Mixed feelings about this one! After reading the synopsis on the back of the book, I picked up Steelborn expecting a standard "chosen one" romantasy. In some ways, I was right, especially on the romance and overall plot front. There were some standout parts, like our FMC Reya and all the interesting side quests throughout, but in the end, I thought it was fun but nothing groundbreaking.

Reya is everything I've been wanting in an FMC. She had more depth than the typical romantasy heroine, and it's clear the author put a lot of thought into her character.

My biggest issue was the romance. I've never loved the trope where the FMC is barely an adult paired with a centuries-old love interest. The female character rarely has the life experience to meet the love interest as an equal, so the power imbalance is huge and it just doesn’t feel like a romance. I know that's a personal preference, so YMMV. The romance is also pretty insta-lusty, and they're reluctant allies to lovers at most. I was fine with that, and their banter is fun, but it’s not the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers it’s marketed as.

Lastly, the pacing is super slow in the middle, so it took me forever to want to finish it. The ending was good once we got there though, so I’m still likely going to read the next one.

If you want a competent, well-developed FMC, I still think this is worth reading. If you're specifically after slow-burn enemies-to-lovers or a never before seen plot, this probably isn't the one for you.

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Thank you to Booktrovert for the ARC!

It took a few days of sitting with my thoughts to realize how much I adored The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy. It was such a fun, slow-burn romance, and I'm glad I stuck with it and finished despite a few issues I had with the book overall.

I put off reading this for a long time because I knew it was heavily inspired by a Harry Potter fanfic. I've never read Harry Potter or watched the movies, so I went in worried I'd be missing whatever context made everyone else rave about it. Obviously I don't know if I would have enjoyed it more if I was familiar with the Harry Potter world, but I did notice a major lack of worldbuilding that confused me throughout the first half.

We never get a full picture of how the world works and we don't learn much about Aurienne or Osric until nearly halfway through. Because of these missing details, I felt disconnected from the plot, and there were long stretches of the story that didn't quite make sense to me. A lot of the scenes and conversations left me feeling like I was missing some key explanation or context. That feeling went away the deeper I got into the book, but the story never felt fully fleshed out either.

What saved it was the romance, which, to be fair, is the most important part of the story anyways. I thought it was the most perfectly executed slow-burn, enemies-to-maybe-lovers. The yearning is also amazing without being too over the top and corny. And the banter and humor throughout is 10/10. I could not get enough of Aurienne and Osric together.

So all in all, I ended up liking this way more than I expected, and I'm currently reading the next one. My main regret is that I didn't go in with the right expectations. If I had known not to focus so much on the details of the world and how it all works, I think I would have enjoyed the first half a lot more. If you are looking for a breezy, fun romance, I'd definitely recommend this one.

A Beauty and the Beast retelling with vampires is pretty much an automatic yes for me, so I went into Vow of Eternal Night with high expectations. While it didn't end up being as good as I hoped, it still kept my interest enough to finish.

I definitely enjoyed the first half more than the second. The enchanted house is a delight, and the inspiration from Beauty and the Beast is clear from the start. The author has a great sense of humor, and it comes through in Clara's inner dialogue and her banter with Raleigh. This was probably my favorite thing about the writing throughout.

After that, though, there were more misses than hits. For a standalone, I expected the plot to keep moving, but the pacing ends up feeling slow, and the story gets a little boring at times.

I also found the characters a little flat and the romance didn’t work for me either. It's a slow-burn, and a few of Clara and Raleigh's moments together are cute, but I wanted to see them spend more time getting to know each other, and watch Clara gradually shift toward accepting what Raleigh is. I also needed more from Raleigh's side. He comes with this fearsome reputation but doesn't have any other defining character traits.

Even with all that, this is a decent debut. If you're after a standalone vampire romance, especially one inspired by Beauty and the Beast, it's worth a look.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC!