Name: Blade & Rose
ISBN: 9780999485415

Miranda Honfleur

Elemental mage Rielle must choose whether to save her best friend and the beleaguered kingdom, or the love of her life. A tale of magic, adventure, and romance.

Blade & Rose

Megan Williams

Really fun start to a sure to be interesting series. The author did a great job of creating intrigue throughout this novel and I can't wait to see how the characters will grow and develop. 

I found the comparisons to Anne Bishop novels (given in the description of the novel) was a little off. When you make a comparison to an author who has such dark and captivating books this creates a certain expectation that I didn't really see within this novel. I was expecting darker characters and a vastly different world than was presented. I think the comparison to a Sarah J. Maas novel a little more accurate and I feel like fans of Maas will definitely enjoy this read. 

I felt it necessary to mention these comparisons so readers know what to expect going into the novel and therefore the series. I did enjoy the Blade & Rose, but I was a little discouraged that I didn't see more themes like those in novels by Anne Bishop so I just wanted to point this discrepancy out.

Angel Myers

I received an ARC of this story through Hidden Gems and this is my honest and voluntary review.
This book promises everything I love in a fantasy novel, however it fell a little short on delivery for me. Mostly because the beginning of the book is so confusing. The reader is thrown in the midst of the action without any background on who's who and what's what and I was just left wondering what the heck was going on. This is definitely a story that could have benefited greatly from a prologue. Once I made it through the first few chapters, and things finally started to make sense, this was a great story, though it does end on a cliffhanger! Bring on book 2!

Ashlee

One thing I am always looking for is fantasy stories with a new adult vibe. This book absolutely fits that bill and I loved it! This is the type that I could binge and binge and binge on and I am definitely looking forward to the next.

My only caveats are that it’s a little insta-lovey, there could be clearer world building and it probably doesn’t need to be 600+ pages long. However, the characters have riveting back stories and the pacing is on point. This book does not stop giving in the action department. It’s a non stop ride!

Note that this book does have a heavy romance subplot and trigger warning for physical abuse and sexual manipulation/abuse. These are not terribly huge aspects of the plot.

I love the complex relationships between the characters in this and the author did a fine job of giving some of the more morally gray characters redeeming qualities that kept you guessing at your own loyalties.

Overall I HIGHLY recommend this if you’re looking for a book with an adult atmosphere but more YA fantasy vibes. This is it! I am DYING to start the next one but I have other books I’m obligated to read first and it’s killing me!