3.7/5

Thank you to Netgalley and City Owl Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book has such an exciting premise, but I have to be honest and say, the first 50% of this book was wicked slow.

Salome is our FMC and she is a thief, a con artist and excells at forging letters and eavesdropping on conversations. Salome is such an interesting character. She is loyal to the Alliance only because she has no choice, but inside she yearns for freedom. There is constant mention of how the Alliance members protect eachother, but she has no friends and no one she can confide in.

King Vincent is such a cinnamon roll. He peppers Rosalia(Salome) with gifts, and how he treats her is so sweet. The chemistry from the get go between these two is off the charts. And for once, I will admit that I needed more spice, because I hung on every word.

The Witch Circus was an interesting bunch of ladies and I love how they made Salome one of their own. This book has strong found family vibes.

Good worldbuilding and the magic was interesting. The demons were quite eerie, but I just wish everything was explained a bit better. I still have so many unanswered questions regarding this world. The ending was a big surprise for me and I squeled when I saw our much loved fantasy creatures.

This book could have been a lot shorter. In the beginning we are constantly being reminded of how lethal the Alliance is. It is so intrusive at times that Salome trails off thinking about it in the midst of conversations. There was also a lack of lengthy conversations, which I feel is necessary when important things are being discussed. Spelling errors and words missing from sentences tells me it can go through another round of editing.

Overall not a bad book but could use some cleanup.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

I would give this a 2* review for plot but definitely 5/5 for the sex scenes haha.

I found the plot quite transparent, repetitive and predictable with a lot of spicy scenes thrown in. The main character Salome was basically cast as a nobody who had to play the role of a future queen. I did enjoy the history surrounding the magic.

Thanks again for the opportunity to read and review

Wasn't for me. I just couldn't get into it honestly. The beginning dumps a truckload of info on you and I feel like that just started it off on the wrong foot.

When They Beckon by Kay Costales has great potential with fabulous world building, interesting characters and an intriguing story. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and found myself unable to put this one down. The characters are well written and looking forward to their stories.
I enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to see what Kay creates next.

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

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

⭐⭐ rating
🌶️🌶️.5 spice

Thought multiple times about DNF-ing this book and then it would pick back up and ensnare me again. Ultimately, I did finish it but it took a lot of willpower. It didn't help that I kept reading the FMC's name as ‘Salami.' There's also a witch named Godiva, and I couldn’t help but think about chocolate every time she popped up...

Anywayyyy, the pacing of the book way felt off. It oscillated between being super predictable and yet many characters choices, actions, and reactions were super confusing. For instance, when did all the gift giving by Vincent start happening??? and why???

Solid sex scenes, though...

What I wasn't confused by were the following:
1. The incessant reminders that Salami was nobody
2. How evil and unstoppable the Alliance was, and how she would never be free of them
3. her desire for freedom
4. how confusing shadows are

All of this is beaten into your eyes and brain... repeatedly... for the whole book.

Wasn't for me.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley, offering my honest thoughts and comments on the book.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. A heist?! A “nameless” mc?! I was so excited because this was something totally fresh and new. Unfortunately I did have some issues with suspending my disbelief and things didn’t make sense. I do want to give the author kudos for writing something unique and picturesque.

I loved the premise of a heist with secret societies. The author did a great job of making The Alliance lethal, the worded reminder however became a little repetitive over time.

I understand the premise of our FMC being ‘no one’, literally a nameless tool taught and groomed to blend in seamlessly. But even with the time spent between her fellow brethren she has absolutely nobody to confide in at all. I feel like that is pretty far fetched. Our author did a great job of foreshadowing in the beginning concerning Salome and the mysterious goings on as she entered the castle to play the role of a future queen.

The king was well written, albeit we go from him knowing about her gift from the witches, and then down the line he doesn’t and felt betrayed towards the end. I loved the deep dive into the magic and training as well as the lore and backstory.

I sat back and leg the story tell itself to me, I enjoyed the ride and the book itself was entertaining and kept my interest. Poor Salome is in for a ride given this was supposed to be her last job, to pay her debt off finally, to finally be free. While the witches did offer another path, I am curious to see where the story goes from here.

I liked the idea of this novel, I am a big fan of heists and fantasy but I struggled with the way this book was written. I felt like it got in its own way, particularly the way it would gain momentum and then jump back to repeating something about The Alliance - often emphasising how dangerous or bad they are. I don’t think this needs to be quite as heavy handed, I tend to prefer books that ‘show don’t tell’ and this leaned more heavily into telling. I feel that with some heavy editing this book would flow much more and allow the reader to feel more for Salome. As it stands I found myself too frustrated to continue and sadly had to DNF this book which is a shame because as I outlined earlier I really love the premise for this novel, I think it requires more tightening in the writing.

One area I think could be worked on would be the dialogue. I think it is promising but often feels a little bit forced. Some of the best bits/ most natural pieces of dialogue were between Salome and Vincent, and I got the sense that the author really enjoyed writing these scenes and interactions. The same goes for the scenes with the witches where you could really feel the fear.

This book might appeal to a younger audience because it had lots of really lovely concepts and some darker notes including the Witches which I enjoyed and would love to see more of that.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I loved the premise of an assassin trying to rob the royal palace blind, and it seems that her and the prince will fall in love. However, she does not meet the prince until pretty deep into the book (about 15%), and then he immediately leaves and spends no time with her. Even for a slow burn, you need some kind of interaction beyond insta-attraction. The dialogue is also very poor and difficult to get into. There were several times I was starting to be drawn into the story, only to be drawn back out because of poor dialogue and writing. This could be an amazing read with some extensive editing, and I would be interested in reading it if that editing was done. As it is, I couldn't get much more than about 35% into it until I DNFd. I really want to know what happens, but the writing and dialogue is too distracting. It needs to be more seamlessly written.