This story gave so much. I would first like to thank netgalley for letting me read and review this book before it’s published.

This book is such a beautiful story about healing from trauma and destructive behaviors and no one can tell me otherwise. I love how both Wren and the Frost king heal and start to accept themselves throughout this story and it really made the whole book so much better.

I had some trouble getting into the story in the beginning and at times it felt a little repetitive but not enough that I didn’t want to keep going. But it is what brought it down from 5 stars to 4 for me.

This book has some of my favorite tropes: one bed, one horse, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage and caring for the other after they’re hurt. Just these tropes should make anyone read this book.

I can’t wait to read the other Wind's stories and I do hope we get to see Wren and the Frost king in at least one of them

Wren is no stranger to hardship. Having spent her life fending for her and her sister after their parents died, she is a survivor and will do anything to ensure her sister gets the life she dreamed of. All of that is put to the test when The North Wind arrives to take his sacrifice and chooses Wren's sister. Choosing to protect her once again Wren deceives the Lord and takes her place, but when Wren enters the North Winds home she learns not all is as it seems, and before long her survival instinct will be put to the ultimate test.

Wren is such a brilliant character. She certainly errs on the side of morally grey, but her decisions have been made for love and survival. Having spent all her life looking after her sister, she doesn't think twice about taking her place, even if that means never seeing her again. Going from a life of solitude and near empty plates, she isn't sure how to take the Frost King's castle with his vast servants and never ending supplies of food, in fact she resents it when so many of her people have been forced to live with never ending Winter, killing their crops and ensuring they never thrive. She isn't one to shy away from a battle, and is determined to show the Frost King that his powers are slowly but surely killing the people she loves, but his heart is turned to ice when it comes to humanity, and she will need to chip away slowly if she is to get him to change his mind.

Though Wren is by far the main character of this book Warwick effortlessly brings to life a standout set of side characters, some who you will love, some you'll hate, but they all add to the tension (not just romantic) of this book. Wren and Boreas' character developments in this book were just sublime, they went from wanting to kill each other to wanting to well... *cough* not kill each other if you know what I mean, and although their romance arc (don't worry, I'll get to that in a bit) does play a large part in their growth and over all relationship, I also loved seeing them opening up to each other, learning each others weaknesses and histories, something that neither of them have ever really been able to do before. It really made sure you got invested in the relationship, as well as the overall story line, wanting them both to get a happy ending.

One thing I've loved about Warwick's books so far was her world building, something that, even though this is a stand alone, we still get in spades. The Four Winds were banished to Earth after leading an uprising against their parents, where they have their own territory to look after and that territory is blessed, or cursed with weather dependant on the Wind itself. Obviously 'The North Wind' is centred around The Frost King and his territory, but we do meet one of his brothers in this story, and Warwick has said that though all these books will be stand alone's, each one will focus on a different 'Wind' something I'm really looking forward too. There are some brilliant little nods to the likes of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone in there, and while she does take little bits from other stories The North Wind is completely it's own.

Now for what we've all been waiting for... the romance. This book is 100% a romantasy ( I LOVE this phrase btw), the romance plays a huge part in the story and it was just sublime. If you like slow burn enemies to lovers, where neither of the characters is 100% a good guy, tension, swooning, did I mention the tension? and all the smut... well then look no further. Warwick doesn't shy away from the steamy scenes and the tension (there I go again but there was SO MUCH of it) was just brilliant. I really loved how she made Wren unashamed of her sexuality, it's so rare to have a character, especially in a story like this, with a sexual history that she doesn't shy away from, as well as a love for erotic novels, it made for some humorous and steamy scenes, but I loved how she wasn't meek and shy, she knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to take it.

What more can I say, I love this book. It came at the perfect time, just when I needed a romance fix in my life and I got so much more than I bargained for. Perfect for readers who want a little less fantasy and a little, or a lore, more romance in their stories. I'm really excited to pick up the next book, especially after already meeting one of the characters in this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andromeda Press for sending me an ARC of The North Wind in exchange for an honest review!

I have to say, I was very impressed with this novel. It was pitched as being written in the vein of Beauty and the Beast, as well as Hades and Persephone. It definitely lived up to both of these stories and I enjoyed the aspects of Greek mythology that were included in the book. The first few chapters grabbed my attention immediately and I was a big fan of the main character, Wren, especially after seeing the lengths she went to in order to protect her sister. Boreas was an intriguing character from the start and the relationship between him and Wren really interested me. I like how the relationship between these characters was a slow burn one, and that it took time to be built up throughout the story. I was also impressed with the author's writing; she did not include unnecessary details and managed to describe the world in this book in a way that was easy for me to understand and to visualize. I am a fan of enemies-to-lovers books and this novel was honestly a good one. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of Alexandria Warwick's work in the future!

"Why should she worry when I am here to protect her? But even I cannot stand before a god and win."

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I often have a hard time assigning star ratings to books, as I try to balance out things I did and didn't like personally with the objective merit of the text and that can be a tricky line to walk.

Luckily, Alexandria Warwick decided to make my life easy because this was a solid three-star read. I liked it even though there were aspects that weren't perfect, and I will read the next one even if I'm not going crazy waiting for it, you know?

Let's start with some pros:

- There was genuine chemistry between Boreas and Wren. It is one of my biggest pet peeves in all romance when the MCs have no chemistry on the page and we're supposed to just accept their love story. Boreas and Wren do not have this problem. In their very much enemies-to-lovers story, I totally bought each stage of their relationship and how it evolved into the next stage. Warwick really took the time to show these characters growing into their relationship and I enjoyed that, especially seeing how the MCs helped each other grow and reclaim their lives following trauma. Also, I greatly enjoyed watching Wren screw with him. Much fun - more, please?
This nicely segues into my next point which is...
- The pacing. This book is sloooow. Like, Mariana Zapata style slow-burn. Honestly, it probably could've been 50-100 pages shorter but I have been enjoying the slower-paced novels lately. You really need to go into this text understanding that it is a romance first and foremost and Warwick takes her time developing this primary plotline. I could see the slow pace of this really annoying some readers, but I enjoyed it.
- I appreciated the sister-dynamic between Elora and Wren. It wasn't perfect, with just barely enough page time given to their interactions for the relationship changes to be believable, but I appreciated the balanced representation of how you can love someone, acknowledge they've hurt you, draw healthy barriers, and repair a relationship. This isn't something I've seen a ton of and I appreciated it.
- I won't go too deeply into this because of spoilers, but I appreciated how Wren and Boreas both developed in believable ways. I hate it when a romance has two characters who are basically totally different people at the end. Happily, that wasn't the case here.
- Last but not least, I enjoyed the discussion of substance abuse. Wren is basically an alcoholic, and I thought Warwick represented her use of the drug, how she justified it mentally, how it impacted those around her, and the recovery process in a respectful and believable way. I particularly like how Boreas never shamed Wren for this problem, simply acknowledged that it was a problem, and did what he could to help and support her.

Now for some cons:

- The plotline of this made no sense. I'm not talking about the relationship between Boreas and Wren, that's a pretty clear Beauty and the Beast style story with a dash of Greek mythology throw-in. I mean the rest of the story. We have an antagonist in Zephyus but he wasn't present enough for me to really buy into his motivations. I assume this is because the next book in the series is his own love story, and Warwick couldn't make him irredeemable or no one would want to read it. There was also a subplot with the Shade and Darkwalkers that had an extremely convenient resolution and kind of seemed added to increase the atmosphere of the setting as opposed to serving a real purpose.
- Wren starts off the book wanting to kill Boreas (this isn't a spoiler, it's mentioned really early) and I just felt that lasted a bit too long. Like, I was bored of reading about it far before it ended.
- There were some parts of the worldbuilding that felt underdeveloped to me. There were very clear ties to Greek mythology but the author did her own thing with it, which I like. However, there were areas that didn't seem thought through, like how Boreas references "growing up" but he's a god. Do gods grow up? I can accept that in a particular world maybe they do, but I want that clarified in the text, even with a throw-away line of dialogue.
- With the exception of a completely unnecessary Epilogue (I hated it, see below), the whole story is told from Wren's POV. I had no problem with this, as I found Wren to be likable in an "unlikeable character" sort of way. That said, she is super annoying sometimes. Like there's a moment where Boreas is literally LEADING HIS MEN INTO WAR but he and Wren have a private moment in his tent. One of his soldiers interrupts, saying he's needed on the battlefield and Wren gets annoyed that he's "making a choice. And he is not choosing me." Like, bish he is at war! I understand her needing some attention but you gotta make some exceptions for circumstance.
- From a technical level, there were a few info dumps but they didn't really impact my enjoyment beyond thinking "oh look, an info dump."
- Chapter 43. Why was this here?
- Also, the Epilogue. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS??

So I am a sucker for a good Beauty and the Beast retelling (although funnily enough I hate the Disney adaptations), and this one definitely delivers! Wren is a fantastic main character, and basically the living embodiment of “fake it till you make it“. She is flawed, damaged, and fearful, and yet she wakes up every day and puts on her I am Brave mask and swaggers through life. After she is forced to marry the Frost King her sole goal in life is to destroy him…or really annoy him, whatever works 😉 and he certainly has no idea what to do with her. The growth that both characters exhibit throughout the book, especially Wren, is great to see. I will admit to being disappointed by the ending of the book. I think it was very abrupt and incomplete. Otherwise I loved my time reading this book and would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Xpresso Book Tours for this advanced reader copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Rating: 3.5 stars

CW: alcoholism, torture

This book reads like a really good first or second draft that needs a dev editor to go through and point out where the rough edges need to be smoothed out. The bones are really REALLY excellent, the story itself is great, but it's just not fully realized. It's like a raw crystal that just needs to be polished to really shine.

Timing/timelines are all over the place. One day a certain journey takes the full day, another time it can be made there and back in the span of an evening. There are all also some weird word choices or where a verb is suddenly past tense that should have been caught in editing. I read an egalley so maybe they have been/will be fixed before final publication.

I sometimes liked Wren, and sometimes wanted to slap here. It felt like a lot fondue drama was manufactured by Wren being a character that is so torn between two extremes that sometimes it felt like she was giving me whiplash. I really like the dynamic between Boreas and Wren most of the time, with a little bit of a will they/won't they enemies to lovers vibe. And there was definitely the amount of romance I was hoping for from a book I expected to be a fantasy romance!

The author made some writing choices that had me making the WTF girl meme face. You know the one.
Why you gonna throw a freaking party when your castle is potentially under siege and MAKE YOUR SISTER COME TO IT WITHOUT ANY PROTECTION? And then abandon her. In a castle full of specters. To go kill/bang your husband.

"Darkwalkers travel in small groups of 5 or 6, not more than 10 or else there's in-fighting." Three scenes later, there's a group of at least 20 of them. You'd think that previous dialogue would be some foreshadowing... but nope. No. Just another random embellishment inserted thay created plot inconsistencies and should just have been left out. There are a lot of these, and this is why a good editor is important.

Still, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next book, which is about the West Wind. I'm hoping we get to meet some of the other brothers!

Fantasy romance as reimaigned tale of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone. You can also find the name of the Winds from Greek mythology.
Wren as main character has a twin sister, who she loves and decides to sacrifice herself for the sister's life as she was chosen as to be taken by the North Wind and then sacrificed.
So it begins a story of Wren and Boreas.
Definitely recommend for romance fans. For me it was a bit predictable, however fun and easy read. I would like to see more of the world building, but probably it will be in the next book 😊
3,5 ✨

I was positively surprised by this book. I didn't expect much from it since it is a romance and I'm not that big a fan of the genre. But, I did read the author's other book Below and loved it so much it went into my favourites list! And so I was really excited when I heard that she was looking for ARC readers and decided to give this book a go.

The North Wind is a Hades and Persephone retelling. The main character Wren is taken from her home by The Frost King, who she is then forced to marry. She is determined to kill him but she starts to understand him and herself better as the story continues. The story features many types of relationships: family, friendship and love. And all were done so perfectly. Wren is such a unique and strong character. I would say that the book was more about her growth as a person and finally discovering self-love rather than a love story. There were moments where I felt sadness or fear, and moments where I burst out laughing. The book has so much depth and was paced perfectly so you never get bored of it.

I recommend this to anyone who wants good character development or romance. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, I definitely want to know more about Zephyrus (The Frost King's brother).

I love this book! It's definitely one of my favorite ARCs that I have had the opportunity to review. It is so rare to find a fantasy romance that has well-formed characters, tasteful spice, and a strong plot, but this book has all three. I can't wait to see what comes next in the series. Until then, I will be waiting for the promised bonus scene involving a sexy dream. Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

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This was surprisingly well written and thought out! Sometimes felt like the main character was too over-smart and everyone else was too dumb

Romance is usually a category I avoid, but this is romance and so much more. Dark, magical, fairytale and a wonderful retelling! So glad I picked it up!

I loved every second of this book. It’s described as beauty and the beast meets Hades and Persephone, so hello, I needed it. I consider it ACOTAR meets Uprooted. So all the Beaty and the beast/Hades and Persephone vibes of Feyre and Rhys but just a tad more fantasy. Our basic plot is very similar to the beginning of Uprooted, small village where a woman gets stolen by The North Wind, aka sexy winter god, to be taken back to his kingdom and helps keep the land safe at its borders. Wren is one of my new favorite heroines, she’s feisty and salty and struggling but so dang lovable. And Boreas is everything I want in a fantasy romance hero. He’s stoic and broody and powerful but melts for our heroine. This is a sloooow slow burn but man, is it worth it. I loved their relationship but I also loved all the side characters we got to meet. Orla is the sweetest and Pallas is a cinnamon roll. Ugh I just loved them all!

So I’m very curious about how we will get a redemption arc with what I know book two will bring. Is this the Tamlin redemption we may never (read: shouldn’t) get? Okay, stop with the acotar comparisons, Chels. Do yourself a favor and preorder this book immediately. If you even remotely like fantasy romance, this is one that needs to grace your shelves.

I hate to draw parallels between books since I don't think any one author can own a story line, but this was so similar to recent fantasy books that I could not get invested. I felt like I was rereading about 3 different books, but with a weaker plot. Pieces of the story line were introduced and then forgotten about, the characters were inconsistent, and the ending was rushed.

This book amazed me! It did take me a while to figure out the world building but there is no detail left unturned! This had all my favorite troupes too…grump god, forced marriage, friends to lovers, fantasy, one bed??! This was a 4.5 star for me. Great read!

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘.

𝐸𝑁/𝐹𝑅

| WARNING: This digital A.R.C was kindly sent to me by the publisher via NetGalley after I requested it in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. |

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick first appealed to me thanks to the cover and the promise of a frost king.
But this, this ARC, is the last time I’m letting myself get pranked into Romantasy.
Because now I can recognize what it is, romance with a fantastic background to trap people like me, who wants dragon, magic and sorcery, and maybe one or two sex scenes but ends up with a headache due to the love story.
At this point, I don’t know if everything looks like ACOTAR or if ACOTAR had just more luck in getting hyped while using a too old frame. And from someone who isn’t fond of this series, It said a lot.
The North Wind is similar to it and if you’re a fan of SJM I can only recommend you to grab a copy of it as soon as it is released. It has everything you want.

A young, stubborn, fierce young woman with a facial scar and a bow, hunting to feed her sweet and lovely twin. Said lovely twin get chosen to marry the Frost King, a god of winter feared by all and Wren, the main protagonist, can’t accept that. So she decides to switch their places.
From there It’s pretty obvious, you get the enemies-to-lovers, the mean remarks, the attempts to kill the other and even the “there is only one bed” trope TWICE.
It’s a New Adult type of book rather than a Young Adult one (It means It has sex kiddo) but nothing too extensive or extreme, which didn’t bother me one bit.
My personal rating is 2.5/5 because I’m really done with this type of book but honestly I think It’ll deserve a good 3.5/5 in the hands of interested readers.


The North Wind par Alexandria Warwick m’a d’abord intrigue par sa couverture et la promesse du Frost King.
Mais ça, cet ARC, est la dernière fois que je me laisse avoir par la Romantasy.
Car maintenant je sais reconnaître ce que c’est, de la romance avec un arrière-plan de fantasy pour piéger les personnes comme moi, qui veulent des dragons, de la magie et de la sorcellerie, et peut-être une ou deux scènes de sexes mais qui finissent avec un mal de crâne à cause de l’histoire d’amour.

A ce stade je ne sais même pas si tout ressemble à ACOTAR ou si ACOTAR a juste eu plus de chance au niveau de la popularité, tout en utilisant un vieux schéma. Et venant de quelqu’un qui n’est pas une grande fan de la série, ça en dit beaucoup.
The North Wind y est très similaire et si vous êtes un.e fan de SJM, je ne peux que vous recommander de vous en procurer une copie dès sa sortie. Ce livre contient tout ce que vous voulez.

Une jeune femme, féroce et têtue, avec une cicatrice sur le visage et un arc à flèches, chassant pour nourrir sa douce et charmante sœur jumelle. Ladite sœur jumelle se retrouve choisie pour épouser le Frost King, un Dieu de l’hiver craint par tous et Wren, l’héroïne, ne peut l’accepter. Donc elle décide d’échanger leurs places.
A partir de là c’est assez évident, vous avez l’ennemies-to-lovers, les piques, les tentatives d’assassinats et même le fameux trope « il n’y a qu’un seul lit » DEUX FOIS.
C’est un livre New Adult plus que Young Adult (cela veut dire qu’il y a du sexe) mais rien de trop extensif ou extrême, ce qui ne m’a pas dérangé le moins du monde.
Ma note personnelle est de 2.5/5 parce que j’en ai vraiment ma dose de ce type de lecture mais honnêtement je pense qu’il mériterait un bon 3.5/5 entre les mains de lecteurs.rices intéressé.e.s.

This was a fun title but I probably would not have picked it up if I read more about it beforehand. I requested it off of one recommendation video because it seemed like a good mood read at the time. I knew it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling but I did not realize it would be exactly like the other ones I read. I wasn't really that fond of either main character but I did like their banter enough to keep reading. I probably will not continue the series but I did enjoy this story enough.

This was a really good “enemies to lovers” fantasy with Beauty and the Beast vibes.

I thought the story started out a little slow and I was unsure about it. But after learning more about the elements of their world, I was hooked. The descriptions of the Deadlands, citadel, and other locations in the story truly brought them to life for me. It helped connect me to the main character’s experiences and feelings while being introduced to her new residence and lifestyle.

The author did a wonderful job developing complex and interesting characters. I adored the main character, Wren. She is so stubborn and clever - I liked her immediately. The Frost King is a complicated fellow, but I liked him right away too and enjoyed learning more about him and his family as the plot progressed. I was intrigued by their background story and hope to get more details on it in the next book.

The romance was predictable, and I wasn’t expecting the *incredibly detailed* intimate scenes. Romance isn’t my favorite, so I would’ve preferred having to read through a lot less of it to get back to the more entertaining aspects of the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley & Xpresso Book Tours for allowing me to review this ARC!

The North Wind is a Beauty and the Beast mixed with Hades-Persephone Trope retelling. I was super curious about this book, because the blurb sounds amazing.

I really liked the characters, setting and overall plot. It's a debut novel which is sometimes obvious and other times you don't notice it at all.

Wren is an interesting heroine, who isn't flawless. She has a tough side, but also a vulnerable inside.
Boreas seems very cold at the beginning. He is immortal, but of course there is more on his inside as well. I did notice the Hades-Persephone vibes and like them a lot. The romance starts slowly, which is normal for an enemies to lovers book. The hate each other at the beginning. The more they get to know each other, the hatred shifts into something more. I did like the spark between them.
there are also spicy scenes which were really good.

This book features an unique world building and the characters are intriguing and likable. However, around the middle the pacing was a bit off for me. I wasn't bored, but I kinda hoped for a different ongoing or it wasn't what I wished for. Then there were scenes which were awesome and during them I couldn't put the book down.

The author wrote a wonderful debut and I am curious to see her next books.

This is what I would call perfection in a new adult fantasy romance.

I loved the way you wrote these two broken characters that were so relatable. I truly appreciated that you made Wren struggle with alcohol addiction, as so many know someone struggling with that. It made me connect so much with her (being someone who watches someone struggle).

One of my favorite slowburn stories this year. It was a tad long, but I think that in every slowburn story I read. Even though a tad long, I still think the pacing was done quite well. And when they finally came together it was well worth the wait.

I also appreciate that the plot wasn't just a big smut show. This was a really deep story at the root and I loved every minute of it. Can't wait to read more from you.

I truly loved this story so much!

Now that, <b>THAT</b>, my friends, is how you write a slow-burn fantasy romance.
I have no idea how she did it, but Warwick managed to fill this novel with characters with both tons of angst <i>and</i> great communication skills. It's insane how many feels were funneled into my heart while reading <i>The North Wind</i>.
Everything about this story is perfect, I'm just sad I'll have to wait forever for the next book! :'<