This book make me really sad. I absolutely loved the story line. Fantasy is my favourite and any fairy tale type story I love. This had so much potential but it fell very flat for me. There was so much more character and story development that was missing it just left me wanting so much more. For example I finished the entire book without any idea what Ena looks like. She’s a main character. Hopefully the second would be better because I would love to finish the story.

The pairing is super cliche... You can already predict it. It was okay..., the magic and dragons were the more interesting part..

Would be willing to review the next three books please.....🙏🙏🙏

First-off the cover of this book is gorgeous. It was the cover that really caught my eye and made me want to read the story of four fairy princesses who’d lost their kingdom and whose parents had been killed at the hands of an evil uncle. Introduce four boys, blatant knights in shining armor come to rescue them.

I found the premise interesting and decided to give this book a try. Sadly, it didn’t live up to its gorgeous cover. Here are the following issues I had with the book:

1. The four princesses and the four boys were paired off straight away. Sure I could see the symmetry but it was kind of annoying. It lacked chemistry and a certain intrigue. I still would have seen the symmetry if they hadn’t been paired off from the start and it would have been more interesting to guess who would end up with whom.

2. A lot of things happened in the story without a proper segue or better explanation. It’s like the bare minimum information was given without further elaboration. It made the writing look, and feel blunt.

3. Going with Point 2, the writing seemed a bit rushed and lacked a depth of emotion. As if the story was written very fast without stopping to amplify certain scenes and emotions. Even the supposed romance lacked that depth. There was an impression of danger from the king and the guards and all eight kids were on the run. But the emotion, that sense of danger wasn’t palpable.

4. Characters popped out of nowhere without a backstory of what had happened to them. Instead of showing what had happened, we were told about it. Once again, there weren’t any supplementing details concerning the fighting scenes. For example, a monster dies and no one knows how it happened. No clue at all. Were powers used? If so, what powers? And how?

The idea of this story was a good one and it had the potential to be much better if only the scenes and emotions had been more detailed.

Highly entertaining, emotionally thrilling, action packed adventure filled with danger, mystery, betrayal and heart pounding twists. Epic start to a very intriguing new series.

Ayla Vaskell is s feisty, cunning and determined ice fairy looking to save her sisters from the slave camp they have been trapped in by their evil uncle. Dain (fellow slave) and his three friends come to the aid of the sisters when they are looking to escape and they are not so sure the boys are to be truly trusted. Exciting, enjoyable and engaging reading experience, I look forward to more.

This is a great start to a new YA romantic fantasy. The four daughters of the murdered King of Crio have been imprisoned in a slave camp by their evil uncle. Their magic and their wings have been bound to prevent them escaping or being able to take action against him. It is only when the youngest daughter, Ayla Vaskell, is approached by another prisoner, Dain, that they have help to escape and try to save their world by ending their mad Uncle’s reign.

It turns out that prophesies have foretold the events about to ensue. As they follow the guidance given in a journal left for them by their father, the girls and the young men who helped rescue them discover he has also ensured there are people to trust who will help them on their quest, though they’re never quite sure what will happen next!

This quest involves teens coming into their powers, journeying into the unknown in an endeavour to overcome evil. All has been prophesied and there are people awaiting their arrival to fulfil their destiny but there are others who are out to thwart them. It is a fast paced adventure involving a growing range of mythical creatures and scenarios and an engaging start to a new series. I suspect this story will appeal to teens and older readers. I am looking forward to reading more by this author and in this fantasy series in future!

I requested and received a copy of this novel, via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

Touch of Ice by authors Aleah Raynes and Mandy Caruso is the first book in the Vaskell Empire series. For me, this was a touch of too much story and not enough character development. But I am gonna guess it is a first book problem. The authors had so much to tell us in this story that it will make more sense as it goes along. Sometimes very detailed storylines have this problem. I personally am intrigued and want more.
Ayla is 15 years old. She has been in a prison camp for kids. Had her title stripped from her, her parents murdered, and her powers bound. She is trapped knowing the person who murdered her parents is ruling and responsible for her and her sister’s fates.
She wants revenge. She wants to kill her uncle, but most of all she wants her powers back.
Dain is a brave boy who goes into the camp with his friends and brother to rescue the princesses. Turns out rescuing is a dangerous and somewhat tedious job. But Dain is more than up for it.
There is a ton of stuff going on, not all is explained properly so it left me the reader going hum what just happened? I wanted more information in places and less in others. I would really though love to see more in this world, I think there is a lot here and some great ideas that can be flushed out and strengthened.

Four Twinkling Stars

There was absolutely zero mystery involved in TOUCH OF ICE and the lack of actual effort needed to achieve goals made it very hard to finish the story.

I found all of the situations presented in TOUCH OF ICE to be way too easy. Let me give you some examples. The group escaped the slave camp and the first place they came upon happened to inhabit their fathers master of arms with a journal that their father left for them that handed them a way to save the kingdom. If that wasn't bad enough, the first item to save the kingdom happened to be there too. It gets worse though because the next inn they stayed at happened to be owned by one of their handmaidens and best friend. This trend continued until the end. Really? Every single thing was handed out with zero mystery and zero effort given.

I had a very hard time forcing myself to finish TOUCH OF ICE and the only way I made it there was skimming to the end.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Couldn't make it past the first few pages, because of the juvenile writing. Might try again in the future, but for now, it's just not working for me.

Speedy read and a speedy review I think. This reads much more like a fantasy setting romance novel (I'd say short story but that might be a little unfair). I think the main thing this book lacks, largely due to length restraints, is worldbuilding. I'd have liked a better idea of where fairies stood in relation to everyone else in the empire, a better comprehension of how magic worked and so forth. This book sacrifices that level of detail for the pace.

I think this is a great book if you have to kill an hour or so and you don't want to start anything longer. Equally, if you're in a bit of a funk about not finishing any books lately what better way to fix it than with a quick read?

I think this could be an interesting series in later books, I'll have to keep an eye on it to see. I'm not suggesting I thought this book was bad, in fact it was an enjoyable read, but coming from a background of reading books with a lot of (occasionally too much) detail it's hard to transition into a story which has fewer intricate elements.

If you're on the look out for a brief, romance fueled adventure that promises to develop in further books then maybe pick this up.

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun read. Look forward to the future installments in this series.

I received this free eARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Ayla and her three sisters witnessed their parents murdered by their terrible, jealous uncle, and then they were captured and sent to a prison camp. Their uncle wants to be king and he took the most direct way to do it, but he is destroying the kingdom with his evilness.

Since Ayla and her sisters powers and wings were bound, they are powerless to do any magic, but they are going to fight their way to the palace and find a way to get their kingdom back.

Dain, his brother Vander, and their two friends got themselves stuck in the prison camp so that they can break out the sisters and get them back to the kingdom. It was a tough start because Ayla isn't allowing Dain to talk to her at all, but after many failed attempts, he finally gets through to her and they devise a plan to get them out.

Little did any of them know that there is a mission for the sisters. They are giving ancient artifacts that they have to get to their proper location before it is too late. A seer predicted this war, and she also predicted all of the things that would need to be fixed in order for the kingdom to be saved.

But as much as the seer knew, she didn't let on HOW they were to use the artifacts and now all 8 of the teenagers are going to have to figure out how to use them in order to save their kingdom and their people.

I love books about magic and dragons and romance, and this book had it all. And for the most part, I enjoyed this book, but it was just so...simple. There wasn't enough meat about the history of the sisters. Not that I needed it because it was easy to figure out, but because of the lack of information that was given about any of the characters, I was left not really attached to anyone in this book. There wasn't enough emotion for me to care about any of the teens and the details were lacking in some parts.

The pairing of the sisters and their guards were obvious and so cliche I think I actually rolled my eyes when it happened. The instant connection between Ayla and Dain was just too much and then seeing the sisters react to their attraction was annoying because they were almost judging, yet they were doing the exact same thing.

This is a very short book that a reader will fly through it in a day or less, if there are no other commitments. I think this could have had a lot more potential if it were longer with more information and details, and also a little bit more spark between the two love birds. Plus the suddenness of some events drove me crazy, and the characters were like "oh, okay".

Overall it was a nice story, and if I stumble upon the next 3 (at least) books I may read them, but it's not something that I will mark on my calendars on release day.

I think readers who enjoy magic and romance and mystery will enjoy this book!

First of all, that cover is so pretty!
It’s a short, easy read, but I feel like this book moved a bit too quickly. There should have been more story between chapters one and two. There was a lot of action, which was great, but not a whole lot of character development. I found myself a bit confused as to who was who and where they were at times.
It was also a tad cheesy. There were numerous “it’s meant to be” moments (literally, characters saying this). And insta-love.
I did enjoy reading it, I just wish there was a bit more to it.

Really love a book that has a Dragon in it, and in this one the hero named Dain was the one that can transfer into that Dragon. I thought the heroine named Ayla and Dain were a cute couple even though they are very young, she's only 15 after all, I can't remember if Dain is the same age or a little older, so this book is definitely in the right catalog of young adults.
I can't wait to continue this adventure, the sister up next is the sister named Ena.
I also loved that each sister gets there own quest and will be visiting other kingdoms along the way. Really can't wait to read Ena's adventure, and to see which sister will be after her.