A debut romantasy novel

To be a Keeper means dedicating your life to protecting another, at all costs. Jasmine our fiery main character has left the slums and we join her in her first year of Keeper training at Sanctuary, a college for Keepers and mages alike. We follow as she is abruptly taken from her training and given a charge to protect. Jasmine juggles her training, keeping assassins at bay and figuring out why they seek to them harm. With romance, classroom rivalries and a unique magic system it ticks a lot of boxes.

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I was excited to get into this book, captivating nice short chapters full of suspense and more than a few twists and turns. Later in the book too much time is spent on cooking lessons and token YA romance scenes for some tastes. Despite that, the magic system, unique ideas and the final cliffhanger in this book more than make up for this to keep me reading.

We learn about this world and its history from within the bounds of the Sanctuary, with just enough detail to keep the reader curious to hear more. I enjoy the classroom scenes and further training sequences with my favourite character Riker. I hope the next book has chance to build upon the LGBQI+ characters and I hope it acknowledges the main characters trauma and incorporates that.

The romance scenes felt unnatural and progressed alarmingly quickly, I would have preferred the book entirely without it. Choice of language in parts along with hickey marks and classroom banter stop these scenes being taken seriously even within the context of the book itself, despite the usual favourite 'forced proximity' trope. It doesn't quite hit the 'enemies to lovers' spot either as the characters treat each other with little more than friendly competition. Without the romance aspect I would say 'Keeper of the Scarlet Petals' would have held the potential of comparison to the likes of 'The name of the wind' and 'The magicians apprentice' but the execution falls short and more YA even with the romance.

The author has potential and I am looking forward to reading more of their work in years to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Jasmine was born in the gutter but plucked out to join a program training Keepers, the guardians of the magical Starveins. While she excels in the fighting courses, she struggles with the other aspects of her education. When a young nobleman's family is killed, Jasmine is promoted far ahead of schedule to become his Keeper and keep him safe. But Jasmine soon figures out that this is no honor bestowed upon the best student; rather, she and the nobleman are to act as bait to lure in dangerous assassins in a deeper plots that no one will willingly share with her. Together with her charge, Jasmine must try to keep them alive while also continuing their magical education.
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This was an entertaining, engaging read! The magic system is interesting and unique and we don't know much about it - just like our main characters. If you enjoy training sequences and a school setting, this book will really strike your fancy. The training scenes and the lessons within them have messages that are actually quite deep!
This book ends on a cliffhangers and I for one am chomping at the bit for the next one.

My first fantasy read of the year and I loved every second of it.

I love strong, badass female characters and this one did not disappoint. The fantasy elements really made this an atmospheric read. I am a huge fan of romantasy books this book was my kryptonite. I think the world building could have been more fleshed out but it was still good. I loved that it was not as intense. Female friendships truly is the backbone of our society.

Overall, I had a great time reading this novel. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book has everything you would want in a book. Jasmine is a strong female lead that puts up with a stubborn intitled boy. Cursed magic, love, hate everything in one book! The story line is very well done you never feel like the book has plateaued. This book keeps you turning each page to see what happens next. I feel like it somewhat reminds me of fourth wing but not to say that book will out shadow this book this book speaks for itself. It's a must read, and I will recommend to friends! Can't wait to read more from this Author!

This book was a delightful read with strong firm characters development and nice secondary characters too. The romance aspect was tastefully done without being overly graphic. The only drawback was the lack of world building and maybe different aspects and places to see. In general it was alright.

Hmm... mixed feelings about this one. It's got great potential with a storyline we are only scratching the surface of. Jasmine is a strong heroine, risen up from the gutters to train as a keeper. Asher is her assigned starvein, although he previously was also in keeper training as well as her sparring partner. The romance was a little forced, but I do appreciate how it was handled. We don't need anything too explicit with younger characters. The circumstances around Ashers change in role were kind of brushed over, I'm sure he will need to deal with it at some point. The storyline itself was intriguing and it will be interesting to see how it proceeds in future books.

"The first and final steps in the path of a Keeper were death. Their order was not one of glory, nor was it one of joy. To be a Keeper was to dedicate one's life, completely and utterly, to protecting another."
And with that opening quote, I plunged into the world of the Keepers and the Starvein.
Besides being a completely unique plot compared to all the Fantasy books I've read, the FMC was one of my favourites ever and the chemistry between the two main characters was simply delicious. This book made me laugh in the most tense situations and had me smiling at every sassy interaction between the characters.
I absolutely loved the best friend, Lydia. She was a ray of sunshine in all the chaos. And the dynamic between Jasmine and Asher was just what I love. He respected her and her choices completely and was completely in love with her. And Jasmine! She was a true badass in every sense.
Although I had some trouble while trying to understand how the Starvein magic worked and all the information I got leading up to the last fight, I still enjoyed the book a lot.
Eagerly waiting for the next book!

This was a good, quick read.

The biggest strength for this book was the characters. They were all distinct and Lydia was a breath of fresh air. Good friendships, good development.

I also really like Riker and how he's teaching Jasmine. I look forward to seeing more of this in the next book.

I also enjoyed how the sex scenes weren't over the top. You know they happened, but they didn't descend into graphic smut. This is the type of romantasy that I enjoy.

I would like to see some more world building. I want to know more about life beyond Sanctuary and learn about the different peoples of the world. This was the only drawback to the book.

Solid debut.

This is a fantastic debut novel, set in a world of Keepers, Starveins and powerful magic. I particularly liked the strong female main character, fun friendships, and cute cooking scenes!

Some elements felt a bit sparse, especially the world development - It was set almost entirely within the Sanctuary with little mention of the outside world, so I found it hard to imagine the context. I also felt that it was misleading comparing it to Fourth Wing - While there are similarities in the characters and settings, 'Keeper of the Scarlet Petals' has a lot less tension and drama, and the plot and characters are more straightforward. this isn't a bad thing, just a different reading experience. This book reminded me more of the Saints of Steel series by T. Kingfisher - maybe because Keepers are a bit like Paladins, but also the adventurous plot, sweet romance and style of writing.

Overall I would recommend for an enjoyable fantasy read and I think there's lots of potential for a interesting sequel.

What an introduction! I devoured this book in one sitting, absolutely loved it. The characters, atmosphere, and story are all great and leaves you wanting so much more by the end. I would highly recommend Keeper of the Scarlet Petals to any romantasy reader who loves magic, action packed sequences, heartfelt romance, and of course some spice 🌶. Also Lydia is by far the best character ikyky.