Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

After speeding through the first book, I was excited to dive into Queen of Myth and Monsters. I love that the book picked up where King of Battle and Blood ended but that's pretty much all that I enjoyed. I struggled tremendously with this book. I was interested to see the relationship between Adrian and Isolde evolve but I found myself pulling away from the characters. While reading I was constantly frustrated by their decisions and I was not invested in the direction of the story. I wish that I loved this book, but it just wasn't for me.

I saw Sourcebooks promoting this book and the premise and book cover caught my eye, so I didn't pay much attention to the fact that it was a sequel. Not reading the first one didn't get in the way of reading this one though! Everything notable that happened in the first book is mentioned in brief, natural recollections of memories and in dialogue by the characters and it's so, so nice--something I'd like even if I did read the first book, because that recap is good to have in such an action-packed story.

The sex scenes were plentiful but don't get in the way of the plot. It's simply how Isolde and Adrian interact with each other, and their devotion and attraction to each other is, while obsessive, quite romantic. I love how Adrian speaks of and to Isolde, especially.

The horror aspects of the story weren't distasteful, either; they served the story well and attacks and deaths had clear meaning. I felt the anguish and anger of the characters many times throughout this book.

Definitely a series I'd recommend! I gotta go read the first one now.

An amazing continuation from the previous book. I loved reading about the growth of these characters from the previous book and am enthralled with the world and story.

In book two of the Tristan x Isolde series by St. Clair, our characters fight for their love and their country amidst political intrigues and godly interference. The story is full of revelations, treachery and heartache and was quite an intense read. I personally found some of Isolde’s actions to be rather frustrating but the story was full of surprises. The novel was enjoyable despite its grimness and the rather cliffhanger-esque ending. Fans of the series will be delighted. Four stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an advanced readers copy of this novel.

Queen of Myth and Monsters was absolutely amazing. The continuation of King of Battle and Blood was seamless and the characters just continue to grow. Ms. St. Clair absolutely blows me out of the water with her writing and storytelling. She continuously creates sequels that are even better than the first one. I do not want to go into much detail as to avoid spoilers, but one thing I can is fans of Adrian and Isolde are going to love the second installment.

I loved this book, arguably more than book one. I'm always up for a strong witch story, and I am excited to see where this one goes!

It isn't often that I recommend reading the author's note strongly, but for this one I do. It's full of great insight into why the author did certain things in the book, and her personal history that influenced the book. I found it very enlightening.

Often I find the second book in a trilogy lags but wow! This one was strong, and well balanced. Bravo! I wish I could dive deeper but I'm so scared of spoilers. 🤣

If you liked book one, I am sure you'll love book two. Very action packed, very steamy, very twisty!

The ending left me very excited for the next book, but wrapped but enough of the ongoing storylines to be fulfilling too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book.

While I didn't love this book as much as the first one, I very much enjoyed this continuation of Adrian and Isolde's story;. The author really makes you feel with Isolde, all her heartbreak and turmoil and inner torment. It answers some lingering questions, and sets up good for the next book in the series.

The second title in the series, this one doesn't shine as bright as the first book. It focuses on lots of set up for the third book and is a bit of a slog to get through. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed the dual perspectives of Isolde and Adrian to understand their reasonings and motivations. I believe the author may have gotten trapped in the loop of explaining and not showing, which is what attracted me to the series in the first place.

I was so looking forward to the follow up story to Isolde and Adrian, but have to say this one made me dislike both characters and not want to find out how their story ends. They fight, they have sex, they fight, they have sex, and that is how the story goes on. I love angst and steam but there has to be more to carry a story. I didn't feel the epic love story build like I did in King of Battle and Blood. The whole flow of the story was static and the plot just didn't develop or unfold like in the first book. It makes me a little sad, since I loved the first book and couldn't wait to read more.

This book was not as good as the first one and that makes me really sad, because I love Scarlett St. Clair. Now don’t get me wrong, I think the plot is sooooo good, and I really like the story, but the constant fighting and then making up by having sex was just so annoying. Even Isolde acknowledges it in the book! Seriously, I think the story between Adrian and Ravena/Ana and Isolde is so interesting, and I will read the next book to see what happens. I just hope there will be less angry sex and more foreplay!

I’m convinced Scarlett doesn’t know how to write a bad book! It was a treat jumping back into the world of Adrian and Isolde, and continue exploring their story. There were definitely moments where this suffered from middle book syndrome, and the pair made decisions that seemed a bit over the top. But i need the next one!

I’ll admit, I should have read the book description first rather than going on title alone. First, I had no idea this was the second in a series and I had to go back and find book 1 before starting this one. Second, I just do not like romance books. However, putting that aside, I still give this book only 2 stars. Why? Honestly, I found the characters to be annoying and not relatable. If I could have gone into the book to slap a few of them and tell them to get a grip I would have. It was frustrating to read and it saddens be because the basic bones of the underlying story are something I would want to read. I just wanted it to have characters worthy of the story, and they just weren’t. It looks like there is going to be a third book in the series and despite wanting to know where the story goes, I won’t be reading it. It might be someone else’s cup of tea but it isn’t mine.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the eARC in exchange for a review and future podcast episode. Will update review with podcast episode link when available.

King of Battle and Blood was so good and made me really excited for Queen of Myth and Monsters. There was so much plot and kept you asking for more. QMM picks up right where KBB left off.

The second book was spice-heavy where the spice seemed to be prioritized over the plot and backstory compared to the first book. However, you never question the chemistry both Isolde and Adrian have.

As we know from SSC social posts, we know there is a third book. Which you can definitely feel because this book felt all over the place in the fact that we are getting a lot of background from each of the other characters, as well as flashbacks (when we're not getting spicy scenes.)

Also enjoyed the follow through that Isolde had when she would try to show mercy, but when others would take her mercy for granted, she followed through.

It will be interesting to see where this trilogy/series goes because of how much I enjoyed the first one. Although this second book does not match up to how much I really enjoyed KBB, it is a journey as we go through.

I really enjoyed the female narrator for

I wasn't sure I wanted to read the second installment of this series, but I'm glad I did. I enjoyed this story so much more than book one and I'm actually looking forward to the next one! Although there was still quite a bit of spice, the actual story didn't feel as forced. I was able to get to know the characters a bit more and I appreciate where St. Clair is going with the series.

A saucy, succulent sequel that lives up to the first!

I loved the romance that continued to build in Adrian and Isolde, as well as the inter-court and inter-goddess politics that ran throughout the book.

Medium paced with just enough mystery around what would happen next!

Queen of Myth and Monsters picks up right after the events of King of Battle and Blood—so, you will need to read King of Battle and Blood first before picking this up! Isolde is adjusting to her new role as Queen while grieving the death of her father and searching for a traitor. Whilst looking for ways to defeat Ravena and the deadly blood mist, Isolde reconnects to her magic and acquires some new abilities. She also attempts to regain some of Yesenia’s memories and ends up learning some of Adrian’s secrets as well, whilst Adrian and Isolde must also prepare for a vampire war.

Queen of Myth and Monsters is a fast-paced and spicy paranormal romance novel suitable for adults, so it would be perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash or A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout, the A Court of Thorns and Roses or Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas, and the Grishaverse books by Leigh Bardugo. This book deals with a ton of themes including appearance versus reality, darkness versus light, change versus tradition, religion, quest for power, love and heartbreak, family, female roles and feminism, fate versus freewill, strength, war and sacrifice, death, deception, secrets and lies, loyalty, betrayal, and reincarnation.

I’ll admit that I was nervous to start Queen of Myth and Monsters; it had been over a year since I had read King of Battle and Blood so I was concerned that I’d forgotten most of the important information revealed at the end of King of Battle and Blood and would therefore be confused when I started Queen of Myth and Monsters. As such, I ended up rereading the last chapter of King of Battle and Blood before starting Queen of Myth and Monsters (and I would recommend this to other readers as well). To avoid this problem, it would have been helpful if St. Clair had provided a quick recap at the beginning of Queen of Myth and Monsters; like a preface or prologue provided at the beginning of some books these days, such as in the Ice Planet Barbarians series by Ruby Dixon.

There was a lot more magical, witchy and paranormal elements (such as shapeshifting) included in this book, which was fantastic. I loved Adrian and Isolde’s passionate chemistry and appreciated that spicy elements were sprinkled throughout the novel. The surprises, secrets, changes, and revelations that Isolde encountered throughout the novel were also immensely enjoyable as it kept the plot interesting and engaging.

The main gripe is the book seemed to end rather abruptly and in a bit of a cliffhanger; I personally would have liked it if there were a few more chapters at the end to better wrap up the story. Again, I will probably have to go back and reread the last chapter of Queen of Myth and Monsters before I read the next book as a lot of important information and discoveries were revealed. The political and religious elements (like people claiming to be saint-like or goddess-blessed) were somewhat of a miss for myself as I found them rather confusing. Lastly, there was a fair number of gory descriptions as well as a brief recount of rape included in this book, which may be off-putting or triggering to some readers.

Overall, even though I had trouble getting into it, Queen of Myth and Monsters was enjoyable and would highly recommend it to fellow paranormal romance readers!

I'll admit that I wasn't a fan of the first one. This one had big potential but I felt the plot was rushed in some places (suddenly can use her powers) and slow in others (the constant fighting and then lovemaking was repetitive). I didn't see the plot twist that happened in the end but I'll blame that on low-key rooting against Adrian and Isolde. I was really waiting for something really redeeming to come out so I could at least give some of their terrible deeds a pass, but alas.

Overall, people who love bad people doing bad things in the name of love for each other will love this book. I was looking for something different from this book and series.

Scarlett St Clair does it again! I don’t think there is a single thing that this women will write that won’t knock my socks off. Thank you so much for letting me read this arc when I needed a great read the most!!

I read this over a month ago when I was blessed with an ARC and I’m still not over how amazing it was. Scarlett continues to bring readers on an incredible journey filled with raw relationship realities and stunning imagery. Queen of Myth and Monsters picks up immediately following the events of King of Battle and Blood wasting no time getting into the action. While several of my questions from book one were answered, I feel like twice as many were added to my list. I can’t tell you how many times I audibly gasped reading this story. My fiancé would tell you I sounded like someone was dying—and truth be told, it was probably my heart a few times. I’m not kidding when I say this book had me going through all sorts of emotions. Happy, sad, panic, shock—you name it, it happened.

And the ending! Talk about keeping readers on edge. While not quite a cliffhanger, it left me in a state of disbelief/wall-staring for longer than I’d like to admit... I know as soon as book three is released, I will devour it just as quickly as I did this one. Absolutely worth a late night binge!

“Let me make love to you,” I said. “Let me worship you.”

Synopsis: Queen of Myth and Monsters is the second book in the epic fantasy series. Newly crowned queen, Isolde, has found a king worthy of her in vampire King Adrian. However their love for each other has cost Isolde her homeland and father. Two opposing goddesses playing vampires and mortals against each other like chess pieces, Isolde doesn’t know who her allies are in the Revekka. As politics in the Red Palace grow more deceptive and a deadly blood mist threatens all of Cordova, she must trust her bond that she’s formed with Adrian. Even when she learns troubling information about his complicated past.

Thoughts: HOLY COW. Similarly to the first book in the series, I could NOT put this book down. This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions and so many twists and turns that I didn't see coming! The ending had me shocked and has left me desperate for the third book to come out, talk about a cliffhanger! Adrian and Isoldes relationship is full of passion, love, and hot steam. They are definitely a couple that is a force to be reckoned with! I love them together and I loved experiencing the book in Adrians perspective too. This book is such a rich fantasy with kingdoms of mortals and immortals, twists and turns, underhanded politics, battle between good and evil, hot spice, and a beautiful romance. I cannot wait for the next book and will be counting down the days till it is announced and released!

This book includes:
-Trickery and betrayal
-Revenge
-Smoldering Spice
-Dual pov
-cliff hanger
5/5 stars
3/5 spice

Thank you Scarlett St. Clair, Bloom Books, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.