This is the second book I've read from this author. The story that I read is more novella in length than novel, and in some ways felt incomplete. As a consequence, I can only comment on the plot of the book: a warrior woman is injured during battle and taken as a hostage by her sexy enemy. It has potential to be a very steamy dark romance, but only the finish product would judge how successful that plot develops.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

I was drawn to this book by its cover and description. Some will find it hard to read as it is dialogue heavy and the romance is slow building. The sex scenes are good, jalepeno hot instead of reaper but good nonetheless.

Kumbi Saleh

by Ayura Ayira


Review Title: Good book, but...confusing?

Review Note: This book has a publication date of 8/11/2022, but I can’t find it outside of NetGalley. Am I missing something?

I like to know exactly what I’m getting myself into whenever I pick up a book. If the intent were for the reader to go in blind with this, I would have liked to know that too. That wasn’t the case here.

There are things I loved about the story itself, so I’ll start with those.

Had this been advertised as an untitled story (i.e. not Kumbi Saleh or Babylonia), I would have loved it a lot more [reasons for this are explained below]. The premise of the story itself is terrific. A leader gets injured in battle and is pretty much expected to die. A mysterious stranger swoops in and nurses her back to health. Other things happen in the interim. What shines through is the hero’s utmost love and devotion/dedication to the heroine, even though the reader is kept in the dark throughout most of the book as to his motivations. The heroine is a typical royal/leader who doesn’t want to show weakness or vulnerability even though her body dictates that she does otherwise. The steam doesn’t pick up until the 60% point of the book.

Their love story is good (it could have been done organically to make it better). I would rate their sexual chemistry four stars (out of five). I can’t say more without spoiling the book itself or revealing major plot points - but that’s also because the author keeps things intentionally vague throughout since we only get the heroine’s POV throughout the story. The ending is abrupt, so it doesn’t say if this is a HEA or HFN ending. I was left wondering...will there be a Book 2? If yes, I’ll read it!

The trigger warnings are appropriate - it could have benefited from one or two more warnings, though.

Overall, I would give this a 5-star based on the cover (as provided by NetGalley), blurb, and book title. That drops to a 3-star after I incorporate the confusing aspects of this book.


Now, onto the confusing...which is far too long and slightly spoilery to put on here, so I'll put this on my reviews blog instead.
https://delicatesoul88.com/book-review-kumbi-saleh-by-ayura-ayira/

I was waiting for some actions and some steamy scenes, as it is heavily implied with that intriguing premise, however, the journey getting there? Very painful. I expected this book to be a bit fast-paced just by the nature of the "kidnapper kidnapping the Protectress," but all I got are boring monologues that doesn't add anything to the plot or the situation. This book is boring and the steam wasn't even there.

The prolong to this book is very confusing and makes you not want to continue to read the novel based on the cadence. There should have been more descriptions about a "protector" and maybe why she fell ill before going straight into dialogue. It was hard to decern what the author was trying to convey. And for erotica, there seemed to be limited sex scenes. This book fell short for me, and I don't anticipate reading anything further from this author.

I'm giving it two stars since I found no grammatical errors, and the characters were likable. As much as a kidnapper can be likable.

I just reviewed KUMBI SALEH by Ayura Ayira. #KUMBISALEH #NetGalley
www.netgalley.com

I wanted to like this one as the premise sounded so interesting but it lacked depth and emotional connection. The events of the book were rushed and without detail. The plot was not clearly explained and I spent the first 3/4 of the book confused on what was even going on. The opening scene felt like a totally different book and I expected the author to tie it all together at the end but that did not happen. I was very disappointed overall.