I fell so hard for this book. From the moment the story opens at the Red Pearl, it hooked me completely and the entire atmosphere and sense of mystery at every turn just kept me at the edge of my seat.

The worldbuilding is immersive, the characters are fantastic, and the scene under the willow tree … thank you for that slow burn tension. And that TWIST at the end.. absolute perfection!!

If you love romantasy, slow-burn tension, and mystery-driven fantasy, this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, BerkleyXO Books for the chance to read this sneak peek…. even if I’m now suffering because I need the full ARC immediately. wink wink Berkley, GIMME IT!!

So as I mentioned above, this is a sneak peek that is up as READ NOW on Netgalley (yeah, I’m fully aware that this may convince you to wait but also.. do yourself a favor and go read it, no regrets!!). Anyways, I’m now sitting here 70 pages in, fully invested, and ITCHING for the rest. I 1000% would have binged the rest today if I had it.

This sneak peek does exactly what it should do.. it hooked me fast (how punny) and delivered a perfect setup full of tension and banter. The character descriptions are perfection, I feel like Ive already clocked exactly who they are. It’s addictive and if I didn’t already drive this point into the ground, it was over way too quick.

I was so engrossed that I forgot I was reading just a snippet and went to push my thumb to turn to the next page and NOTHING HAPPENED - queue the scream of “NOOOOOO NOT YET!!” Who ends a preview with “I’d rather hear you shouting my name.”!!!!!?!!!!! COME ON, YALL ARE SUCH A TEASE!!!!

If the rest of the books delivers on even half of what these first 8 chapters set up, this is going to be an instant click, adds to cart. GIMME IT!!!!!