Whisper of War and Storms is a solid start to a romantasy series with all the right elements—portal fantasy, a missing princess, and a simmering enemies-to-lovers romance. Told in dual POV, the story follows Mev, who discovers she’s heir to a magical realm, and Kael, the prince charged with protecting (and complicating) her journey.

While the enemies-to-lovers arc leans more into the tension between their families than the characters themselves, the chemistry is there and builds naturally. Mev is a strong, relatable lead, and her arc (rediscovering herself while untangling dangerous family secrets) gives the book real emotional weight. The world of Elydor is immersive and atmospheric, with high stakes that keep the tension strong throughout.

At times, some moments felt a bit rushed or underdeveloped, but overall, the story held together well and delivered on its promises. With strong tropes, solid world-building, and a compelling romantic dynamic, this is one I’d definitely recommend to fans of fantasy romance.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a great story. The character development is great and kept me interested in the story. I would recommend this book to everyone.

It wouldn't be a fantasy book without a crazy name...
Mevlida is in york trying to find a pub when she crosses through a portal to another world.
Turns out she is the lost princess.
Im interested in seeing what happens

My friends all know I love my fantasy books at the moment, especially romantasy. I hadn't heard much from this author but the blurb sounded right up my street!
Most fantasy books are long, due to the world building that the authors need to integrate into their novels. This book however, was a mere 269 pages. I was intrigued as to how this was going to be executed, and whilst I enjoyed it, I do think the world building and the novel as a whole, was interesting enough to benefit from expansion.
That said, I still enjoyed it. There are plenty of popular tropes to keep us fantasy readers happy, and the pacing was fast, as there was no filler.
I've seen Book two, Tide of Waves and Secrets is out in May 2025 so will definitely look out for that. The author's other books also look to be a similar length, so I'm off to check those out too!

This was not a bad read at all. As far as romantasies go, this one was one that intrigued me. My only problem was that I felt like it just lacked a bit here and there and felt a bit cringey to be fair. I just wish that the author took a bit more time to hash it out and show us instead of just telling us what was going on.

I couldn’t get into this book. I think I read about 20% of it but the characters just weren’t clicking for me. The writing was decent and the world building was good. It just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a slow start but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. I’ll be looking out for more books by this author.

This is a Dual POV portal romantasy, which is so fun and different! Our girl Mev lives on Earth and is aching to know the truth about her mother's past and who her father is, in her hunt for answers she falls though a portal to a new world similar to our medieval times (but with a few perks), and she finds out her father is a king. Enter enemy Prince Kael, though they are supposed to be enemies, they fall for each other pretty quick, there isn't a ton of tension or angst. Overall, this is a pretty light and easy read, it's not very complicated world-building and the writing is pretty simplistic. There's definitely good bones and enough intrigue to keep you engaged and I think the series will onyl get better!

C.L. Mecca’s Whisper of War and Storms is romantasy at its very best! I read it across two sittings, I was just so gripped and needed to know what happened sooner rather than later.

The world was beautiful and complex, but also easy enough to understand that nothing was too confusing. I also loved seeing Mev and Kael’s relationship evolve throughout the book, they really had me hooked throughout.

I also found the pacing to be really good, and I’m so excited to read more from this author!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the arc. 🫶🏻

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I DNF’d this one at about 20%. it just wasn’t for me; unfortunately. I think the writing was fine & the plot was interesting but it didn’t capture my interest. it’s possible it was a mood thing & I’ll come back to it, but it just wasn’t for me at this time.

Whisper of War and Storms was a story that captured my attention and I ended up reading it within 24 hours. I liked getting to know the characters and their back stories. It was also interesting to see how Mev coped with so many secrets from the past being revealed.

For me this book was an engaging romantasy and I did like the enemies to lovers trope that was threaded throughout. There was a good amount of chemistry between Mev and Kael to keep me invested too. I would say the story moved at a very good pace. There was always something within the story to keep me entertained and to keep turning those pages. I’m already eager for book two! It will be interesting to find out what will happen next. As I’m sure there are more secrets to be revealed. The world building also started well in this book but I’m sure there is more to come with that too.

Whisper of War and Storms is engaging, at times very intriguing and above all enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in the pages of this books. So a definite escapist read for me!

As someone who absolutely LOVES Fantasy/Romance this was the perfect read!

In this book we follow the story of Mey and Kael... two characters who, as the story progresses it is impossible not to love!

The storyline itself is perfectly paced and captivating, and keeps you utterly obsessed to the end!

*Thank you to Netgalley, Boldwood Books and C.L. Mecca for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.*

I loved this book as it is written in an exciting and intriguing way which made me read it in no time. It is written from the point of view of Mev and Kael, which allows you to get to know both characters well and gives a nice variety in the narrative. The characters were well developed and I really liked them. The writing style was good and kept me engaged. The plot itself was interesting and I really liked the chemistry between the FMC and the MMC and am looking forward to the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley and C.L. Mecca for sending me an ARC and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book needs about 5 more rounds of editing. The writing style is rough and sloppy, writing felt rushed which made the world building fall flat and there wasn't nearly enough description used for thing sin order to make it immersive.

A unique and gripping romantasy book - with worlds of potential.

When a forgotten ring reveals Mevlida Brennan’s true heritage as the long-lost princess of Aetheria, a kingdom of immortals and magic, her world is turned upside down. But there’s just one problem—Mev didn’t know she was missing.

As a firm lover of all things fantasy and romantasy, this book was everything it promised - while also remaining a manageable length.
It was everything I wanted Outlander to be without the elements I found difficult to read/cliched.

The world builiding was equistite - a portal romance where the FMC - a woman from Earth finds herself in Elydor. The Elemental magic system was interesting and the political intrigue helped the plot immensely.

There were some areas that were overly descriptive and boarded on clunky in terms of the writing style; it definitely would have benefitted from further editing - however the world building more than made up for this!

Both the FMC and MMC were lovable - albeit a tad tropey.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and will definitely be picking up book 2 when it releases in May!

This was my first romantasy book, but it will not be my last! I can't wait to see where C.L. takes us in the next installment! I loved the concept and the heroine was amazing. I'm so excited to get back into this world.

This book is my first foray into romantasy and C.L. Mecca made it well worth my time by creating a magical world filled with well developed characters and snappy dialogue. I loved Kael and Mev's HEA and the unresolved main conflict leaves me anxiously awaiting the next world of Elydor installment!

Thank you to Boldwood for the ARC. I am pleased to leave this honest review.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book but I knew within the first few pages that it wasn't going to be a five star read. I hate giving low star reviews because these books are parts of someone's soul. It's the bringing it to life part that is the hardest. The idea of the book is good and I loved the cover. The magic system was very well thought out and it was the best aspect of the book and the one I enjoyed the most. It was detailed, specific and a bit different to anything that I've read for a while. The world building was also quite well done, it wasn't drawn out but a 'learn as you go - along with the FMC' kind of thing. The whole world was explained well and was easy to understand. It is an easy read, especially if you're looking for something quick and light.

For me, the story lacked depth. While the world building and the secondary characters were introduced and described quite well, the main characters just lacked chemistry. They went from hate to love in a heartbeat and it just didn't feel natural to me. There was no progression, no small moments where they start to see each other in another light, if you don't count changing clothes and hair changes. The opposition from Mev's language to Kael's was too much for me and I know that if it had been done any other way it wouldn't have been right but all of a sudden Mev starts to pick up Kael's way of speaking, makes a comment about it but doesn't stop doing it. Everything was too easy, Mev had 'feelings' and they were always true and then all of a sudden a lie came out of nowhere and I was just a little blind sighted by it. Some parts were cheesy and all of it seemed to just move so quickly and yet nothing really happened. There was no tension, no worrying about whether something bad was going to happen and how they were going to get through it. The plot was a simple one, it is exactly as the blurb says and I crave a deep, thick plot that keeps my attention or at the very least a cliff hanger that has me gasping for more, more story, more history, more of the MC's romance.

It's a quick, easy and uncomplicated read and unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ebook in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! between the tropes, the travel fantasy, the dual POV, and the fantastic character arcs I loved every minute of it. I think the only thing left for me to say is that I am sitting on the edge of my seat and I can't wait for more and to see what happens next!