Nothing could prepare Yasmin for her return to Shaldron, but she must go in order to protect the kids.
Yasmin escaped the fortress that has captured humans for high society elves' darkest desires four years ago. Since then she has been barely scraping by trying to survive. When she is caught stealing she is forced to re-enter Shaldron to help stop a future bombing. Yasmin must guide the dark and handsome elf, Ravi, across treacherous ground and through the underworld of Shaldron if she hopes to return to her life. As Ravi and Yasmin survive numerous near death experiences they find that their guarded walls fall down and are replaced by love. But can they save more than one soul as well as their own on this mission?
LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! I lost sleep to finish this book! The slow burn, and star-crossed lovers was epic. I loved Grant’s writing style of the dual POVs. Usually when written from a male’s POV I feel there is too much unrelatable sexual innuendo....but not in this book it was so gritty and beautifully written. I thought at first I would have issues getting into a book narrated by a man. However, reading this tale was so intriguing and enjoyable. I can’t wait for the next book in the series and will be impatiently waiting……..

*Thank you to Donna Grant and Shane East, Netgalley and DL Grant LLC for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

I can always appreciate a good slow burn! In this story, you had two unlikely protagonists, Yasmin a human with a haunted past, and Ravi an elf who is shrouded in mystery, being pushed together by forced proximity.

Yasmin has to find it within herself to fight her to own trauma and grief to either lead Ravi through the Dangerous Peaks or become a prisoner. It is truly a testament to her character and self-preservation.

Grant does a phenomenal job of building a believable story and world complete with an elven glossary... and who doesn't love a good enemies-to-lovers romance?

I am excited to see what she does next!

This is a new series by Donna Grant all about elves. I can’t say that I’ve read too many books with elves in them, so I didn’t have much expectation. However, since I love the way Grant writes her stories, I knew that it would be fun!

Grant wastes no time with building on her world. Weaving together character arcs over different series, she introduces new characters while also deepening her worldbuilding. It’s impressive and aspiring to read, as it always creates a great atmosphere for the characters.

I enjoyed seeing the slow romance between Ravi and Yasmin. They definitely don’t start off as friends or potential love interests for each other, but slowly through their journey together, they become closer. It was really fun to read. I can’t wait to read more of the Elven Kingdoms!

Ravi is used to working alone. As a Sun Elf, he relies on his magic to be his backup. So what good will a human girl be in aiding him to infiltrate a near-impossible location?

Yasmin does what she has to in order to take care of herself and the children who have come into her care, even when it means stealing. Unfortunately, she’s ambushed and caught by a group of elves with a mission - and they want her help. She can either go to prison for her theft, or she can lead Ravi into Shaldorn, a stronghold of morally dark dealings that she once escaped from. She has vowed to do everything in her power to never return to that place, but she quickly realizes she has no choice. She doesn’t trust any of these elves to keep their promises.

She reluctantly agrees, and the two set out in their journey. But somewhere along the way, their opinions of each other start to slowly change, and what started out as a reluctant partnership seems to start melding into something more.

Rising Sun is the perfect example of what a good ‘romantasy’ is - you’ve got your magical realm with its unique characters, an ever engrossing relationship, and enough action and drama to fill in the cracks. It kept me engaged the whole time I was reading it. It’s got enemies-to-lovers and a good twist on a ‘one bed’ trope. It’s got spice. I can’t wait to pick up the next book in the series - especially if it means getting closer to the mystery the author has set foot in front of us about our main girl. My only wish is that we would’ve gotten a bit more world building at the beginning - I felt we were dropped almost right into the plot as soon as you started reading.

Final rating: 4 Stars

Recommended if you like: magic, fantasy, elves, romantasy, a good series, and romance with spice.

I have to confess, I've never been able to read The Lord of the Rings. Love the movies, but the prose in the books has always been too heavy and inaccessible for me - not to mention, I can't get excited about thousands of pages of male perspective.

Well, Rising Sun gave me what I was looking for! Middle Earth vibes but with flowing and descriptive prose, fully rendered female characters, and plenty of action.

Please note I received an E – ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

When I read the synopsis of this story I thought it would be just my thing. And for the most part it is I really love the idea of it and the world was trying to create however I really struggled with the pacing and all the telling. There would be paragraphs if not pages of the main characters going back and forth with just every thought in their brain. I think this may appeal to some readers, but it did not work for me . These are my two main gripes with the book and it made it very hard to stay invested. I also felt like particularly the MMC’s depth was really lacking and we definitely could’ve explored a lot more of the FMC. Unfortunately, everything else felt really flat for me despite really wanting to like the story and I pushed all the way through anyways in hopes that that would change. I don’t think I will remember most of this book in a few weeks.

What I did like was the bones of the story, the world, the stakes. I think this would’ve easily been a more enjoyable read for me if we had fleshed out all the characters a little bit more and did a lot more showing over telling.

Oh, and the third act break up? Pass for me.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Donna Grant in order to give a honest review of Rising Sun. This is the first book I have read from Donna, and it did not disappoint!

Rising Sun follows a human living in amongst a land mostly populated by elves, she has to take Ravi over the dangerous peaks of the stronghold as penance, after she is caught stealing. This book features a strong female main character and a very interesting world, as well as a well thought out magic system.
This book features my favourite trope: enemies to lovers!

The storyline is great, however, it could be paced out a little better. I’m excited to read the next book in the series and delving more into the world and the characters lives!

This was an interesting kick off to a series. I think there were a lot of elements mentioned but not at all clear in the world building, which left me confused. You can still follow the story, but if some of these things aren’t addressed explicitly in later books, I think the series will be very hard to follow. The elf glossary would’ve been better at the end of the book, rather than giving me details I wouldn’t retain before introducing a single character. Also a glossary of animals would’ve been nice—not a major thing, but I was left wondering what in the world was being described.

Worth noting, Ravi is an idiot. Well-intentioned, but kind of thoughtless. He grows, but I was banging my head against a wall because of him in the beginning. I feel like Yaz is kind of put through the wringer repeatedly. Her reactions and the ways she deals with her trauma are understandable, but at some points the trauma and abuse she suffers felt gratuitous rather than proportionate to the circumstances. I also felt like Ravi’s feelings made more sense than Yaz’s. He knew a lot more about her than she him, but that said, I feel like the overall trajectory of their relationship made sense.

However, all the characters are compelling, even when we don’t entirely understand their motives. It was a fun read that started a little slow but definitely picked up once the adventure started. I’m interested to see what’s next.

I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley in the exchange for my honest review.

Yasmin is a human who was enslaved in the high mountain fortress of Shaldorn. After having escaped four years before, she lives by her wits and thieving skills. Once she is caught by the local Elves constabulary, Yasmin is forced to return to that heinous place on a mission with an operative, Ravi, who is a Sun Elf. Yasmin and Ravi journey from their village on a treacherous trek up into ice- and snow-covered peaks to reach Shaldorn. While on the expedition, they must also learn to work together in forced proximity, something neither is happy about.

Yasmin has nothing but loathing for Elves who often consider humans as low-class citizens, less than their equals. They have magic and so easily control the non-magical beings. Ravi has a low opinion of humans as well. When he realizes why Yasmin steals and what going to Shaldorn will cost her, he begins to see the unfairness with which humans have been treated.

Yasmin has courage in spades considering that going to Shaldorn is outside her worst nightmare. She may be a lowly human, but she has some skills beyond what most Elves would think possible. Ravi and Yasmin both come from family backgrounds which are less than stellar. Children in their realm are not raised by birth parents; the Elf government decides who will receive them to raise as their own.

This story is the first in a new series, Elven Kingdom, with seven races of Elves and assorted other magical types. This tale with lots of adventure, action, and a slow burn romance is for High Fantasy readers. Jasmine and Ravi’s journey is quite arduous and fraught with many trials and tribulations especially at the fortress. Fans of Ms. Grant will enjoy being immersed in this new world where Elves rule and humans fight for fair treatment.

Rising Sun
Yasmin and Ravi, and human and an elf, are forced to work together as they travel to retrieve a dangerous device before it can be used to end many lives. Yasmin and Ravi do not trust each other, and Yasmin never wanted to return to the horrors of Shaldorn.

Rising Sun is my first Donna Grant read, and now I need to read more! I could tell that there was another book where the world was originally established, but this book had enough information and world building to stand on its own. No need to read those other books first, but I definitely plan to read them now! The repeated use of the word “nay” at the beginning was jarring to me for some reason, so it took me a few days to commit to reading the book. That let up a few chapters in, and I got sucked into the story!

One tent trope in snowy mountains was the best part of the book! The book begins with a list of the types of elves, their physical features, and their traits. I kept going back to reference this info throughout the book. I’m looking forward to exploring more of the world and the other types of elves. A slow burn romance, dangerous heist with high stakes, facing past trauma, and a fun time overall!

A new series by Donna Grant, bringing new characters into her Dark World. We met Ravi, a sun elf, who is given an important mission. Yazmin is our reluctant heroine. Together the pair must overcome danger to complete the mission. Filled with drama and tense situations, who will survive?

Oh Donna Grant, you have gone and done it again! Rising Sun, the first in a new series, introduces us to the Elven world, and doing what Donna Grants does best, takes us on a magical journey, immersing the reader in a world where you can picture yourself in, along for the ride as if you were part of this new world too. Grant's ability to describe the world, the people, the feelings and emotions makes her such a talented author in the romance and fantasy genres.

Nothing could make Yasmin return to Shaldorn, the place of nightmares. But when she’s caught stealing, she’s given an ultimatum: take Ravi over the Dangerous Peaks to the stronghold or face imprisonment.

She has no choice but to agree, though she intends to escape the elf as soon as she reaches the mountains. Yet, as they battle nature itself, the two enemies find common ground—and an all-consuming passion.

Can they prevail in their dangerous heist, or be torn apart by a betrayal?

What a fun read. This book was slow to start with the world and character building but one it picked up if kept that pace a delivered a passionate enemies to lovers story. 4 stars from me!

This book was so fun! The world building and the characters. I couldn't put it down. Grant does a fantastic job setting the scene which is especially important when it comes to fantasy books.

Yasmin and Ravi were fantastic. I loved their dynamic and their respective characters separately as well. Each were complex and yet it was tastefully written on how and when things were revealed in the story. I'm a sucker for a badass FMC and a strong protective MMC. I loved seeing them slowly start to realize that there was more than meets the eye. That all the things they thought about each other were assumptions and none of it was correct.

It was addicting in away. While the beginning wasn't fast paced it was just enough for me to not want to put it down and then suddenly it was go time and I was hooked. I can't wait to see what else Grant as in store for this world. A little more of Dain, I hope! Def a must read for anyone who loves Romantasy. Who loves a good story line and face paced action. Pick it up!

I was captivated by the descriptions of the characters in this book.
The novel kept you enthralled throughout.
All in all a wonderful story.

Donna Grant is an author that's been on my TBR list for a while, so I was exited when I saw this new book coming out. This was a great action & high-stakes fantasy. This flowed really well and was so easy to binge. I think a lot of people will love this - from the easy-to-follow worldbuilding to the likeable MC's, this was a fun and fast read.

3/5 stars. arc review, minor spoilers ahead.

wow what a ride tbh. the romance was DEFINITELY slowburn, but i wouldn't necessarily consider this enemies to lovers. i feel like this term is used too often to describe when characters dislike one another and THEN fall in love, but i don't think they were ever ENEMIES yk what i mean? she had this like burning rage toward his race and he didn't like her because he thought she stole children or smth.

the plot.
as the synopsis says, yasmin, the fmc, is given an ultimatum. she has to choose between becoming a prisoner again or taking ravi, our mmc who works as an agent or whatever, to a fortress known as shaldorn. the whole dangerous peaks thing was i want to say maybe 25% of the book, and then the fortress was i WANT to say like 30% of it. i think the beginning of this was really slow and a little boring, a lot of information and terms were thrown at us, and if i'm being completely honest, when the plot was unfolding, everything was super anticlimactic. things happened and there weren't many moments where i genuinely thought they were going to fail despite all of the setbacks that they had. the whole point of this journey is to like prevent a war from breaking out with dragons because somebody wants to bomb them with a device? idk that was a little basic and i think it should have been more difficult to succeed (again, the procuring of said device was pretty anticlimactic) but maybe that's just me.

the romance.
like i said at the start of this review, very slowburn. we don't really SEE any romance until we're very very very very very very VERY randomly hit with like this completely uncalled for lust??? like just to put this into perspective, we have a scene where something scary has just happened and yasmin is helping ravi, and while she's sharing her body heat with him while he rests, he's rock hard and she's thinking about having sex with him??? LMFAOOO idk cause this was THE FIRST TIME yk, all we had before this was like them looking away from each other because "oh no this feels too intimate" or something like that but to go straight from that to "ohh look at his LENGTH" my goodness i was NOT ready

anyways, they were cute. ravi was a good man, albeit very slow. the entire middle of the book was engaging, definitely easy to flip through those pages and it did get difficult to put the book down sometimes. so would i recommend it? yeah, i think so. it has spice and the premise of the world is actually interesting, seems like the next book might be wilder and i do hope it's higher stakes.

I have to start this review with an important note. I have not read any of the series prior to this one. This series is by and large a spin off of the Dragon Kings series. I believe that if you were to read the prior series, you would more greatly appreciate this book. The reason's I say this is due to the layout of this book. While things are eventually explained, it is not always given to you up front. At times you get hints to things, in a rather off handed way but later on come around to more details. With that, it makes it hard to fully immerse yourself into, not only the story line, but also the world building.

Now that I have stated that, I will tell you that without having read the previous series the first half was a little slow going for me, (again, there was subtext from the previous series, without explanation). By the time you get about halfway, however, the book picked up some major steam and I couldn't put it down. The romance for me was a little sketchy. It reminded me of the Movie Speed (yes I am showing my age). It was more of a forced proximity and mutual goal, duress type of romance build.

All in all I would say that I am going to go back and read the previous series, and I am more that willing to bet that I will come back to this book and have an entirely different view.


Please be aware that there are some major possible triggers in this book dealing not only in abuse, both physical and mental, but also human trafficking.

As someone who has been in a reading slump for weeks, I did not go into this book with high hopes. I started and could not stop. It has everything. I was instantly drawn into this amazing world. I could see everything, I could smells the smells, feel the feelings. I have not loved characters this much since TOG. The FMC was everything. This book had everything I have been craving for months. #Foundfamily, #ForcedProximoty, #Slowburn, #Romantasy and probably more I am not thinking of whole I ride the absolute high this book left me on. There are many tough topics that are explored through the eyes of the main characters and it was handled beautifully. There was action packed scenes and scenes that made my heart clutch. I cannot praise the story-telling enough, but it was like watching a movie and falling in love. Amazing. The ending left me excited that this was book #1.

Love the fantastical worlds and deep, heartfelt connections between the characters. Fun sort of enemies to more type of scenario in this one, and an exciting adventure! Love when the characters have to travel through dangerous situations to reach their goal! Really enjoy that trying to resist pull between Yasmin and Ravi! Both characters have had difficulties in the past; some dark, triggering things, that has those walls up. Cool that the story deals with otherworldly beings like elves! Enjoy interesting fantasy characters. Don’t totally love third person POV, but generally like Grant’s writing style. Overall, an entertaining story! Looking forward to more from this new series!