Gild is the first book in the adult fantasy romance series, called The Plated Prisoner Series, by the amazing Raven Kennedy. Raven Kennedy is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite authors. She writes the most addictive books with the best characters! Gild is a bit different and quite a bit darker than the other books I have read from Raven Kennedy. It is a dark reimaging of the story of King Midas and I was completely obsessed with it. Book two, Glint releases today and I stayed up way too late binge reading both books this weekend. If you are a fan of dark adult fantasies, then the Plated Prisoner series is a must read for you to check out!

In Gild we meet our main character Auren, who is the favored gold touched pet of King Midas. Midas keeps Auren in a fancy gold plated cage for everyone to see as a symbol of his power. I found Auren’s cage and relationship with Midas to be fascinating. Her cage spans the entire top floor the castle, with cages built into every room and barred walkways connecting all the room so she can roam kind of freely around the castle. It’s interesting because at the start of the book Auren very much wants to be in her cage to keep her safe. From what, we don’t know. But we do know that she has had a very rough life as an orphan living on the streets until Midas rescued her. She has known him since before he was king, which explains a lot of their connection. She feels very indebted to Midas for saving her life. She accompanied him to the castle as he married the Queen and became the king with the golden touch.

I loved Auren. She is fascinating. I figured out one of her secrets early on, but Raven Kennedy still managed to surprise me several times throughout the book. Book one does a great job setting up the world. In the Plated Prisoner series, the land is split up onto six kingdoms, and when Midas takes over a neighboring kingdom he sends for his favored and his other royal “saddles” (think fancy concubine) to join him in the neighboring land. Along the way, the caravan gets stolen away and the story gets even more interesting. I don’t want to reveal too much, but I loved every bit of this story. Even though this is going to be a fantasy romance, there is almost no real romance in book one, but don’t let that be off putting to you. After reading book 2, I am even more in love with this series and I already know I am going to love the romance. If you are a fan of dark fantasies featuring interesting magic with magnetic characters and fantastic writing, the Plated Prisoners is a must read series. Raven Kennedy has announced that it will be at least 4 books long, and I am already in DESPERATE need of book 3! 

 

A Star Pilot’s Fearless Rebel is the first book in the Star Pilot series by Eva Delaney & Vivi Clarke. The Star Pilot series is dubbed as a reverse harem space opera, and even though I don’t read a ton of science fictions, I do really enjoy a reverse harem, so I thought I would give this one a good. I am glad that I did, because I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I am interested in continuing on with the series. I am on board with the description of this series as being a mashup between Firefly (yes!!) and Star Wars.

In A Star Pilot’s Fearless Rebel, we meet our main character Cal, who is a take no prisoners Captain. I enjoyed Cal because I love a sassy heroine, and she has sass for days! I enjoyed meeting the men as well. Some I like more than others but I never like to make a snap judgement in the first book because I know we have a lot more character discoveries to make, and normally in reverse harems my initial opinions of the guys change. After I read books 2 and 3 we will get into a bigger discussion about Cal’s guys.

This book was a lot of fun. There is a lot going on. Not much harem action right now because Cal is still developing all of her relationships, plus there is also plenty of action and a mystery woven into the story as well. If you like a fast paced story that is really easy to fall into, and you are a fan of science fiction, then I think you will really enjoy the Star Pilot series. The first three books in the series are currently out, and they are included in your Kindle Unlimited Membership, so extra yay! I enjoyed this book, and am definitely interested in continuing on with the series. In fact, I have books 2 and 3 currently loaded up on my kindle ready to go! 

 Club Deception is a paranormal mystery novel by Sarah Skilton. This is another one of the way too long list of novels that I have been meaning to read for way too long. (it is part of my personal netgalley challenge of 2021) Though I am happy that I finally checked this book off of my TBR, I do wish I enjoyed this one a little more. I loved the premise of the book, but in the end I thought Club Deception was just ok. it' wasn't bad. It simply didn't wow me very much.

Club Deception has a trio of great M's- magic, magicians, and murder. I was super excited to read about a secret world of magicians wrapped in a murder mystery. I kind of enjoyed the magic element, but I found the mystery side of the story to be a bit fluff and predictable. My favorite aspect of the book was the bitter rivalry between the magicians because it got really tense. So many of the characters in this story are morally grey, or just plan amoral. They have no problem taking what they want, even if it is at the expense of others. Because of this I found it hard to find redeeming qualities in many of the characters, and had a hard time connecting with them. Jessie was my favorite of the bunch.

If you are a fan of lighthearted mysteries and dramatic magicians, I think you might enjoy this book a little more than I did. The mystery was fun and the characters were interesting. I flew through this book very quickly, and it was an ok read, I just didn't end up loving it as much as I thought I would. 

 

The Dragon Kings Chronicles is a young adult paranormal romance/urban fantasy adventure serial by author Kimberly Loth. It is set in the same world as her Dragon Kings series that featured Obsidian and his gang. This series is about the next generation of royal dragons, and where the first series was set in America, The Dragon Kings Chronicles series seems like it will be primarily set in Europe. I am excited about the idea of a serial. It is not a format that I read too often, but I like the shorter stories because I just flew through the first one. The Dragon Kings Chronicles will be short novella length adventures that will be released every two weeks until the end of the first set. Kimberly has said that the first set will be at least 20 novellas long!

The Dragon Kings Chronicles did a good job setting up the world and briefly introducing us to the players, and now that I know the lay of the land, I am even more excited to read the next installments. Because they are being releases every two week, I think what I might do next time is wait for a couple (or more) serials to release, so I can read them back to back, because I was not ready for this story to end. I found myself wanting to get to know the characters better and wanting some more detail on what was going on, which I am sure we will get in due time. 

The story seems like it is going to be an interesting one. In Europe there is a Dragon Queen that is tasked with magically hiding the dragons to keep them safe, but the Queen is locked away from the world and seems very disconnected with what is actually going on with her dragons. I can't wait to learn more about the unrest that some of the dragons feel towards the queen, and learn more about her dragon guards because I feel like I am only getting one snapshot in what looks like it will be a much bigger plot. I can't wait to discover it. 

I think The Dragon Kings Chronicles will be a great series for fans old and new of her previous dragon series. You don't need to read that series in order to understand this one. There is enough background history to get you going. The Dragon Kings Chronicles is perfect for readers that are looking for a quick, fast paced read. I found myself wanting a bit more detail while reading, which is why I think I am going to wait until a few books are released so I can read them back to back. This will be an interesting series format to read. I can't wait for more. 

 

Crown of Bones is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, called Amassia by author A.K. Wilder. I loved this book so so much. I don’t even think I can adequately convey how deeply I loved Crown of Bones. We are so early in 2021 that to simply say it is the best book I have read all year does not hold much weight. But believe me when I say, I know it will be one of the best books I read all year. Because it is one of the best fantasy worlds and stories that I have ever read. (And I have read thousands of books) A.K. Wilder blew me away with the world she created, with the magic system she crafted and with the characters she developed. I loved it all and I am desperate for more!

In Crown of Bones, we meet our main character Ash. Ash is a scribe, meant to account for the magical journey that her friend Marcus is undertaking. She accompanies him on his journey to the island of Aku. In Crown of Bones, people are divided into Savants and non-savants. Savants are the lucky individuals who can raise a phantom of their own. A phantom being the physicals manifestation of their magical abilities. All phantom and their abilities are different. Their wielders progress through a series of ranks denoted by different colored robes, and in order for them to progress past a certain robe rank, they must journey to the island of Aku and compete and advance through a series of classes and trials. Ash is non-savant, meaning she can’t raise a phantom of her own. Ash, Marcus and the gang’s journey to Aku to compete is only one part of the story, and I loved watching the world and the plot unfold right before my eyes.

Crown of Bones has a large world, filled with all kinds of secrets, kingdoms, prophecies and an intricate magic system. It is the type of book that is revealed to the readers throughout the story, but the magic of A.K. Wilder’s writing is in the way she reveals details. I never found myself confused, lost or frustrated at my lack of information. I was so captivated by the journey that I was happy to learn little bits as the characters progressed. It all felt very natural and wonderfully paced to me. The readers are let in on a secret that the characters themselves are kept in the dark about, very early on in the story (like chapter one early!). I loved this because it felt unique and it made me really excited to see how that information was going to reveal itself to the characters. And boy oh boy what a reveal it was!

I fell in love with the characters just as much as I fell in love with the idea of phantoms and with the world. Ash is so plucky and determined. I loved her moral compass, and her spirit. Marcus is a great character as well. I love his friendship with Ash and I am interested to see what, if anything, will happen between them but most of all I am interested to see Marcus’ storyline because watching him try to meld with his phantom was super interesting and I am sure there is much more to come from him. But the character that stole my heart was Kaylin. I just love him so much! His is so fantastic.

In case you couldn’t tell, I am a huge fangirl for this book. I loved the world building and most of all I was so enraptured with A.K. Wilder’s writing and storytelling ability. She plucked me right off my cough and plunged me into the heart of Amassia. Crown of Bones capitated me completely- mind, heart and soul. I am head over heels in love with this book. I am desperate for book 2. I need to know more about the phantoms, more about the prophecy and more about the many secrets lurking in these kingdoms. I am here for all of it! If you are a fan of fantasy, Crown of Bones is a must read book! Not only do I think this will be one of my favorite books of 2021- I think this is one of my favorite books of all time! Crown of Bones is simply fantastic!