Thanks to netgalley, the publisher bloom books & author Kristen cast for the ARC of this book! I loved it and I absolutely fell in love with Kane (swoon) and fawn, I need more now! Caught my interest from the first page! It’s a must read

3.75 stars! Was this an intense romantasy that tore my heart apart? No. Was it silly at times? Yes. I had a fun time with this and loved not having to think too hard about the plot.

I loved the premise of this book and it has potential to be a real winner. It’s a something fans of time travel fantasy would enjoy.

I found the fmc to be a bit annoying. There was a lack of confidence within her that could’ve elevated the story. I didn’t believe in the relationship between the main characters and found it hard to root for them. The banter didn’t make a lot of sense and their relationship felt awkward.

A bit more character development and time spent explaining the magic system would help this story hit another level. I’m interested to see where this story goes.

This is such a fun use of tarot cards! And there’s definitely more to be explored in any future books with tarot as a theme.

I found this to be a lighthearted quick read. However I never really liked either the FMC Hannah or MMC Kane. Their sexual attraction for one another felt like it came out of nowhere and was the entirety of their relationship.

I really liked the side characters of McDougall and Marion! And the connections with their “mirror versions.” I just realized that I don’t find the instant friendship between Hannah and Marion odd, because I’ve experienced that with female friendships. (But the immediate situationship between Hannah and Kane doesn’t feel genuine to me.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for an ARC of this book. This is my honest review!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kristin Cast for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Empress out January 7, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read one other book by this author, so I was excited to check this one out. I really love time travel stories. I thought this one was really fun with the fantasy aspect. I think marriages of convenience can be fun in stories. There were a couple things that I wished were a little more fleshed out. It felt a little too instalove or maybe instalust in some parts. I’d love more backstory into Kane’s story. Maybe things will be more in depth in the next book.

I would recommend this book to anyone to enjoys time travel fantasies!

Thank you to Bloom Books, Kristin Cast, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of The Empress in exchange for my honest review.

This book was surprising to me. Overall, it has a lot of great themes in it that I tend to enjoy. After Hannah finds herself in another realm under the protection of Kane, she is forced to enter into a fake-marriage, in order to find what she needs to take her back home. However, magic is illegal and if they find out how she got there, she will be killed. To make matters worse, something sinister is going on inside of the castle, and it seems as though Hannah might be the only person who can stop it. Overall, the premise sounds amazing and the world as a whole could be so well done. However, there was something about it that I felt was lacking.

When I think about it, there are two things that I wished this book contained. First, I wish it had more character development. I felt like Hannah really struggled with confidence, and suddenly at the end she has all this faith in herself. In addition, her romance with Kane felt both rushed and forced, which was also a struggle because it felt more like I was being told that they loved each other, then believing it myself. The second thing I struggled with was the world-building. There is this whole realm and magic system that readers are briefly introduced to, and then it never comes up. We know very little about the world, and even less about the magic system. I think I just wanted more. The premise of this book was great, however, there was something about the execution that I struggled with. I did enjoy the plot and the side-characters of this story. I will say that I feel like the second book is being set up to contain more world-building, and hopefully we learn more about the magic system as a whole. I am willing to give the second book a chance when it comes out because there were parts of this that I enjoyed, and I do see room for growth. In these situations, I like to give the authors some credit because somethings these things (such as less on the world and magic) are done purposely, and though we will follow different characters, I am hopeful that the next book will be a success.

Thank you Netgalley & Bloom for a copy of this E-ARC.
I was immediately drawn to this book by its stunning cover and intriguing blurb—it had me hooked from the start! The first chapter set the tone for something unique, and while the story took some unexpected turns for me, I think it offers an interesting perspective on modern society and technology.

While some elements didn’t align with my personal expectations, I know others will resonate with its take on technology and the challenges of the digital age.

I’m just genuinely confused by this? The plot had potential to be an absolute winner. It was unique and explained in a way I screamed when I received this. And as much as I’ve tried I could finish this. The plot felt half developed and that I was always about to be in the know but also still unsure what was even happening half the time. Unfortunately I’m not sure this is the book for me.

DNFed at 35%

I really wanted to love this book. The concept and description is something I really would enjoy. The authors descriptions of the world were really great but what fell flat was the two main characters.

The FMC is a little annoying and while I would love to see her confidence grow, I could not get past this stage in her evolution. The MMC is roguish and fun but he lacks a lot of depth. It’s possible it’s something I would see continuing with the book but if I can’t enjoy the main characters quickly, it’s hard to root for them. I found their banter awkward and it mismatched. He was overtly sexual while her banter was to be annoyed. I normally love the use of cute nicknames but I was going to throw the book if he called her Fawn one more time.

I really do appreciate where this story was going and the authors descriptions but I just could not get past the main characters and them lacking substance and being annoying.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC

I wanted to give this book a higher rating but I just had a really hard time with the FMC for majority of the book. She just came off as really young and immature for me and that alone makes it hard for me to like the book.

So, I had only read Kristin Cast's House of Nights, which she co-wrote, and which I have read many years ago. So I had general expectations from had read and was just really curious to read this book, since it was quite an interesting concept. Yet, I was left with very mixed feelings about this book. I think that overall, it was an okay book. I mean, it had potential, but it didn't live up to the expectations I had.

So, first, I wasn't a big fan of our main character Hannah. I thought she came across as very childish, and it felt like she was quite dumb about so many things, which annoyed me at time. They we had Kane, with who there is pretty much insta-lust/love. I was not really rooting for them, because it felt really superficial. And I got the impression from the get go that it would be the kind of book that would have spicy scenes just to kind of have spicy scenes, which I don't mind if around that there is a strongly built story, but it wasn't that strong for me.

Finally, the other thing I wasn't sure about was how certain things just seemed to have very little explanations, and we were just supposed to take it as just what it is. I mean, it felt like this should have been a book that was developed into a longer story, rather than this shorter romantasy that seemed to be more interested in giving us spice than explaining the world and magick it works with.

The Empress by Kristin Cast is an intriguing blend of dark fantasy and gripping drama that dives into the complexities of power, loyalty, and destiny. The story follows the fierce heroine, chosen to protect her people, as she grapples with her responsibilities and inner demons. Cast’s vivid world-building and emotionally charged prose create a captivating narrative, though some pacing issues and predictable plot points may detract for some readers. Having read the novella Bound by Shadows, I already knew I was going to love this. The book’s compelling characters and high stakes solidified it as a worthwhile read for fans of strong female protagonists and richly woven fantasy worlds.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kristin Cast for a free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Plot:
Hannah has just blown a huge opportunity at work and is looking for a change, leading to her walking into a magic shop. This is where The Empress card chooses her and sends her through a portal into Towerfall. Enter Kane, fallen warrior fighting his way back to the king's side where he belongs when he comes across Hannah. He knows the The Empress has chosen her to help save the kingdom, but is she too stubborn to help?

My Thoughts:
I love this author and her other YA books. What happened here?
I am obsessed with the House of Night series and I've kept up with every book that each author has published since. She normally goes a great job at creating characters with depth along with settings that you can feel and visualize, yet I had the hardest time with this book.
I wanted to put this one down early, but stuck through because of the other books. I felt that the main character was too unlikable for me. She was too stubborn and felt like one of the "woe is me" type. I also found it difficult to understand the MMC. He was written more 2D and was purely just there for the lust storyline. I understand wanting to get out of the YA genre, but that doesn't mean just adding R-rated scenes in. The main characters acted like they were still in high school and I had a hard time imagining them as adults.

I really, really wanted to love this book and I was so excited that I was accepted for the ARC, but it just wasn't it for me. I hope Book 2 can turn it around.

**𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘** 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 (𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 #1) 𝒃𝒚 𝑲𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒕

Release Date: January 7, 2025

4⭐️4🌶

Hannah is just a normal girl trying to make it in the cut throat world of fashion and publishing world. However, she's not assertive enough to beat out her co-workers. She's made a list for herself to try and spice up her life. Including visiting a tarot card reader, as "doing something spontaneous." The tarot card reader goes into a trance and forces her to take a blank tarot card. That doesn't stay blank forever...

She loses a big deal with a client, and then has a very unpleasant encounter with her current boyfriend, when she slips on the ice at a bus stop and smacks her head. When she wakes up, she seems to be in a full scale medieval village like from a movie set...except it isn't a movie set. A dark hooded figure whisks her away to safety when the villagers proclaim her as a "WITCH!".

She finds out that she's been transported to a parallel world and landed in the Kingdom of Pentacles. Where she's needed to overcome the evil in order to be transported back to her own world, with the help of her broody male sidekick who seems to know way to much about magick.

Themes/Tropes:
🍁Alice in Wonderland
🍁Time Travel
🍁Modern Girl in Medieval Times
🍁Grumpy-Sunshine
🍁Fake dating/marriage
🍁Shadow Daddy
🍁Dark Broody MMC

TW:
✨Cheating
✨Murder
✨Fighting with swords/knives
✨Betrayal

I think the idea of the book was solid but I had so many questions and none of them were answered 🥲 both main characters to me weren’t likeable. I think this might be someone else’s jam but it just wasn’t mine. I wanted to like this so bad.

4/5 stars
2/5 peppers
0.5/5 buzz buzz

Listen, Kristin Cast was one of my favorite authors in high school when I read the House of Night Series. And now she's written a new word that brings me back to love of all things magical and mystical.

Hannah is a woman that claims to be a "hot mess express" which I can relate to, all she wants is a successful job and a loving partner, but life hits her hard and when one reading from a psychic turns into a path she never wanted to be one, it will take surviving and the word of a handsome stranger in another realm to reveal her destiny.

Kane is a man of his word, meaning that he would do whatever it takes to protect the kingdom and the people he cares about. Even it means saving the life of a "helpless" woman that is in strange clothing. He has a secret and it takes a lot for him to open up.

When Hannah and Kane get themselves immersed in court life only to play on their plans; for Hannah to go home, for Kane to bring truth to the kingdom. It takes the tension between them to and keeping up appearances to stay live.

The chemistry between them is undeniable, Hannah is just too stubborn while Kane is "I'm here when you're ready... which won't be long."

The world is immersive and pulls you in. The banter between Kane and Hannah was hilarious and the inner thoughts of Hannah I thought were funny because I won't lie I would have reacted the same way.

Going into this book, I expected a lot; I read the House of Night series in high school and loved so I had high expectations. I was a little let down, but I think that's because this had "first book syndrome," where the authors trying to introduce everyone and everything about this new world while also having an engaging story, and that made the pacing a little bit off. It has great moments, and some not-so-great moments. While I love the characters, I felt it could have been edited a bit better. I'm still looking forward to more from this author!

DNF @ 53%

I LOVED the house of night series, it's why I wanted to take this on as I also find Tarot very interesting. It was just, too juvenile and hard for me to enjoy as I felt the characters were extremely boring/problematic.

Being a YA rom-com-antasy, I'm sure this book will do well with the right audience, unfortunately, it's just not myself.

I'm not sure what to say about Kristin Casts' THE EMPRESS, because the story premise and plotting are good, but the actual storytelling is inconsistent, veering from well-told to clunky. I loved the premise of parallel worlds, tarot cards brought to life, magick in all its guises, but the dialogue, both spoken and the inner narrative of the seemingly hapless and erratic Fawn and her fake husband, powerful Kane are often overwrought, amateur craftsmanship. Their dangers and dilemmas held such promise that did not deliver. Overall, a decent first draft of what could have been an incredible romp in fantasy and romance. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.

What a very interesting book I like how she went back and forth in time the woman had problems in the present with her boyfriend named Chad as she was leaving his apartment she found a tort card in the snow this left her journey back to the past it was very interesting when she went there because it was medieval times she meant a man who had a very bad past but they pretend they were married to help the kingdom she went back to the present eventually but this has a weird ending to it too this reminds me of a Mark Twain book called in Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court