Ahoy there me mateys! I received this romance fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here are me honest musings . . .

I do not know how I truly feel about this novel. I had major major problems with this book. And yet I want to read the sequel. It’s a conundrum. See I read one previous book by Sarah Fine that was fun - of metal and wishes. NetGalley has her book called splinter which is book two of this series but book one was still available to request so I did. I normally do not put spoilers in me reviews but this shall have some major spoilers and strong language . . . so read further at ye own peril.

So why do I dislike it and like it despite meself? Well the two main characters are bad guy who goes good (Asa) and good girl who goes bad (Mattie). I like Asa in this book. He is by far the most fun character and basically the only reason why I would read book two. Plus he has an awesome dog. Bonus. Mattie is a bit of an idiot who usually rushes into trouble, is naïve in a way that makes me want to knock sense into her, and she solves problems usually by showing off her cleavage while feeling scandalous and titillated by it. Ugh. She is trying to save her fiancée Ben who just happens to be Asa’s brother.

Ben is a major asshole. Mattie discovers he has been keeping secrets from her like: 1) being over $200,000 dollars in debt (at least), being a drug addict (addicted to pleasure magic), and has used magic on her to control her mind (i.e. if they are in a fight he uses it to get his way and it usually ends in sex. Ugh.) So Mattie finds this out and still wants to rescue him. Hell no. I would have dumped his ass immediately. But Mattie doesn’t because she loves him and will save him at all costs because Ben had to have good reasons right? Grrrrrr! I could run Ben through with my cutlass for his treatment of women. He doesn’t love Mattie if that is how he treats her. He is a self-indulgent narcissistic arrogant prick. I hate him and wanted him dead.

But of course the books have a love triangle involving the two brothers and Mattie. Well Asa is cool but I have no idea why he would fall in love with fluff-head Mattie. As for Mattie, well I tried to justify how she would want Ben (i.e. battered woman syndrome) which just made me grumpy and disgusted. Ben wanting Mattie made sense cause she was so controllable in every sense. Ugh. As for Mattie having feelings for Asa - well of course anyone is better than fuckwit Ben. Seriously.

The other issue I had in this book was the BDSM section. It felt so jarring. Mattie has to transfer pain magic and where better to do this but in a dungeon. So Asa takes charge, gives Mattie an alter-ego (Eve), and helps Mattie transfer pain magic and deal with the “bad guilt” of having to do this to save Ben. I mean we are told in the beginning that good girl Mattie loves sex. Okay fine with that. I don’t even have a problem with using BDSM in general, if it works for the story. But it did not work in this one. It felt like a stereotype section just to make Mattie seem more “bad” and to add more angst about “cheating” on Ben. Ugh.

I liked the magic in the world. There are four types: emotion, manipulation, pleasure, and pain. The magic was served in drug dens that resembled old opium dens, at clubs, etc. and is used by the wealthy magic/drug gang elite and corporations to manipulate each other. Mattie is a reliquary which means she can basically store magic inside herself though she cannot use it. Of course since she is kind of a special snowflake perhaps she can magically use magic later in the series. Who knows. The magic concepts were cool but not focused on enough. Angst and lust took up the focus of this book. But I want more world building and exploration of the magic concepts!

But the really obnoxious aspect of the book was the ending. Mattie rescues Ben and chooses to continue with the wedding plans and their future. Umm what? Stupid stupid stupid. And yet despite all that I say in this review and how grumpy the flaws of this book are . . . I am still slightly interested in book two. Why? I have no idea. It’s like not being able to look away when knowing disaster is coming. I don’t usually find the idea of such things fun. I don’t normally like urban fantasy or bad romance. I really don’t like women being used as sexual objects against their will. I have confused myself. Will I read the next one? I guess I will have to wait and see . . .

So lastly . . .

Thank you 47North!

If ye liked this review and want to read me others visit https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there mateys! This is a debut novel which is currently planned as a duology. It was a random pick of mine based on the title and the fact that it has been a while since I have read a space related book, so I thought it was time for a change. This is the story of Asa who switches places with her sister to become the bride in an arranged marriage to help save her family and home planets.

While I loved the main character Asa and her husband, Eagle, the rest of the characters seemed rather two dimensional. Every choice Asa makes seems to have unintended consequences which was rather fun. But overall the plot didn’t really do it for me. The action seemed a little impulsive and choppy. The most interesting aspect of the book was the relationship between Asa and Eagle but that did not get explored nearly enough.

Because it was rather short at 304 pages with rather large font, it did not take a lot of time to read and was a pleasant way to pass time. But I would not say that I loved it or even liked it all that much. I didn’t dislike it. Though I am not even sure I would read the second novel in the set. The novel does not have to walk the plank because it was enjoyable and I did not hate it but I do not believe I would actively recommend it.

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