4.5/5 stars
3.5/5 spice

Tropes:
Elemental Fae
Atlantis retelling
Hidden identity
The chosen one/Prophecy
Princess/ Bodyguard
Forced proximity
Fated mates
He falls first
Political intrigue
Queens rule/Queedoms
Dual POV
Cliffhanger

Loved how this series is starting despite a few issues I had with the decisions made by a few characters. I'm really excited to see where this will go. That cliffhanger killed me and upset me but I'm also itching for the next installment.

Highly recommend for fans of merpeople, elemental magic, the chosen one, and fated mates. This is open door and very spicy after a certain point. Please read the trigger warnings before reading.

3⭐️2.5🌶

Welcome to Atlantis, a Queendom ruled by Water Fae.

Our FMC, Asherah, was raised as a human and is Heir to a Fae throne she didn't know was hers. She faces a daunting task to save humanity, and her crown. Dealing with grief over the loss of someone very important to her, a passionate love is found with the Commander of the Guardians.

I found the plot to be good overall, but at times it contradicted itself and felt lost at times. I loved the first ÷/- 20% of the book, as well as the last +/- 20%. However, the middle was meh for me. The plot didn't get exciting for me until the last 25%.

I love that The Veiled Heir has a diverse cast of characters and is queer normative. 🙌 I also love the way mental health is viewed and prioritized, as is bodily autonomy.

The characters were good, but I wanted more. I wanted to care more about them and what happened to them. I wanted to feel. I did love to hate a couple characters, and did care a little about the mains.

The dialogue sometimes didn't read internally as sounding natural. I read a few snippets aloud to DH, and they sounded natural that way. I've never tried that method before, and I'm not sure what to think about it yet.

The romance didn't hit for for me, too insta-love. There was too much focus on the romance vs. doing what she needed to save humanity, or world building, exploring her new surroundings, etc. I do prefer my books to be more on the fantasy side than romance side, though.

The spice was ok to good overall. When the term "cock pocket" was used, I couldn't get past it. All I could hear and see were Hot Pockets ads/jingle. I think this term was the author's version of a merman cloaca, but I just couldn't. 😂

As for the prose, at times I loved it and others not so much. Usage of words like "haters" brought me out of the story. It didn't feel like it fit, tbh it fit like a fish out of water (swing and a miss 😅). The writing contradicted itself at times. For example, at one point a character says, "I'm not asking you to be happy about it, _." Shortly after, in the same conversation, he says, "Please. Try to be happy for me."

That ending was great - enough that I plan to continue the series even though I didn't love this book.

Some important but potentially triggering topics are mentioned in this book, like racism, xenophobia, and SA (on page, not to completion). For a full list of TWs as well as content warnings, please see the author's website or the beginning of the book. It's available for free on KU.

Overall, it was decently good, but I feel it could have been great. I have hope that the 2nd book in the series will be more of a hit for me.

If you're a fan of Fourth Wing, ACOTAR/Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Lightlark/Alex Aster, From Blood and Ash/Jennifer L Armentrout I think you'd enjoy this book. 😊

I received an eARC of this from @netgalley this is my unbiased review.

I enjoyed this unique blend of Atlantis and Fae mythology. The cover and title caught my attention, and the beautiful cover design delivered. The story had excellent world-building, memorable characters, and a satisfying plot. The unexpected spice added some excitement to the story. Overall, Draevyn is a compelling character that added to the enjoyment of the book.

Asherah Delmar's life is thrown into turmoil when instead of heading off to continue studying marine biology she finds herself being whisked off to Atlantis. Not only that, but her mother is the Queen and now has been assassinated leaving her the only heir to the throne to a world she like the rest of the 'humans' thought was just a fable.
The premise of this book excited me a lot. It is just the sort of story that captures my interest, but in this case I am sorry it left much to be desired. Unfortunately the pace was significantly off. What started with a bang and brisk pace quickly slowed to a mere crawl and for approximately 60% of the book I seriously contemplated giving up. Only in the last 20% did anything happen within the plot.
The characters were OK but the development was predictable. You were virtually given the key points within the first few chapters and then it took the rest of the book to spell them.
I am also wondering who the target audience is. The writing style suggests a younger audience but then there is strong sexual elements which would indicate older.
Overall I felt that the book could have been shortened to give it more punch and better pace.

Prepare for the ultimate mermaid book!

If you love any of the below, I think you’ll like this book
💧Fairy tales of Atlantis or mermaids
💧Fae rivalry
💧Elements of earth, air, water, and fire
💧Bonded mates
💧Slow burn into smut
💧Female-led societies

The plot was so good and while it was easy to see where the story was going, I loved how it all played out.

There are some parts of the story where it starts to set up for the ending or additional books regarding what the characters will need to do to fulfill a prophecy. But towards the end those parts seemed out of order for what I expected which felt a little chaotic. That was a little hard to follow but a small thing.

After the cliffhanger, I’m anxiously awaiting book two!

A fin-tastic story about finding your true self and love. Tropes that I was excited about were bonded mates, elemental fae, guardian/princess relationship. The Veiled Heir by S.T. Fernandez was truly a whole journey with a cliffhanger leaving you wanting the next book NOW! We follow Asherah "Ash" as she discovers she is the heir to the throne of Atlantis and a Water Fae who now has to learn about her new world, powers, and history in order to become Queen. Along the way she starts having feelings for Draevyn, her very sexy male Guardian. But all isn't fine and dandy in Atlantis or the fae realm. Not only are there water fae out for her crown but there are fire fae out for blood. Honestly, I was a little let down about how often she finds herself alone even after they make it a big deal that she needs to be protected at all times.
I'd highly recommend this book if you're looking for a brand new, just-started series and enjoy magic, new worlds, and smut. I had so much fun reading The Veiled Heir and I am looking forward to the next book in the series to see where Ash's journey goes next!
Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have very mixed feelings about this book.

I really enjoyed the first ~40% of it. The premise was interesting and different, I was really getting into the story and the world was super cool and intriguing. There are so many things about it that I wish were explained and/or explored more!
Unfortunately the next ~45% became increasingly boring and repetitive - Ash recieves a lesson about Atlantis/being Queen, she thinks about how hot Draevyn is. She gets taught magic, she thinks about how hot Draevyn is. Bad guy antagonizes or threathens her, she thinks about how hot Draevyn is. Rinse and repeat.
At some point they get together and we replace thinking about his hotness with sex.
Then at the 85% mark the story finally gets moving again, but at this point we already know exactly what's going to happen because the hints were more like a step-by-step guide.
Now I know this all doesn't sound very positive but, and it's a big but, the ending has left me with high hopes for the other books in this series and I definitely want to know how Ashs story continues!
3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Azalea Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book based on the gorgeous cover and description; it seemed like the ideal summer mermaid fantasy. My favorite parts about this book were the lore and the magic system, which clearly had time, effort and detail put into it….and of course the sharks. The rest was a disappointment for me and I sadly will not be continuing the series.

The fantasy world I was looking forward to the most was riddled with real world elements, sayings, characteristics, book and trope references (and so much more but I’m trying not to spoil) to the point I couldn’t lose myself in the fantasy and it all felt disconnected. The relationship felt very instant love and seemed very “these characters love each other because that’s the plot.” Beyond the relationship, so many of these characters simply seemed to just lack intelligence (I’d go into detail but again, trying to avoid spoilers). I found myself frustrated and struggling to root for any of them. I also struggled with pacing, the climax and predictable outcomes.

I’m trying to word this without spoiling but my biggest concern about this book (that I think people should know about beyond the trigger warnings) lie in an aspect of the “fated mate” bond that reminded me a little too much about a very specific aspect of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (if you know, you know). It turned the relationship into something very different and it truly ruined the “romance” for me. If you read Breaking Dawn or know what I’m talking about, and that storyline made you uncomfortable, then this book is not for you.

As always, reading is subjective. What is not meant for me may be wonderful for you; if you read the trigger warnings and they don’t bother you and you are still intrigued and then by all means! I wanted to love this and it great potential but I personally would not recommend.

Wow I love a unique fantasy story, I love a fantasy story that pulls from less commonly used and fading cultures, I love finding new types of fae stories!!!!

What an absolutely fun journey this story took us on. Asherah thinks she’s just a normal girl living in the Florida Keys, studying marine biology and working on tourist water adventures, but surprise- she’s the secret heir to the queendom of Atlantis!!!!

From learning about the different elemental fae to training to control water to speaking to sharks to finding a special connection with her guardian Draevyn to building a wonderful group of friends around her to manipulating her scales to make her into a mermaid to discovering secrets about a world she didn’t know existed- asherah goes on QUITE an adventure. And that’s all to set up a seemingly adventurous journey in the next book!

The romance was very insta love (as is to be expected in a fate situation if you catch my drift), Ash waffled a bit and had to be reminded to get out of her head a lot, and some parts of the story were definitely easy to predict- but that’s all just the baseline. What comes from the story is so much more!! The twists are fun, the characters are extra cool with sick powers, the connection to indigenous Caribbean culture and language is wonderful, and the world building is top notch. The last 30% of the book just absolutely FLEW and I can’t wait to find out more about this world on our next quest through Atlantis!!

Thank you so much to ST Fernandez and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

AI voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, S. T. Fernandez and Victory Editing for this ARC.

The Veiled Heir is book 1 in The Heir of Atlantis series.

Asherah Delmar was looking forward to start her marine biologist course but the day before she's due to leave, she's followed by two strange men. But when she gets home she's sent with her dad to Atlantis, where she learns her true form and that she is the Heir to this queendom and now must prepare to be queen as her mother, the Queen, was murdered!

I really liked Ash when I first started reading the book, she sounded like a true heroine. The world-building was okay too. However, at about 35%, the book really dragged and was boring as there wasn't much going on. I was quite surprised with how the main villain kept getting away with everything when everyone knew exactly who was tormenting Ash; it got quite ridiculous, boring and hard to believe that Ash's friends and family kept leaving her alone with random people despite the danger to the Heir.

Overall, there was great potential but more than half the book felt like a waste of time and then a lot of things happened in the last 10%, most of which suspected.

Ashera finds out that she’s secretly the princess of Atlantis after growing up with humans for the first 22 years of her life. While fleeing from attacking fire fae, her mom, the queen of Atlantis is killed making Ashera the next in line for the throne. Lots of people are mad, there’s scheming, and a group of people are specifically out to kill her and make her miserable.

I’m mostly mad about the fact that this went through editors and beta readers and nobody mentioned that Earthos and Airelandia are BAD names for realms. The names for everyone are so like try hard fae sounding fake names. Melysa is a bad name for a character. Reneah is a bad name for a character. There are normal English spellings for those names we don’t need to make it quirky. The first probably third of this book needs heavy edits and it was hard to get through. The phrase “cock pocket” should NEVER be used, and the physiology of the scales doesn’t make any sort of sense (specifically shaping what is essentially skin into a tunic? Or a dress???) other than all that, this was a creative and inventive take in the legend of Atlantis and I did enjoy it in the end. I am still VERY mad that when Ashera has a whole group of her friends who have endless knowledge on Atlantean politics, she’s screwed over by one of those laws that anyone including her father the king should know???

I really enjoyed this book! As a lifelong mermaid fan the setting of Atlantis and underwater Fae was a winner for me. The world building was great and I found myself eager to learn more. I liked most of the characters but I struggled a bit with some of their decisions or their reasoning for lack of action.

The cover is beautiful and I especially enjoyed the second half of the story. I'm not really a fan of cliffhanger endings but it still felt like a whole story which I liked. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Thank you Netgalley and Azalea Press for this ARC to review.

First things...that cover is beautiful! This had a unique fantasy world based loosely around the lore of the lost city of Atlantis with water fae and other elemental fae. I enjoyed the character development, the romance, fated mates trope, discovery of hidden magic, and secrets. And the last 10% of the book had me on edge...so good! Overall s fantastic story and I can't wait for more.

This book is probably the most disappointing read I have had in a while. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and from the description it sounded right up my alley. I really think the fact that I was invested enough to finish is what brought this up from a one star though.

The first thing that stood out to me is that the writing style was very choppy. This was a dialogue-heavy book, which normally I don't mind, but it felt like the story was just "'Dialogue.' Action." over and over.

Sometimes, there is a book where the characters just do not click with me. They don't do what I would expect them to do, and not in a fun plot twist way. You guessed it, this book falls into that category. There was some insane behavior and actions that some of the characters got away with and the MCs were just like, "Oh, we can't do anything." Just really rubbed me the wrong way.

Speaking of rubbing me the wrong way! This book had some actually insane lines! I was uncomfortable every thirty pages. For example (no spoilers), when the MC was told that her "breasts were dangling flesh ornaments with tips that did nothing for him." I'm sorry, what? The romance was SO fast, and some of the things they said to each other made me cringe hard. Do not get me started on the webbed feet, I ignored that part in my mind.

Despite all of this, I definitely could have gotten behind this book if the plot had been a little more fleshed out. There were two main concerns plot wise, the first being that nothing went wrong until the the end. Other than the beginning conflict, the MC figured out everything in this new world without issue. I would get that feeling in my gut when something is about to go wrong, but then absolutely nothing would happen. When I was younger I used to wish for a book with everything going as planned, but now I realize I want some drama!! However, this changed to the other end of the spectrum at the end of the book. Not only did everything go wrong, it went wrong to unrealistic amounts. You're telling me that the characters that lived in this world for a thousand years wouldn't have known that big plot twist? The last issue I had with this book is I was advertised a girl working through her grief. Instead, I was being told how sad she was every couple of pages, and then about halfway through even that stopped.

I never critique books harshly, but I think my frustration with this one is I was so excited. I might be judging too harshly, but I really am so disappointed.

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. S.T. Fernandez did a great job of writing a story that sends you into the depths of the sea and creates such a unique world there. It captured my attention, and made me not want to put it down until I was finished! I would highly recommend it!

This was such an adventure! The Veiled Heir is a cool mix of fae/elf fantasy with a sprinkle of mermaids - given the setting in an aquatic realm, and I thought it was so fascinating to read. I really liked the worldbuilding and thought the dynamics between the different elf races! Was a solid read overall!

3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4.

My main critique of this book is that it felt slow at the start and that made me take a while to get into it.

The setting of Atlantis and the world building is incredible! As someone who loves the ocean, I always enjoy books that take place in the water - a lot of fae books have more forest/mountain settings.

Overall a solid start to the series and I’m looking forward to where it goes next!

I ended up absolutely loving this book and recommend it to anyone looking for a fun fantasy fae read. It took a little in the beginning to get into it and get to a point where I didn't want to put it down. But as we followed Asherah's story into her secret family it started to get where I binged the book in a day or 2. I will say I'm so mad at the ending (not really) but it was such a cliffhanger and I can't wait until the next book.

Thanks to netgalley and Azalea Press for the early eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story line almost felt like it should be for a younger crowd, but the spicy scenes suggest otherwise? I was hooked enough to want to find out what happens in the end, but didn't even get that because it ends on a massive cliffhanger! This book just wasn't for me.

I think I either need to take a break from NetGalley books, lower my expectations for these kinds of books, stop trusting reviews, or all of the above because this book was not a good time. I had such high hopes for this book. I've been looking for mermaid stories, and it's so hard to find any that aren't middle grade level. However, this was turning out to be just like any other romantasy book with an unsuspecting FMC who is suddenly thrust into the hidden world of fae and has an uber-masculine love interest. There was potential with the world-building and the overall plot, but honestly it was just boring. The pacing was already weird, and based on the few negative reviews out there, it was just going to get worse.

I think the two things that really solidified it for me that I was not going to enjoy this book was the name of the other faerie kingdoms and the character of Aurelio. First of all, the Air Fae's kingdom is called Airelandia and the Earth kingdom is called Earthos. That has to be the most uninspired and uncreative names I've ever heard. There was not more than a second of thought that went into those names, which seems so weird since all the other character and place names seemed pretty unique and interesting. I don't know why the author decided to phone those names in. Second of all, the author created the most stereotypical gay male characters, that even as a straight female, I felt hate-crimed. The FMC meets her stylist is a gay man whose first words are "...or else that rigid wench with the unstyled hair and bland manicure will rip away what is rightfully hers". On it's own, this one quote isn't bad, but every sentence out of his mouth is this same "sassy" and "flamboyant" vibe. Eventually, the FMC even calls them her "two fashionable guardian angels". Of course I didn't finish the book, so I don't know if they were given any other personality traits, but this was too much.

I tried so hard to give this book it's fair shot, but once I got to the 20% mark, I was just dreading picking up this book. I could see some people liking this book, and there definitely are people who have liked this based on the reviews, but maybe I'm finally just sick of the romantasy genre.