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. *

A Pernicious Fabrication by Lynn Messina

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Historical Mystery, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)Leave a comment

A Pernicious Fabrication (Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mysteries, #13)

Barbara’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Beatrice Hyde-Clare Mystery #13
Publication Date: 3/7/2025
Period: Regency London
Number of Pages: 328

Beatrice (Bea), Her Outrageousness, the Duchess of Kesgrave, has another murder to solve, and it hits close to home. Mortimer Matlock, the Duke’s first cousin, has been brutally murdered in his art studio – with one of his own implements. How did they learn of Mortimer’s demise? Well!! The notorious criminal Hell and Fury Hawes, known as the King of Saffron Hill, has visited them and asked them to solve the murder because it might appear he committed the crime – and he did not. No, they would never do Hawes any favors, but this is a crime they must solve because the Duke’s grandmother deserves justice for her other grandson.

Both Bea and Kesgrave suspect Hawes wants more than a solution to the murder, but they don’t know what it could be. Asking for their help will cause them to look into much of his criminal enterprise, and he would never do that without a very compelling reason. What else might he want?

Their inquiries lead them into a fake antiquities scheme that even extends to the British Museum. Nobles and criminals are involved in the scheme, and Bea and Kesgrave must navigate it all while keeping themselves safe.

I absolutely love this series! Quirky, humorous, warm, interesting Bea keeps the bad guys and Kesgrave guessing about what she’ll do next – and her leaps of logic are priceless. If you like an interesting mystery with wit and humor, then you’ll love this book and this series.

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