I have been chasing that throne of glass feeling since finishing kingdom of ash in November - well let me just tell you that this book delivered on that front as I was getting major TOG vibes - in the best way!!

This book follows Maeve, a princess who is left for dead on her wedding day after a violent coup, she finds herself going to a deadly and violent prison to train to avenge those who murdered her family - she starts as a sheltered young princess but turns into an incredibly strong and powerful woman.

I couldn’t help but root for her - we also had some romance!! Enemies to loves and a slow burn which was SO good - Eoghan the man that you are.

Could not put this book down - loved it and that cliffhanger?? Need book 2 immediately please!

~ could anyone love so much that their heart melts in their chest? ~

This book didn't seem to set out to be a love story, and yet, it was.

Maeve Moran, our FMC, is the protected, seemingly pampered princess of the Steel Citadel. On her wedding day to a man who she believes she is madly in love with, a violent coup takes the lives of those she holds dearest – her brother and her fiancé, as well as her parents – the king and queen. She is left for dead, stripped of her magic – then rescued, nursed to a semblance of health, and smuggled out of the city by Dedra and Tiernan, who were loyal to the royal family.

She eventually finds herself at Báscogar Prison, training alongside the faerie Warden Gálgalesh. As she learns more about herself, the world she grew up in, and the world she was meant to never see, she begins to question everything – including love, herself, and her desire for revenge.

Maeve is an interesting protagonist. She is naïve and sheltered - quite literally the golden child on the surface, with glittering hair and doted on by her family in public. But there is a dark side to the royal family. Maeve’s magic is the gift of healing – she can heal herself, and her blood heals others. Her father and his potion master tortured and abused for her magic her whole life – testing its limits and taking her blood to make potions to heal others. Maeve is also strong and hotheaded, wanting revenge at all costs and having to learn it will take time to get to where she needs to be - especially without her magic. I did love that she wasn't suddenly super strong and amazing, but the grueling effort to train is well-depicted.


📖 World Building: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.5) – There is so much to this world. The guide at the front is very helpful - if a bit of an infodump feel, but it is still a lot for one book and at the same time, not enough. A lot of the world building unfolds throughout the story as it happens, so you don’t have information until you “need” it in the story. It’s an interesting construct, but at times, it does lend to not understanding the tension that is clearly being built.

📖 Character Development: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5) - This was fantastic – and this is where this book shines. Watching Maeve, Gálgalesh, Eaghan, and the others grow and develop into better people through the book was really the best part of the story.

📖 Predictability (lack of): ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5) – There were some smaller twists I didn’t see coming – a couple of very good ones, in fact. However, what I would call the two major plot twists, I 100% saw coming. Would have loved to have had a little more secrecy around some of the major points, but overall, still solid.

📖 Pacing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4.5) - very well done. It never felt bogged down or boring. There were points where it definitely sped up or slowed down but overall was very well done. There were a lot of unanswered questions at the end and things that were started but never explained, so I’m hopeful book 2 will pick those up.

📖 Spice: 🌶️🌶️-🌶️🌶️🌶️ (2-3 peppers) – definitely adult.

📖📖 Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4-4.5) – Overall a great story. I love the characters and the premise. The predictability got to me a little bit, as did some of the started but never finished parts. Will definitely still pick up book 2.

📖 Noteworthy:
📚 enemies to lovers
⚔️ orphan
📚 found family
⚔️ magic
📚 mentor x mentee (begrudgingly)
⚔️ LGBTQIA+ romance rep (secondary characters)
📚 character growth in spades
⚔️ touch her and die - look at her and risk dying
📚 growly, OTT protective, fire mmc

📖 TW/CW: Death; murder – a lot of murder/assassinations; attempted murder; bullying; objectification of women; references to cannibalism/vampirism; attempted rape; assault; abductions; torture – a lot of torture and descriptions of torture. There is a lot of graphic violence in this book. None of it feels overly gratuitous and it does make sense in the context of the book, but it is there.

This book was so much fun! Right from the beginning you are pulled into this story’s world and it starts fast paced and doesn’t ever slow down! We follow Maeve’s story that starts tragic from the beginning and continues to show the horrors she endured through her life. I really loved watching her growth through this book.

The MMC is everything I wanted in a grumpy brooding character! Who doesn’t love a fire wielding man who can put you in your place??
I loved the build of their romance. Truly enemies to lovers. Very protective man that had me kicking my feet!

I also really enjoyed the side characters and was laughing out loud at the banter!

My jaw WAS ON THE FLOOR when I finished the book!! Made me sooo excited for the next book!! I truly can’t wait.

Tropes:
❄️ Enemies to lovers
❄️ Banter
❄️ Revenge
❄️ Fire daddy
❄️ Different Magic systems
❄️ Secret identity
❄️ Political conspiracy

Fun and hard to put down. This has the following: enemies to lovers (done well), a grumpy but utterly great side character that adds so much to the story, forced proximity, hidden identity and royalty. This book has characters that are excellently written, a story that grabs the attention within the first few pages - so instead of trying to get into a book the reader simply falls into a great story with little effort. I absolutely loved the character of Galgalesh with all the one-liners and banter!! If you are looking for a new series (yes, this one is incomplete) that is enjoyable jump in to this one!

This was fantastic! I went into this blind and I’m thrilled I did. I could not read this fast enough. The story is packed with action and so much world building I felt like I was truely there. Enemies to lovers is easily one of my favorite tropes within fantasy and this was perfect

Wow. This was very good. I really enjoyed this. I loved that character, the plot and the book started off with a bang and it never stopped. I would definitely recommend this and look forward to more fro this author.

Given that this was the authors first book I will give her the benefit of the doubt, this book started off AMAZING! It was fast paced and unique and kept me frothing at the mouth!

But then it felt very generic, typical heroines journey to be a super powerful bad ass bitch, and I’ve just read similar things so frequently in romantasy that it wasn’t unique enough. I felt like most of the things were predictable. She was damaged and weak, lost her power, had to learn to fight and get strong, hated this guy enemy who was also REALLY hot, and the rest you can predict 🧐

I’d wasn’t a bad read, it just wasn’t intriguing enough to warrant a 5 star rating for me. I think with some work it could be though!

This book has it all: revenge, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, prison shower sex, and the most insufferable FMC (in my opinion). However, the enemies switched to lovers so suddenly that I'm not sure I fully trust the MMC. Despite my dislike for the FMC and the intimidating glossary + pronunciation guide at the beginning, I did think this book was well written and enjoyable to read. The glossary was helpful, but the story was still easy to understand without it. The multiple names in reference to "home" were a little confusing, but I eventually got over it.

I’m not usually one for decimals, but this one gets a 3.5 (rounded up to a 4)! I really enjoyed the character dynamics and the conflicts throughout. Maeve loses everything dear to her and is set on revenge, and you get to watch her grow both mentally and physically along the way. The pacing felt a bit erratic, especially with some info-dumping at the start, but overall Maeve was a likable lead. The enemies-to-lovers trope was great, though it felt a little abrupt; I appreciated that it didn’t dominate the story. A solid read overall!

Thank you to NetGalley and Azala Press for providing an advanced reader’s copy 🤎

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I needed this book! I really did. Was the ending a little predictable and the foreshadowing a little too obvious? Yes. Did I care? No. Did it take away from the enjoyment I had reading this book? Absolutely not. This is a darker romantasy story so theme's are 18+. The banter was delicious, the enemies to lovers was ideal, the supporting characters were amazing and the world building was on point.
Let's dive in, shall we?
Tropes:
Enemies to lovers
Touch her and die
Forced proximitry
Secret identity
Found family
Fight training

The first 12% went from being a shock to a bit of a slog as most first novels are. Introducing the characters and building the foundations of the world. Some authors are more subtle about it than others but it's to be expected with every new series I pick up. We start with Maeve. It's her wedding day. Everything is bright and hopeful, and yet she finds herself getting caught hiding in the chimney of her room before being dragged out to the courtyard. There's a slaughter and she's left for dead. Two people who worked in the castle find her in their attempt to escape and take them with her, saving her life and keeping her safe while she heals.
At this point Maeve is stupid, immature and a bit petulant. She does something stupid and ends up at the Borderlands, from where she ends up in Bascogar, escorted by the Warden himself. Galgalesh is by far one of my favourite characters in this book. He is gruff and growly but thaws towards Maeve, especially when he sees how hard she tries, despite being an immature and spoiled princess.
Now, the deal is that Galgalesh is to train Maeve so that she can protect herself within the prison walls, seeing as she's the only female there, and so that she can be strong enough to avenge her family. This is all well and good in theory, but she's as weak as a kitten and just as soft. She gets her ass kicked repeatedly and these men do not pull their punches. It was absolutely refreshing! Although, Galgalesh does give her a healing potion after every session. This section of the story is all about Maeve. This is where she does her most developing. She does her best to learn all about the prison, how it functions and who to stay away from, in order to stay alive. During this time, she processes her grief and her trust issues begin to come to light. Your whole family was murdered, how would you not have trust issues? Not to mention being in a prison of murderers and all sorts, doesn't scream trust me, does it?
I LOVED the fact that she didn't take to her training sessions like she had been born to it. She sucked. Really badly and for quite a significant portion of the book. But she did come into her own and while she didn't thrive, she knew enough and could do enough to survive. Her character development was brilliant and I loved it.

Enter Eoghan. Dark, broody and hates our Maeve with a passion. His eyes follow her and blaze with hatred for the majority of the book. In the beginning their interactions were few and far between but midway through the book, they are ordered to stay together and that's when the relationship begins. I loved their dynamic! Everything from Eoghan's smirks, his teasing and those little glimpses into his softer side had me swooning over him.
"'Underneath me again, Princess? I'm starting to think that is what you want.'"

After some time, he softens towards her and we learn some vital information about Eoghan's past. He is possessive, protective and just so growly (in the best way).

“‘I am not a conquest, Eoghan’…’ No, Mave. You’re everything.’” and ‘Because if I kiss you again, I’ll never want to stop. I’d let the world come crashing down around us, and I wouldn’t even flinch’”

His relentless devotion to her is palpable and the quiet core of steel she develops is awe-inspiring and shows how far her character has come. The banter between them is so good, between her throwing daggers (literally) at the back of his head and him besting her in combat, quite violently, the fact that they came together after that, the how and the why of it, was very well written.

The world is well developed and I went from 12% to 61% in one sitting because I was so engrossed. The book is well written and flows with a nice pace, fleshing out the characters and building relationships and friendships.
I adored this book and am dying to follow this story. The characters and romance made this book for me, while the plot and it's twists kept me reading well past my bedtime.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶🌶

Just wanted to start by saying a massive thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for gifting me an EArc of this book.

We start off with a glossary, pronunciation guide, magic system overview, religion overview, language guide and creatures guide. I love when authors include things like this in their books and I feel like it makes it so much easier to quickly immerse yourself in the universe.

The story begins with our FMCs family and fiancé being brutally murdered in front of her, and she somehow survives. After she takes some time to heal, she is sent to a prison with one of the MMC's to train in combat in order to retaliate against the people who killed her family. Their dynamic reminds me a lot of Aelin and Rowan in the Throne of Glass series, when he is training her to be Fae (minus any romance).

The romance in this book is true enemies to lovers. I wasn't sure which male character would be the love interest initially, but it became obvious when they started telling each other how much they hate each other. They spew horrible words to each other, but eventually the sexual tension becomes evident and it's clear where their story is going 🤭. The tension build was delightful, and the first spicy scene was sizzling. I absolutely adore their relationship, he's so protective over her.

It took me a while to really get into the flow of this book, and I didn't find myself reaching for it initially. The pacing was a bit slower at the start, but once I got a bit further in and the romantic subplot was introduced I was hooked. And the ENDING... excuse me, I was NOT expecting that plot twist. It really set the storyline up perfectly for the next installment, which I will be eagerly awaiting.

I needed this book. UGH IT WAS SO GOOD. And now I need to gather my thoughts before i review it completely. More to come…

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Land of the Frost was a super fun, action packed adventure from start to finish!
We follow Princess Maeve on her wedding day as a coup kills her fiancé and entire family in front of her. After barely escaping with her life, she is sent undercover to Báscogar prison to train with the grumpy (and hilarious) faerie warden so that she might be strong enough to take revenge on the people who ruined her life. While there she meets the mysterious (and handsome) fire-weilder Eoghan Kael.
Maeve was a very likable and real FMC and honestly I adore her. Her character development throughout the story was amazing. She grew a lot but stayed true to herself!
The setting and world building were very immersive but also easy to follow! Highly recommend if you’re looking for a steamy Romantasy with a unique magic system and a gritty prison setting. Enemies to lovers, good banter, hidden identity, found family, all my favorite tropes in this one! I can’t wait for book 2 especially after that ending!

The Land of Frost is an absolute page-turner, delivering high-stakes action, richly woven world-building, and a heroine you can’t help but root for. From the very first chapter, the tension is palpable—Maeve’s fall from royalty and her relentless fight for survival kept me hooked! The prison setting and brutal training sequences gave me Heir of Fire vibes in the best way, while the slow-burning tension with Eoghan added another layer of intrigue.

Welsh Gibbs crafts an immersive, fast-paced story with compelling twists and deeply layered characters. The ending left me utterly desperate for the next book! This is a must-read for fantasy lovers craving adventure, magic, and a heroine willing to risk everything.

3.5 stars
Took a while to get into this but started to pick up pace 45% in.
Ended with a great cliffhanger, kinda guessed it halfway through the book. Book 2 will hppefully have more of a story flow to it

Rating-
4.5/5 stars
(Rounded up!)

Genre-
Romantasy

Age Rating For It-
18+ because there is abuse (off page), attempted murder, death, drugs, murder, profanity, violence and sexually explicit scenes too.

Tropes-
Enemies to lovers
Royals
Protective mmc
Forced proximity

Quotes-

“Love is not a simple thing to break.”

“‘I am not a conquest, Eoghan’…’ No, Mave. You’re everything.’”

“‘You’re doing that thing again.’
‘What thing?’
‘Where you make me wonder how I am ever going to spend another moment not thinking about you.’”

“‘Kiss me again,’...’No,’ he laughs…
’Why?’
‘Because if I kiss you again, I’ll never want to stop. I’d let the world come crashing down around us, and I wouldn’t even flinch’”

Thoughts/Would I Recommend This?-
I honestly loved this book so much and thought it was great. I love the enemies to lovers trope so much and thought they did that trope really well, whereas some people definitely don’t, and so I loved that aspect of it so much. I thought the whole story was fun and the fmc Rapunzel vibes were really fun to have and that they did that well as well. The only real cons that it had I think was that at the beginning there were like 20 pgs of just explaining different world building stuff, which was a lot I think. The ending was also pretty predictable as well, which I didn’t love, but I also didn’t hate it either. All in all, though, I would definitely recommend this book and think that it’s a great book that people should definitely read!

Thank you to Whitney Welsh Gibbs and Netgalley for providing me with an arc! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Actual Rating: 4.5 ⭐

What to expect:
-Enemies to lovers
-Royals
-Adorably grumpy side character
-Protective mmc
-Secret identity
-Forced proximity
-First book in unfinished series

What I liked:
The relationship. I loved the relationship between Eoghan and Maeve! Of course, it didn’t help that I’m a sucker for a good enemies to lovers. In the beginning there was a lot of animosity and hatred but by the end, there is no doubt in my mind that Eoghan would have died for Maeve. One of my favorite parts was seeing them together at the end. It's like I could feel the chemistry! My one con with the relationship is how fast it developed, as much as I do love enemies to lovers, I also enjoy a slow burn too. It just felt a little abrupt. One minute Eoghan hated her and the next he was in love with her.

Galgalesh. Is there really any explanation needed? He was hilarious. Seriously, some of his one liners had me rolling! Not only was he a great comedic relief, he also had a really great story line. I loved his relationship with Peadair. Don’t get me wrong, I hated Peadair but I thought his actions and Galgalesh’s response to them were definitely unique. Also a great LGBTQ+ rep!


What I didn’t like:
The lack of explanation. At the beginning of the book there are pages worth of lore, from seasons, to kingdoms, to gods. It honestly felt a bit overwhelming. To the point where the author really didn’t want to do any explaining in the books, so she just did it all in the beginning. Kind of like one big info dump, but the story hasn’t started. Now, granted, a lot of fantasy authors will do this so it’s not a huge deal. I just would have liked to have more explanation in the book, verses having it solely in the beginning.

The predictability. I’m going to keep this one short because I feel this has more to do with me personally as a reader. To me, the ending seemed quite predictable. Maybe not everything but with that specific character reappearing it definitely didn’t surprise me. Though, the foreshadowing throughout the book was well done, and I think the reappearing of this character will be a very interesting plot driver in the next book.

All in all, this book was great! I can’t wait to read the next one… Please let it be out somewhat soon! 🤞

This was a pretty cool start to a series! It takes some time to really get into it, but by the end I was fully invested in Maeve's story. The Land of the Frost has an interesting world, some loveable characters, and a steamy romance as well.

Read if you like:
- extensive worldbuilding
- training sequences
- enemies to lovers
- forced proximity
- "touch her and die"
- political intrigue

Our FMC Maeve has some strong Rapunzel vibes as a locked up princess with magical hair (that dies when cut). I found her to be a little difficult to like at first because she's 100% the cat that we worry about being killed by curiousity. I love an inclined FMC when they want to get strong or smart but Maeve spends so much time feeding her curiosity by being rash that I kept getting frustrated with her. I did grow to love her though and I also kept reminding myself that she was sheltered and didn't understand a lot of things so it is natural that she's curious and ignorant much of the time.

I really loved the other main and side characters! I think they were all super compelling and I liked their relationships and interactions with one another as well. I hope to see more of Finn and River in book 2!

The extensive worldbuilding is really awesome and is definitely desired by a lot of fantasy readers. However, personally I think it may have been better to put just the family tree and pronunciations at the front of the book along with a note to find a full glossary at the end of the book. 20 full pages of detailed notes on the entire world is a touch overwhelming at the beginning of a new book and I'm not sure I would've kept going after seeing that had this not been an ARC I already committed to review. That being said, I do love the attention to detail there, I just don't think it's necessary in the front of the book.

My only real complaint is I had a lot of trouble with the pacing of the book. It took until halfway for me to truly get captivated and even then the plot is a little non-existent (but it does help that the characters become more enjoyable at that point). The gist of the premise is that it's a revenge story but with no clear plan as to how the revenge is happening other than training to become strong. That could definitely work if the plan is to get a revenge body, but that's clearly not the plan here so most of the story felt a little meandering.

Eventually we uncover other elements and the plot becomes more intricate. Now that all this is in play, I'm so into this world and I can't wait to read more about this story! Fantasy and Romantasy readers will eat this up. This book is perfect for fans of The Winner's Curse and A Court This Cruel & Lovely.

Thank you to Azala Press, Whitney Welsh Gibbs, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review :)

Thank you to Azala Press, Whitney Welsh Gibbs, and NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely loved this book! I appreciate how thorough and informative the guides at the beginning were. I don't often see such detailed guides, and it was so helpful to better understand the world as I began my reading journey. I initially skipped the pronunciation guide, but when found myself getting attached to the characters, I had to go back and learn their true names. I spent have the book calling Eoghan “Enough” in my head before learning his name 😂
I stayed up well beyond my bedtime two nights in a row to finish this book.
The plot is captivating, and the characters are all so unique.
I loved that the world itself is so vibrant, and detailed. The contrasting terrain in each territory makes for a fun adventure where you never feel bored reading about the landscape. I can’t wait to learn more about the other territories in the upcoming books.
I don’t know if it’s just me, and because I read through it so quickly, but it did feel like some things were a bit rushed. I found myself wanting a little more yearning.
The twist was also a little predictable, but also what I’d want to happen in order to make the next book more intriguing. The Land of Frost took over my life for the last few days, and I can’t wait to read the next one!

An intriguing beginning for what looks like a fascinating series.
The FMC, Maeve, is a princess who witnesses her family being killed and swears to exact her revenge. During her journey, she's forced to reconsider and confront some of her beliefs.
The story was captivating. Admittedly, the abundance of names, places, species and intricacies of their magic system and politics were a bit challenging to navigate, but I got used to it.
The characters felt alive, I loved the interactions between to romantic leads, the ending sets up an intrigue for the next book.