Category: First Person Narrative

Bargains with Benefits by Jillian Witt

On By TracyIn First Person Narrative, Historical Paranormal/Fantasy, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's Reviews, Young AdultLeave a comment

Bargains with Benefits (Fae by the Bay #1)Bargains with Benefits by Jillian Witt

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Fae by the Bay, #1

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Half-fae Luna Pierce is living her dream of running the Cliff House Inn, an inn that is owned by her estranged Fae father. But when her father threatens to sell the inn, Luna convinces him to give her time to prove that the inn can be profitable, too bad she doesn’t possess fae magic herself, oh and the fact that she threw a drink in the face of Vincent Andiveron, the recommendations columnist for the Bayside.

But lucky for them, all is not lost, since Vincent also has a dream, and it isn’t writing the recommendation column, he wants to write investigative pieces and has the best idea for a story but lacks a source. That is until he meets Luna, and they strike a bargain – he will help her make her inn the “must-visit” destination and she will help him crack his story about her father. What could go wrong??

I will be blunt – this could have been a great story, but I had issues – first and foremost it is written in First Person Narrative and if that wasn’t bad enough – it is a dual POV FPN – I seriously dislike FPN, but I hate dual POV FPN – I just can’t. Secondly, it was kind of predictable and a bit cliché, and finally the romance was blah (and clearly my idea of “spicy” is not the same as the author’s). The story does have some bright points; I did like both Luna and Vincent and I thought the family issues were handled well. But for me this story was a miss, it felt more like a YA fantasy than an adult cozy fantasy, and I didn’t read the previous series, but I don’t think that would have made difference.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The South Wind by Alexandria Warwick

On By TracyIn Fairytale Retelling, First Person Narrative, New To Me Author, Paranormal / Fantasy, Part of a Series, Romantasy, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The South Wind (The Four Winds, #3)The South Wind by Alexandria Warwick

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: The Four Winds, #3

Release Date: May 27, 2025

Princess Sarai of Ammara has less than three months to live before death claims her. Cursed as a child to die on her twenty-fifth nameday, she will do whatever it takes to secure her realm’s future, including an arranged marriage to Prince Balior, a handsome young noble from a neighboring kingdom. But another man vies for her attention as well: Notus, the South Wind, god of the desert breeze, and Sarai’s ex-lover.
Sarai is determined to stay away from the god who betrayed her and honor her father’s plan. But Prince Balior has an agenda of his own, and as Sarai learns more about her betrothed, she realizes he might be a dangerous threat to her people. So despite her hatred for Notus, she fakes their engagement to escape the arranged marriage and unearth Prince Balior’s true motives surrounding his obsession with the menacing labyrinth that sits in the palace’s grounds.
But darker forces are at work, and time is running out. Together with Notus, Sarai must face the horrors dwelling inside the labyrinth to save herself and her realm—but in order to succeed, she must confront her pain and the monsters she carries within herself…

My Thoughts:
I loved the idea of this story, a mix of myth and fairytale, featuring a fake betrothal and a slow burn second-chance romance with a bit of intrigue to keep the pages turning. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me for several reasons, the primary reason being that the book is written in the first person (this is obviously a personal opinion, I dislike reading books written in FPN, so if you like that style please disregard my bias) the second reason was the lack of chemistry between Notus and Sarai and finally, Sarai herself annoyed me, she was whiney for most of the book and while she does redeem herself, it was too little too late for me. Overall, I think my dislike of the FPN tainted this book for me and while I liked the idea of the story, I didn’t like the execution and felt like it was more of a YA story than adult romantasy, however, I did like Notus and enjoyed the mythic elements of the story and I thought the intrigue was very well done. This is the third book in the series, but I believe they can each be read as standalone titles without diminishing the reader experience.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *