful and talented sex worker (no issue with that) but then still missing her memories jumps right back into the work? She's just been forced into a marriage, is bound to a vow to not leave Fae lands and is like well ok then I'll jump back in with the old roster then no worries?!?! That blew my mind. I would be so focused on finding myself I would not be in a place to jump back into any kind of work! Even if it was empowering.

And Straid, I love that he is sex positive but it seemed inconguous to be a brooding Fae lord who says sure I'm totally ok with this perhaps there wasn't enough character development that warranted that. Maybe that's why I couldn't buy it 100%.

I'd read the next book, I'm curious and intrigued even with my misgivings!

3.5 stars out of 5

A lovely story. Waiting eagerly for the next story. I became totally immersed in the story. A great build of the characters and families. A delightful twist for the ending.