There are things I enjoyed about this book, and other things that felt frustrating.

The idea behind another world based on tarot cards is very original. I love that each world had mirroring characters that impacted the plot and character development.

However, I did not enjoy the FMC throughout the majority of the book. She felt very whiney and helpless for the majority of the book and it made it difficult to get through the first 30%. The ending also felt very rushed and disjointed.

My favorite parts of the book were the spicy scenes. I thought the author did a good job building tension between the two main characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While this book has its flaws, I was overall charmed by the premise and characters. There were some key plot holes (IUD removal, frozen credit card, and dopplegangers) but it was creative and entertaining.

As a kid, I found the Stephen Donaldson book "The Mirror of Her Dreams" among my dad's eclectic sci-fi and fantasy books. This strongly reminded me of that duology but without the depressive overtones and with legit spice.

I'm not a tarot believer (though I've read multiple urban fantasy books that use them) so I skipped the explanation in the prologue. It didn't detract from my enjoyment. The whole book is Hannah's first-person POV, with some inner monologuing along the way.

I think the author did a good job of balancing Hannah's modern Chicago life with her time in Pentacles, Towerfall. I especially liked the food, clothing, and transportation details in Pentacles. Those fantasy areas are often glossed over.

The fantasy clothing was part of a deliciously spicy scene, too. Pentacles is plenty modern when it comes to k*nk.

The villain has a very silly name and the politics of the kingdom are glossed over at best. As well, it's not made clear the scope and size of the Towerfall Kingdoms.

Still, this had humor and spice and a rousing self-esteem adventure.

The premise of this book hooked me but unfortunately this book did fall a bit flat for me. I wanted to see a bit more of the world building and magic system throughout the book. The tarot elements were so intriguing and one of my favorite parts of the book. I think it could have been developed a little more though. This book held lots of banter, tension, and action which I loved. Overall, this book was a little bit of a miss for me but I could see how some people would love it!

Big thanks to Kristin Cast and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a review.


This book has some realm travellings, steam, glow ups and more! The FMC grows a backbone which (if you are thinking of putting it down cause of her woe-is-me attitude, don't just yet!) Is great cause she's a little hard to enjoy in the first half or so of the book.
The MMC seems like a hunk, right from the beginning and makes the story enjoyable when the FMC is tiresome.

There are some world building issues that were hard to get past - they take the Clark Kent/Superman glasses off troupe a little to seriously.

Overall I'm giving it 3.5, rounded up to 4.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good fake dating/arranged marriage trope, so The Empress was right up my alley. Add in a ruthless, morally grey, battle scarred MMC? SOLD. Say no more.

The tarot card based magic system was unique and it reminded me of one of my favorite childhood TV shows (Card Captors). My only complaint was that Hannah (the FMC) came across as quite mopey, but if I was in her place I would be too. So….it was relatable in that regard, and I couldn’t hate her for it lol.

I am at a loss as to the overall ratings for this book on review platforms and would strongly recommend picking it up and giving it a chance. I had a great time and if you enjoy an engaging, historical fantasy romance I think you will too. The Empress was the first book I have read from Kristin Cast, and after reading this book I am disappointed I hadn’t come across her work sooner.

Kane really carried me through this book. He was hilarious and the fake marriage was quite a nice touch, but Hannah was annoying (as everyone else has said) with her complete ignorance to the world around her. I really hope that when I was in my 20s I wasn't this immature.. she also fell down a lot which was kind of annoying. Maybe it has been the constant strong FMCs I have read about that FMCs that are not quite strong really don't jive with me.

Unfortunately I dnf'd this book at 28%. I was really intruiged by the world and being thrown into an almost alternate reality. I just didn't enjoy the FMC, her personality was just not something or someone I enjoyed reading. And I'm not sure if there was supposed to be chemistry because I wasn't feeling it.
I'm sad because I was excites for this, just not for me right now.

DNF @ 17%. I could almost immediately tell that the writing wasn't going to work for me. I'm disappointed because I love tarot and have read other books where it is the central theme and enjoyed them. The FMC talks/acts like every woman in early 2000's romcoms, which aren't my thing. I just couldn't get into this one. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Readers who love a youthful narrator and the instalove trope will love The Empress, which intriguingly weaves the Tarot into an out-of-time-and-place story. Hannah, our narrator, has a truly unfortunate set of events that leads to her falling through a portal. She lands into the arms of Kane, who is VERY hot, and she and Kane battle greedy, evil forces in the Kingdom of Pentacles, such as the Four of Pentacles (called Four in the book), and one of the meanings of this card is "greedy about wealth"-- so the embodiment of cards as characters was a fascinating story element. A few spicy scenes round out the love story here.

I was excited to read The Empress by Kristin Cast. It had a very intriguing premise, as an almost seductive Outlander with tarot inspired magic. However, I felt a bit let down. The pacing of the relationship was off and felt unbelievable, and the tarot magic was confusing.

I was not able to read it, I had to wait to get the audible and listen to it. It was a little all over the place.

I loved this book so much!! The story is so unique and interesting I can’t wait for the next part!!!! Kane!!!!! I bought the paperback!!!! While the fmc made bad decisions the concept of going into a different time period was so cool. The story mad sense for the time period and her constant fight to try to blend in while being from a completly different world. I enjoyed this!

I have many thoughts. The things I liked: the tarot card inspired magic and the idea that there is a mirror world out there is super fun. I also enjoyed the FMC's girl power vibes. But so many other things I had an issue with. It read like a very YA novel trying to be adult. The "spicy" scenes were cringy and didn't add anything to the story. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it would have been intended to be a YA book and just deleted all of the "adult" scenes. The two main characters were so unlikeable. The FMC was absolutely insufferable and immature at times, while the MMC was a liar. It's just a terrible combination for two love interests. The conflicts between characters and even just the FMC's thoughts in general felt very juvenile and immature. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Frankly, I had mixed feelings on this. In some regards, I loved it, in others, it drove me crazy.

I love a good parallel universe story. I think they can be brilliantly done and show the innovations of worldbuilding when written well. This book could have done that, but there were too many inconsistencies. Firstly, Hannah is an abject moron, and acts in every possible way EXCEPT her self-interest or self-preservation the entire book. No efforts to blend in or learn the customs of the world she was dropped in, with so many after-the-fact “oops!” moments that you just had to roll your eyes at. I also was a bit confused on the tone of the writing in places where Hannah, a very airheaded character (even though she is said to be in her mid-20s), starts describing the architectural features of the palace in extreme detail, highlighting different colors and interior design details that I had to look up to know what she was talking about. The tone felt incongruent, and it took me out of the book numerous times.

Let’s get to the romance. Kane and Hannah have such instalust that turns into such instalove, it is laughable. There is little to no build-up, no depth to their relationship, and honestly, Kane’s character development as an individual is rushed and not done the service it should have been given for such a main character.

I mention all of these detracting factors first because it was a real bummer to have all of that impacting my desire to love her disguise moment, the mistaken identity, and the “touch her and you die” of it all! The spicy scenes were fabulous too, but the characters were generally written so badly, I couldn’t be arsed to care. I give this 3⭐, and mildly begrudgingly at that.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I hate to say it, but I was not this book's target audience. Initially, I was excited to pick up this ARC, considering the plot was about tarot, and it seemed like an interesting concept, but the execution just fell flat for me. In particular, two main aspects didn’t seem to resonate with me:

The first is how immature the main character was acting. This book is categorized under the New Adult genre, but the main character made such poor decisions and behaved in a way that made the book seem as if it was in the YA or middle-grade genre. She makes such stupid decisions throughout the book, and then suddenly, as if she undergoes this sudden and drastic change (with no real catalyst) just to wrap up the story.

The second thing was how underdeveloped the plot's whole world/fantasy aspect was. Considering that it is marketed as a fantasy series with this really unique idea of using tarot cards as part of the lore, I was excited to see how it would interwoven into the story. Still, this aspect just kind of fell flat to me. Even after finishing the book, I am still unsure of how the magic, the tarot, and the world work.

Overall, the whole story felt rushed and not fleshed out enough. This book may find its audience in others, but not with me. Thank you to Bloom Books, the author, and Netgalley for this ARC!

Pretty good. Would definitely recommend if you like tarot and romantasy. Not perfect but a fun read for sure.

When I say my draw dropped when I saw the cover, I mean it. Then when I was blessed enough to get an early copy?
Jaw. Dropping.
Intense. Twisted. Beautiful. achingly exquisite.
This journey truly tugged me into the book, and I cannot wait to see what happens.

Like others have said. This one is just ok. It was hard to stick with it. Took me about 2 weeks of forcing myself to pick it up to read to get through it. I always love Kristen Cast as a teenager. I feel like this feel short.

I was very excited to hear about a new Kristin Cast book with tarot based magic, after being a long time fan of both Kristin and P.C. Cast’s books. (I’m also still coming off the high of reading One Dark Window and Two Twisted Crowns, which was marketed similarly.) As a teen, I loved their books, such as the House of Night series and as an adult, P.C.’s Tales of a New World. I loved the worlds they built.

Nobody wanted to love this new series more than me, but I left feeling icky and more than disappointed. This felt like being part of an audience that grew up, and tried to maintain love for an author, whose stories didn’t mature with us.

To begin, I do feel I was the target audience. At a glance, I should’ve loved this. However, from page one you get a heavy dose of “New Age Spirituality” that prevented me from really feeling the “fantasy” aspect promised. The story felt problematic right out of the gate.

In the opening scenes of the book you have “sex magick” taking place in a metaphysical shop, that the fmc witnesses and can’t pry herself from watching, that set a predatory tone for the story. Consent, who? Those who have studied cults and cult recruitment tactics, are far too familiar with these types of rituals. You have a desperate and vulnerable fmc, willing to try anything to help herself and turn her life around…enter new age spirituality, and people willing to give her the answers. Ick.

If the story turned itself around in the second half, I wouldn’t know, because I couldn’t make it that far. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stand the main character or the tones used to set the story.

The writing style didn't work for me 100%, but the world the author created was very interesting, and I'll likely check out the next instalment. The world was interesting, but I don't consider the world/world building to be complicated, so if you've been wanting to try romantasy but are intimidated by that, I think this would be a good book to dip your toe in with.