Category: First Person Narrative

Whisper Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

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

Whispers Among Thorns (Deadly Fae Duology, #1)Whispers Among Thorns by Cassandra Aston

Tracy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Deadly Fae, #1

Release Date: June 24, 2025

There’s only one rule that truly matters. Never fall in love with a human. Break it and die.

Living under the radar in New York City, Sav just wants to carve out a life in her new world. That hope is shattered when the leader of the anti-fae movement destroys her home in an attack on her people. Finding herself caught between protecting a deadly secret and saving the fae from the humans bent on slaughter, Sav must infiltrate the extremist’s inner circle, posing as a human, and seduce her sworn enemy’s son.

Jack, the son of the infamous anti-fae-faction leader Dane Clyde, has always lived in his father’s shadow. When a woman is brought into AFF headquarters in chains, he finds himself drawn to her despite the danger. Caught between duty and desire, Jack must choose a side before one is chosen for him.

What began as a mission to rescue Sav’s people may end up costing them both so much more than they bargained for.

When I saw this blurb on Netgalley – I was excited to read this story, but sadly it didn’t live up to the blurb. First the book is written in First Person Narrative – UGH – but the author doesn’t just give the reader one POV – no, it is multiple character POVs in rotating chapters – which made the story drag and hard to get into. Then there is Sav, I just never warmed up to her and found the romance between her and Jack to be underwhelming. I did like the dual world perspective and some of the secondary characters, but unfortunately, that just wasn’t enough to salvage this story for me. This is the first book in a duology, and I would recommend reading the books in order.

*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. *

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. *