This book had me drawn in right from the beginning. It opens with a battle and it gives clear understanding of what’s to come for our FMC. Hiding out from the world after great loss and suffering. Things take a turn when she comes across a dragon (Vahin) who wants to show her EPIC power to the Lord of the Dragon Riders.

Our FMC is a strong one which I LOVE. No damsel in distress here. Annika and her chemistry with the two MCs Ormond/Alaric is *chefs kiss*

Character development, plot, world building, chemistry, fantasy, is ALL on point Olena Nikitin did her thing making sure she hit the mark with every aspect in this book.

The plot was not lost in this book and the romance — M/F M/F/M and M/M — is hotter than ever. We were left on a bit of a cliffhanger but I’m anxiously waiting to see what’s to come!!

If you enjoy spicy dark romance, dragons, mages, epic fantasy, why choose. You’ll love this!!

I’m so excited to read the rest of the series and this book is honestly worthy of a reread it’s THAT GOOD!!!

This is an ARC read via NetGalley 🤍—Reviews/Opinions are honest and my own. I will review on TIKTOK after release date- @abbi.dawn2

oath of betrayal is teeming with epic high fantasy elements, detailed and engaging world-building and an interesting magic system that feels distinctive. with an engaging introduction of slavic mythology (that left me reading about it until midnight), a mature-aged female main character and a “why choose” romance, i was enamoured!

the world-building is fantastic.

as mentioned, it’s details are charming as we’re introduced to an immersive, rich world where dragons soar with bonded riders, where magic floats and dark forces are threatening to destroy the kingdom. i loved the unique and interesting connection between conduit mages and their bonded anchors. the way dragons bonded to certain bloodlines. the looming, threatening presence of the lich king and his undead minions.

whilst initially engaging, the anticipation to know more wore off. i wanted (and awaited) a deep and fast-action narrative filled with rich character development, an intense and titillating romantic entanglement, and amazing emotional depth. instead, everything unfolded in slow-motion and started to become repetitive—the action was decent but filtered; the romance between ani, orm and ari was a real slow burn built on lack of communication and baseless assumptions. i had to skim the last 27%!!

i do have to make an honourable mention to some side characters. vahin (orm’s dragon) is essentially a fantasy version of an indoor cat, with wings and scales. he purrs and demands head scratches!! bryna is an absolute delight—a promiscuous half-orc who runs the local blacksmith and katja, the no-nonsense herbalist who was such a good friend to annika.

annika “ani” diavellar
for the last decade, ani has been living in isolation and seclusion. acting as the town mage who protects the village’s inhabitants from demons. she’s been mourning the losses of her anchors whose deaths have defined her existence. the world has known annika diaveller to have died from a wlok with her two anchors, arno and talmund. her tragic backstory left me excited to see how she comes to terms with their deaths and eventually overcomes her feelings as she learns to love (and trust) the new men in her life.

i feel that ani’s character development was hindered by the forced use of the geas. i understand the reasons for its need at the time, but the geas was too convenient in absolving the threatening presence of her rejecting an anchor bond, of diminishing her unresolved feelings towards arno and tal’s deaths. once ani’s long-term sadness for her anchors returned, she was too calm in forgiving orm and alaric. she basically shrugged her shoulders and said “okay”.

a “why choose” romance
i don’t usually read “why choose” and reverse harem romances. there’s usually one man who stands out and sometimes the interactions from others feel forced. i always wind up rooting for one man and it’s just too difficult to settle on who’s the most suitable!

i was keen to see how ani’s love for both men would unfold. the way ani was drawn towards orm and alaric was not equally handled, and her budding relationships with both men felt imbalanced albeit authentic. ani and alaric’s connection felt more like friends with some flirting, built on magic synergy whereas the true romance seemed to be centred on orm. the dialogue was monotonous towards the end, as it had transitioned from humorous, budding exchanges to lacking emotion and any meaningfulness.

orm and alaric are soul brothers having known each other for such a long time. as soon as orm and alaric started to express the briefest mention of romantic feelings, i almost dropped my kindle in defeat. the sudden attraction between orm and alaric was so outta pocket and not on my bingo sheet! the supposed connection they shared with annika (and each other) was unconvincing and unsupported by earlier chapters.

The cover and description immediately pulled me in and I just had to read this book.
It started off great with building a world that was extremely interesting. I enjoyed the book, and the only issues I had were the book's dialogue became repetitive. Now, this is probably just a me thing because that's one thing I am very sensitive too. The romance too was a little to "instant lovey" without being instant. Not sure how to explain that. However, overall I enjoyed it.

What I loved the most about this book is the slavic mythology, along with the world building.

The book is about Annika who is tormented by guilt and grief, and her power crippled after losing her bonded mates, she feigned her death and sought refuge in a secluded town. After a chance encounter with a dragon exposes her power to its riders, she escapes without revealing her identity, but the relentless Commander of the Dragon Riders tracks her down, determined to make her his weapon. Ormond will sacrifice everything to defend his kingdom, even if it means bonding with a broken mage-unless Alaric, his dark fae necromancer, claims her first. Under the Commander's touch, Annika's magic rekindles, but she resists until a sudden attack unveils a devastating truth: when your enemy is the Lich King, death is not the worst that could happen. Desperate to survive, she needs to ground her power with an anchor.

What you'll get with this book is magic, dragons, a strong FMC and a why choose trope, which I am a fan of. However the cliffhanger ending is a real trauma, how on earth will I be able to wait for the second book?!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC

I've followed Olena on instagram for a while and seen all the glimts of this novel. I read slavic mythology and immediately put it on my tbr. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint! I was so immersed in the world - fantastic worldbuilding! It was such a fascinating world and magic system and great characters. I didn't think I'd love a why-choose with a dragon romance this much. I applaud the author for her amazing novel.

I am so sorry to say this because I was really looking forward to reading this book but I had to quit and stop reading at page 40. It could be completely a me thing because I struggle to concentrate sometimes but the beginning of the book was so confusing to me. There was so much information thrown at me but none of it had context or explained what things were after if named a item/place/magic system etc so even by the time I’d gotten to page 40 I still had no idea what anything was!
I hope I can pick it up again in the future but for now I will have to stop reading unfortunately.

This book is the first in a new series, The Cursed Bonds by Olena Nikitin, which I believe is a duology.

There is a lot of world building in this novel which is helped by a glossary. First, we get the back story of Annika, a conduit mage who lost her Anchors 10 years prior to the storyline of this book. Then we meet Ormond, commander of the dragon riders and Alaric, a dark fae necromancer.

Their relationships develop and are tested by the monsters at the edge of their lands; we see how they each struggle with baggage from their past and how they help each other in the present.

It was nice to see a head strong, more mature female main character that has a second chance for connection. A grumpy/possessive male character and a flirty/troubled fae combined with a supportive dragon round out the main characters. The unique magic and dragons plus other creatures make for an interesting world.

There is a cliff-hanger and I am looking forward to the sequel to see how the resolution plays out.

I was given a copy by the publisher via NetGalley (thank you!) and all opinions are my own.

Oh well not what I expected but that's not a bad thing. I think for me hardest part was the fact initially she's absolutely devoted to two other males who perish and then after ten years hiding our female protagonist seems almost instantly attracted to the Dragon at his rider. . I just don't honestly know if I'm happy about that or somewhat saddened I feel that the author's has much more to give so I will continue reading her work.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the characters. Especially the MFC Annika. The fact that she is older and not 19 was really nice. I liked the magic system and it has dragons. Who doesn’t love a story with dragons.

I really look forward the reading the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley, Olena Nikitin, Victoria Editing NetGalley Co-op, and Viper Dawn Press for the arc

Thank you to Viper Dawn Press for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of Oath of Betrayal by Olena Nikitin. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It pulls you in right from chapter one.
There is wonderful world building throughout the book, and the magic system is great. There are fae, dragons, and magic, so what is not to love. There is also enemies-to-lovers, and so much tension between the three main characters, MFM, I couldn’t put it down.
Annika is a fierce, headstrong FMC. Alaric is a mischievous flirt and a dark fae, he brings a lot of humor to the story. Orm is the Lord Commander of the Dragon riders and I really enjoyed how he slowly softened throughout the book. And I can’t forget Vahin, the protective, but sweet dragon.
I cannot wait to read book two of The Cursed Bonds series to see what happens next.

I was initially drawn to *Oath of Betrayal* because the premise seemed right up my alley—an older female protagonist, a mysterious past, and a world teetering on the edge of destruction. The book starts off strong, introducing us to Annika, a conduit who has been living in seclusion for the past ten years after faking her own death. She’s mourning the loss of her two anchors, and this grief defines her existence. I was immediately invested in her story, eager to see how she would navigate this world of dragons, dark elves, and ancient magic.

The beginning of the book set up an intriguing fantasy world. Annika’s connection to Vahin, the dragon, his rider Orm, and the dark elf mage Alaric promised a complex, multi-layered relationship dynamic. I was particularly excited to see how the relationship between these very different characters would unfold. The kingdom they live in is under constant threat from the Lich King, and Annika might be the key to saving them all. This set-up had so much potential, and I was hopeful for a story filled with rich character development and emotional depth.

Unfortunately, as I got further into the book, my enthusiasm started to wane. By the time I reached 74%, I just couldn’t bring myself to continue. The dialogue became repetitive and bland, and the relationships that I was so eager to see develop fell flat. There was little to no growth between the characters, and their interactions started to feel more like filler than meaningful exchanges.

One of the biggest issues for me was the lack of believable romantic development. The sudden shift where Orm and Alaric develop feelings for each other after years of being close felt completely out of the blue and wasn’t supported by what had been shown earlier in the story. Their relationship, along with the supposed connection they both shared with Annika, felt forced and unconvincing. I needed more emotional build-up to buy into these relationships, but it just wasn’t there.

In the end, I had to DNF the book. It started off with so much promise, but it just couldn’t maintain the momentum. I wanted to love this story, but the lack of character development and the stagnant plot made it hard to stay engaged. If you’re looking for a fantasy novel with deep character relationships and a compelling narrative, *Oath of Betrayal* might not be the one. It had the potential to be great, but it just didn’t come together for me.

If it was possible to give more than 5 stars, this beautiful story would have gotten it! It was everything you could have imagined and so much more. I felt every single emotion that came across the page, my heart broke and slowly started to heal for “Ani”, the pain she felt losing her bonded was felt deep within her soul and mine.

Dealing with the loss of her mates, she is still trying to heal and truly move forward in life. All the while tension between two friends who both have sparked a light within her, that she thought was long diminished.

Ormond, our dragon commander, determined type, eye on the prize, he see Ani as a way to save his home, his people, just the tension between them is definitely real.

Alaric, our dark fae, is a walking temptation both physically and magically. Dangling power right in front her, will she be tempted to follow through…Their chemistry is off the damn charts!

*magic
*why choose
*loss mates
*growth development

Olena Nikitin was able to once again create an astonishing world full of magic and raw emotions. I was captivated from the first chapter. Nikitin has this ability to design such a complex web of storytelling, you forget you aren’t actually in it.

Annika fakes her own death and hides her identity until her encounter with a dragon exposes her to the commander of the dragon riders, Orm. He wants to bond her to his dark fae necromancer Ari but she chooses to bind herself to the dragon.

A very unique magical world and terrific world building. A very complex relationship with Ari, Orm and Annika. There is no clear cut bad guy or good guy. The camaraderie of the cast is terrific. Really enjoy it.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was so grateful for the opportunity to read and review this before release day. It is clear a lot of time, love and skill has gone into the making of this book. It's a high fantasy book with rich world building and magic systems and features Slavic mythology which I was not previously familiar with, but absolutely loved. It's a 'why choose' romance, and features a strong FMC who is in her 30s. YES. An FMC in her 30s!!

This book will break your heart and then rebuild it again. It jumps straight into the action from page 1 which was so thrilling. As this book is high fantasy, you can expect there to be a lot of different elements and terms that you need to learn - this is aided with helpful sub notes and a glossary. Personally I read this book slower than my usual speed, but I felt this was needed to fully understand. Admittedly, with such a large amount of things to absorb over the course of the story, at times I did get a little lost and needed to go back and re-read certain points before continuing. Despite that I still kept turning the pages and getting more and more invested.

The romance is slow burn and our two MMCs are so different, and yet work so well.
One thing I would like to point out is that at times when reading it felt like the character development was lacking a little, specifically with regards to the build-up of the relationships. I think more fluidity here could have aided (i.e. their thoughts about one another, even if they were unsure) this. This may be the one aspect that constant switching of POVs may have hindered, but otherwise I greatly enjoyed multiple POVs.

The cliffhanger was well done, and I am looking forward to the conclusion of this duology!

I received an advance copy of this book via Net Galley, and I am making this review of my own free will.

'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," book 1 of Olena Nikitin's new The Cursed Bonds duology, is a stunning entry into high fantasy, brimming with epic world-building, a unique magic system, and Nikitin's signature fascinating blend of Slavic mythology. The story centers around Annika Diavellar ("Ani"), a powerful yet broken mage, whose grief after losing her bonded mates is unmistakable and deeply resonant. The emotional depth of Ani's journey as she grapples with her past while being torn between two compelling men who just happen to also be friends—Ormond Erenhart ("Orm"), the formidable Commander of the Dragon Riders, and Alaric'va Shen'ra ("Ari"), a dark fae necromancer—adds layers of complexity to the narrative.

The world-building, as I mentioned, is fantastic, with a rich, immersive world where dragons soar and magic pulses with life as dark forces stir while the kingdoms’ defenses fall apart. The inclusion of Slavic mythology, as always, is particularly refreshing, adding a distinctive cultural texture that sets this book apart from other fantasy novels. The "why choose" romance also is handled with finesse, balancing the relationships between Ani, Orm, and Ari in a way that feels organic and authentic.

Orm's character is a delightful mix of strength and tenderness, his protective nature offset by moments of vulnerability that make him completely endearing (the man is a total cinnamon roll), on top of just being a hottie. On the other hand, Ari's dark and brooding persona is closely explored, giving readers insight into the motivations behind the actions of yet another beautiful, conflicted man. The interactions between these two and their developing bond with Ani are both intense and heartwarming.

The supporting characters are equally memorable, with characters like Vahin (Orm's dragon) and the various friends Ani makes along the way, each adding depth to the story. I particularly enjoyed Katja, a down-to-earth, no-nonsense herbalist; Bryna, a half-orc, promiscuous, and hilarious blacksmith; and Ian, an injured ex-dragon rider who serves as a barkeeper—though no one compares to Vahin (total Tarin vibes for those who've read "Fourth Wing," he's everything and I refuse to accept any other answer).

Finally, Nikitin skillfully handles the grim aspects of the tale (see list of content warnings below) with moments of levity and camaraderie, making for a well-rounded reading experience. And while the romance is a bit of a slow burn, the tension is palpable, making the spicy scenes worth the wait! The cliffhanger ending leaves you eager for the next installment, promising even more excitement and drama to come.

Overall, "Oath of Betrayal" is a must-read for fans of high fantasy and fantasy romance ... almost like a Sanderson novel with just a bit of *spice* added to it. Olena Nikitin has crafted a tale that is both epic and intimate, filled with heartache, passion, and the promise of redemption. I can't wait to see where the story goes next!

Content warnings include death, violence, domestic abuse, torture, the threat of war, and grief.

PLEASE NOTE: I am the editor of “Oath and Betrayal.” As such, I acknowledge my bias but have made every effort to remain objective in this review.

Expected publication date is 12 September 2024.