⭐️⭐️⭐️
Listened to on Audio as well read on kindle, the usual fated mates, enemies to
Lovers slow burn, if it’s your thing, then I’d recommend it to you.
Thanks to BookFunnel for the adv read ☺️

I was completely enthralled right from the beginning of this book! I loved the writing style and found myself reading in the voice of Kate Blanchett as Galadriel from LOTR. I adored the FMC, who possessed a mystical quality about herself. My only downside is that the slow burn was a little to slow for my taste.

I was so excited to read this one... and even MORE excited because book 2 is already out! The Mortal Queen is the first book in the Aisling Trilogy, and if you're into slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance with fae, political intrigue, and a strong-willed heroine, The Mortal Queen by Ashley Metzler might be your next obsession.

If you know, you know, but once you read a fantasy book that sticks with you, it's hard to get it out of your head - and this both cured me and created a new problem. 😂

The story follows Aisling, a mortal princess forced to marry Lir, the brooding fae king, to keep the peace between their worlds. She’s stubborn, he’s infuriating, and the tension is chef’s kiss. The world-building is lush, the magic unique, and there’s plenty of courtly intrigue!

The pace was a bit slow at first, but the audio was LOVELY for helping me get into the world. Once you're in, you're in. If you love character-driven fantasy with a simmering romance, unexpected twists, and a heroine discovering her power, this one’s worth picking up! I can't wait to read the next two books!

I liked this book. The writing was nice but it was a little slow paced at times. The plot twist was really great though.

This book was really boring to me. I don't really know how to wrote a review because nothing much happened in this book. It seemed like they just jumped into the book in the middle of a story.

I really really wanted to like this book, but I struggled to. I planned to DNF it around 40% but I powered through. It was very hard to comprehend what was happening/who wanted what and I felt the slow burn was entirely too slow. I also wanted Ash to become stronger quicker than she did instead of constantly thinking her father couldn’t possibly be as terrible as he is. I think the concept behind the book was very interesting, and I really liked Lir’s character and the secondaryfae knight character, Galad. However, I felt the pacing of the story was slow and thus was hard to follow.

The Mortal Queen is book one in the Aisling Trilogy by Ashley Metzler. Come get transported into a fantastical world full of lies, betrayal, an arranged marriage, loyalty, fae, and magic. This story pulled me in from the very beginning. It is a well crafted tale full of unforgettable characters.

What a great romantasy book. A fantastic start for what I can already tell is going to be an amazing trilogy. A must read, can’t wait for the next books

5⭐️ IF BRING BACK YEARNING WAS A BOOK!!!!
I loved this book.

I loved this world, it was so different, so many things I had never seen before in a book and so fun to read about! Lets just say this is not a typicall fae world.

The writing was so beautiful, surely my favorite part of this read. This was so well written and felt like older english, I adored it. Everything this author wrote had a purpose and I am noticing I rarely feel that way about books. There are no parts of this book I wanted to skim but countless times I reread passages over and over and highlighted/noted because they were so beautifully written. I cant stress how pretty the writting is, not in a: "I need to reach a certain amount of words on my essay" way at all. It was genuinely just beautiful words and sentences and it made for an enchanting read. Wow.

The characters were also very intteresting (their names were beautiful), I wish we would have had more of a backstory on them but Im hoping the next books give us some more on all of them, I am so curious! The FMC has so many layers and feels very real to me and I can not wait to see her story with the MMC!

This book stands out to me and I will remember it ALWAYS, its originality will always make me recommend it to someone who needs something captivating and different in a world of books with similar fae romantasy tropes.
To sum this up, this book was so beautifully ✨different✨ and felt equivalent to drinking a cold glass of water after a long run, sooooo very needed and refreshing.
I will say this book leans more fantasy than Romance due to the aforementioned yearning but in my opinion that makes it 1000x better!

-Thank yout to Netgalley, Ashley Metzler and SecondSky publishing for the eArc of this book, I had a blast and can not wait to start the second book!

Aisling didn’t know anything about the Fae beyond what the whispers from her family and lore among her people. But when she is given as a mortal offering to the Fae, to bridge peace, all she knows are the preparations given to her on how the brutal Fae, especially the King will behave. Little did she know, nothing she was told could haven’t been further from the truth.

The descriptive world is alluring and the emerging Fae King catches you the moment he erupts on the page. The mysterious Fae whom was nothing Aisling expected and frankly I found myself racing to read more about Lir! Give me a fan and some cheese, because all I want to do is read more about Lir and his Knights! He truly is the King that would do anything for his people: And boy when Lir spoke in a common tongue for Aisling, I knew it was game on!

Slow burn. Beautiful landscapes. Rich stories that peeled at the edges of all Aisling knew, I found myself sorrowful for her naivety, and enjoying the ride as the truth of the Fae Folk unraveled to the newly crowned Queen.

If you enjoy arranged marriages, forced proximity, banter, one horse, slow burns, colorful side characters and beautiful lore, then this is for you!t

Of course, I’ll be wasting away for book two! Pick this baby up, you’ll love it just as much much as I did!

This one has a really interesting world and magic system but was a bit slow going in. Interesting set up and a fun story overall.

Thank you to the publisher's on Netgalley for this earc. All opinions are my own.
I really wanted to love this, but unfortunately, this book wasn't for me.
One of the main issues I had was the writing. I felt like the writing didn't do the story justice. It's one of those styles that has long descriptions, but not important ones? I felt things were overly described that didn't really add to the story. Also, we keep flashing back to the 'advice' her father gave her, sometimes the same sentences repeated more than once. They felt redundant.
I think what held up the story was the lore and worldbuilding. That was interesting with the tense politics and alliances. However, i don't think this story reached its full potential.
Aisling really... didn't have much of a personality?? Like all I knew was that she was forced into marriage, she has been sheltered her whole life, and she doesn't know how to fight.
That's another thing that really irritated me. There was a battle scene where she just stood there! I don't expect every fmc to know how to fight, but I also don want them to be useless.
The only characters I enjoyed were Lir and Galad. They had solid backstories and personalities I connected with, especially Galad. Aisling's family was extremely flawed, and she kept justifying their actions. I just wished that I could like them enough for me to let all the other things I didn't like brush over my shoulder.
I think you should give this book a shot because I definitely see the appeal, I just wish it was executed differently.

A war is raging between mortals and the fae for centuries. As part of a peace treaty Aisling, a princess of the north, shall marry the fae king Lir.
Since she is a small child he learned that mortals became before the fae, how bad fae are and what the mortals need to do to secure the security of their own kind. In the weeks before her wedding she is taught by her parents again how evil they are, how they lure mortals to kidnap them, torture them and eat them and that she shall not trust anything they claim to be the truth and never to show fear for the ugly creatures the fae are.
When he is into her new home, after her wedding, she learns that nothing is what she expected. The fae are not what she thought they are, also there is a threat they fear and she learns that nobody expected her to survive her wedding.
So bit by bit she discovers details, which were kept all her live from her, nothing is what it seems and slowly something stirs within her that is turning not only the world of mortals but also the fae world upside down.


We start with the mortal point of view how evil fae are, how right it is to fight them and that a young woman must sacrifice herself for the greater good of the mortals. She marries a fae king without being aware of their traditions, their language, without really knowing anything about the enemy. So together with Aisling we get to know all the characters as well as the world. The world build is really great as well as the character development but at some points this is causing a slow pace. To shorten some things might have given the read a better pace.

The characters are really interesting as we see how prejudices are broken down when you get to know each other better, when you don´t blame crimes of one race on one person.
Aisling is a young woman who had so far a sheltered live as she was not even allowed to leave home. She believes all her father thought her so far, has a certain mind set. This happens often in the book and at some point it was a bit tedious for me. It is clear that she was brought up this way but slowly she learns that she was sold to a treaty and her father expected her to die. So should she not question other things he thought her especially when she learns in her new home that things are not as he told her to be? During the story she learns to stand up more for herself and that she wants to learn new things.
Lir is an interesting character as he wants to save the fae, stop the fires killing their forest and killing of his kind. So he is willing to accept a marriage and expects that his new bride will not survive the ceremony but when she does he is adjusting to it.
The love story between these two is really slow burn. I mean not really anything is happening between them at all beside they get to know each other more and more over the months as not even the marriage is consummated.
The other characters are really interesting as the fae dislike Aisling as mortal but during their time together, learning to know each other they get a different point of view and something like friendship, respect arises between them.

So a good idea, complex world build, good characters, good twist of the story at the end but in some parts of the story was the pace a bit too slow for me.
So I was here between 3 and 4 stars and would go with 3,5 which means I round up to 4 stars here.

I could say so many things about this book, the world building, the scenery, the storytelling, it’s all beautiful. ♥️ If you’re looking for a new fae x human romance, look no further, this satiated that need for me and I can’t recommend it enough!

This book is definitely more of a high fantasy with a focus on the politics and world building, with romance as a sub plot, but my god is it good, such an interesting read! 😍

Tropes:
🖤 Enemies to lovers
🖤 Marriage of convenience/Arranged marriage
🖤 Forced Proximity
🖤 Strong FMC
🖤 Slooooooow burn
🖤 Fae x human

This book was good, but slow. It was slow to grab my attention, but once it did I was invested in this magical world. The world building was done incredibly well, and the characters were well developed along the way. I do believe the book could have been a bit shorter- with less reflections from our narrator. These reflections felt a bit redundant at times, and side-tracked from our story.

This book heavily implies romance, but there is very little in this book itself. Our main characters built an alliance and connection, but I'm wondering if the romance will pick up in the second book.

This is definitely not an action packed fantasy, it's more of a slow burn, slow and steady story. I did appreciate the methodical world building, and the cliffhanger leaves me wanting more.

Overall, this was a good first book but not one of my very favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley and Second Sky Publishing for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such an amazing fantasy book! It was beautifully written, great pacing and an epic, intriguing plot. There are elements very typical of a fantasy book, such as magical creatures, fae, political conflict and war as well as the sweetest slooooowww burn romance(?) to top it off.

The romance in this is extremely subtle, more in the style of fated-enemies/mates. There is no spice, only touches of yearning. And that just makes me SO much better.

This is a very plot-centric book, with a captivating world that is so addictive I found it difficult to put the book down. I loved it so much, and I just adore the writing style; it’s so charming and other-worldly.

Will be reading book two immediately!

Aisling, or Ash as she prefers to be called, has grown up as a sheltered princess of the high king of the north, locked behind their iron and stone walls to keep her safe from the Aos Si (Fae). She has been raised to believe that the dreaded monsters appeared one day in the past and began stealing human land, killing, eating, and kidnapping innocent humans for fun and sport. Now, her father has arranged a peace treaty between the dreaded monsters and humans, a treaty that revolves around her. She is to wed one of the 12 rulers of the Fae and bring peace to the two groups. After marrying Lir, king of the woodlands, Ash realizes that not all her father's teachings are true. After all, the Seelie seem in their way and kind, but the monstrous Unseelie is another story. Perhaps her father doesn't know of them. Maybe he doesn't know that his fire burns and kills the ancient sentient trees. Maybe she can get him to understand.

I found book one to be good, but it was a little long; it had a lot of world and character-building, which I appreciated, but a lot of action, especially between Lir and Ash, was missing. Don't get me wrong, there were fights, spars, and battles, but something just felt a little off; if that makes sense, I kept waiting for something groundbreaking to happen. I kept waiting for the two to fall in love, and all I got was one kiss at the end of the novel. I may have read too many romance (spicy) books, but I found that side of the story lacking. However, I appreciate how strong Ash is as she navigates an unfamiliar world. I did get a little frustrated with her. However, I understand the whole I was taught to believe scenario, but at some point, you begin to make assumptions and beliefs of your own, and I found the whole my father said bit to get a little tedious. Like, we get it, but think for yourself, girl. I am excited about book 2, however, and hope that the action and romance will increase significantly, especially with the ending of book 1.

The Mortal Queen weaves political intrigue, magic, lies, monsters, and personal growth to provide a captivating tale. The story centers on Aisling, a mortal princess thrust into an arranged marriage with Lir, the enigmatic fae king, to secure peace between their warring species.
Aisling's character development is a highlight. Her journey of self-discovery is both authentic and compelling, capturing her internal struggles as she confronts long-held prejudices about the fae and navigates the complexities of her new reality.
The romance between Aisling and Lir is the slowest of burns, their relationship evolves naturally as the story progresses with tension and chemistry simmering beneath the surface.
The novel’s strength is its world-building. We experience the fae world through Aisling’s naive POV and so every inch is meticulously described and immersive, drawing inspiration from Celtic folklore to create a vivid landscape filled with mythical creatures and complex societies. There’s magic, curses, & enchanted beasts!
However, the novel's pacing can be uneven at times. Some sections delve deeply into descriptive prose and internal monologues which enriches the world-building, but slows the momentum of the plot.
This ends on a cliffhanger and I am desperate for book 2, which, luckily, is already out!

I really loved this book! It’s instantly captivating how it jumps right into the story and into the magical world of the fae. This story had a lot of twists and turns that I didn’t expect. I loved the magical creatures and the description of the fae world! It was fast paced but with that being said, I do wish there were a few more private moments between Aisling and Lir. Throughout the story Aisling references a few sweet moments between her and Lir but I wish they had been described as they played out just to get more of that connection between them. Overall, this was a create story and left off on a cliffhanger! I will definitely be reading the second book.

This is going to be a GREAT series. Aisling is the typical unprepared sacrificial virgin in her father's attempt to broker peace with the Fae. No one suspects that Aisling will develop a backbone, and much more, in her time with the Fae. As Aisling becomes more compassionate to those around her something about the mortal realm's knowledge pricks at her. Living in the magical world presents Aisling with more than she bargained for. This book focuses significantly on the world building. It has a bit of a slow pace at times but that's to be expected with a new fantasy series. I do wish that some of the relationships evolved at a faster pace but that's just my preference. Unexplored relationships and unanswered questions provide an excellent cliffhanger.