The story follows Annika 'Ani' Diavellar who has been living in hiding as Annika Jaksa for the last decade, because of the Lost Ridge incident, consumed by grief for her anchors, whose deaths have shaped every aspect of her existence. But to the world, Annika is believed to have died alongside her two anchors, Arno and Talmund, in a wlok. Fast forward to the present day, she is the acting town mage who protects the village from the terrible demons. When the threat of the Lich King arises, she and her new anchors must defeat him.

Annika is a fiery and multifaceted mage, brimming with power and resilience, and her sass and wit are spot-on! I loved seeing Ani's healing journey, it was raw and emotional, she overcame her feelings about her past and she learned to trust and love again.

Lord Ormond or 'Orm', the dragon-riding Commander, embodies bravery, duty, and loyalty, with a possessive edge that makes it fun to watch when mixed with Ani’s unpredictable nature. They really balanced each other out! I liked how his character developed, seeing his vulnerabilities and how he embraced change and new connections. I liked how he was with both Ani and Alaric.

Alaric or 'Ari' is a dark fae mage with necromancer powers, burdened by a painful past and a hidden curse. He was one of my favourite characters! It was heartbreaking to see what he's been through; scorned and rejected because of his heritage and powers, all while longing for a bond of his own. I couldn't help but feel for him! I hope we get to know more about him in the next book!

I loved the soul bond between Ari and Orm and the evolving bond between all three characters was both intense and heartwarming.

Rating: ★★★★
Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Author: Olena Nikitin
Page count: 471
Publication date: September 12, 2024

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭
✨𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎
✨𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢
✨𝙼𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚞𝚖 𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗
✨𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚜
✨𝙱𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛
✨𝙱𝚊𝚍𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝙵𝙼𝙲
✨𝙶𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚢 𝙼𝙼𝙲'𝚜
✨𝚂𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚌 𝙼𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢
✨𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚡 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌 𝚂𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍-𝙱𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐

"𝐼 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓂𝓎 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝒾𝓇𝑒, 𝓂𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝑔𝒾𝒸 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝒻𝑒. 𝒥𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒. 𝐼 𝒹𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝒹𝓌𝑒𝓁𝓁 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃."

𝐎𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 is the first book in 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓼 series. Olena wrote a story that felt like I was stepping into a world that felt both familiar and entirely new. This story was packed full of powerful magic, slavic mythology (which I haven't read before) and emotional character growth. I love reading fantasy books where the main character goes on this long but incredible journey of finding one's self and going through trials. Reading how they start on page one and seeing them grow until the last page is one of my favorite things to read.

𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐤𝐚 is one of those characters where you just root for her from the beginning. Her vulnerability and her grief and fear of being controlled again felt SO real. But don't be mistaken....Annika is a badass and just because she shows us her vulnerable side doesn't mean she doesn't have a defiant side as well. The relationships between her and the men can be complicated- there's a push and pull as she wrestles with her feelings and her need for independence. The slow-burn was just at the right pace for me, it didn't feel rushed or forced. The emotional stakes are high in this book because it's not just about love, it's about survival and trust.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 couple chapters took me a little bit to get into just because I felt like there was a lot going on and I didn't know exactly what was happening but after that it was easy for me to know what was going on.

𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 recommend this book to anyone who loves a good fantasy story that has a good balance of magic, romance, action and personal growth. The ending left me wanting to read book 2!

This book was so enjoyable once it got going. I will admit that it took me a bit to be able to immerse myself in the world, but once I did, I was set. I could not tell that this was written by two authors until I read it at the conclusion. The style remained consistant and captivating throughout.

I appreciated that this was equal-parts story and development. Both the story and the character development seemed realistic and appropriate for the parameters set in the world. I loved the banter and even when time passed and the reader wasn't privvy to the specifics, I still believed that those conversations were just as witty and creative as the others.

Pacing was great, word choice was wonderful, worldbuilding and magic system believable, and plot was surprising and original. The only critique I could offer is that sometimes the dialogue would get a bit confusing since mulitple lines were included in the same paragraph making me occassionally go back and try to piece the order of who was speaking.

I thorougly enjoyed this book and the adventure it took me on. I felt like I was part of the story and every character was different and important. When I said I was waiting for a book to leave me on the edge of my seat, Oath of Betrayal accomplished this. Can't wait to read the next installment!!

An incredible Epic High stakes Fantasy, Why choose romantasy overflowing with unique magic, cleaver banter and absolutely soul crushing heartbreak all intertwined with Slavic mythology.

The story throws you head first into one of the most intense scenarios to unfurl, leading with rich imaginative descriptions, easily illuminating the world behind your eyes.

We are told the story through three main points of view, centring around Annika Diavellar ( ' Ani ' ) FMC ,  Alaric'va Shen'ra ( ' Ari ' ) &  Ormond Erenhart ( - Orm ' )

Each incredibly powerful in their own right and each, whose magic soughts each other's.

Ani is in her 30s and this one small detail made her all the more relatable, it was incredibly refreshing having such a strong, capable woman at the forefront who had loved, lost and lived all before meeting her two new partners.

Delving through heartbreak, Ani's story claws through the rough scarred layers of hope, joy and love as she navigates the pain of loosing her first two partners in a heartbreaking battle that ended in sacrifice. After the pain of loosing not just one, but two pieces of her soul, Ani fakes her own death, hiding away from the world for 10years, slowly healing herself and her heart.

Ari and Orm are the MMC leads and after stumbling upon Ani while they were trying to push back evil forces that threatened their Kings land, they quickly realised Ani was a conduit mage for their magical abilities, but not just a conduit mage, the LAST conduit mage and in time, the object of the Linch Kings desires, making her wanted for her magical abilities.

With such an incredible pull between each of the main characters, it doesn't take long for the sexual tension to start seeping into their story. It's definitely a slow burn romance that thrives on witty banter and * almost * moments..

There are so many incredible layers to this story, with each of them having their own vices, Ani's healing is spoken about with great respect and relatability. It's not just brushed under the rug, it's there in the folds of the pages, underlying every decision, but not controlling it.

With the beauty of magic, dragons and dragon riders, Slavic mythology and the undead, this story also pulses with life, love, loss.. healing and above all else, hope.

A truly beautiful story and I can't wait to see what comes next!!

There is a cliffhanger!! Be aware!

Unfortunately DNF at 47%

I really wanted to love this book I loved the premise dragons, mages and romance. And I did love the FMC at the beginning she was snarky and strong and independent.

However once the MMC or the two I started to lose interest. They were one dimensional and there POVs felt very stilted and stiff. The FMC personality seemed to completely change once she met them as well going from a hard drinking mage having one night stands to blushing and being awkward at flirting.

Stars are given though for dragon and if being a good premise.

Oath of Betrayal
By Olena Nikitin
Via NetGalley

4.5 ⭐ 3 🌶️

Tropes:
Forced Proximity • Why choose • Touch her and ☠️ • Multiple POV

Main Characters:
Anika (Ani) • Ormond (Orm) • Alaric (Ari)

Stand out lines/quotes:
Anika - “Not a stallion. A bear, my Ursus.
I want to goad you. I want you to lose control and unleash the beast whose eyes burn with yellow fire. You are mine, Ormond Erenhart. Accept my bond”
Orm - “I care for you, Nivale. I have tried to fight it, but I can't help how I feel around you. You bring peace into my mind and laughter into my life.”
Ari - “You taste like the sweetest plum wine. Hrae! I wish I could devour you ... Anchor you…”

My Thoughts:
I loved the magic system and the world building in this book. It’s definitely an angsty slow burn but all the build up is so worth it! This book is giving Fourth Wing meets These Hollow Vows but with a little extra something. I had a great time reading this. It was definitely what I was expecting and I cannot wait for the next book!

This book was provided to me my Olena Nikitin and NetGalley for my honest review and opinion.

Oath of Betrayal by Olena Nikitin is such an amazing epic romantasy filled to the brim with fantastic world-building, a unique magical system, and drool-worthy characters (full illustrations throughout the book). The main female character, Annika, is a fierce mage that can handle everything life has thrown at her and then some. She has a very traumatic past of lost lovers and the trauma that comes from that, but to me, she is very relatable and likable. In the beginning, she doesn’t trust herself to trust others but once our two MMCs enter her life she begins to change her views.

Both MMCs, Ormond and Alaric, are headstrong and possessive of Annika and that leads us to the “Why Choose” romance. While usually, I’m not a huge fan of this trope I think that Nikitin did an amazing job making it a fun aspect of the story and I liked it very much. If you like slow-burn steamy spice you’ll definitely want to check out this book! I loved both MMCs mainly because their main character aspects were the opposite of each other. Ormond being a dragon rider with a monster caged inside and Alaric being the calm but mysterious dark fae necromancer made it hard to pick a favorite so I adopted the who choose theme and love them both.

Overall, Olena Nikitin wove together an alluring, enchanting, and unputdownable epic romantasy and I can not wait to get my hands on book 2!

Honestly I really loved this book! I don’t normally read why choose and at first I just kept wanting to root for one guy but by the end I honestly was okay with both of them and loved that for her. I loved the dragons, magic system, the world building!! Amazing!! I think the dragons (specifically Vahin!!) were my absolute favorite thing!! I thought the plot was great and that ending!! That cliffhanger hit me like a brick wall dude. I definitely want to read book 2 because I need answers!! I need to know how certain things go!! The characters blended together beautifully imo even with their crazy differences. They each have their identity but together they just fit. Also the SPICE. Like it wasn’t the dirtiest I’ve read but it’s definitely more than just a romance 😂 I didn’t mind it but yk, if you don’t like spice this isn’t the book for you.

I gave it four stars because just the why choose felt a little forced at times (specially between the two men, but also it made sense to me a little as well? Like it was always there just not acted on? Idk maybe I’m just making excuses) but I also just felt like something was missing or off. I definitely loved the book though and see it being a fan favorite for people who love why choose fantasy books 👀

Another note, the trigger warnings are in the back of the book. I’m not sure why but I luckily I didn’t need them, but if you do make sure to look them up or go to the back and see them before reading!! I did read it on my kindle though so I’m not sure how it is in paperback!!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC and I’ll be waiting for book 2 🫣😏

⭐ - 4.5/5 - ⭐

Annika is a powerful conduit mage, grieving the loss of her anchors. To prevent her power from being controlled, she fakes her death and hides away. When the Commander of the Dragon Riders, Ormund, his dragon Vahin, and the dark fae necromancer he calls 'brother', Alaric, stumble upon her over a decade later, it seems like their wish to find a weapon powerful enough to defeat the Lich King has been answered. Under the protection of Ormund, Vahin, and Alaric, within the walls of their failing city, Annika must chose to become who she was destined to be and help them defeat the evil permeating their boarders, or watch those she has come to love be destroyed.

✦ Epic Fantasy
✦ Why choose?
✦ M/F/M
✦ Slow burn
✦ Touch her and die
✦ Dragons
✦ Mate bond
✦ Cliffhanger

⚠️ - Grief, loss, death
🌶️ - 2.5/5
💕 - 3.5/5
👥 - 4.5/5
🌎 - 5/5
🗡️ - 3/5
💀 - 2/5

I finished reading this book last night and let me tell you what, I had to let that one stew for a bit. If I had run here to write a review immediately after finishing the last page, my review would have been FULL OF CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS...but now that I've let it settle, I feel like I can manage a thoughtful, semi professional review...maybe.

This is the first book I've ever read by this author(s) and let me tell you, I'm about to fill my Kindle with their WHOLE catalog. The writing style, the pacing, the world building, the character dialogue...I love it so much! Oath of Betrayal was a wild ride. We witnessed loss, grief, love, humor, action, horror, and SO much more.

Annika is an extremely powerful mage, who knows it. She is badass, snarky, cocky, and can hold her own. I love the fact that she is over the age of 30 through most of the book. It's super rare to find a book like this where the FMC isn't a spritely 20 something. I related to Annika in so many ways and loved her sass throughout the whole book. I will say that sometimes her brat-titude could be a bit much, and found myself groaning with frustration a couple times at her decision making, but honestly, that made her so much more relatable.

Ormund...*sigh* He is a brute of a man, a warrior, with a cinnamon roll heart. He protects Annika from the beginning, much to her chagrin. His relationship with Vahin and Alaric is so great. You can tell that they all have love for one another and it just makes my heart so happy. While Orm has a little problem with jealousy at the beginning, his love of his 'brothers' makes him change his tune after a while.

Alaric...Alaric, Alaric, Alaric. My sweet, damaged little dark fae. He's probably one of the more interesting characters, second to Annika. He's hated for who he is and cursed to feel the pain of his promises. However, through all of that he manages to make Orm and Annika smile and feel loved. He's incredibly powerful and I have a feeling we didn't get to see what he's truly capable of in this book. I hope the author(s) give us a big showdown at some point.

Vahin is just a big softy. He's badass, don't get me wrong, but a total marshmallow with Annika...unless she puts herself in danger.

While there was some spice that was REAL spicy, the tension is what makes it all worth it. I liked that sexy times wasn't the sole focus of the characters, and when it was, there was a purpose for it.

I only have a couple gripes about the book. One is use of the word 'pearl' when referring to the cl*t. That made me cringe hard. Second is the over use of time jumps. They were only days at a time, but honestly it felt like important stuff happened during that time, mostly character development, but I kind of hated that we didn't get to witness it.

Overall, this book was EPIC! I am thrilled that I got to read it and will most likely read it again before the second book comes out because cliffhanger left me screeching!

Thank you #netgalley and #victoryediting for the ARC of this book!

"You can run away from me all you like, my subborn mage, but I promise I'll always find you."

Oath of Betrayal is a slow burn MMF fantasy romance with great banter and of course dragons! The book has immersive world building built around Slavic lore and is told from our 3 main characters.

Annika (Ani) - A conduit mage who is very independent and is not afraid to say what she thinks. She had been in hiding after a very painful past battle where she lost her previous two anchors and almost died herself before being saved by a dragon.

Ormond (Orm)- The Lord Commander at the fortress, dragon rider/commander to Vahin.

Alaric (Ari) - A dark fae necromancer mage of the fortress and Ormonds best friend with a curse bound to the Lich King.

This book was very slow and confusing with a backstory of battle and grief right from the very first page. However, after a few chapter became very immersive and hard to put down. I found myself laughing out loud at the banter between Ani and Ari and while this is a why choose romance I of course was rooting for one more than the other. This story left me in complete suspense as the ending was an intense cliffhanger with tons of unknowns.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viper Dawn Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oath of Betrayal is book one in The Broken Bonds series by Olena Nikitin.
Atmospheric, easy to read and ridiculously entertaining.
This book had me completely enthralled, and I couldn't put it down the whole time.
A captivating romantasy!

The beginning had me seriously questioning this book. Mostly because a lot of the terms are not my typical type of fantasy. By chapter 4/5 I was hooked!! Definitely push through to at least chapter 5 before you decide to give up if the beginning seems a little slow or confusing!

This book gave me dungeons and dragons or maybe even world of Warcraft vibes with magic system and mages vs witches.
Once I fully grasped the concept of mages and the magic system in place I was sold!

The cliff hanger was rough so be prepared!! Cant wait for book 2!

This story took me by surprise in the best way possible. I don’t even know where to begin..

When I started this novel I wasn’t sure what to think. At the beginning I truly felt as though I was thrust right into the world and the action and felt a little jolted. As I started gathering more information and context and the world began opening up to me, I started falling deeper and deeper into its clutches.

The characters in this story are so well developed by Olena and you can tell IMMENSE thought went into their scripting. I was hanging on every word and every scene. Usually, there are more monotonous moments in books where they’re travelling or living their day to day life, but I can honestly say I didn’t feel those moments in this book. I was so thoroughly engaged and entertained and mesmerized by their thoughts and desires that this book flew by in the blink of an eye.

It has been a while since I have had emotional reactions to the characters in a story and the characters in this story made me feel ALL the emotions. There were characters I wasn’t sure of in the beginning that I felt fierce protection and love for by the end and characters I really liked in the beginning that by the end my passion had fizzled for. I can NOT wait to see what happens next in this story and look forward to reading more of Olena’s work in the future.

Overall this was an absolute joy to read and I am so thankful for the opportunity.

I highly recommend this book to any lover of Romantasy or even High Fantasy as there are elements of both in this story.

RUN to preorder this book because this will easily become a best-seller.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC in return for an honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

I was fortunate to receive an ARC copy of Oath of Betrayal and while this book ultimately won me over, it took some perseverance to get there. The first four chapters were a bit of a struggle for me, and I found myself putting the book down a couple of times before pushing through. However, once I hit chapters five and six, the story truly began to find its stride, and I became more invested.

One of the highlights for me was the female FMC Ani. I loved her strength and resilience—she didn’t put up with any nonsense and carried herself with so much determination. I also thoroughly enjoyed the dragon, Vahin, whose character added another layer to the story.

If you're a fan of fantasy with a touch of Slavic mythology, this book might be up your alley. There’s also a dash of romance and some spice/love triangle to keep things interesting. While it wasn't an immediate favorite for me, the story found its rhythm and offered a solid reading experience.

Thank you to the author for the opportunity to dive into this world!

Thank you NetGalley and Olena for the opportunity to recieve this arc in exchange for an honest review.
3.5/5.
Initially when I started this book I felt it difficult to follow the language used for the world building but as I continued to read it became a lot clearer and I was really hooked. I do feel however it started to lose its *ompf* the more I got into the story.
Personally I feel that plot in regards to the Lich King was put completely on the back burner and the focus was so much on Ani and her relationships between Orm and Ari and the need for anchors that I would forget about everything else going on.
This story had an unbelievable amount of potential and I was super excited to read and thoroughly enjoyed the first 50% however I feel that it became a bit repetitive, character changes in personality became pretty drastic and the plot was lost

Fantasy can be difficult to get into, but this book had me hooked straight away! It’s starts with a bang that gripped me immediately, as I had to know where it would go and how it would end.
This is a fun book that is full of world-building fantasy that moves quickly, which keeps me wanting more and more. (And at the end of the book, EVEN MORE!!)

***I Received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

When this story starts off it has a WILD fight scene in the first chapter or prologue. After that we jump ahead in time to 10 years later where we are following someone completely different and the way the writing is, it's acting as if you should know exactly what they are saying, what this world is as if you've already read a prequel book.

I just couldn't get into the romance, it was forced (like just because you have maiden day doesn't mean the women should automatically say YES and have no say at all).

I had a hard time really being invested in the why choose romance with the different men. All around, I feel this was a miss for me.

The Oath of Betrayal jumps right into action of our final main character Annika (Ani). Ani is a strong, independent conduit mage, who is naturally selfless and wants to help others, even at her detriment. I found Ani to be a really relatable character. And that ending-what a cliff hanger and it allows so many different paths for book two that I can’t even give you an inference of what’s to come!

Shortly into the story we meet our other main characters, Ormond- Dragon Commander, Alaric- dark Fae necromancer, and Vahin- Ormonds bonded dragon. The author does a beautiful job a depicting heartbreak and experiences of betrayal throughout each of our main characters lives, and how they have chosen to fight the darkness to overcome the treachery. Even though this was clearly fantasy, I felt like actions like this made it very relatable to your average person and allowed me to connect with the characters. The relationships between the main characters left wanting to see the development and where the relationship would go. I would say this was a book that was easy to not want to put down and power though; I’d consider it a fast paced book.

My deduction of stars comes from I feel like some of the story development, I wish there was more time spent developing Ani feelings for the male characters and how she overcame the trauma of losing her previous soulmates. There also were moments where scenes just felt progress too quickly and it didn’t allow those intense emotions to develop.

Overall I enjoyed this story and would rank it 4⭐️’s. I look forward to picking up the second book to see the continued development of the story, characters and world.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Authors for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

"Oath of Betrayal" drew me in with its compelling start, plunging me into Annika’s world of grief and hidden power. I loved how her journey began—faking her death, escaping into seclusion, and discovering her connection with the dragon. The tension between her and the Lord Commander was intense, and the unique blend of mythology and slow-burn romance had me hooked. But as the story went on, it started to feel repetitive. The middle dragged, and I found myself wishing the book was shorter to keep the momentum going. Still, the ending had me on the edge of my seat.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

this series truly has so much potential! with clear inspiration from Slavic lore, the world is so intriguing with its excellent character chemistry, dragons, dark fae, mage magic with a mad king to overthrow before time runs out

while the fmc’s age is never specified, it’s ambiguously alluded to that she is older than your standard 18-25 year old featured in fantasy so i feel like this story could reach a broad demographic of readers!

the beginning chapters leaned a bit on the info-dumping side for me but it eventually picked up and delivered so much promise in character development, and a substantial plot to hold my interest! both the mmcs have fantastic personalities and deliciously flirty banter with their fmc counterpart, i was so enthralled by every interaction they had with each other!

towards the last 25%, i noticed a lot of repetition in dialogue which is a big frustration of mine when reading and i found the writing of the action scenes a bit lack-luster in comparison to earlier chapters.

the relationships between the three leads could definitely fall under the slow-burn category but with this being marketed as a why choose romance, i don’t personally feel like this trope was entirely delivered. the chemistry between them as individuals was very palpable throughout but towards the end, the why choose element was presented hastily and with clear bias towards one specific character in the writing which made it difficult to see genuity within the mcs all together.

my curiosity is definitely piqued enough to pick up the second book though, especially in light of the cliffhanger featured in this one!

read if you like:
— dark fantasy
— dragons
— politics
— slow burn
— why choose

comparable to:
— the witcher
— game of thrones
— when the moon hatched