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I’ve read a good number of monster romance novels at this point, and one common pattern I’ve noticed is that when the cover is bright and beautiful, the romance usually ends up being very cozy.
But I generally prefer the spicier monster romance books, so I was seriously hoping this one would be spicy and it delivered beyond that.
Our leads meet when the female lead, Guinevere, is essentially attacked, and the male lead, Oskar, saves her. Then they start this cross-country journey to where her parents are, and where she’s engaged to marry someone.
Along the way, they stop in a town where they meet a band of people, keep traveling, and basically, they fall in love on the road.
This is my first time reading an adventure monster romance novel, and I loved it so much.
Anything that involves a road trip gets my stamp of approval, so watching them manage many less-than-ideal situations while somehow trying to survive – and sneaking in a spicy moment here and there – was absolutely the best.
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Our male lead’s primary goal is to get to his mother’s people so he can live with them now that his mother has died. But when he meets the female lead, somehow they end up traveling together. He decides to take her to the town where her parents live because he’s worried about her safety.
While on the way, they have to fend off attacks from several people who, for some reason, are bent on killing her or at least kidnapping her. They also have to confront their mutual attraction and the fact that their relationship has to die when she gets to town and meets her parents.
Thankfully, this is a dual POV book. And I know I said it’s a monster romance, but honestly, it’s very much fantasy fiction.
I got it because it was classified as a monster romance novel, and it got good ratings, but this is a proper fantasy fiction book. It definitely opened up a whole new portal to a totally different universe for me.
If you look through the reviews on my blog, you’ll notice I don’t write a lot about fantasy or science fiction, and that’s because these two closely related genres just haven’t clicked with me before.
I find I’m very picky when it comes to reading sci-fi or fantasy, and usually I don’t really get into them. But this was my first proper fantasy fiction book, and it was amazing. So I’m definitely going to be reading more in this genre in the future.
After reading this book, I feel the unique urge to write a totally different post about my favorite female characters in romance books – those who actually have a personality. Our female lead is the best I’ve ever read.
Guinevere is super funny, super smart, and a little naive, but not in an annoying way. Through her eyes, we learn more about this world. We see how she tries to find her place, deal with complicated feelings for her parents, and come to terms with the new and overwhelming romantic feelings she has for the male lead. That was just so perfect to see.
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I loved her sense of humor, and I loved the romantic connection between her and Oskar. I want to read more books that feature this kind of intense, super sweet, and absolutely romantic relationship between two protagonists.
Our male lead, on the other hand, has a somewhat grumpy personality, but he would cry at the drop of a hat and is literally mourning throughout the book because his mother died just before the story started. We see how he handles his grief while also thinking about what he wants to do with his life moving forward.
There isn’t a huge character development arc for him, if I’m being honest, but I’ve always said that I love the brooding, placeholder hero who is obnoxiously handsome, uxorious, and willing to throw himself in the line of fire for anything involving the female lead.
This book does not end on a cliffhanger, even though I genuinely thought it would. Because of that, the events in the final chapter felt a little rushed to me, but I know it probably wasn’t rushed.
I’ve realized I’m very into stories that meander a bit on the way to happily ever after. That’s not to say the story should get stuck in one spot for hours, but I do like books where the author lets things unfold naturally and the script doesn’t feel like it’s just trying to wrap up and close shop immediately.
I should mention that there’s a reveal towards the end that I feel could have been better executed.
I’m ambivalent about there being a sequel. If there is one, I don’t know how that would work out, because the sequel should also focus on their romance. But with everything we’ve seen in this book, their love for each other is pretty much a settled fact.
So if there’s a sequel, I wonder what kind of drama will be included that won’t just be annoying. I’m hopeful there will be a sequel, because there’s some drama in this book that is never really touched on. I want to believe that’s intentional and not an editing error.
All in all, I will say this is definitely one of the best fantasy fiction books I’ve read in a hot minute, and I’m going to check out other stuff by this author.
I believe this book is one of the 2025 fantasy book releases. If you want to check out more fantasy books released in 2025, check out this page.
In the meantime, let me know if you’ve read this book, if you enjoyed it, or if you’ve read any other fantastic fiction books you think everyone else needs to get in on.
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