fantasy romance

CBR BINGO: Summer—“That is not a load-bearing ear!”

Daggerbound (Swordheart, #2) by T. Kingfisher

August 5, 2026 by narfna 2 Comments

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. Honestly, there is a character in here that I was obsessed with IMMEDIATELY and had they been present throughout the narrative, this was going to get five stars. However, they were not, so I am only giving it 4.5, because I missed them when they were gone. Daggerbound is the sequel to 2020’s Swordheart, which was the first T. Kingfisher book I ever read, and still holds a special […]

A promising debut cozy fantasy romance that didn’t quite fully hit.

Letters from the Last Apothecary by Bita Behzadi

June 3, 2026 by narfna Leave a Comment

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House | Hay House LLC for the Audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. This is a promising debut by Bita Behzadi, and I will be reading further books from her, but this one had some issues that mean I can’t give it a full four stars. Mostly, I had a really hard time both getting in to the story, and caring about the characters. It took about 33% for the first, and about 60% for […]

Cozy magic and found families

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

December 24, 2025 by teresaelectro Leave a Comment

I chose Rebecca Thorne’s Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea as the January fantasy book club selection for The Ripped Bodice LA. I love tea, cozy magic stories, and sapphic romances. Palace guard Reyna and royal mage Kianthe run away to open a tea shop in the town of Tawny. Reyna’s queen is quite horrible and would never let them be together. Through flashbacks, we learn how they met unexpectedly at a royal function. They had nighttime rendezvous for a while, but yearn to move in […]

One of my most anticipated books of the year is a complete flop. CBRBINGO – ‘B’

Behooved by M. Stevenson

July 23, 2025 by narfna 2 Comments

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the content of my review. This was SO DISAPPOINTING. I CANNOT CAPSLOCK THIS ENOUGH. I suppose it’s my own fault. A great, enticing premise does not a good book make. Okay, actually, the author has some share of this, also. She wrote the thing. But your own expectations are never a good thing to put on a book, regardless of the book’s quality. Still, I went and did that. HOWEVER. Even without […]

she’s got bollocks the size of blimps

The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed, #1) by Brigitte Knightley

May 25, 2025 by narfna Leave a Comment

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group | Ace for the ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. This book should not have worked! But, it really did. At least for me. This is an enemies to lovers slow burn romance set in an alternate Earth where magic is real. (Actual, real enemies, mind you, not just rivals or people who are annoyed at each other.) Aurienne is a gifted healer in an order of healers who is contacted by Osric, an eeeevil […]

You can have magical power or love, not both.

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

December 30, 2024 by teresaelectro Leave a Comment

The Midnight Bargain is a magic-fueled fantasy romance exploring what it means for a woman to conform to societal norms. Beatrice and her family have traveled far to a capital city in search of a husband. Her father has left the finances in a tight spot, which puts intense pressure on her to marry. But Beatrice would much rather become a sorceress and forget this whole marriage thing. But that’s against this society’s rules where women are given a painful binding collar on their wedding […]

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