Casey L Bond

One Prince. One Witch. One Fate. After a witch's fate reading assures Prince Tauren that his life is in jeopardy, he invites her to pose as his potential wife to thwart would-be assassins, and loses his heart to her in the process.

When Wishes Bleed

Casey L. Bond

One Prince. One Witch. One Fate. The upheaval in my life began the moment a prince stumbled into my house and asked me to read his fortune. Any other night, I might have made an excuse to get him to leave, but this was no normal visit. My fingers prickled to touch him. So, I granted his request by handing him a single wishbone. When he snapped it, the wish ... bled. Hearing me suck in a shocked breath, he asked what it meant. Such an ominous omen could only mean one thing: his death was imminent. Fate revealed that he wouldn't die of natural causes. Someone wanted him dead. Stunned by the revelation, the man I now knew as Prince Tauren disappeared into a night I feared he wouldn't survive. The following day, I received an invitation to the castle. While it seemed the prince believed I could intervene and uncover who was plotting his death, his motives didn't stop there. I was being summoned to join twelve other women in vying for the opportunity to be his wife and future queen. Going could mean jeopardizing my plans to reclaim my heritage and resurrect the House of Fate. But staying would guarantee Tauren's death, and the blood of his wish would be on my hands. When Wishes Bleed is a young adult fantasy romance perfect for fans of Adrienne Young, Cora Carmack and Kiera Cass. Praise for When Wishes Bleed:"The Selection meets The Hunger Games in this MUST read!" - Tara Brown, International bestselling author "Witchy, witty, and wildly addictive. Bond's twist on Fate is imaginative and fun. Cinderella meets the Hunger Games in this magical tale of family, tradition, and deception." ~Tish Thawer, best-selling author of The Witches of BlackBrook series "Spell-binding and delicious, with magic that's absolutely magnetizing. An unforgettable story with breakneck pace, enchanting characters and a dynamic plot. A real page-turner!" ~Misty Provencher, author of the Cornerstone series "Casey crafted an intricate magical tale into a masterpiece. Be ready to be enthralled." - Mary Ting, International bestselling, award-winning author Mary Ting "A magically phenomenal tale with a bewitching modern spin." - Brittany Hively of Books Babble

becky oh

“𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙, 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨.”

WHY IS THIS BOOK SO CONFUSING FOR ME??

I thought this was a fantasy, you know, made from the world of the author's mind. But then, turns out it had cameras, jeans and t-shirts involved. Morden fantasy. Since my mind was thinking that 'this book is not a modern fantasy' (but it was), I was confused in the beginning but I got through the book.

I liked this book enough for me to give a 3-star. I was thinking about giving it a 2-star, since I really didn't like the choice of things Sable did, but it was ok. Just, not wonderful, but ok. I couldn't really praise this book, because it wasn't interesting enough. The plot was ok, the romance was ok, the fantasy was ok. 
Everything was just, let's put it as, PLAIN.

Sable is the Daughter of Fate. She looks at your fate and tells it to you, all the true facts. And when she bumps into Tauren, a prince, she shows a fate that he will die. Somebody wants him dead. 
The next day, Sable gets a letter from the palace, saying she is wanted and is invited to the choosing-the-bride contest for the kingdom's prince, Tauren. So when Sable and Tauren spend more time together, their love grows stronger. But Sable is meant to help Tauren not to die, not to fall in love with him . . .

The one thing I REALLY didn't like was that this book had an insta-love. The reason why I hate insta-love, is that it's just stupid. Much more stupid than love-at-first-sight. Yes, happily ever might be stupid as well, but insta-love (in my opinion) is much more worse.

It would've been better if Sable and Tauren's love grew slowly, burning brighter and brighter as we got through the book. Since the insta-love was involved, I couldn't really get the feeling from the character enough for me to be satisfied with their romance. I thought this book was just saying they loved each other, rather than showing and feeling the romance. 

Some bits and pieces were missing from this book, even though I really tried to love it, I just couldn't. And I think this book would've been way better if it ended. Not a series. It left me in a cliff-hanger, and it might've intrigued people to be eager for the next book, I wasn't. I wished this book would've just given us a clean ending and be done with it. But, it had to be a series. The ending was also kind of messy for my taste.

Even though some scenes were not good enough, the whole book was an OK read if you just want to read through a book quickly. 

A plain book of fantasy, at the level of OK. Not good enough for me to carry on, even if there might be lots of praises for this book.

Morgan Powell

The premise of this was promising, but it just didn’t really *grip* me. Some of the descriptions of the action felt rushed and therefore it wasn’t compelling. I just wanted…more? Idk how to describe it. More characterization, more descriptions, more development? Some of the magic system wasn’t well explained too. I wanted to DNF at like 60% but I pushed through. 

TLDR: instalove, witches + the selection, and an overall feeling of “meh”.

Ashlee

When Wishes Bleed was such a fun and delightful read, and reminded me of why I enjoy YA fantasy!

The best way I can describe it is The Hunger Games meets The Selection, but far more fantasy oriented than dystopian. The world is fascinating, with a cool magic system and mythology! The main character Sable is a witch and the embodiment of Fate. She’s asked to pose as a potential bride for Prince Tauren, after reading his fate and foreseeing his death. What follows is a fast-paced action packed story, with swoony and sweet romance, and endless page turning plot twists.

This is unequivocally a fun read and one of my highlights of March! I’m so grateful for the chance to read it!

Megan Williams

When Wishes Bleed reminded me of a combination of The Selection by Kiera Cass, The Hunger Games, and The Bachelor/Bachelorette. There were a lot of different elements to this novel that really hit some of the key points I look for in my next fantasy read:

– Romance

– Strong Female Lead

– A Little Mystery

– New Fantastical World

These elements usually meant that the book was well thought out and will have me rooting for the main characters.

When Wishes Bleed definitely hit these elements successfully.
This book especially surprised me with its outcome as there were some pretty big secrets revealed. I liked the build up and how the author structured the plot so that I couldn’t guess exactly what would happen on the next page. These constant surprises kept the book interesting without subtracting from the plot.

What I liked most was the strong female lead: Sable. 
She’s an outcast in her section because of her magic and who her mom is. She’s not sure why she’s ostracized but she truly handled it with grace and strength. A lot more grace and strength then I could handle such a situation if I was in her shoes. She was a character that you could admire, but still made mistakes along the way so that she didn’t seem too perfect.

The romance elements of this book were well thought out and a little bit of a twist from the usual. I enjoyed the bachelor-like set up (very similar to the selection, like I mentioned) and how Sable was brought on to the contest. Add in a best friend who has more feelings for Sable then she does for him and this story is sizzling with drama.

*note – I’m not a fan of a romance triangle and When Wishes Bleed alludes to it without following through on this popular trope*
The world created was so interesting and complex that I really hope a sequel or novella is created! There are so many characters in this book that could have their own novel! I definitely want to see how some of my favorites find their own HEA.

**note: yes When Wishes Bleed is a fantasy read, but I don’t think that the world is too complex that it distracts from the plot. There’s a great balance between explanation and forward progression that you shouldn’t be bored or overwhelmed!**
All in all I can’t believe that this book has been on my Kindle Unlimited recommendations for so long. I’m not exactly sure why I wasn’t downloading it, but I’m so glad I took the chance. This was a great read that kept me on my toes and my eyes constantly on my kindle app ;).

Tânia Borges

The only aspect I didn't enjoy as much was the contest/pageant thingy, but that was redeemed, so everything's fine. I also thought that the ending was a bit rushed, I would've liked to see how Sable and Tauren's relationship progressed after everything, but it didn't happen. It was the last chapter and then straight to the epilogue maybe one or two years later. There were also a couple of other things I didn't particularly enjoy, but oh well. I am pretty satisfied with the read overall. More entertaining and easier to read than I expected. Will probably make it into my Top 10 reads of 2020.

courtofkayla 

** spoiler alert **
           Witches meet the Selection 
I cannot contain my love for this books! When I first started reading I had a hard time getting into it, however once I got like 10% in I COULD NOT STOP. 
It’s pretty easy to impress me, but boy did this book blow me away. I hadn’t ever really heard of Casey L. Bond, but can now say that I am a huge fan of her writing. She created such a beautiful world with castles, magic, and so much more. Her details are literally perfect, and I adored her attention to the details in Sabels’ dresses! 
This book is perfect for fans of the Selection By Kiera Cass. Both feature a traditional competition to find the future queen and wife for the prince. I adored the competition and traces of tradition she wove into the plot. 
Sabel and Taurens romance was so mesmerizing! It was so swoon worthy that I found myself cheering in real life when they finally got together! The chemistry was sizzling and their moments together had me in tears. 
The plot was so fun to read and honestly kept me hooked. I was worried that it would be a bit slower as it was in the beginning, but thankfully the plot took off and never stopped moving! 
All in all, I loved this book and can’t wait to start the next one. :)

Manon van Heumen

I went in with zero expectations, but it quickly became apparent that this book was a perfect fit for me! I really enjoyed the writing style, and the plot was mesmerising, keeping me interested throughout the book, and compelling me to keep on reading. Can highly recommend!

Farah Khaled 

This book is soooo good! Don't understand the low reviews. Cant wait to read book 2!!

When Wishes Bleed

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