I think that fans of the genre will find that this book ticks loads of boxes for them! Great worldbuilding, academic setting, enemies to lovers, a strong, resilient FMC, a very broody MMC (and his personal journey and growth throughout the book is so amazing!), great banter, mental health rep and overall a great way to escape reality for a bit!

The world building was easy to follow, ther map and pronunciation guide in the beginning of the book always a welcome touch. But I think what stands out the most is how much the readers feels invested in the two main characters getting together, they are so good for each other!

The plot twist I will admit I kind of predicted around half way through the book but that's not too take away the cliffhanger ending and my excitement to read the next book when it's out! I feel there is so much more to unpack!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

Bleeding Rose by Kyla Shinder offers a unique premise, blending school counseling with fantasy elements in a world where emotions are seen as weakness. Noella Rose, the protagonist, starts as a typical counselor who thinks she’s signing up for a job at a boarding school in upstate New York—until she’s magically bound to Delmarth Academy in another dimension, the kingdom of Cavale. It’s here that the book’s true conflict unfolds, as Noella, a human, must navigate her role among powerful beings who despise humans and emotions alike.

The concept is intriguing. Noella’s role as a school counselor in a world where emotional expression is shunned creates an interesting contrast that Shinder explores with some thoughtfulness. Her struggle to do her job, advocate for the students’ well-being, and survive among her colleagues—particularly Kellen Kilic, the brooding department head determined to make her life difficult—is what drives the plot forward. Kellen’s own emotional battle, torn between protecting his siblings and his unexpected attraction to Noella, adds layers to the story that are enjoyable to follow.

However, while the premise has potential, the execution feels a bit uneven. The world-building of Cavale, with its Primordials and strange magical systems, is only partially developed, leaving the reader wanting more clarity and depth. It’s hard to fully grasp the nuances of this dimension, and some of the fantastical elements feel underexplained. This makes it difficult to become fully immersed in the setting.

The romance between Noella and Kellen, though predictable, has its moments of tension, particularly as Kellen wrestles with his ingrained hatred of humans and growing attraction to Noella. Their dynamic, while interesting, leans heavily on familiar enemies-to-lovers tropes. As a result, their relationship, while sweet at times, can feel formulaic, especially when compared to the more complex emotional battles that are hinted at but never fully explored.

One of the novel’s stronger points is its focus on emotions as a form of power. Noella’s mission to teach the students (and Kellen) that feelings are not weaknesses but sources of strength brings some heart to the story. The scenes in which she interacts with the students, offering them guidance and helping them open up, are some of the book’s most compelling moments. It’s here where Noella shines, and where the theme of emotional resilience takes center stage.

However, the pacing is a bit slow in places, with long stretches where not much happens beyond internal musings and back-and-forth tension between characters. Some sections of the book feel bogged down by repetition, and the plot doesn’t always progress as quickly as it should, which may leave readers feeling restless.

Overall, Bleeding Rose has the ingredients for a strong fantasy-romance, but it doesn’t quite live up to its full potential. It’s an enjoyable read, especially for those who love stories about unlikely connections and emotional growth, but it’s also a story that could benefit from more focused world-building and a tighter narrative. If you’re in the mood for a light enemies-to-lovers romance set in a magical world with emotional themes, this book will offer some enjoyable moments, but it might leave you wanting a bit more depth.

I was really excited for this book and loved the premise of it where I also work in mental health in school settings and found the FMCs struggles relatable. I did struggle to get through some of it though where I felt like some of the dialogue wasn’t needed as well as some other things, or characters conversations and actions were just childish.. it was almost a dnf but I did want to know what happened at the end.

I have mixed feelings about this book. For me, as I have seen some other people say, this book is marketed as a fantasy book with romance but should probably be marketed as a romance book with fantasy as the storyline I would say is a lot more focused on the romance with the plot being assisted by the fantasy aspects rather than the other way around.

The plot started off at a snails pace, the slow-burn romance was incredibly slow. There was a point around the two-thirds to three quarters mark where they could have gotten together and it would have been just the right length of time, but something happens to make one of the characters pull away which kind of tipped me over the edge from anticipation to frustration. It is something that, in my opinion, didn’t even need to happen it was just shoved in to make the slow burn last longer. Ella (the FMC) goes from super lovey to completely shut off, and while there is some explanation as to why, it just doesn’t feel realistic that she would react the way she does. And then, when the relationship reaches the peak we have all waited for… it’s on the very last page and the book ends with a “to be continued…”

I really enjoyed a lot of the characters, but sometimes they felt very two dimensional and not completely fleshed out, I would have liked to see more depth to them, played out realistically (or as realistically as possible in a world of shapeshifters and elemental wielders). Kellen (the MMC) was very moody and broody for the first third of the book… and then just seemed to become a bit of a wet wipe? Yes, I know, love softens us all, but it feels like we lost the character we actually started to fall in love with along side Ella and he becomes a completely different person. In my opinion, the only characters that actually showed any realistic character growth were the twins Jarion and Layla, and they are the most adorable (they almost made me cry several times). At times Ella was very annoying, honestly I’m not even sure why, she just seemed to grate on me at times.

When it came to plot progression and twists and turns in the story, they were all very obvious. I saw them coming several chapters ahead and was consistently correct. Does this make them bad? No, but sometimes it’s nice when something (good or bad) comes completely out of left field and leaves you wondering how you didn’t see it before. And this story did not give me that at all I’m afraid.

Overall I did enjoy this story and I would read the next one. 3.25 ⭐️

For full disclosure I was provided an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this story through NetGalley in return for my honest review.

Noella Rose thought she had signed a contract to become the school counsellor at an upstate New York boarding school. Little did she know that she had committed herself to one complete year not in New York State but in an entirely different dimension and at a school where the students and teachers have immense power. Despite this Ella is determined to do her job regardless of the distrust the staff and pupils show towards her. It is not just sparks that are sure to fly.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well developed and the story writing had plenty of sass and humour. It was an enemies to lovers tale but surrounding that had a world of characters that were interesting, adding fabulous depth to the story.
I have added this author to my watch list as I really want tot read the next instalment of this series.

It's kind of like a mix between a dark romance and a rom-com, a fantasy and a contenporay romance, so I guess a romantasy?

This is so good! The FMC was awesome!
And that endig?! Wow...

It's like "Magic Schoole" from the teachers point of view. A human woman trapped in af parallel magical world, with all kind of creatures, trying to be the a emotional school counselor.
Beautiful mental health repressentation, dark academy, romantasy, spice, action, dragon shifters and a eminmes/hate to lovers kind of troupe.
I defently need the next one!

4,5 fantastic stars

post on IG Tuesday the 15 of oct (on_fairy_tale_at_the_time)

Whilst I enjoyed this one a lot, it's not without its flaws.

The positives...

The majority of the characters were pretty strong. I loved Noella/Ella and the twins! I loved their resilience and the character development. I loved the counselling sessions. I thought they were pretty well done.

The worldbuilding was pretty decent, as well, and we get snippets of it throughout the book instead of info dumping all at once, so we kind of learn as Ella does. I love the different types of Primordials and their powers. I would like to know more about the true origins of the war.

The plot was pretty good, albeit predictable.

The pacing was decent, although, at times, this got bogged down in Kellen's declarations of love and worship of Ella.

And this leads me to my main problem with the book. Kellen goes from literally trying to kill Ella to worshiping her in about two seconds flat. Fine, enemies to lovers trope. No big deal. However, the overly done tears, sobbing, declarations of love (but not the actual "l" word because that's what everyone is pushing for) is just overly done and comes off as ridiculous. Honestly, it comes off more pathetic than loving and drew me out of the story.

That said, this book is not without merit, and I do look forward to the next one and hopefully getting some answers to some lingering questions.

Girlllll!!! I adore this author. I follow her on tiktok and she’s just a ray of sunshine and this book was brilliant. I adored it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

𝕽𝖊𝖆𝖉 𝖎𝖋 𝖄𝖔𝖚 𝕷𝖎𝖐𝖊:
🥀 Magical Academy
🥀 Counselor x Teacher
🥀 Hate to Love
🥀 Forbidden Love
🥀 Only Human
🥀 Slow Burn
🥀 Sliiiight Bully Romance

I was so intrigued to read this book and it did not disappoint! I always love a magic school setting and I haven’t read a counselor x teacher dynamic yet! This was a fun, sassy, beautiful story with easy world-building, dragon-shifters, magic, and delicious tension!
Poor Ella wants to do her job as a counselor but everyone, including the students, views her with ingrained hostility. She’s such a mentally strong FMC and I love how she’s so focused on the wellbeing of the students despite it all. Kellen is the sexy, vindictive dragon-shifter teacher who despises Ella and is determined to make her life hell and remove her from the school. I fell in love with their characters and the side characters, Jarion, Laya, Josefyn, and Akio 🥹 the characters are what captured my attention but then a sneaky little plot line creeps up to keep you reeled in! I’m not super big on bully romances but it’s only in the beginning and Kellen more than makes up for it 🤭 this was low on the spice scale for me but the story didn’t need it!
That twist was unexpected - once it’s hinted at, you can guess but until that first hint, I didn’t see it coming!
This book was like therapy, even though they were children, they still had such relatable issues. I truly wish I had a counselor like Ella Rose growing up, every child needs someone like her on their side. I found myself tearing up a lot of times purely for that reason. The writing was so beautiful and captured the importance and struggle of mental health. I absolutely loved this story and the journey the characters went on. It was so much fun and I can’t wait for the next one!

Thank you Net Galley and Kyla for this ARC!

I feel like I was kicking my legs like a giddy school girl for Noella and Kellen...
I really enjoyed Ella's role in the school and her growth throughout the story, as well as Kellen's softening heart cause that man was STONE COLD in the beginning 😂
I honestly didn't know what to expect initially in regards to the fantasy aspect but learning all the Primordials (also bonus points for that name...I loved it) and the twist ending was *chefs kiss*

So excited for the next book, and if you are a fan of Zodiac Academy then you will LOVE this for its similar vibe, just from the professors POV

Thank you to NetGalley and Kyla Shinder for the ARC ❤️

Really enjoyed this story it has magic. Powers. Cool creatures. Some shifters. A magic school and more. I love how all the main characters have their own traumas that they are working on healing and that they are all powerful in their own way. The only thing is I guessed the ending. I really did enjoy the found family. The romance and her dog

This book was absolutely fantastic!
I ATEEEEE this up.
The tropes and topics of this book was spot on amazing.
And hello?!? Shifters?!? Yessss please!
I can’t wait for the next one!

Magically bound to a contract that keeps her in another realm Noella must do her best to make her own way in a strange world of magic and mystery... all while everyone there hates her for her very existence. But no one seems to hate her more than Kellen, whose obsession walks the line between love and loathing. Is Noella destined to be more than just a school counselor? Can Kellen be more than just an angry dragon shifter? Perhaps...

I look forward to reading the next book. Absolutely exceptional story telling.

This was an AMAZING book. It teaches you so much. You learn how to set boundaries and to stick to them, how to express yourself in a healthy way. And the list goes on. I think this is also a good book for people who loved Fourth Wing and Zodiac Academy. Strong and resilient FMC, dragon daddy MMC, and amazing children with so many different personalities and abilities.

It talks about setting boundaries for the kids and to let them come to terms with talking through their feelings and frustrations.

I’ve never read a book that has allowed such acceptance and expression of feelings for children for young adults for adults being taught by adults written for adults.

It’s about a woman who was tricked into leaving the earth plane to another dimension (fantasy very ZA) to be a counselor for children after a tragic death at the school. Everyone hates her and belittles her but she stands resilient against them and starts dishing it back (very Tory) (ALSO NOT SPOILERS FOR ZA BECAUSE THIS IS TALKED ABOUT IN BLURBS) she puts the kids first and finds ways to help them. Help them cope help them find ways to exist in a world that nothing but cruel. Shows them the love and compassion they were never offered in life by their peers by their parents. It’s an emotional ride and is a Romantasy but I think you’ll love it.

Bleeding Rose | Kyla Shinder
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

It’s RELEASE DAY! And just as importantly Kyla’s birthday! As far as birthday gifts go, I think this book is absolutely one of the best things 🫶🏼

This story was the perfect mix of fantasy and romance! It was a great twist on what’s usually a POV from a student in a magic school. We were able to see everything from the teachers perspective. And the mental health rep? Chefs kiss 💋 because MAGICAL CREATURES HAVE FEELINGS TOO.

Book two is already in the works. And yes I checked immediately once I’d finished reading book one because I couldn’t help but know 😅

Thank you NetGalley and Azala Press for this ARC!

“Just because a feeling is familiar doesn’t make it comfortable.”

“Bleeding Rose,” by Kyla Shinder

This was a really good book. I liked how unique the story was with the character being tricked to be a human counselor in a magic school for students and adults who not only hate humans but actively try to harm her every day. One thing I didn’t like as much about the book is that I thought it was too long, while a lot of time was devoted to her being a counselor to the students, I felt like too much time was spent on it when it could’ve been shortened. The romance had a lot of tension and discrimination, and the characters were dynamic and interesting. 4 out of 5 stars.

-Magic
-Shifters
-Physical Abuse
-Mental Health

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

2/5 🌟🌟
2/5 🌶️

Honestly I’m not sure how I feel about this book. There were moments in it that had be really captivated and wanting to know what’s next and then it went on a side story that didn’t feel particularly relevant. I felt there was a lot of over explanation and I felt that the therapist lingo and counseling sessions were probably a bit overused. I really would have loved to see more character and relationship development in this book between the main characters and less focus on the students. I was really disappointed with how the end played out. I was frustrated when we just got new information about Ella and Aros etc and then it went into several chapters of basically a field day for the school and we got no answers or insight until the very very end. I feel like this book had so much potential and such a great plot I just was really hoping for more. The romance in this book I felt like in the beginning really had be pulled in but it completely lost me when Kellen basically just worshipped her in every single line he described her and it just felt unrealistic and a little too much. Their first time being intimate with eachother was a bit hard to get through given all the tears involved… it did not feel sexy. The dreams were more steamy and exciting than the real thing. I just had such high hopes and feel a bit let down. I can appreciate that the author has real knack for being able to create clear pictures with her description and I can say that the execution of the writing was good but the story just fell flat for me in the end. I wanted to love this 😭

4.25 well earned stars!!!

This book has everything: mental health representation and empowering counseling, a school full of magical beings, children being cared for after leaving bad parents, dragon shifters, the slowest of burns enemies to lovers, prophecies, true friendships, and so so much more!!

Novella Rose is a trained school counselor- except the school she’s now set to counsel at is in another plane, and they don’t want her there. Teachers throw her into walls, students ignore her, and no one wants to hear her social emotional learning units!! But she’s no quitter! She shows up day after day, builds trust, and worms her way into the hearts of a family of dragon shifters: teacher with a vengeance and a tough exterior, Kellen Killic, and his twin student siblings, Laya and Jarion.

I was overwhelmed by just how incredible the mental health conversations that were happening in this book were. As someone who works in the field, with experience of being one of the support systems in schools, it felt so true to life, despite the magical elements of the world. Everyone needs a reminder that you can do hard things, that it’s okay to take space for yourself, and that you do deserve good things to happen to you!!

While the book was a little long (and I’m not complaining, I could live in this world for so long), the story felt full and rich the whole way through! The characters and their journeys were so beautifully written and handled, the plot points were given space and sensitivity, and I was able to really feel everything as I was reading! I loved picking up on the lil foreshadowing elements and was screaming for them to just get there!! I’m so so curious about where we go from here and will be patiently (impatiently) waiting!!!!!

Thank you so much to Kyla Shinder and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

I am convinced this has become one of my all time favorite books!!

5/5 ⭐️

HEAR ME OUT, THIS BOOK HAS EVERYTHING I WANT AND NEED, a GOOD enemies to lovers, banter, EXQUISITE found family, AMAZING worldbuilding, the best dynamics, twists, EVERYTHING.

Noella Rose, our FMC, has just signed a contract to become Delmarth Academy's first counselor, but instead of working at the boarding school in upstate New York like she thought, as soon as she signs she is bound to work in an Academy of another realm, of the Kingdom of Cavale. Now she has to survive the whole academic year between primordial beings with incredible power who hate humans and despise emotion. Especially, the Varmin department head, Kellen Kilic, who is set on making her life a living hell.

HAVE I MENTIONED THAT KELLEN IS THE LOVE OF MY LIFE AND A DRAGON SHIFTER!?!??!? I just love him so much, he and his siblings are THE BEST. I really loved their dynamic. And Kellen is definitely dreamy, I want that dragon shifter to be my love, thank you very much and yes, I never stop with my delulu. Noella Rose is my queen and I loved her POV, her strength, her insight and how she is set in not letting the other primordials diminish her efforts, always trying and always being there for her students even when they don't want to. I really liked how we saw her relationship with some students develop throughout the book. Laya and Jare were AMAZING, I just wanted to cry with some of their parts and then laugh like a crazy person. They're so brave and wise beyond their years and I just want to protect them at all cost.

I can't stress enough how much I've fallen in love with this book, the character, and the world created by Kyla. Just go read this enemies to lovers between a human counselor and a dragon shifter teacher. NOW.

I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

You are following Noella Rose as she navigates this new dimension she had never heard of prior to a few weeks ago. She takes a job that she assumes is at a New York school as a counselor. What she didn't realize was that she will be in another dimension, trying to counsel Primordials who absolutely despise her. She is bullied, and roughed up. Enter Kellen, who is the Dragon Shifter who really despises Ella.

I really loved the whole character arc that both of these characters go on, where Ella finds her voice and stands up for herself and Kellen learns that human's are not the ones that need to be hated.

This is the SLOWEST of slow burns I have ever seen but it was so worth it in the end!! I absolutely cannot wait for the next book to come out!