I was given an eARC by NetGalley for an honest review.
This book was amazing. I'm so thankful I got an arc for this book.

Little summary:
The story follows Ava, a low-born Fae who lives in the human world. One night (on her birthday) she finds her boyfriend in bed with another girl. So how does she cope with this news?
She goes to a bar, drinks way too much, and insults the fae king (handsome, grumpy fae king).
What are the consequences? She has to participate in a competition to marry the Fae king, so she can restore her image and win a lot of money.

My review:
When I was younger, I was obsessed with the selection. So when I read the summary of this book, I was immediately interested and had high expectations. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed.
From the very first chapter, I was hooked.
I felt so many emotions, including anger ( yes Andrew I'm talking about you), but I was also laughing so hard with the main character. She was funny, even though she was pretty miserable herself. I just loved her humor and how she isn't scared to say what she thinks.
Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. The writing style made it easy to get into the story, I value that very much in a book.
My only comment is that I wanted more assignments in the competition. There were only two and they were covered very quickly in the story. I wish this got a little more attention.

But overall a very good book and I'm looking forward to the sequel and more tension ;)
How am I supposed to wait for the sequel with that cliffhanger?!

My rating: 4/5

Thank you Netgally for providing me with an eARC of this book.

“He made me feel like I was standing on a precipice, about to fall off. Heart racing and blood pumping, I'd never felt more exhilarated.”

This book was cute I loved it. It was fast-paced and very entertaining. The book was beautifully written and the plot was interesting. The world-building was very intriguing I want to know more about it.

I loved Torin and Ava’s relationship. I loved how it started out as they can’t stand each other to tolerating their presence to can’t stay away from each other. It was very wholesome.

And don’t get me started on their banter omg it was very funny to watch them fight each other. The side characters were perfect. Ava’s best friend was freaking funny i love her.

Overall this book was amazing and I can’t wait to read the second book and know more things about the Fae world. If you’re looking for a short, fast paced, fantasy romance then I recommend this book, it comes out on October 3rd.

✨My Rating✨
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

✨Tropes✨
- Enemies To Lovers🔥
- Forced Proximity🔥
- Marriage Of Convenience🔥
- Forbidden Romance🔥
- Slow Burn🔥
- Fae MMC🔥
- Banter🔥

✨Trigger Warnings✨
- Cheating (not MMC)⚠️
- Multiple Attempts Of Murder⚠️
- Gaslighting (not MMC)⚠️
- Death⚠️
- Blood⚠️

Frost by C.N. Crawford.
Frost and Nectar #1.
On the worst birthday of my life, I come home to find my boyfriend in bed with another woman. Within hours, I’m drunk, homeless, and pledging to stay single forever. And that is when the dangerously sexy Seelie King rolls through town, looking for fae like me.
Every generation, the king holds a competition for Seelie queen. But for reasons he won’t explain, Torin is looking for a charade, not a real marriage. So when I drunkenly sling insults his way, I have his attention. When Torin offers me fifty million to participate, I think, “What have I got to lose?” The answer turns out to be “my life,” because my competition will literally kill for the crown.  And the more time I spend with the seductive king, the harder it becomes to remember it’s all supposed to be fake. Now, my life—and my heart—are on the line.
A good read with good characters. I did like the cover. 4*.

Frost by C.N Crawford
💫ARC Review💫

Happy release day to this new fae romantasy release! This is the first book in the Frost and Nectar series and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It follows Ava, who after a terrible day meets the King of the Seelie Fae on his tour through town. Even after thoroughly insulting him and embaressing herself, when he sees Ava again he suggests a surprising arrangement.

Torin wishes Ava to enter a fae tournament to vie for his hand in marriage, as two fae who cannot possibly stand each other 😉, it seems to be the perfect solution to all Torin's kingdoms problems.

I adored the enemies to lovers aspect of this darkish fae read. It was pure entertainment through the training montages, the banter and the denial of feelings as they proceed through the tournament. Crawford lays foundation to the larger plot, introduces us to a well thought out new world and kept great pacing through this read.

I was so excited as the last 30% built in the story and the cliffhanger (!!) got me SO good! I am really looking forward to seeing how the story continues and evolves in book 2. This was a brill start with so many of the fae romance tropes we love! 4🌟

Ps. I loved this moment 🥰

“So, in Faerie, it’s okay to punch a king?”

“No, that’s a death penalty offense. But I won’t tell if you won’t."

*swoon*!

5/5 ⭐
1/5 🌶️

That was so dámn good. The characters were fantastic, the banter and wit were on point, the plot was so fun, and despite nothing below the belt, I loved the little bit of steam we got.

I love, love, love Torin and Ava. Torin swore off love to protect himself and any potential loves and yet risked it all to help his kingdom. He is hilarious and so sweet, I'm really looking forward to getting to know him even better in the rest of the series. I feel like there's still so many layers to uncover. Ava is a bádáss and tough as nails. I love how she stands tall against any adversity and doesn't back down but still has grace and compassion. I can't wait to see how she grows in the next books.

The side characters were great too. I absolutely despised Andrew in all the best ways, I love having someone to hate. Moira was a great villain too. I love Shalini and Aeron and the chemistry between them, I am hoping we get a lot more of them in the future.

I really loved the overall storyline in Frost. The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor is really spot on. The fae princesses are absolutely ruthless and it gets pretty suspenseful and wild in the middle of this one. We also get a little bit of mystery that kept me intrigued until the very end. The cliffhanger was so good and I can't wait for book two to come out!

I received an electronic advanced reader copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. Thank you to CN Crawford for allowing me to read this before release.

If you’re looking for a new fantasy book with plenty of hot and dark fae this could be the book for you.

In order to pick a new Seelie queen, the king of Fae must hold a competition. Selecting 100 fae ladies to compete for the honour, including the six Fae princesses.

King Torin however has no interest in love; with a curse upon him that freezes anyone he loves with a mere touch and unable to give so much as a warning, leaving the results of the competition up to chance is something he could never do.

Enter Ava; a common fae who was exiled from the land of Fae after her parents left her in the human world. After a less than stellar meeting between the two, Torin is certain Ava is a woman he has no chance of ever falling in love with. Thus a bargain is formed.

This series is one I will certainly be following; With a brutal view of Fae shown throughout the book, I loved hating many of the characters, but found myself drawn towards Ava and Torin, as well as Ava’s friend. I cannot wait to see where this series goes next.

I was initially pretty skeptical about this book. The premise is basically that the king of Faerie has to find a wife, but he’s decided to do so by having a Bachelor-style reality TV show tournament. Not my cup of tea, but after the initial silliness, the story got much darker and more interesting. I like that we get a few King Torin POV chapters, and though the main character Ava is VERY quick to get over her ex and vow to not fall in love again, she’s likable. The ending was crazy - serious cliffhanger! I will definitely be preordering the next book.

I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

This book has everything you want in a fantasy world: fae, seelies, magic, enemies to lovers and of course lots of tension. The quick pace of this book kept me interested and it was a real page turner, so excited for this series to continue!
I will be posting a review online on my tiktok account @cj.reads_

Absolutely loved this new adult fantasy romance book.

Did I think it might be a bit predictable? Yes. Was I taken by surprise by the ending? Yes!

I really didn’t want it to end, but it did. So I need the second book like right now!

Writing was great for these types of books. The world building didn’t feel forced and I love the selection/bachelorette and hunger games feel to it.

This book was described as the Bachelor meets Hunger Games, meets Throne of Glass and I can’t think of a better fitting description! This was a mix of all the drama you will get from ladies competing for a man’s heart, a dreamy and sexy fae prince, and the blood thirsty and shocking games and battles these ladies will endure to sit on the Queen’s throne. No roses tho, these games are killer😉

Ava is having the worst birthday in the history of bad birthdays. As a fae who fell in-love with a human, she really thought she had found her soulmate, or so Andrew made her believe. Until she finds him in bed with a blonde actress, wearing her birthday suit. Ava now single, broke and homeless is dragged out by her best friend to still have a good birthday celebration, throws back one too many and all that liquid courage has her insulting the Seelie King, Torin, on live television. A few weeks away from having a tournament to find a new wife.

Torin has a dark and cold secret, putting him in a position where he cannot allow himself to fall in love, but absolutely needs a Queen to sit on the throne to heal the Seelie land. He offers Ava a luscious amount of cash to help him facilitate a facade of her fighting for his hand, comfortable in knowing they could never fall in love. With Ava up against the fairest, gracious and most vicious off them all, will she survive long enough to see the cash reward? Or will the fluttering in her stomach for Torin stand in her way to finally be free.

Well, we have a problem here...
I was lucky enough to receive an eArc from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion.
I loved it and now I have to wait for the next book!

This is such an interesting world, the mishmash of human hunger for fun and reality life with a faery world. Who knew it could work this smooth?
The Fae world was a story for itself. It is fierce, and brutal in some parts of the story but with a dose of fairness and justice.
This was a vibe of hunger games mixed with the Batchelor. I know, wired but as I said, it works...
<spoiler>It started with a game with a lot of action and no mercy rule , than it got easy very fast but it got back to hard times.</spoiler>
The world-building was amazing, and the scenes were written so beautifully. Reading this book was enchanting, all the descriptive vibrant colors of the Fae world elevate my imagination while creating the world in my head.
The tension between Torin and Ava is just beautiful. This is a slow burn so it is yet to see how the story flows.
Love curse that leads to forbidden love, but curses are meant to be broken, or are they? I don't know!!! That's why I need the second book! Oh, and the ending...
And Aeron and Shalini, I need more of their story. Love it!
Also the veil of mystery, Torin's sister, the parents... you just can't stop reading.
I was reading so fast but at the same time, I wanted to stop so the story would last longer!

“𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐞. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐀𝐯𝐚?”

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐭𝐨-𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐩.

“𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞.”
𝐌𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. “𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤?”
“𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.”

“𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐀𝐯𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬.”

___________________

This book was SO good and I already cannot wait for the next installment in this series. If you love some vicious and bloodthirsty Fae, a FMC with an amazing sense of humor, witty banter, adorably fun supporting characters, a televised Hunger Games-style Bachelor competition for love, Henry Cavill, Callie from The Bargainer series, flirting over swordplay, and “I hate you so let’s make out” energy this book is the perfect binge read for you!!

After coming home on her birthday to find the love of her life in bed with another woman, Ava is having a rough night. So when she accidentally crosses paths with the Seelie King and gives him a good old fashioned alcohol-fueled dressing down in front of a bar full of people and the press following him, she never expects for it to lead to the proposition of a lifetime. Seelie King Torin is hiding a horrible secret and a deadly curse, and while he must find a queen to sit on the throne in order to bring magic and Spring back to his lands again he also cannot risk falling in love with someone or else watch his love for them and his magic kill them. So when he meets the brash and very Fae Ava who he is certain he could never fall for, he makes her an offer she cannot refuse to join the tournament that will determine his next queen in exchange for a life changing sum of money. That is if Ava can survive the tournament long enough for him to choose her as his queen.

This book was seriously so much fun to read. It had all of the Seelie and Fae Court fierceness with added layers of fantasy magic, creatures, and lore, with the human world layered in and around it, existing if only to poke fun at our weird, human obsession with reality TV and drama.

Ava was a riot and her inner monologue was just so real and down to earth, I absolutely loved her. But I also loved her journey of finding herself and finding her true home within her Fae nature, all the while never losing herself and who her adoptive human mother raised her to be. I found myself both loving and rooting for her even before Torin did and I cannot wait to see where she goes next!!

Torin had my heart as soon as he was described as The Tudors version of Henry Cavill, and his confidence, determination to not let his guard down, and then his inevitable letting down of his guard made him so endearing. He deserves the world.

I have not loved a supporting, gal pal, soul sister this much since Temper in the Bargainer series!! Shalini is seriously the best friend everyone wishes they had and watching the sparks fly between her and Torin’s most trusted guard Aeron was hilarious and adorable. I’m about as much invested in them as I am Torin and Ava!!

All in all this was a fast-paced, quick and easy, steamy read and I am already hooked on this series. The end came out of nowhere far too soon and with those final twists I CANNOT WAIT to see where this story is going!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m rating this one a 3.75 because I’m in the middle of a 3.5/4 star!
This is my first book by C.N. Crawford and I definitely see myself reading more of her in the future.

Because this is the first book in the series, I already expected it to be a little slow paced because We are learning about the characters, and the world. I felt like it could have gave us a little more and I wasn’t a fan of the “reality tv” concept of it. But this one was definitely interesting. I’m trying to figure out King Torin and his secret, and just what to hear it already even though I have an idea lol. I’m really excited where book 2 will go because that ending was wild, even though I already predicted it. But now I’m even more curious of what will happen now and how everything’s going to change.

I believe this is definitely a great book to step into the fantasy world for the first time, since it’s light.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this one and these character definitely kept me interested and I cannot wait to dive back into book 2!

OMG!!! I’m furious, this author sucked me into a magical realm only u to leave me hanging at the end!!!! WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?? I’ve lost sleep, sadly no weight, I can’t focus, I. Must.. Have. The. Conclusion!

Thank you Netgalley for a arc of this book!

I will update to give more thorough review on goodreads**

5 stars!!

The world building is amazing and the plot instantly drew me in. I could not put this book down at all, it was that good!

I really love the characters introduce, and the author did a great job adding the balance of action, romance, and fantasy. I hope to read more books from this author 💜

5⭐️ 1🌶

I loved this book. It was an amazing start to a really fun and engaging fantasy.

Ava is a fae who grew up in the human world after being left outside a human hospital when she was 6 months old. So despite being fae she has grown up pretty human, went to humane schools, has human job, and a human boyfriend. At least she did until she walked in on him in bed with another woman, on her birthday. She ends up at bar trying to drink away her sorrows when she meets the devastatingly handsome Seelie King Torin who is in town delivering invitations to the lucky fae women who will compete to be his wife and the Seelie Queen. Ava is not a candidate. But after venting her anger to King Torin in a pretty spectacular way, he thinks she might be just what he is looking for.

Faerie is dying without a Seelie Queen on the throne. So Torin is hoping to find a temporary queen who after resting Faerie to health, will quietly leave allowing him to rule in peace. He offers Ava an exorbitant amount of money to compete in the games for his hand, which he will rig to make sure she wins. Torin is adamant that this be a marriage of convenience, that he cannot and will not fall in love with her. Having sworn off all men, being homeless and jobless Ava agrees. But they find themselves getting closer as they work together to make sure she survives the games, which could have deadly consequences for Ava.

I really loved all of these characters. Torin was incredibly arrogant but also a sweetheart who was willing to do anything to see to the welfare of his people.

Ava was so relatable. She had some pretty terrible things happen to her and she was just trying to do her best. I mean who doesn’t want to identify with a strong woman, who loves her friends, take out, reading and can weirdos sword?

I adored Ava’s best friend Shalini, she was hilarious. I really hope she gets a well rounded story within this series or a series of her own.

I just finished and I already can’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the series.

***I received this advanced copy for free provided by NetGalley and I'm leaving rhis comment voluntarily. ***

Just finished the book and I'm still 😳😲 Again C.N. Crawford amazed me with her brilliant mind.
Loved having both POV from Ava and Torin, but i would love if we could have more from him next book please (I'm assuming we're having more 🤍)
We have everything in this book, nowadays society with knowledge of Fae world, prince and princesses, enemies to lovers, magic and loads of bloody contests.
From the beggining we try to put all the pieces together but i can't emphasize this enough - in the end what I thought I knew was wrong and I'm still shocked.
What a brilliant plot, i absolutely fell around all the wrong tips and created the wrong plot in my mind ... and it's my fault because I seem to do it in all her books, always tricking me... and that's why I'm in love with her writing!!!!
Absolutely loved all interactions between Ava and Shalini specially when they were in the bar and having ideas on how to torture pr**ck Andrew and then when they were in the tower's room reading the journal, they're so funny and i love their friendship.
Loved Orla character a lot and I hope we get to see her more in the next book.
Obviously I'm in love with bad boy Torin and i hope he gets Ava back safely and can't wait to see what CN Crawford has in her sleeve for us. Please be kind with our hearts. 🤍

Firstly, I wanted to thank the author and Victory Editing for an e-copy, in exchange for an honest review.

Secondly, this was good, and it was a very fast read. It's been a while since I've read something that was properly New Adult and it was a lot snappier and just made the pages turn faster than anything else. This was the perfect blend of fae royalty love interests and a dating show all wrapped in one. And as a person who enjoys those two things, this was a great read for me.

I found that ithe tone hits more on the fluffy end... and I mean that to say that although there was blood and some violence, it was more Ava's personality of - the only way is through, and we're just gonna deal - which helps with what could be considered darker tones in the book. I like fluffy so her inner thoughts were definiltey welcomed throughout. I also enjoyed that as you got further in that there are details that set up the second book with ease and the more you get through the book the sinister feelings start to grow. Or that you have the feeling something is a foot and the bitchy fae princess you're in competition with aren't it.

Overall, it was a great time, and as much as I hate cliffhangers, I'll probably stick around for the second book, because they always get me.

5/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️

“It seems I have you exactly where I want you, my favorite changeling.”

The FMC and MMC have an amazing connection even on their roller coaster. The scene building is epic; immense detail really kept me intrigued. The chapters are short but I don’t feel like the story jolts too quickly from scene to scene, it all flows well. And THAT ENDING!?!?!?! What a twist I didn’t see coming, yet is such an exciting cliffhanger!

•short chapters
•will they won’t they
•mostly single pov of the fmc
•”enemies” to “lovers” (kinda but not really?)
•medieval vibes

Out October 3rd!

Thank you to @netgalley @victoryeditingngc and @cn_crawford for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I loved this book!!!

The world building, the story line and characters were so unique and special. I loved Ava from the very start. When she insulted the fae king after just meeting him I just about died. The fighting and contests were a lot of fun as well. But that ending!! Oh my god, I did not see that coming at all..

Thank you netgalley and C.N. Crawford for the arc in exchange for an honest review.