I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

So overall I enjoyed Brittle, I think there was enough meat in the plot and writing to really take this somewhere and I will read the next book. I rounded up from 3.5.
I only wish this was longer, right as things were starting to get places it ends. As it's only about 300 pages long.

Verve, Verity Springer is an elder but middle child of her family. Her father is fighting in the Civil War and should have been home months ago. But no one has heard from him. Because he's been caught up in an ongoing feud and possibly oncoming war with the Otherworld, namely Faeries.
Her father is killed for information he knew on prophesied and legendary Fae weapon. But before his death he passes the information onto Verve.

Putting her and her family squarely in the middle of the issue. And Verve as a middling or middle child finds herself as a potential candidate for a long foretold prophecy. For a queen who is foretold to rule both over humans and faerie.
Verve becomes the interest of a high fae lord, who suspects not just her family as potential, but of Verve herself knowing something from her father. Kidnaps her to the otherworld.

Verve is stubborn and strong willed for a human woman in this time period, she's a writer, often covered in ink stains, she considers herself unlikely to find a husband as she isn't very compliant, lady like nor pretty enough to tempt anyone of interest. She's given herself up for spinsterhood.

Verve is willing to do whatever she needs to, to protect and fight for her family and to get back to them. Navigating the world of Fae, is difficult and she soon finds herself more of one world than the one she's always known.

Brittle
Blade and Bone #1
Fantasy
Beth Overmyer
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had high hopes for this book but I'm a little disappointed. I very nearly DNF'd this book because I found it quite had to get through.

The characters were OK but I didn't feel like they had much depth to them and I did find Verve a little annoying with her mannerisms. The romance seemed a little off to me and I can't put my finger on why. I think maybe it's because the love interests were too similar.

The pacing was good and the chapters went by quite quickly but I think the world building could be developed more, as well as the magic system.

Overall, this book wasn't for me but I can see how other readers would enjoy it.

*Thank you to @Netgalley and the publishers for providing this ARC. This is my own opinion and an honest review, which I am leaving voluntarily*

I loved the pacing in this book, a really good magical system. I was really surprised with the book and loved the twists and turns. Also as a lover of reading fae stories how could I resist this book? NOT. Absolutely look forward to the next book with this amazing start of a book.

Thank you Netgalley and Flame Tree Press for the ARC

2⭐️ (and that's being a little generous)

I'm not even sure where to start with this. I did not enjoy this book. First off, the worldbuilding was so minimal, like almost nonexistent. All I can tell you is that there is the human realm and the fae realm and you can make gateways between the two with hawthorne trees. No other information is really given about the setting of the story. I also could not tell you what the characters look like, except that I think Verve has red hair and of course Fenn has dark hair and eyes. I could not picture these characters in my head one bit. Overmyer tried to describe the magic system but even then it was confusing and things would contradict themselves. And, there's no clearcut conflict to the story. We are given no clues as to what people's goals are, their motivations, and no big bad guy. The characters are not very fleshed out, I feel like especially with the two main male characters that they're just kinda there. There's not much to them. Verve spends most of her time being kidnapped or hiding or being forced to sleep. She tries one time to run off, but otherwise, she does nothing for herself except wait for something to happen or have a panic attack because she feel's trapped. Oh, and she will remind you constantly that "she's not like other girls." She says that out loud.

My BIGGEST issue with Brittle is how much is taken from ACOTAR. In the current age of fae novels, I can understand taking inspiration from the most popular fae series, but this went beyond that. This was to the point of I can tell you exactly what plot points were taken from ACOTAR. Let me name a few for you:

1) Verve's sister seems to be the only one trying to provide for their family (Feyre exclusively feeding her family)
2) One of Verve's sisters is completely immune to fae glamour (*cough* Nesta *cough*)
3) Dacre, our "Tamlin", uses a glamour on himself for Verve, otherwise he glows and appears too ethereal and terrifying to her (how Tamlin covered up his glow due to his high lord powers)
4) Dacre's enemy sends deadly beasts into his lands (Amarantha would send all manners of creatures into the spring court)
5) The "bad guy" was born with more power than any fae should be allowed (so Rhysand coded, and guess what, he has black hair and dark eyes)
6) Dacre set up guards around Verve's family to protect them and was supposedly providing for them while Verve was "away for her governess job" (like how Feyre was "caring for her rich sick aunt")
7) Let's not forget the attempt to transform Verve into a high fae. She gets tossed into some magical water to be drowned and come out as a fae (EXACTLY how the transformation in the cauldron occurs with Nesta and Elain)

The copied plot points and even characters (Dacre is Tamlin and Fenn is Rhysand) was so blatantly obvious that I could not look past it. Even the story as a whole just felt like a slightly changed copy of the series.

Ok, back the the book itself. Who is our antagonist? I could not tell you. At first, we're told that Fenn is the "bad guy", this rogue prince. Why? Who knows. It's never explained. Fenn of course turns out to be the good guy and rescues Verve from Dacre. Past that, I have no idea who it is. Dacre maybe, as he's trying to get Verve back and then supposedly has taken her family. But wait, Dacre disquises himself as Fenn and then takes Verve to the fae king (who was mentioned maybe twice? in the book so far). The king has her family and wants the power that she took from the magical, sentient blade that was the only thing that can kill fae. So what happens? When "giving" the power to the king, Verve uses that to kill him. Dead. Ok. Then she just turns around and kills Dacre. There was no fight, no real cause for conflict. I have no idea why they wanted Verve besides some prophecy about the Fire Queen, but what does the Fire Queen do? No idea. No idea why the king wants her dead, is she supposed to be destined to kill him (which she easily does with no fight from him). She kills Dacre obviously for having kidnapped her but also, he was the one that killed her father (shocking, I know). And then it's over, just like that. The only unresolved thing is that apparently Dacre cursed her so that she cannot touch anyone that she does not have a blood bond (whatever that is) with and because curses can only be lifted by those that cast them and Dacre is now dead, they don't know what to do about that.

Now for the romance. It was barely there. Dacre is in love with her? Why? No clue, he just is. She doesn't see it and very obviously hates him. He gives her a magical key to his room, which of course if she were to use it, would be his invitation to have his way with her. The romance? Nonexistent. Now our main male character, Fenn. He rescues her from Dacre, and very quickly falls in love with her. Like in just a couple of days. Verve weirdly trusts him immediately despite having been to skeptical about everything in the fae realm and trusting no one. They get married to break her transformation bond with Dacre. Now that she know that he loves her, she suddenly lets him in, they cuddle. Then the next day they actually get together. But for a book that is what I believe is a New Adult, it is an IMMEDIATE fade to black. We get absolutely nothing. I expect that from an Young Adult novel, of course, but New Adult is supposed to have the freedom to have spice, and should have some in my opinion. But no, we get nothing.

Overall, if you couldn't tell by now, I did not like this book. It fell flat with very little originality and a huge lack of worldbuilding and plot building. I am left confused at the end because I still do not know the motivations behind the little bit of conflict we had, which was extremely rushed, and I have no clue how this story can be continued into a second book. This is not a book that I will recommend to others. Maybe if I had read this before reading ACOTAR, I may have liked it better but even when setting aside the copying, there's not really anything to the story. I hope that Overmyer can learn from this and grow in her writing adventures. I most likely will not be reading the second book whenever it comes out.

Can we just take a minute to appreciate that cover. Stunning!

I had such high hopes for this book but unfortunately, it never really picked up. There were elements I liked and I thought the story had a fairly strong opening, however there wasn't enough character development or world building for me to ever really get lost in the story. Verve was naive, stubborn and annoying for the most part, and while I was rooting for her to kick ass, it just felt that she never really met her potential. I did however love how dedicated she was to ensuring her family was happy and safe. Her two love interests were your standard baddie/cinnamon roll and I did enjoy some moments with them however similarly to Verve, I didn't feel like they were pushed far enough. to make them interesting.

My real gripe: too much 'not like other girls' energy.

Between the pages:
- Prophecies
- Curses
- Fae
- Romance
- Magic
- Murder
- Betrayal
- Family

While this wasn't a strong story for me, I would still consider picking up the sequel because I"m intrigued by that ending. If you're interested in the premise, don't take my review at face value because so many people are loving this - that could be you!

Landing somewhere around 2.75 stars.

Verve Springer has been doing her best to support her family while her family is away, despite the fact she is a middle child and not the eldest. Somehow, she scratches the eye of the fae during this time, a species she didn't know existed -- adventure and intrigue ensue from that point onward. Brittle takes off to a somewhat disjointed start, however, it was an engaging read and maintained a fast pace. World building, character development, and plot connections could use some polishing. There wasn't much explanation of how fae and humans somehow became engaged in a war, and I'm hoping this will be addressed more in book two. Overall, an entertaining read and I would read the sequel.

Firstly I want to that Flame Tree for allowing me to read and review this arc.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I got about 70% of the way through and was so disappointed and bored that I had to put it down and honestly can’t be bothered to pick it back up. The story did not inspire any type of excitement or intrigue for me. Repetitive story lines (her tripping over herself constantly, being asked to eat legit every other paragraph, her becoming irrationally angry out of no where and then suddenly being fine, etc…) got old very quickly to the point I was 50% in and felt like nothing had happened plot wise.
The world building was not good. Verve (ugh that nickname) is suddenly drowned out of no where and the 2nd MMC pops up and is suddenly in love with her? And also the fact that she is “not like other girls” (yawn). There was so much happening and yet nothing happening at the same time.
The basic magic system would be good if it was developed more. But unfortunately I don’t care what happens & from other reviews I’ve read I don’t think I would be excited to finish this.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
For readers of young adult fantasy seeking a break from the romance-heavy trends in the series, "Brittle" by Beth Overmyer offers an engaging read despite its flaws. Although the character development and interactions lack nuance, the book has the potential to impress with its unique magic system, and I'm intrigued to find out more about the world itself.

I found the main character to be likeable, and I enjoyed her relationships with her family. The description of the fae house was lovely, and I liked finding out more about the servants working in faerie, but I found the other characters in the novel to be quite bland. The characters lacked detailed descriptions, and their interactions often failed to cultivate organic chemistry or establish believable depths of emotion. The love interests did not feel very fully realised, and ultimately I feel I know very little about any of the characters. I feel we could have swapped the two love interests, and the narrative wouldn't have changed much. Furthermore, Verve's agency is consistently undermined by both love interests, leaving her with limited information and reasons to trust others. I would have liked to see her challenge this more, as it was a bit disorienting to have her be in love without showing more about the process of building up trust. I will add that the romantic scenes often made me quite uncomfortable due to the protagonist being denied information, suffering the effects of spells, or generally injured or delirious with fever. Verve is injured or physically weak in many, many scenes- while this fits into the theme of the book, it seemed to be happening incredibly frequently.

While the setting of the novel offered intriguing elements, such as an interesting magic system and vivid sensory descriptions, it occasionally became overwhelming to repeatedly encounter descriptions of various scents. Diversifying the range of scents, with a greater focus on earthen and natural ones, would have felt more in line with the fae themselves. The limitations and boundaries of the magic system remained somewhat elusive, and a clearer definition of its rules would have provided a stronger foundation for the story. Similarly, the realms of mortals, fae, and other dimensions received an inadequate explanation, leaving readers longing for more clarity and depth. The king as a villain was confusing as we lacked much of the information that would have given a better context for the power at stake.

One aspect that detracted from the overall narrative was the characters' tendency to excessively explain themselves, both to their peers and the main character, detracting from the readers' immersion. Furthermore, characters exhibited a tendency to respond to the main character's unspoken thoughts in their dialogue, answering questions that were yet to be voiced.

Overall, it is a decent read that readers of the genre will enjoy. I will read the sequel to find out more about the world and the magic system.

Thank you Netgally for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my review of the book.

If you are looking for a book that has excellent world building, beautiful characters, and romance that is not the main focus of the story then this would be a wonderful book for you. I truly enjoyed reading this book with having a wonderful mystery and magic system.

Thank you, NetGalley and the Flame Tree Press team, for Brittle's e-ARC.

As a huge fairy/fae/faeries type of story, this book captures my attention quickly. When I start reading, it does feel a little bit slow at first, but once Verve starts to get involved with the mystery between humans and fae, it's getting better and better.

This book reminds me of The Folk of the Air series meets ACOTAR but makes it YA-ish. I adore the fae-world description here. I would say the world itself is still pretty much a mystery, but I'm so eager to know more. And don't forget the magic system! Ahh, it's so fascinating, and I love how every magic has its own significant scent based on the caster itself, which is so interesting.

I do feel that some things are still missing from this book, like, for example, the characterization and the description of each individual character. It's quite confusing because Verve never really describes the character she gets involved with, and maybe it's because of the glamour or magic, I don't know, but it just kinda ick me. The storyline is good tho, so if you are looking for some book rec with less than 300 pages but still pack a punch, I think this book might be the one for you.

I definitely will read the second book!

Not my usual thing, but well written and interesting. I would add more, but it was a slog for me to get through simply because of my own interests.

ENGLISH

I have to say I was not expecting this type of story, I was hoping for a more political plot. Something to the likes of Holly Black's The cruel prince. Now, it was definitely not that, but I enjoyed it.

I have to say the structure of the plot is very similar to that of ACOTAR or even, one of my favourites, The plated prisoner series. And I kind of like that concept of appearances can be deceiving and not everything is good or bad. I just think this specific structure/plot line has been used in a very similar way in many recent fantasy novels. Again, not necessarily bad, it just becomes easy to see in advance.

About the main character, “she is not like other girls”. I know we are all a bit tired of it, honestly. Although, I see a bit of evolution in her, not only the obvious, also in her decisions and the way she behaves. I feel like she grows a bit as the book goes on. Still, that trope… not for me. On the other hand, she kind of reminds me of Alina from Shadow and Bone, not sure exactly why.

What I did enjoy a lot is how complex the fae world seems and how magic works. It is a tad similar to The cruel prince in some aspects (one of my favourites in this aspect) but only superficially since it is not that type of story. I would have loved to see the politics in there and how fae live within it, since it does show some snippets.

Overall, it is entertaining and I enjoyed. It is for fans of ACOTAR, but for younger audiences with a bit of Shadow and Bone in relation to characters. It just did not completely click with me because of the tropes.

SPANISH

Tengo que decir que no me esperaba este tipo de historia, esperaba una trama más política. Algo parecido a El príncipe cruel de Holly Black. Ahora bien, definitivamente no era eso, pero lo disfruté.

Tengo que decir que la estructura de la trama es muy parecida a la de ACOTAR o incluso, una de mis favoritas, la serie The plated prisoner. Y me gusta ese concepto de que las apariencias engañan y no todo es bueno o malo. Simplemente creo que esta estructura/trama específica se ha utilizado de forma muy similar en muchas novelas de fantasía recientes. De nuevo, no es necesariamente malo, sólo que se hace fácil de ver de antemano.

Sobre la protagonista, "no es como las demás chicas". Sé que estamos un poco hasta el moño de este cliché, la verdad. Aunque veo un poco de evolución en ella, no sólo lo obvio, también en sus decisiones y en su forma de comportarse. Siento que crece un poco a medida que avanza el libro. Aun así, ese cliché… no es para mí. Por otro lado, me recuerda un poco a Alina de Shadow and Bone, no sé exactamente por qué.

Lo que sí me ha gustado mucho es lo complejo que parece el mundo de los fae y cómo funciona la magia. Se parece un poco a El príncipe cruel en algunos aspectos (uno de mis mundos favoritos en este aspecto) pero sólo superficialmente ya que no es ese tipo de historia. Me hubiera encantado ver la política ahí dentro y cómo viven los fae en ella, ya que muestra algunos retazos.

En general, es entretenido y me ha gustado. Es para fans de ACOTAR, pero para un público más joven con un poco de Shadow and Bone en relación a los personajes. Simplemente no me gustó del todo debido a los clichés.

LINKS TO BE POSTED

I am as ever, enormously grateful to Netgalley and the team at Flame Tree Press for sending me an advance copy for review.

Verve is an exhausted writer trying to support her family since her father went to war, who one night receives a dangerous message, and stumbles across a secret that leads her to fairyland and into the middle of a prophecy.

I'm going to try to be fair here. I was really excited about this. I'm a huge Sarah J Maas fan, and you can pry fae romances out of my cold dead hands. That is to say, that the issue of the deeply unoriginal plot didn't bother me as much as it might have. Disappointingly, Brittle is just not a good book. The characters are flat and move inexplicably, inorganically through a world that never stops feeling vague. There are some moments of writing that really work - the house Verve finds herself in is gorgeously described and was one of the few times I really started to engage with this book before I was interrupted by characters behaving bizarrely. My lasting impression is just that perhaps this might have benefited more from another pass from an editor because the bones of the story aren't bad.

You remember that feeling when you turned on the TV to watch a crime dram but it was already 15 minutes into the episode and so you missed all the crime set up and had no clue who anyone was or what was going on? That was unfortunately what the start of the book felt like. There was very little worldbuilding or story set up leaving one to hope it would improve as you go.

Unfortunately, it did not get better from there. This book rips a lot of its plot directly from the ACOTAR series similarities stacking up one after another. The bit that are not from ACOTAR are meant to be inspired by Little Women it feels like but instead just gives it all a super patriarchal sheen that feels gross.

“No woman really wants a man to carry her off; she only wants him to want to do it.” -Elizabeth Peters
Was reminded of this quote when reading after the 4th time the main characters Verve was scooped up and carried and I lost count after. Verve was given absolutely no agency and spouted some of the worst lines I have read in a long while including the dreaded "But I was not like most girls". Every time she would interact with other characters it would feel so incredibly stilted. The plot was largely driven by people just purely keeping her in the dark and dragging her places.

I would say the part of this book I liked was some of the magic system and the tree portals. This could be developed into something very interesting if given more time and care.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Brittle.

For a short book Brittle packs a lot, with an exciting fantasy romance and an intriguing mystery. The world building and magic system are well detailed but doesn't slow down the pacing.
It's hard to read a fae story and not compare to ACOTAR or the cruel prince. This definitely has more romance and mystery than court politics so is definitely more of an ACOTAR feel, but the side characters and lore were closer to Elfhame imo.
The ending felt a bit rushed but I look forward to reading a sequel.

3*

I was enticed by this book with the Little Women/ACOTAR vibes and I was hoping for a unique twist on a narrative we know quite well. However, I think Overmyer was just a little shy of the mark. I felt that the human world she painted was more fully developed than the fae world, and the story was slow to get going, especially when compared to the latter half. I also felt that the comparisons weren't just for the vibes. This book did feel quite a lot like ACOTAR.

What did work was the way that Overmyer crafted Verve's connection with her trauma to her own ideas of freedom. I thought this was a really impactful reflection of the character and helped me to connect with and understand her better. She also painted the magic very nicely, reminding me a little of Howl's Moving Castle.

Overall, I think this book just needed a little more fine tuning to bring itself to where the author wanted it to be.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5 stars! A fun romp for lovers of fae ala SJM featuring a delicious-smelling magic system and quick pacing!

Let's dive into some PROs!

PRO: Loved the magic system, with its scent-based after-effects! There were some really nice clues left behind for the reader to grasp, both with scent, gesture, and proclivities toward certain types of magic for different fae. For example... if Verve had only remembered that Fenn was no good at small-type magic like sewing buttons and mending clothes...

PRO: Quick pacing definitely had me turning pages and "one more chapter"-ing my way through this book. My thoughts kept going back to it when I wasn't reading, and that's always a sign of a good book!

PRO: Protag with anxiety triggers and anger management issues gave Verve life. Loved her name and nickname. Loved her I'm an author storyline as well, though I thought it got lost after the first few chapters, sadly. Even a thought for it here and there would have kept that narrative thread going.

Now let's look at a few of my cons:

CON: What does everyone look like? I have no idea what Dacre OR Fenn look like. Hell I don't even know what color hair or eyes they have. All I know is they're fae men and what their magic smells like (which, don't get me wrong, I totally love that part). I did think some of the characterization was lost- either spaced out too much between pages so I never got a snapshot view of the characters, or else forgotten entirely. I couldn't say.

CON: Verve slept a lot? Every time stuff got intense through a big portion of the book, Verve was exhausted by the magic or just... effort of living? Now I love a good nap, truly, but it got to the point where I noted how much she was sleeping and got annoyed by it.

CON: The antagonist of this book felt very unclear the entire time. The King was vague until he wasn't, Dacre was the lord of mixed messages, and Fenn didn't feel like he earned his place in Verve's good graces any more than Dacre had. After finishing this book I am *still* not sure who the antagonist is. Like if you asked me who the bad guy would be in book 2 I'd tell you I have no idea, and that was a thread throughout.

*SPOILERS* CON: Chemistry- there was so little on page chemistry! In the rush for this plot to move forward, the chemistry between the characters felt rushed and/or lacking. Hell, I thought Verve and Dacre had more tender moments than Verve and Fenn. She hadn't appeared to *hate* Dacre while she was at his manor, and yet the moment she was gone suddenly she wouldn't even name him. So I felt like the romance in this book needed some work.

CON: What was that ending? It happened like a lightning strike, and now who's the bad guy!? */END SPOILERS*

All in all I enjoyed, I'll be back for book 2, and Congrats to Beth Overmyer on her upcoming release of BRITTLE, out in August 2023.

Thank you to Flame Tree Press, Beth Overmyer and NetGalley for the advanced review copy of Brittle!

Thank you Netgalley for the arc
I honestly couldn’t decide whether to rate it 2.5 or 3 stars so I rounded it up to 3 stars

First i’m going to say is that there were some good parts - there are some romance quotes I really liked and I definitely started to enjoy it a lot more during the second part as it started getting much more interesting them, however this book is not unique to what i’ve seen - the unique, interesting parts, such as the magical blade, needed more expanding on I feel like to make proper use of it - definitely more world building and expansion of the fae world could have made this book more interesting and make more sense

However, the world building for the human world was done much better, with vocabulary of the time clearly indicating the time period in which it was taking place (however there was this one part / that I can’t completely remember which I may be remembering wrong but anyway - where a passerby was repeatedly negatively described as ‘dandy’ and i’m pretty sure that was a word that used to be used as a way to call someone gay so using it in a negative way had a bit of a homophobic undertone - however im very sure the author had used it in the context to describe someone as extravagant in a bad way so just a word change with a word that means extravagant but doesn’t have those other connotations if you’re gonna use it to describe a character negatively would be good and easily solve this problem ).

Part one of the book did drag on and feel repetitive at times so I feel that getting rid of a bit of the repetition and replacing it with more development (I will expand upon what I mean in a second) and world building would be a good way to improve this book a little
I did like the main character, though i think she could've been a little more developed and i think the author should definitely get rid of the ‘she’s not like the other girls’ trope as it almost ruined her character for me - lets leave that trope in the past as it has misogynistic roots - Verve was an interesting character and adding in that trope was unnecessary I feel
⚠️Spoilers:
Now with the romance I was genuinely so scared of the first guy ending up with Verve because he was so toxic - I’m so glad he didn’t end up with Verve and it wasn’t a complete shock or out of character that he ended up being bad - i’m glad the author foreshadowed this through his toxicity and didn’t just make him bad out of the blue.

Anyways the romance with the second guy had some quotes I really liked and it showed to me that the author did have the ability to write romance, they just needed to add much more character and romance development to this book as the romance felt rushed - making this book longer or shortening part 1 could allow for more development in many areas which (as mentioned before) would improve this book

I did like how part 2 of the book was much more interesting and enjoyable, however did require more development, and whilst I did like the fast pace, was probably a little rushed in some places

However it did feel strange and out of character that the main character suddenly trusted the second love interest after being drowned by the first love interest — throughout the book she was wary of fae so it was weird that she just so quickly trusted fenn (the second love interest) and again - shortening part 1 / extending part 2 could give a chance to make her untrustful of fenn at first and then trustful - more development and an arc in their relationship (as mentioned before)

Lastly the ending fell flat for some reason - I mean i’m glad Verve and Fenn survived but for some reason it felt extremely anti-climatic and probably due to the fact it was quite rushed like it ended it in a way that I didn’t really feel anything for anyone in the book as it was so anticlimactic
Thanks netgalley for the arc

Regarding the worldbuilding, while it was decent, it didn't particularly stand out to me. However, I found the idea of each faerie's magic having a unique scent intriguing, even if it's not a new concept. The descriptions of the scents and how they posed problems for the characters were enjoyable.

I loved the characters. I thought they were fun and well-written. I appreciated how the trope of a faerie prince/noble kidnapping a human girl and them falling in love was subverted, with the protagonist not immediately falling for her kidnapper and recalling the fact that he injured and abducted her.

The plot was primarily romance-focused, with some action towards the end. It's possible that future installments in the series will have more action. I didn't mind the romance, and while I liked the love interest, I wasn't overly attached to him. The plot kept me engaged, and there were a few surprising twists, although one was somewhat cliché. While it wasn't bad, I would have preferred a more subversive twist.

My only real complaint was the lack of spice in the romantic scenes. While I'm not a big smut reader, I expected at least some spice in a fast-paced romance novel. The total fade to black was a bit jarring, and I would have appreciated more excitement to keep me interested.

I would give this a 3.5. The plot picked up quickly and kept me very intrigued. The ending felt rushed and clunky.

It is going to be a series and I am excited to see where this will go. I think the next book will be interesting or very confusing.

I think the author could have made this a stand alone if they made it longer as the ending felt like it came together to then just not come together.