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Larapinta by Annie Seaton
Dead of Spring by Samantha Wilde
Cold Silence by Toni Anderson
For You & No One Else by Roni...
The Rogue by Kimberly Kincaid
A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
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Category

Speculative Fiction

    Action/AdventureAdvanced Reader CopyFantasyMagic/ParanormalNetgalleyReviewsSpeculative Fiction

    A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet

    written by Dísir
    A Curse of Queens by Amanda BouchetA Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet
    Series: Kingmaker Chronicles #4
    Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on 4th October 2022
    Pages: 496
    Buy on Amazon
    Goodreads
    five-stars

    The queen has been cursed, and no one knows who’s behind the plot to threaten the realm’s fragile peace. Desperate to help, Jocasta hatches a plan to find Circe’s Garden, a fabled island where she hopes to discover an antidote.

    But she can’t do it alone. She needs the strong arm and unflinching bravery of the warrior she’s loved since childhood—her brother’s right-hand-man and captain of the guard, Flynn of Sinta.

    Together they can do the impossible. Yet with treachery brewing on Mount Olympus, one thing is clear: Thalyria and its new royals are still pawns in an epic game of power—one that might end in a War of Gods.

    A happily-ever-after isn’t guaranteed for Cat/Griffin, which is how ‘A Curse of Queens’ begins–even if you do know it’s just temporary. But take a few steps in and you’ll enter into Amanda Bouchet’s world: one that’s a very, very slanted reframing and recollection of Greek mythology–purists, look away right now–cut and pasted piecemeal into a fraught land that is of her own imagination, where the pantheon of gods still behave as badly as the humans who populate the lands they apparently created.

    But as much the last few books didn’t exactly sit too well with me, ‘A Curse of Queens’ is a relatively self-contained story within the larger universe built of the series: a new couple who should have been together from the start but weren’t, a quest archetype to save a newly-remade land, and a hastily-assembled team of varying gifts taking on insurmountable odds in order to save their queen.

    Jocasta’s and Flynn’s relationship, written with so much heart, longing and angst (and short-lived unrequited feelings of a brother’s-best-friend kind of trope) helped anchor these elements and the result is a potent mix of high fantasy, adventure, unexpected humour and a portal into an alternate universe that sucks you right in. That both Jo/Flynn were neither magical nor immensely gifted by the gods, relying on their human strength, wits and cunning to get through the obstacles set before them, made them even memorable.

    ‘A Curse of Queens’ can be a standalone; Bouchet’s map of her world and a very, very generic idea of Greek mythology will get you through it, though not without much difficulty in following the story from where the last book left off. The story grew on me as I went on and to immediately want more after the somewhat rushed conclusion probably meant that this has to rank as one of my unexpected finds of the year.

    five-stars
    A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet was last modified: May 2nd, 2022 by Dísir
    16th May 2022 0 comment
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  • Action/AdventureFantasyReviewsSpeculative FictionSyfySyfy Romance

    Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

    by Dísir 17th March 2022

    Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik Series: Starlight’s Shadow #1 Published by Harper Voyager on 1st February 2022 Pages: 428 Buy on Amazon Goodreads Octavia Zarola would do anything to…

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  • Advanced Reader CopyHistorical RomanceMystery/CrimeNetgalleyReviewsSpeculative Fiction

    A Treacherous Trade by Kerrigan Byrne

    by Dísir 3rd March 2022

    A Treacherous Trade by Kerrigan Byrne Series: The Fiona Mahoney Mysteries, #2, #2 Published by Gnarly Wool Publishing on 8th March 2021 Pages: 247 Buy on Amazon Goodreads “Forgive me…for…

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  • Advanced Reader CopyContemporary RomanceFantasyNetgalleyReviewsRomantic SuspenseSpeculative FictionUrban Fantasy

    True Wolf by Paige Tyler

    by Dísir 5th January 2022

    True Wolf by Paige Tyler Series: STAT #3 Published by Sourcebooks on 22nd March 2022 Pages: 312 Buy on Amazon Goodreads Nuclear weapons have been stolen from the Air Force,…

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  • FantasyNew AdultReviewsSpeculative FictionYoung Adult

    The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

    by Dísir 27th July 2021

    The ​Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout Series: Blood and Ash #3 Published by Blue Box Press on 20th April 2021 Pages: 645 Buy on Amazon Goodreads She’s…

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  • Advanced Reader CopyContemporary RomanceMagic/ParanormalMilitary/ParamilitaryNetgalleyReviewsRomantic SuspenseSpeculative FictionUrban Fantasy

    Undercover Wolf by Paige Tyler

    by Dísir 27th April 2021

    Undercover Wolf by Paige Tyler Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on 25th May 2021 Pages: 352 Buy on Amazon Goodreads An unexpected partnership leads two wolves to reconsider everything they know……

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  • Advanced Reader CopyFantasyNetgalleyReviewsSpeculative FictionUrban Fantasy

    Last Guard by Nalini Singh

    by Dísir 22nd April 2021

    Last Guard by Nalini Singh Series: Psy-Changeling Trinity #5 Published by Berkley on 20th July 2021 Pages: 384 Buy on Amazon Goodreads Termed merciless by some, and a robotic sociopath…

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