Oaths & Vengeance
Susan Illene
Romantic Fantasy
Darrow is death on the battlefield.
He crushes the enemy with his mind and slays with his sword.
This powerful elf is an adversary I can’t hope to defeat.
But I need his help.
He’ll only give it if we marry in secret.
And I have to open portals for him whenever he wants.
My family will kill me if they find out about any of it.
I have no choice.
Aella either has a lot of nerve or courage to ask me for a favor.
I should kill the half-druid where she stands.
Except she has mastered a rare ability I need.
I plan to bind her to me and get my revenge.
I tell myself I won’t touch her, that she repulses me.
It’s a lie.
And it isn’t long before I want to own every part of her.
Curses chain us both.
I am incapable of love.
She can’t escape her warmongering uncle.
But soon, we realize we’re also each other’s potential cure.
Somehow, we must look beyond centuries of bloodshed and familial hatred.
Especially once we realize the fate of our world may depend upon it.
Welcome to the Realm of Zadrya, where nothing is as it seems, not the people, plants, or animals. Whether it’s beautiful, foul, or just odd, it’s all dangerous. If you decide to step into this strange place of magic, mystery, and deception, please try not to get eaten along the way. We’d hate to lose you before the end.
Uncaged Review: This is the first book in the Realm of Zadrya series, and we meet Aella, a good elf of Therress who magically can open any portal. When her evil uncle, Lord Morgunn, demands that she open the portal to Veronna, Aella feels that she has no choice. When Aella sees Darrow “Dare”, he can’t stand to harm her, so he just uses his magic to throw her off her horse. Aella is intrigued, yet, when she learns that Dare is the key to saving her favorite cousin, Rynn. She decides to go and plead for Rynn’s life by sweetening the bargain, promising to get him to open any portal he would like. Dare agreed to help Rynn, but only if Aella agrees to marry him secretly. Aella, of course, reluctantly agrees. As Dare and Aella continue to fight the war against each other, their world is being destroyed. Will Aella and Dare find a way to stop what is ravaging their world while also finding the cure to both their curses too?
When I got the opportunity to read this romantasy enemy to lovers’ tale with light and dark elves, I was just so excited! This was just a fantastic book that I couldn’t wait to read! I’ll read any paranormal and this one was just an utterly delightful surprise! The intriguing original story moved at a good pace with fascinating characters that I instantly enjoyed and beautiful landscapes with such imaginative world building, even though some seemed a bit vague, but it still wasn’t hard to imagine most of the places or people. That I wanted to meet everyone and visit this world most of all! Darrow the handsome dark elf was just a wonderful hero that I instantly fell for him and is just perfect fodder for a fabulous book boyfriend, that I couldn’t help but add him to list. While Aella was also a splendid heroine to that I instantly had a very big girl crush on her. That I eagerly anticipate and wait on bated breath for the next in the series! Reviewed by Roslynn Ernst
4.5 Stars
