Yes! I loved this audiobook so much! I have never read anything by Helen Scheuerer before and it definitely will not be the last! This was such a fun book. I am RUNNING to get the kindle version of the second book because I have to know what happens!

A slow burn romance with a “Who did this to you” thrown in….had me swooning, kicking my feet and giggling. It was a very interesting fantasy world without a ton of world building so it is an easy book to understand if you are new to fantasy.

The narrators did a great job building the tension and portraying the feelings of the characters.

I HIGHLY recommend this book/audiiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook ALC in exchange for an honest review.

As a first entry into the Legends of Thezmarr series, this was very well done. As I was reading, I felt that enough of the world-building, character, and relationships were there to interest me and keep me coming back to it. As an avid mood reader, I can sometimes get taken directly out of the middle of one story and sent into another. But this one kept me invested from beginning to end.

The audiobook was well done, though there were moments when I felt the narrators depicted the same character differently enough that I noticed the discrepancy. Otherwise, I felt they both did an excellent job with all characters. The male narrator stood out to me especially.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the fantasy romance genre. I didn't feel that it did anything new or groundbreaking for the genre, but it was a solidly written fantasy romance overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced listener copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own, and I am providing this review voluntarily.

Okay Helen Scheuerer you've got my attention! I've seen Blood & Steel pop up now and then on Booktok and Bookstagram and I've had it on my TBR a while but never felt the urge to dive in. What a mistake. When I got approved for the audio ARC I finally got the kick in the pants I needed.

Althea and her sister Wren were abandoned at Thezmarr when they were children with no memory of their parents. While Wren flourishes at being an alchemist Althea longs to be a Warsword. Unfortunately women are not allowed to have weapons due to a prophecy told twenty years ago. All previous women warriors were stripped of their weapons and forced to do other castle duties or could leave the territory. I'm not sure when the author started writing this but I immediately related the stripping of weapons from these warrior women to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and I was angry for them! When Thea gets caught with a weapon she's sent to speak with the kings to ask permission to train and happens to be escorted by a Warsword named Wilder Hawthorne. He's of course tall dark and handsome and so gruff. Their relationship has a good slow burn build up though the back and forth was a bit annoying. I wanted to shake Wilder and tell him to stop being so stupid.

The secondary characters were fun as well. Kipp and Cal, Wren, Malik, and Torj were all well written and carried depth. The pacing was a bit fast but easy to follow. We are left with a soft cliffhanger and a road block in Wilder and Thea's relationship though I think it will quickly be tossed aside in Book 2, these two are mad for each other. There's so much more I want to know...like what happened with Wilder's mentor, the whole magic thing!, the King feels fishy...something's going on there. This was a really solid romantasy read and I would say the only thing that really irked me was how fast it went, it really doesn't seem like a 500+ page book at all. And I do wish some of the spicy scenes had a bit more patience to them (it seemed like these two just attacked each other each time and I wanted them to slow down a bit and create a bit of tension if that makes sense).

I was blessed to receive an ALC of Blood and Steel and it was quite enjoyable. Mollie Stark and Sebastian Grove were new to me as narrators but I thought they both did a great job. Their pacing was spot on (I listened at my normal 1.25x speed) and there were no unnecessary pauses or over dramatization. Both of their voices were pleasing and easy to listen to.

I really enjoyed Blood & Steel and can't wait to get into the sequel so I can find out what happens next! Thank you so much to Dreamscape Media for providing me with an ALC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

When an orphan girl is determined to become warrior legend, but first she has to convince the royal court that she’s worthy… and her escort is a curmudgeonly warrior who doesn’t have time for her sh!t. This audiobook had me up until the early hours of the morning wanting to know what comes next.

This book has all of the ingredients for a solid fantasy romance- interesting magic, overthrowing of patriarchal rules, curmudgeon mentor/love interest, found and true family, and long buried secrets… I found myself cheering for Althea from page 1 and loved to hate Wilder as soon as we met him. No spoilers, but their slow burn is done so well and I can’t wait for more in Vows & Ruin!

Let me start by saying that I liked the narrators of this book. The audio version was done well.
Now to the story itself. There was just something missing for me. I did like it, and enjoyed reading it but I can't give it more than 4 stars. After reading "Slaying the Shadow Prince" by the same author I was happy to see more of Wilder but his character fell a bit flat for me. The romance between the two MC's was just "fine" in my opinion. I felt the story was a bit predictable (which is fine) but there was nothing earth shattering for me. Overall it is a good story and I did enjoy it but I don't think it was a stand-out for me and the characters weren't overly remarkable.

I will continue to read other books by Helen as they are entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Helen Scheuerer for access to the the Audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.