2.75/5

I found myself having a hard time getting into this book. The characters were fine, but I never really felt that invested in their story.
It read quick, which was nice and I did like the worldbuilding.
But overall for me, this isn't a book that had me hooked and I probably wouldn't continue on to the next book.

This was good. I liked it, I read it in two sittings and recommended it to my sister immediately. It was exciting to read and kept my attention! Would definitely recommend to a friend

I was interested this because the author and I have similar backgrounds. Born in the south and raised in Alaska. Sadly, the story did not hold my attention.

I was hoping to like this book but just couldn’t get into to. Not sure if it was the pace or the characters, but this just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

Dnf @28%

I'm sorry, but I was not enjoying myself. Besides having more errors than any other ARC I have read up until this point, I could not get on board with the writing style or the protagonist. I think she's meant to read as a "strong female mc" but comes off very tropey and sexist towards other women.

I just don't see myself finishing this one.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I enjoyed the characters in this book and the idea of the plot. I would like to see where it goes and how the characters grow in the next book. The misunderstandings in this book didn't really take away from it as they often can - the miscommunication trope can get old sometimes when it's too heavily leaned on. But in this case it just made the characters seem more like real people.

I did not finish this book. I got about 20% of the way through it and I still wasn't sure what the plot was supposed to be. There was a ton of world-building but no connection between that and the story line which made it hard to get into. I was unsure where the author was going with this book and it was disappointing because I had high expectations and hopes for this book.

I may try to pick up this book in the future, but it's not something I'm going to go out of my way to pay for to read.

Cecelia, heir to her father's throne, feels like a stranger in her father's court. Driven to uncover the truth behind her mother's identity, Cecelia embarks on a perilous journey across the sea to the kingdom of Korith. Viktor, a formidable kingsguard, finds himself caught in a complex web of manipulation and duty. Drawn together by fate, Cecelia and Viktor are bound by an unexpected arranged marriage , stirring conflicting emotions within them. Whispers of rebellion spread and a military coup builds in the shadows. Korith is pushed further into chaos when the king is murdered . Loyalties are tested, sacrifices are made, and destinies are forged . As Cecelia and Viktor navigate the treacherous landscape of deception, they discover the strength of their fragile hearts and the power of love amidst adversity.

All the Fragile Hearts is the next Romantasy you need in your life. M.T Solomon has a beautiful writing style, with deep world building skills to help bring a reader deeper into the book. I was exceptionally impressed by the older MC's, as a mature reader sometimes it can get a bit old when the main protaganists are only in their very early 20s. It takes a more realistic approach to relationships and life which made it quite unique in the genre. There is a heavy focus on Cecelia's strong nature and a strength in collective female power.

This one is available now, thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I DNFed this book at the 35% mark, owing to issues I had at the start of the book that I had hoped would improve… and didn’t.

When I first saw the cover and title of the book, I was so excited, and the synopsis sounded amazing, given its heavy focus on what appeared to be a really strong female lead. In execution, however, this story falls wildly short. The female protagonist and bastard firstborn, Princess Cecelia, has been given the backstory of having been trained as a warrior her whole life. Okay, love it. However, her “strength” reads on the page as being anti-other-women. Nearly every instance I found of her interacting with other women characters came across as the emotional equivalent of her eye rolling, and having no sense of sympathy or understanding of any woman that wasn’t strong and emotionless in the way she had been purposefully trained to be. For a book that presents itself as feminist, bashing on other kinds of women gives me the ick.

At the point at which I stopped reading, I found that I still wasn’t entirely convinced of anyone’s motivation, drives, or desires. Multiple characters had been saddled with grumpy dispositions and tragic backstories, but beyond that, I wasn’t sure what they were meant to be doing. Perhaps I should’ve pushed further to find out, but I figured a third of the book in, usually I’d at least have an inkling.

Lastly, I want to note that I understand ARCs are not yet perfect, and are going to have typos and errors meant to be adjusted before publication. At points, however, this book felt as if it had never been edited at all. Commonly used (and I mean both in literature and like, the world) formal titles like “Your Grace” and “Your Highness” were lowercase the whole way through, I think the author misused the word “suggested” multiple times in the form of meaning “gestured”, and I personally found the formatting of correspondence/epistolary segments placed at the end of chapters to be really disorienting to read.

Overall, this book had great bones, and the story could have been extremely interesting if the author had been more intentional about the craft of the story. It’s possible that my personal preferences in books made this one feel particularly unbearable, but I would just warn that if you don’t like books where feminism reads as “I’m not like other girls cause I’m stronger”, and you want something fast-paced, this book may not be the one for you, either. 1.5⭐️

*Thank you again to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

✨ Book Review ✨

All the Fragile Hearts by M.T. Solomon
⭐️⭐️⭐️

This debut novel was very interesting to read and unlike anything I have ever read before!

This is a story about Cecelia and Viktor who both feel unwelcome in their own respective countries. They feel this way for different reasons but find themselves in an arranged marriage that neither want but feel it is their duty to be apart of it.

Throughout the book we explore what this marriage will mean for their countries and what it means for themselves. They both have trouble expressing their emotions to each other and even understanding what it is they feel.

I like how realistic the characters are. Cecilia and Viktor both have difficult backgrounds. This means that they both have their own issues but neither knows much about what the other has gone through at first. Cecelia is fairly upfront about how she felt and was treated back home but Viktor doesn’t tell her too much about his background. This sets up a relationship where both need to work through their own issues and figure themselves out while already in a marriage. Usually that is done beforehand, but of course they don’t have that option. This also means that they have a hard time understanding each other and get frustrated easily. I like how their relationship unfolded and grew by the end of this book.

I enjoyed this book but there were certain parts I didn’t love. Of course this being an early release ARC, there were going to be typos so I won’t include that in my review because I’m sure it will be revised before it is released. When reading this book they described ages in a different way than I’ve heard before and it made it confusing for me. I had to think a little harder when reading their ages but it wasn’t too distracting. Another thing was that I feel like we could have used a little more backstory before jumping into everything. Maybe some more information about both of the characters lives before what is currently happening or some background on their countries relationship. Lastly, I think that the little excerpts at the end of every chapter could be a little hard to read, especially at first, but I eventually got more used to it.

This book was overall a three star read for me. It took me a while to finish this book and it isn’t exactly what I usually read or expected but I did enjoy it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Victor Editing NetGalley Co-op for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest book review!

This would be considered a popcorn read for me and I’m not mad about that!

The book is told from two point-of-views and they come from Cecelia and Viktor. They are both from different kingdoms with different titles and yet they find themselves drawn to one another, not always by choice. They definitely get off on the wrong foot and it borders on enemies-to-lovers, but their romance moves so quickly that it doesn’t stay like that forever.

I did like them as characters. I thought that Cecelia was strong and didn’t need a man to save her. She wanted to bind herself to him even if it was in a way arranged. No one would choose her actions for her. Viktor was bear from the get-go and throughout the book his layers are peeled off. I don’t think that either were too complex or had a development in general but that was okay. I kind of felt that way about all of the characters.

The romance between them is quick and even though it isn’t insta-love there is still some semblance of insta-lust. I don’t feel like their relationship ever really grew naturally and was forced to grow based on the plot and the twists that were happening. I just didn’t see this grand love which is a shame, but at least they were still cute.

I would definitely say that the book is more plot driven than character. I do wish there would have been a mix or just more from the characters. The plot twists happened quickly and were very anti-climatic since I didn’t form a connection to anyone. They did at least move the book along though. The pacing was fast which made it easy to digest and get through.

Overall, this was good. It had its entertaining moments, but wasn’t too deep. I am sure I will check out the sequel since I am curious to see what happens next after the cliffhanger at the end.

Princess Cecelia is sent to the land of Korith after her ailing father has a vision of a darkness in the country. When she arrives with her brother, they are assigned a guard, Viktor, by King Ramiro. As Cecelia searches for the darkness her father spoke of, she finds herself falling for Viktor, and becoming more entwined with the country’s politics than she knows.

This was cute! I definitely didn’t see the twists and turns coming, although I do wish we got a little more from Danica. I really enjoyed the abbreviated history in the form of fake text references - it was nice to see things organically play out while still getting a backstory via the chapter headings. One thing I did not super like was Viktor’s attitude towards Cecelia. Like either take action or don’t but don’t be a dick about it

All the Fragile Hearts: 3/5

There was so much political intrigue for the first half of the book. The tension between the two main courts could be cut with a knife. For a fantasy, I felt that the plot was pretty heavy on the politics.

There were some big plot twists that I didn’t see coming and moved the plot along nicely. It was a fast-paced read, which I enjoyed.

I wasn’t overly attached to any of the characters. They all kind of fell flat for me.

The FMC captured my interest right away, but quickly lost it by falling for the MMC, who has the personality of a wet mop. I just didn’t feel the passion or romance between them. He seemed disgusted by her 99% of the time.

Some tropes include: Arranged marriage, enemies to lovers, forced proximity

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for leaving an honest review.

This is a GREAT romantasy! I devoured this book.
This isn’t two young kids, they are grown adults who are both powerful in their own right. Especially our FMC Cecelia. She is a STRONG female that I admire.
There is magic, politics, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage and more!

Definitely recommend.

Firstly, the inclusion of a map in the book was a nice touch. In my opinion, all fantasy books should have a map, as it helps readers immerse themselves in the world. However, the absence of an organizational chart at the beginning of the book was a drawback, especially for those reading the electronic version. It was only discovered at the end, which was unfortunate and hindered the reading experience.

One aspect I appreciated was that the main characters were older, which is a refreshing change from the usual young protagonists in fantasy. The romance in the book felt genuine and not forced (although it was truly forced, being an arranged marriage....).

However, the book's pacing was a bit off. The story spanned over a 2-3 month period, and it felt like there was an overload of information crammed into 400 pages. This made it challenging to retain all the details, and a more urgent and faster-paced plot could have improved the overall reading experience.

On a positive note, I enjoyed the strong emphasis on female power throughout the story. It's always great to see strong, empowered female characters in any book.

One of the book's standout features was the author's atmospheric writing, which created an immersive reading experience.

I am a slut for a pretty book cover, and that is what first drew me to the book. I also enjoy political romances when they occur in fantasy. This book is "Game of Thrones" esque in that the setting encompasses tourneys, king's guards, princesses and warring families. Magic comes in the form of the Free Folk, but there is little explanation of what power magic holds in this world and what it can do. In truth, there is zero "romance" as well...so if you enjoy the smut, this book is not for you.

Cecelia, our protagonist, is the firstborn bastard daughter of an island king. She seems to have been sent off country for most of her life and battle trained as a "warrior", but there are only three instances in this book where she engages in any form of fight. Cecelia leaves her homeland at the behest of her father who has visions: She is told that she will never return, and she is tasked with .... something. The problem is that we, the audience, are not aware of her goals or motivations any more than any other character in the book, which makes it difficult, if not downright impossible, to plot the progress of the story.

Ultimately, I do not believe this book is ready for publication. I spent most of the book puzzling over the main characters motivations, as they didn't really make sense. It is quite possible to get whiplash from the shifting moods and emotions of Cecelia and Vik. Additionally, this was a "fixed" marriage and neither Vik nor Cecelia seems to really care for the other most of the time. It makes it extraordinarily difficult to root for these two to stay together.

I believe that the book is attempting to provide a feminist story in a world largely dominated by men, but Cecelia's reactions to the plights and reasoning of other women in the story read strongly as woman on woman hate, which I cannot stand. With a plethora of grammatical errors, jarring contradictions, and astounding leaps in logic that are almost impossible to follow, this story needs a skilled editor to smooth it out. This story was a no for me. 1.5 stars rounded up to two.

Thank you to #Netgalley for providing this ARC for me to read, for which I, in turn, promised to give an honest review.

3.5 All the Fragile Hearts is Book 1 in the Dual Moons series. This book is filled with court intrigue, an arranged marriage, political scheming, and romance.

Cecelia, heir to her father’s throne in Lagos, is sent across the sea to Korith to entertain and make an alliance. She is strong, courageous, and was trained to fight at a young age. Viktor is a Kingsguard who is devoted to the royal family. He is formidable, standoffish, yet incredibly loyal and protective. Tasked with protecting Cecelia and her brother Danon, Viktor is curious about the young princess and finds that after some time, he doesn’t mind her company at all. When the king announces an arranged marriage between Cecelia and Viktor to strengthen the alliance between the two kingdoms, the pair are shocked but also not terribly upset about the circumstances of the marriage either. Now Cecelia and Viktor must work together to uncover secrets at the Korith Court, and ensure both make it through alive.

This was an engaging romantic fantasy read. The world building is complex, with a rich history and magic system that influences events in the present. I really enjoyed the dual POV from Cecelia and Viktor. The book was not terribly long, so the plot moved quickly and developed at a fast pace. There were plenty of twists and turns to keep the story interesting. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Cecelia and Viktor deepen and grow over the course of the book. It moved quickly, more so than I typically prefer, but given the pacing of the story had to happen early on in order for other plot elements to progress.

I want to thank Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, Fox Poppy Press for an electronic ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

All the Fragile Hearts by M.T. Solomon was an absolute hit!
The writing was magical. I was immediately hooked once I opened the pages.
This novel was written well and flows quickly.
The characters were all wonderfully portrayed. And very interesting.
All the Fragile Hearts has an engaging and mysterious storyline, combined with its fast pace, made it nearly impossible to put this book down.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Fox Poppy Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Not really for me. I used to love fantasy romance but I just don't think it's for me anymore. The politics were interesting so I'll finish the duology. Take my review with a pinch of salt as the romance aspect was not for me.