Well, that was a wild ride!! I was initially interested in The Serpent and the Wolf, because of all of the attention I was seeing on social media, and I’m so glad I decided to read it. Vaasa Kozar has lived her life being honed by her father, hated by her brother, and being indifferent to her mother. When she is forced into a political marriage to Reid of Mireh, her life takes a drastic turn, as she seeks information about her strange magic and comes to terms with not letting herself feel connected to anyone because of the way she was treated by her family.

I immediately fell in love with Vaasa and Reid. Reid quickly sees behind the walls that Vaasa has put around herself, while she finds Reid to be aggravating and insufferable at every turn. I really loved the way the relationship unfolded between the two of them, with Reid being the patient MMC and Vaasa being the fiery FMC.

There are a lot of my favorite tropes in the story such as he falls first, slow burn, one bed, political posturing and allegiances, found family, family secrets and learning to control magic. The pacing of the story was also done really well, and I loved how much time was given to the conflict happening at the end of the story. There is also a great betrayal twist, that I didn’t see coming, but it fit perfectly into the story.

All of the political factions worked well, and I enjoyed seeing the different factions vying for power. It’s a great balance to the romance storyline and the magic brought in by the various witch covens. I loved that the different covens all had their own specific types of magic, and I’m definitely interested in seeing where the story goes with Vaasa’s magic and what her mother knew and was hiding from Vaasa.

I thought this was an exciting first book in the Dark Inheritance trilogy, and I can’t wait for the second book in the series. If you love books like Powerless, A Dawn of Onyx or The Plated Prisoner series, then I would highly recommend The Serpent and the Wolf.

Thank you to NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for the free review copy in exchange for an hones review. This book had some tropes that I thoroughly enjoy: arranged marriage, slow burn, found family, enemies-to-lovers. I enjoyed watching Reid and Vaasa’s relationship develop and love a very slow burn romance. I struggled to get through some of the mostly political portions of the story in the middle. I also would have liked to see more of Vaasa and Amalie’s friendship develop. The book really picked up at the end and I definitely did not see the end coming. I am very interested in picking up the next book in the series.

The Serpent and the Wolf has made it to one of my favorite books of the year! I loved this so much, the political intrigue was done extremely well. I usually am not one who loves so much political chess in my fantasy because let's be honest, I'm too dumb to follow. But this kept me one my toes wondering what was going to happen the whole time.

The romance as usual was my favorite part. You have a broken FMC forced to marry and a beautiful man who is enamored with everything about her despite her pushing against him every step of the way. It was the perfect push and pull "hate to love" sexy romance I want to see in my romantasy.

Read this if you love
romantasy
hate to love...ish
arranged marriage
political intrigue

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️.5

-arranged marriage
-enemies to lovers
-slow burn
-political intrigue
-witches and magic
-brother/sister rivalry
-found family
-who did this to you

I’m a sucker for the arranged marriage trope so this was entertaining for me. It’s very high stakes, heavy political intrigue but the magic part of it made it intriguing.

“𝙄 𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙚𝙙𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩.”
“𝘼𝙨 𝙄 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙄 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩.”
“𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙘𝙠.”

I loved the banter between Vaasa and Reid! The back and forth pull and the tension was great. She reminded me a lot of Lara from Bridge Kingdom, smart, guarded, independent, can defend herself, and loves to welcome you with knife to the throat. But you start to see her walls come down with that found family trope and I love it.

The plot twists were twisting though, I had no idea what to expect of that ending and didn’t see it coming. And I’m scared for what happens in the next book.

Thank you @netgalley and @rrobinsonwrites for the opportunity to read this arc!

LOVED THIS SO MUCH!

🐺Enemies to Lovers (tries to kill him on their wedding night)
🐍arranged marriage
🐺SLOW BURN TO THE MAX
🐍touch her and die
🐺grumpy/sunshine (FMC is grumpy/stubborn)
🐍”who did this to you?”
🐺banter, banter, and MORE BANTER
🐍Found family

What an absolutely INSANE debut novel for this series. I was hooked immediately and finished in lightening speed. Between magic system, the romance, high political intrigue, the side characters and MC developments, this book is going to be a fast favorite for readers of Romantasy. I am so blown away that this is a debut, it is so well written, and the story is so intriguing. I cannot wait for the rest of this trilogy!

I loved this entire book! First, learning that the women had the magic and all the twists you uncover about the fmc's family by the end. And of course, ends of a cliffhanger . The book is oddly comforting because of the found family elements but lots of action and a side of romance.

This book was really fun and interesting, I flew through it.
While I’m not usually a political book girlie this had a great mix of fantasy, politics and romance.

I love everything about this book. The characters are wonderful and witty. The setting is beautifully imagined. The story and plot are engaging and exciting. I read this book in a single day. I absolutely could not put it down. Highly recommend this for just about anyone, but especially fans of romantasy writers!

This is the next big Romantasy. I said what I said. I was hooked from page one! The banter was top notch, and I loved the magic system and political intrigue.

I can’t wait for their story to continue!

Very solid romantasy, perfect blend of romance, world building and intrigue! I’m very excited for this story to continue!!!

Rebecca Robinson’s The Serpent and the Wolf is an incredible romantasy debut packed with high-stakes political intrigue, a unique magic system, and a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance that fans of Raven Kennedy and Thea Guanzon will adore.

The story starts with a gripping and unique beginning that immediately draws you in, and it maintains its momentum all the way to the shocking twist at the end. Vaasa and Reid’s relationship is a highlight—watching them slowly build trust and eventually fall in love was deeply satisfying. Robinson perfectly balances their romantic development with the tense political machinations surrounding them.

The magic system is another standout feature, with its fascinating covens of witches and their varied powers. I was particularly drawn to Vaasa’s personal struggle with her dark magic and her emotional journey. Her vulnerability—her fight to believe she is worthy of love and acceptance—was both heartbreaking and healing to witness.

Rebecca Robinson has crafted a stunning and captivating romantasy that will leave readers eager for more. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next! Highly recommend this book to fans of emotional, character-driven fantasy romance.

The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson is the first book in the Dark Inheritance Trilogy. This is the story of Vaasa and Reid.
 
Vaasa grows up in a patriarchal world and she is sick of it and has a lot of rage inside of her. But that isn’t the only thing, and she also has a dark magic that goes more out of control with each day. And I absolutely loved how her magic was described as a snake and the writing style in general is absolutely beautiful. I highlighted so many quotes and passages and it’s very vivid and just engaging. I also loved how she gets to explore her magic and becomes even stronger because of it. Vaasa is a strong and fearless woman who asserts herself in this world and she’s such an inspiration and new favorite book character.
 
Her brother married her off to Reid who is a political enemy, and he couldn’t care less about his sister. Reid is a male character that stands out in this book, and he works very hard to prove himself and to follow his dreams. I adore him and his mother was such a cool character as well.
 
This book is the prime example why I love arranged marriage stories because Vaasa and Reid‘s banter was on point and all their interactions only intensified with each page. And don‘t get me started on all the my wife moments who were to die for. I loved Vaasa and Reid and they became such a good team. The plot was intriguing and a rollercoaster of emotions and I couldn’t put this amazing book down. And that ending. OMG. I can’t wait for the next book and need it like now.
 
The Serpent and the Wolf is a new favorite romantasy and I highly recommend it. 5 stars.
 
(Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an arc.)

Title: The Serpent and the Wolf
Author:  Rebecca Robinson
Genre: Fantasy  
Rating: 5 out of 5

All her life, Vaasa Kozár has been sharpened into a blade.

After losing her mother—her only remaining parent—to a mysterious dark magic that has since awakened within her, Vaasa is certain death looms. So is her merciless brother, who aims to eliminate Vaasa as a threat to his crown. In one last political scheme, he marries her off to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, in hopes that he can use her death as a rallying cry to finally invade Reid’s nation. All Vaasa has to do is die.

But she is desperate to live. Vaasa enters her new marriage with every intent to escape it, wielding the hard-won political prowess and combat abilities her late father instilled in her. But to her surprise, Reid offers her a deal: help him win the votes to rise in power, and she can walk free. In exchange, he will share his knowledge about the dark magic running through her veins—and help keep it at bay.

This proposal may be too good to refuse, yet Vaasa and Reid’s undeniable attraction threatens to break the rules of their arrangement. As her brother’s lethal machinations take form, everything is at stake: Vaasa must learn to trust her new husband, but how can she, especially when their perfect political marriage begins to feel like the real thing?

I was hooked from the very first scene. That’s when the action started, and it never let up. So much political intrigue! My brain just doesn’t work this way, with all the twists and turns and backstabbing, but it was fascinating to watch. I loved how the trust and emotion slowly grew between Vaasa and Reid as they got to know each other, and they genuinely started to care for each other. I loved all of this and can’t wait to read more.

Rebecca Robinson is a school administrator. The Serpent and the Wolf is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Sage Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 11/28.)

Outstanding debut! This should be among the top 10 romantasy novels for the year! Fantastic world building & political drama, unique bloodline magics, arranged marriage, hate to love slowburn with angry fmc and protective cinnamon roll mmc. Twist at the end I did not see coming. I could not put this book down! I can’t wait to read what happens next!

Thanks to S&S/Saga Press for the gifted copy of this book!

About the book: Vaasa Kozár lost her mother to a dark & mysterious magic - a magic that also lives in her. When her brother marries her off to to Reid of Mireh, a ruthless foreign ruler, he hopes that it will be the end of Vaasa and the threat she poses to his crown. But we all know how enemies-to-lovers storylines go ;)

My review: An absolutely perfect romantasy read, and I am SO happy that this is the start of a trilogy! This book was full of political intrigue, betrayal, adventure, power dynamics, and female rage, but also had fantastic romance lines like "Dance with me like lovers do" and "You have grown my capacity for hope." The magic system was so well done, and adapted to the storyline so incredibly well. I love how all the elements balanced each other to just create a really engaging and unique story that I can't wait to dive back into! (Because OMG that ending?!)

YES, yes, 1000 times, yes! Only thing that perturbs me is that the second book was given SUCH a good set up and it isn't even out yet! Love the energy, the dialogue, the banter, the hefty amount of politics - all were chefs kiss, superb, excelente, etc. etc. You get the picture. The character arcs are my favorite; I love to see growth of each of our FMC and MMC and this book did just that. Jot this down as your next read if you're a fan of the political side of fantasy as well as romance, I swear you'll be happy you did.

Only just a few nit picky side note types of things - a map would have been a huge helpful tool to have; in my arc read I didn't have one and there were a lot of references to places and moving political pieces which while I could picture in my head, would have been way cooler if I'd had something to reference to. Also, I thought Mathjin was the levelheaded one? That was kind of out of left field, I felt like it was plausible but sort of a stretch. Even though there were times where he was by Reid's side, he was still a bit of a flat character in my mind.

PS - I commend this author immensely on the imagery!!! Holy crow, it was like poetry in motion! I could not put this book down if my life depended on it. Immediate 5 stars over on Goodreads, this was well deserved.

Came for Reid of Mireh, fell to KNEES for the Veragi Coven ✨🐺🗡️

I am OBSESSED with this book. The perfect fucking slow burn where the feelings hit hard and the payout was nice, but let me tell you about THE SIDE CHARACTERS!!!!
Female friendship forming before romance? ✅
A strong group of women making an outsider feel accepted for the first time in her life? ✅
Diverse representation of races and sexual orientations? ✅
Complex and interesting family lore? ✅
Men who respect women and see them as equals? ✅
this is easily one of my top fantasy reads of the year, the magic was unique, the political system was interesting but understandable, and the twists lasted until the end!

Extremely hard to get into a new book when it felt there was no context to why we are here in the first place.

This story could have spent 15-20 pages just introducing us to the FMC. Who she is, who is the man she is marrying and why. Instead we are just thrown into a scene as to no context why we are there. I didn't feel like I got to know the character at all. Then in the next chapter....its three months later.

No real world or character world building and just didn't capture my interest.

So, I DNF'd this one.

The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson
-The Dark Inheritance Trilogy, Book 1-

4.5/5⭐️
1/3🌶️ (spice)
2/3🦋 (swoon)

•My Thoughts•
I LOVED this! A true slow burn romance and all the political intrigue and scheming that fantasy does so well. I loved both of our MCs and the way they grew as individuals. Vaasa was prickly and her journey to discover she was so much more than her upbringing was incredible. Reid was swoony and patient. I loved learning all of his sides - a cinnamon roll who knows how to protect his people is such a great combo. The found family was absolutely heartwarming. I thought the world building was well done and easy to access making this a good one for all, even those new to the genre! It’s hard to believe this was a debut! I am so excited for the rest of this story and am already ready for book 2, especially with that ending!!!

Thank you to @SagaPressBooks, @netgalley and @rrobinsonwrites for the early copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

𝘔𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘨𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘈𝘙𝘊 — 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I enjoyed this story beginning to end!

INCREDIBLE world building and magic system! This is perfect for fans of intricate bloodlines, elaborate world building and complex politics, and I’d say a healthy respect for these things is necessary going into this series. Rebecca has done an impressive job of constructing this setting & every part interconnects well — it all feels very well thought-out and it is FUN! But comprehension is required to follow the plot, as the characters, schemes, city-states & lineages are all wrapped up in the political intrigue. The author does a good job of dispersing the info along the storyline to make it easier to digest, but I still found myself a little confused at times, backtracking to reference & eventually jotting notes as I went.

However, this kind of world building is central in some of the best fantasies series.

I was disappointed there was no map. Readers would really benefit from one to help understand the lineages, governances, politics, etc. At the least, a reference key for the main players and/or city-states would be helpful. Perhaps these things will be included in the published book or continuations?

Besides the various political figures with their agendas there are witch covens, each with its own magical abilities & venerated gods from whom they are gifted their powers. Loved this! The covens’ different magic systems were fascinating & varied. Looking forward to how the witches & their precarious relationships with each other will continue to play into this story. Definitely a riveting sub plot!

While political intrigue is a key theme, the love story is certainly not downplayed. It’s an enemies-to-lovers slow burn which grows very organically from a forced marriage into a marriage of convenience and eventually more. Both MCs have deeply ingrained trust issues & undergo lots of character growth as they navigate their arranged marriage, which kept things interesting. I love them together! Great banter & innuendos, also. The MMC, Reid, gives Cassian vibes in all the best ways! And I felt a good connection to Vaasa’s character as she faces down her fears of letting anyone get close to her — intimately or in friendship. She’s tough & cunning, but flawed — not naive.

Kudos to Rebecca for giving this story an intelligent and relatable heroine.

While there are a lot of characters to keep track of, the important ones are all very well developed. Even the minor ones have decent depth. I loved that Rebecca took time to emphasize the relationships Vaasa builds with other FCs in addition to the romance, as it was so important to her character growth — the “found sisterhood” in this is truly an empowering one.

Romance & politics share the center stage, but there’s plenty of violence, action & twists to keep the pace flowing. I don’t think I was ever bored. There’s a couple sizzling spicy scenes. But the rising action, climax & heart rending cliffhanger take the cake. Rebecca ends this book in a way I didn’t expect, I was floored & completely immersed… tears were shed. But I’m certainly committed to this series & it has my full attention!