The Veiled Heir is the first in a new fantasy romance series by S.T. Fernandez. Asherah has had a wonderful life living in the Florida Keys and is getting ready to start a new chapter in California as a marine biologist, except life throws her an ultimate curve ball. The night before she leave for Cali her parents show up at her home and say they need to leave and are being hunted but not by normal humans but by Fire Fae. Her mother ends up dying and now Asherah finds out her parents were keeping a huge secret, her mother was Queen of the Water Fae and Asherah is her heir. Now her world is thrown upside down as she ties to learn all about the Fae and her new realm that she is suppose to rule. There are Fae that want her to not rule and to enslave humans as the next ice age looms every closer. Asherah also meets her mate so there's the romance part but also it's more insta lust. The story was pretty good but there were parts where I question how Asherah would move from her grief into her fierceness and I felt that I didn't see that until the end but I am looking forward to the next story.

Thank you to Netgalley and S.T.Fernandez for the arc.

I’d never read an Atlantis retelling before, so I was really looking forward to this. The plot was interesting, but I could’ve done without the romance. I didn’t like Draevyn; I get that they’re mates, but he was way too flirty, and his advances were anything but subtle. Honestly, I think I only stuck around for the political intrigue. Asherah was a strong FMC, except when her judgment was clouded by lust. I’m no prude, but this was basically just p0rn with a plot. I know I’m probably in the minority here, but I didn't enjoy the book and ended up skimming the last few chapters. If anyone’s looking for mer p0rn with a plot, this might be for you.

“The Veiled Heir,” by S. T. Fernandez

I loved this book! I loved the mermaid/water fae lore of the Atlantis people. The FMC is relatable and is a great character that was always willing to do the right thing even if it’s harder. I fell in love with the entire story and the ending was so freaking good. I seriously can’t wait for the next book in The Heir of Atlantis series. I loved the tension with the romance, and I was continuously glued to the pages in hopes they would work out. Everything about the book was perfect. 5 out of 5 stars.

-Water Fae/Mermaids
-Magic

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I felt lost a lot of the time during this. The plot seemed to be all over the place. But I did like how mental health was portrayed and emphasized that you’re not weird or unusual. Life is hard as it is.

I found this book to be mostly to my liking. I feel like there are not enough mermaid books currently so I try to give any mermaid book a try when I get the chance and mostly, I was not disappointed.

The beginning was a bit rough, everything was moving super fast and there was a lot of information, but after that, the vibes changed and I think the author finally found the right rhythm. My favorite part was when she went to the countryside and got to explore her queendom; I feel like that part was the best regarding the pacing and the amount of information given.

The main plot point is the FMC growing into her role while discovering a whole new world she had no idea about. I liked learning about Atlantis and the author added some really interesting twists, like the scale-controlling ability. There is political intrigue, a bit of smut, mating bounds and age/status gaps. The stakes are pretty high and the ending is really unexpected (I am a bit annoyed about how little people know about that law), but a perfect ending for the first book in my opinion.

Technically this has so many things I really like and it started out really strong.
An underwater queendom ruled by powerful fae, and a fated mates relationship.
Sadly many things about this put me off and made reading it more of a task that a joy. I can't even really tell what ghappened because I kept putting it down to do something more interesting and therefore kept forgetting plot points.
But I'm sure with the right audience this book will be absolutely loved and cherished as the story elements and the premise of it is worth reading.

3 stars

This is an adult fantasy romance, with multiple perspectives. It has fated mate and age gap tropes. The first fifty pages of this book were rough, that story was rushed to get all the information in and to get to a certain part in the story so the pace, flow of the story was not working for me. I am glad I pushed through because things settled down. The pacing and writing really came together and I really started enjoying this underwater world. The romance was ok, it's fated mates so feels a little insta love so things developed quickly.
There was a very repetitive feel to several events in this book especially related to conflicts and romance, after this happened a couple times I was rushing through it.
I liked the magic, setting, and the political atmosphere in this book was tense. Overall, I liked the plot and the direction that this new series is taking, and I am hoping the next book steps up and really wows me. I would still recommend this book.
I received an advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

Despite the fact that it was a really easy book to get into, I decided to DNF it. When I was at the 21% marker, I already felt like that this could go either way and there were already quite a few signs to me personally, that had me feel like this book could become a DNF but I really wanted to give it some more time because it definitely had some really likeable romantasy elements present.

In theory this book is everything I love to read about when it comes to romantasy, with the Fae present and the Atlantis setting. I liked how the author gave her on spin on things, have to say that. This was ultimately the thing that had me wanting to continue.

But I just wasn’t able to remain excited because the characters behaviorisms and development just remained too superficial to me, a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me and were too easy and quick and I just lost interest along the way I guess. This happens sometimes to any reader I think and I always find it a shame, but I’m also a reader who isn’t into ‘pushing’ to finish a book just to finish it. So at 59% I decided to leave this story as it is. This goes with mixed feelings, because I really wanted this to be a strong, badass and well developed first book in a new to me romantasy series.

But it might be exactly that to other readers of course, so as always when I DNF I also suggest to other readers to really pick it up if it’s something you’re interested about because reading a book is such a personal experience and what might not be suitable for me, might just be your next new favorite read!

<I>Since I didn’t finish the book, I normally don’t rate it because I don’t think it’s fare to appoint a specific number of stars when I haven’t read the entire story. But since I NEED to give a star rating over here on Netgalley, I appointed it 2 stars.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an e-arc of this book, in exchange for an honest review. I'm really sorry and sad that this time around it didn’t work out for me the way I hoped this book would be. </i>

It’s an intriguing new take on Romantasy with its Atlantis setting meets modern world. What irks me about this is how our FMC is set to do this whole training/study montage to learn how to literally rule a queendom but instead it’s all about her insta-mate, taking breaks, and making mistakes. And villain number one who never gets reported or even a slap on the wrist? Come on. For a debut novel I was impressed, and will read book 2.

Good read, one of those couldn’t put it down! On that note I hated it was a cliff hanger! I loved the Atlantis aspect and the fight for the throne. Kind of a female version of Aquaman, but with some hot scenes and more suspense!
lol unlike Aquaman this is not for the under 18 age group!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for allowing me to review

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★
𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐞: 🌶️🌶️
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: S.T. Fernandez
𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 508
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: July 23, 2024

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭
🌊𝙵𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚢 𝚁𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎
🌊𝙰𝚝𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚜 𝚁𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐
🌊𝙱𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚜
🌊𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚢
🌊𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚎
🌊𝚂𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚢
🌊𝙵𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜
🌊𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙵𝚊𝚎

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬
ᴀᴛᴛᴇᴍᴘᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ
ʙᴜʟʟʏɪɴɢ
ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ
ᴅᴇᴄᴀᴘɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
ᴅᴇᴘʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ
ɢᴏʀᴇ
ɢʀɪᴇꜰ (ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛ, ꜱᴘᴏᴜꜱᴇ)
ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ ᴇxᴘʟᴏɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʙʏ ꜰᴀᴇ
ᴋɪᴅɴᴀᴘᴘɪɴɢ
ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ
ᴘʜʏꜱɪᴄᴀʟ ᴀʙᴜꜱᴇ
ᴘʀᴏꜰᴀɴɪᴛʏ
ꜱᴇxᴜᴀʟ ᴀꜱꜱᴀᴜʟᴛ
ꜱᴇxᴜᴀʟʟʏ ᴇxᴘʟɪᴄɪᴛ ꜱᴄᴇɴᴇꜱ
ᴛᴏʀᴛᴜʀᴇ
ᴠɪᴏʟᴇɴᴄᴇ

𝐈 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 when I saw the tropes for this book and one of them was Atlantis retelling? Yes, please!

𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐚𝐫 is a marine biologist who was just living her normal and quiet life until her mother, Neleah is murdered and her whole world gets turned upside down. She finds out who she really is, secrets are revealed and she goes to a place where she thought was only a myth.

𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐯𝐲𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 is the Commander of the Guardians and let’s just say their connection is fire. I loved their romance in this story, there were some moments where I wish there was a little more but overall it was a good blend between romance, tension and banter.

𝐒.𝐓. 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐳 wrote this world that I could clearly picture in my mind. There’s power struggles, Elemental Fae, mystical creatures in this beautiful underwater city that is brought to life with vivid and beautiful descriptions. I never wanted to leave.

The Veiled Heir is the first book that I have read by S. T. Fernandez and it certainly won’t be the last. This story is the perfect blend of fantasy and romance. Asherah thinks she is just a human, but she will soon find out that she was just raised as a human to protect her life and the lives of so many others that will depend on her in the future. You see she is water fae and not just any water fae she is the future Queen of Atlantis. But within minutes of receiving that bombshell her mother is murdered and she is whisked away to an unfamiliar world. I loved Asherah and Draevyn’s characters and found the story line very different and interesting from others that I have read. It grabbed me from the very beginning.
The author really created a fascinating world, full of well developed characters that you will love to love or love to hate. The Veiled Heir does end in a cliffhanger, so you will be waiting for a while to find out what happens next. For warning it does have violence and some steamy sex scenes.

Absolutely loved this magical lost Atlantis/water fae story. I really really enjoy when stories have people from the human world end up in other worlds, it always makes for some fun and intriguing story lines. I also really liked the dynamic between the main characters and their journey with everything (ie-a lot) going on. Lastly, I will most definitely be picking up the next book in the series as soon as I can.

Thank you to Azalea Press and S. T. Fernandez for giving me a digital arc of The Veiled Heir in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Veiled Heir is a romantasy featuring a secret fae heir living as a human who discovers her royal status upon the murder of her mother plunging her into danger, daunting task of saving her kingdom and humanity from the Fae who seek to destroy the human race. S. T. Fernandez writes an interesting reimagining of Atlantis as an underworld full of water fae and sea creatures, with an inclusive and diverse cast of characters – the premise was intriguing and full of a twisty plot.

The romance was a little insta-love and was lost in the vast number of subplot elements ongoing in the story. There is a massive age gap between the main characters Ash and Draevyn, which might not be everyone’s taste. It may bother some readers.

A creative and dramatic retelling of the Alantis myth with elemental fae and complicated political power dynamic between the elemental queendoms of the fae.

I tried here, I really did. But I'm only at 45% and I just can't do it anymore. While I really like the male warriors here, I absolutely cannot stand Asherah. And seeing as how she's the main character, that's a problem. She's just so goddamn annoying and can't stick to a decision to save her life. I'm already half way thru the book and she has already gone back and forth between deciding to be the queen she was meant to be, one her mother would be proud of....to wallowing in despair in bed for days, and clinging to her human ideals instead of her fae side because it's more comfortable. REPEATEDLY. I can see how this could happen at the start because she had her whole world ripped apart and found out she was more than she thought. But usually when somebody makes a decision to do something, they don't completely renege on it within hours. Over and over again. I grew so very tired of her.

While I doubt I would have read more in this series, if not for Asherah I probably would have enjoyed this one and at least finished it. She was raised as a human until one night her world shatters. She looses her mother and finds out that she is a princess of Atlantis. And as if that's not enough, the council that she's supposed to rule over with is trying to overthrow her power and take over. Now in order to claim her rightful place she has to work harder and study more than anyone else because she's on a short deadline to prove herself. But you wouldn't know this deadline is looming by the way she acts, that's for sure. Since the moment he laid eyes on her, Draevyn has felt this need to be by Asherah's side. So despite his rank in their army, he insists on being her personal guard. And of course, Asherah feels the same draw. So we get a lot of them flirting. And good lord do we get told about his green eyes over and over and over AND OVER again. It's obvious what these two are to each other in this world, and it's obvious what Asherah's role will be in the future what with this prophecy we keep hearing about. But I just don't care. I have too many other books to read instead of forcing myself to read this one and only getting frustration out of it.

Words cannot describe how invested I was with this story! I loved the love story between Ash and Drae! I loved the tension and angst among some of the other characters. I just loved EVERYTHING!!!

Will Ash take her rightful place as Queen of Atlantis or will the evil forces at work be her undoing and the undoing of everyone in the realm and beyond?

This Atlantis retelling has amazing world building, a unique magic system with elemental abilities, great main characters, side characters you’ll enjoy and an intriguing plot. I’ve always enjoyed underwater fantasy storylines,and scratched those vibes for me. The Veiled Heir follows a young woman raised in the Florida Keys who discovers she is a water fae and the heir of the secret underwater queendom of Atlantis. While fighting to keep her throne she has the daunting task of saving humanity.

Things I enjoyed about this book 📚
🧜🏽‍♂️Atlantis retelling
🦈Hidden identity
🔱 Chosen one
🐠He falls first
🌊 Fated mates
🧜‍♀️ Found family
🌊Spicy 🥵 (mmc dirty mouth)
🧜🏽‍♂️Elemental fae
🦈Bodyguard trope
🔱Slow burn 🔥
🐠Political Intrigue

The Veiled Heir is the epitome of summer vibes for fantasy readers.

I would definitely love this as an audiobook.

Thank you @NetGalley and Azalea Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC of The Veiled Heir in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.**
☆Review is posted on Goodreads as of 8/6/2024.☆

3.8⭐️ rounded to 4⭐️
3🌶


Oof, where to start.
Firstly, the premise is very interesting! This story gets ATLA-like elemental powers and kingdoms, and the world building and lore is wonderful. At times, it did feel a little long winded, but overall I enjoyed it.

Things I liked:
▪︎fated mates
▪︎elemental kingdoms
▪︎romance

Things that could have been better:
▪︎certain words for things...like cock pocket 🫠
▪︎Ash's awareness
▪︎how fast the ending came

Overall, I enjoyed the story and will probably read the next one when the time comes!

Fantasy romance with fae at it's best! I love the underwater setting and water fae magic - what a new and unique take on this genre and it was so fun! Recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley for the copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book has intrigued me for awhile just based on the cover. Asherah and Draevyn had great chemistry. I think this was a great opener for a fantasy series and I can't wait to see where the author takes the story and characters.