The fourth installment in a highly enjoyable f/f epic fantasy series. Fun world-building and plot elements. The romance could have been developed a little deeper between these two characters, but still an entertaining and engaging read.

The fourth book in the Tales of Inthyia series is wonderful! It's a high-energy f/f fantasy romance with two great heroines, and though it comes chronologically after the books, it would work well as a standalone as it's more of a companion novel than a direct sequel (though we do get a glimpse of Aelia and Orsina, the heroines from the second book).

Here we get the story of Ioanna, the Crown Princess of Xytae, who has the world on her shoulders, being a kind person in a country obsessed with martial strength, and Vitaliya, the Princess of Vesolda, who tries her hardest never to take life seriously. They seem like an odd match, but the two of them force each other to confront things they've been ignoring about themselves, and they're really lovely together. There's a small amount of road-tripping, and some very cool magic battle scenes. This is closer in tone to the rompery of book 2, Daughter of the Sun, rather than the more serious books 1 and 3, and that worked perfectly for me. Five stars!

An epic fantasy in the Tales of Inthya world. The fourth in this series; I had not read the others previous to this... and I wouldn't recommend that, though the story worked just fine. I'll definitely be tracking down the earlier books!!

Ioanna is the heir-apparent in the war-hungry kingdom of Xytae, but she's harboring a secret, she has not received the Goddess's blessing to rule because Ioanna opposes war. Into this uncertainty steps Ioanna's sister, Netheia, who stages a coup.

Princess Vitaliya is in Xytae mostly to party and annoy her father, but she is quickly entangled in the coup. In helping Ioanna escape, Vitaliya is forced to flee with her. The two women are quickly tied together, but as much as they care for one another, it is that care that may get them both killed.

** I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I received this Arc from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.
This was the first book I read by Elfie Calvin and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it. This type of Genre is not my favorite but overall a good read.

I have to say that I loved the book but the first one is my favorite. I love the scenery and the world that Effie creates and I absolutely love her main characters.

I would give this three and a half stars, but will round it up to 4. Kept my interest the whole way through. I find it difficult reading a story with names and places I cannot pronounce as it causes me to stumble every time I come across them. Other than that I found the story interesting and it stands on its own even though this is book four in the series. I had never read the others and don't feel I missed too much except maybe a bit of history or backstory on the world itself. Perhaps I will look into the first three books now.

Thanks to NineStar Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC for my honest opinion.

This was such a fantastic addition to the world that Effie Calvin has created. Every character feels real and the tie ins from other books are an incredible addition to all of the worldbuilding.

I’m definitely hooked on this series. This is book four in the Tales of Inthya series. I’m happy to say that this was another enjoyable installment. Not my favorite of the series, but I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun reading it so no big complaints. These are epic fantasy wlw romances that take place all around this world Calvin has created. One book we are in a land of Dragons, the next we are in the land of war, each country Calvin takes us to is exciting and new. And while we get to learn about new characters, old favorites mix into all the different books. This fantasy world, and it’s a whole world, is extremely well imagined and Calvin impresses me more and more every book.

I always try to include in my series reviews if you can start with this book or not. I would not recommend that. The world is so full and rich with storylines connecting all over that you really should read the first three books first. Unfortunately, in my opinion the first book is the weakest. Calvin was setting up this new world so there was a lot of information and it just didn’t flow as smoothly as her others. It’s clear how her writing has improved with every new installment. I would actually suggest to people interested in trying this series to read book 2 Daughter of the Sun first, than if you enjoy it, that’s when you go back to read book 1. Book 1 is important and needs to be read before book 3 (book 3 is like a mini sequel to book 1) so do come back to it, but I think book 2 is a better opening to the series and will hook you in if you read it first.

This book was centered on Ioanna, a princess of Xytae. Xytae is the land of war with most of its inhabitants worshiping the God of War. As the oldest, Ioanna was supposed to be Empresses but she did not receive a blessing from the God of War. How can someone become the leader when she doesn’t even believe in keeping the war going? Ioanna must decide if she can claim the thrown to bring peace or will her younger sister take over to keep the country in perpetual war.

I believe it was actually in book 2 that Ioanna appeared shortly as a young girl, where in this book she is a grown-up of around 20. Ioanna’s story was really interesting even as a little girl so I was hoping Calvin would soon fast-forward a bit so we could see how her story went. Once I realized this book was her story, I was even more excited to read it.

While I enjoyed the romance in this book, I did not think it was as great as the other main character’s romances in the series. It is the reason this book was a solid 4 stars and not higher. The romance here was much more lighthearted. I understand the approach, Ioanna need someone in her life that was light and filled with humor, but their romance was a little fast with not as much chemistry as I hoped for. Again, I still enjoyed it and maybe I’m being a little picky but I think a stronger connection here and the book could have been fantastic instead of really good.

I noticed there is a tittle for a book 5 already. That makes me really happy as I’m not ready to see this series end. Because Calvin has created a whole fantasy world and beyond, there is so much potential for even more stories. If you are a fan of this series, get this book you won’t be disappointed. If you are new to the series, grab book 2 Daughter of the Sun and see if you’ll get hooked like I did.

There's not much to say here but that the Tales of Inthya is an excellent, well rounded series. I love that the plot of each of the books are their own, but can still be tied back to the world at large - this is a tough balance to keep, but Calvin seems to do it well. I have a couple of points that I found to be weaker - and something that happens in most of the Inthya books - it still has trouble pushing the action throughout the book, so when the concluding action happens it is pretty much crammed into most of the last 2/3 of the book. In some cases its fine as Daughter of the Sun proved, mostly because there was a lot of stuff happening to get to the concluding action - but here it did feel a little too much like the characters were standing still. Another minor complaint is that the romantic chemistry between Ioanna and Vitaliya just suddenly appeared. It didn't feel like they were interested in each other at all until that point, but when it happened felt a little rushed. I understand why Ioanna would be attached to Vitaliya - she is refreshingly direct for a royal and does not really have a mask. Though she seems like a bit of a ditz, she is also wise in her own way, and offers companionship for the extremely lonely Ioanna.

Ioanna, a Truthsayer blessed with Iolar's powers is shunned by her own family. They are blessed by the war goddess, and look on Ioanna's gentler ways with scorn and contempt. Her life is that of invisibility - something that she is content with, especially since she cannot stand people lying. It both physically hurts her, and harms her sense of people. But that all changes when her father, the Emperor of Xytae, dies and Ioanna, as the first born, could be named Empress.

There's a lot of really great stuff going on in this book - like how does one handle going through life when one knows that other people are lying directly to one's face? How can a princess, who abhors violence mend a kingdom that revels in it? What happens when gods and goddesses meddle with human lives for the sake of their own goals. A lot of these themes are addressed, but because the book doesn't really have a true ending - the events of the story are resolved, but we all know that Ioanna has a long road a head of her - it feels like there could be more to be said. I do hope that we can revisit Xytae as Ioanna and Vitaliya navigate their relationship and rebuilding a country. I also hope we get more from Vitaliya, as she doesn't have tons of growth in this story, but the things we do see are very interesting.

Interfering Gods, magical powers, sibling jealousy, succession drama – this is a complete fantasy entertainer.

The royal family of Xytae and many of its citizens have been claimed for her own by Reygmadra, Goddess of Warfare resulting in anger and bloodlust in the kingdom. Thanks to Reygmadra’s blessing, the Emperor Ionnes has been at war with Masim for years. The Goddess is waiting for the heir to be born but is distracted by Dayluue, Goddess of Love, so when the child is born, Reygmadra is pipped to the blessing post by her brother Iolar, God of Law. Thus Crown Princess Ioanna of Xytae is an anomaly in her family since she lacks bloodlust, is interested in knowledge and most damaging (as far as her parents are concerned), is a Truthsayer, which means she can detect lies. Ioanna grows up trying to be as quiet and invisible as possible especially since her younger sister, Netheia, is not only blessed by Reygmadra, but is jealous, ambitious and brutal. When Ionnes is killed, Netheia is determined to become Empress and barges into Ioanna’s rooms to kill her. As it happens a houseguest, Princess Vitaliya of Vesolda, a rather flighty floater who has run away from home to punish her father for choosing to get married just six years after Vitaliya’s mother’s death, is with Ioanna at that time having arrived to warn Ioanna of Netheia’s intentions. Ioanna and Vitaliya escape from Netheia and set off towards Ioanna’s grandmother’s house to find safety. Shy and sheltered Ioanna is hardly suited for the travel and Vitaliya is a strong support. However, when Ioanna’s grandmother advises Ioanna to raise her own army and stake her claim on the throne, Netheia realises Vitaliya is Ioanna’s weakness and makes her move on the perceived weak link.

The story is interesting and entertaining. The world and descriptions are rather Xena-esque in the descriptions of the villages, people, countryside, Gods (their interfering, inter-wars and appearances) but engaging, nevertheless. The one flaw in the narrative is that there is not enough relationship-building between Ioanna and Vitaliya. Their involvement starts rather abruptly. Considering that the relationship is the main driver for the climax, deeper relationship-building between the two would have made it more plausible.

Ioanna is a great character. Her trajectory from being a second-class citizen in her own family to becoming a leader that people rally behind to becoming an irresistible force who out-fights her sister is excellent. Vitaliya is not very convincing, being a tad too flighty and showing just flashes of worthiness. Her sudden volte face to changing from not wanting to be ‘bound’ to wanting forever is too abrupt – but as die-hard, hopeless romantics we won’t complain about Ioanna getting her HEA.

On the whole is a not-too-long, entertaining read.

It was so good to go back into this universe, and to start fresh with new characters. We also got to see some familiar faces as well, which - seeing as Book 2 will always be a personal favorite of mine - I loved.

I have always been a fan of this series. I loved the universe, the magic, the characters, and even the war going on with the gods above, so I’m always excited when a new book comes out.

Was this one of my favorites in the series? No. But I still enjoyed it a lot. The characters didn’t hit me as the other books did. I thought the romance happened a little too quickly - I didn’t think their connection was that strong yet - but then again, I’m someone who actively looks for slow burns so that could have just been me, and I thought the ending was a bit anticlimactic. But overall, it was a fun read.

I can’t wait for the next book, and considering what happened in the end, It’ll be another good one.