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Review of Fortress of Blood and Power by Rachel L Sha

 
Sacrificed to the fae, her only hope is to run. But the cruel royals who seek her have never lost their prey.

Florentia (Ren) Cantwell has always been an outsider. The townspeople fear her and her unusual silver hair, spreading rumors that she’s not entirely human. She’s never believed those crafted lies—until a stranger causes her to manifest dangerous winter magic.

Determined to be rid of her, Ren’s brother casts her beyond their town’s borders, into the fae land of Silverfrost, leaving her as an offering to the cruel royal family. Ren knows that if the royals come to fetch her, she will face unspeakable horrors.

Accepting the help of Garrick Darkgrove, a handsome wolf shifter and fellow loner, she flees the royal hunters in a desperate attempt to reach safety.

But all goes wrong one heartbreaking night.

The sibling king and queen take Ren to their austere fortress, where she is entangled in a series of deadly trials meant to test her magic and her bloodline. She is a spectacle. A tool. A captive.

Forced to navigate a world of torture, manipulation, and demons, Ren knows she can trust no one. Not even Garrick, the man she now understands is forbidden to her. The one that, against her better judgment, she’s falling for.

She’s prepared to pay for her freedom—but when the cost is her heart, the price may be more than she can bear.

Loosely inspired by Mansfield Park, enter a Gothic reimagining of Jane Austen’s story as you’ve never seen it before. This standalone fantasy romance is part of the Fae of Brytwilde series, books that each include their own characters and stories and can be read in any order. It is full of romantic tension, not spice.

Obviously, if there is a combination of Jane Austen and fae, I have to be there. I adored the first book, and was really excited to see what the author would do with this installment (it's going to be hard to beat Pride & Prejudice, after all), and I was not disappointed! Now, I actually haven't read Mansfield Park (yet- it and Northanger Abbey are the only Jane Austen novels I haven't read at least once), but I knew enough about it that the villains are siblings. And the siblings in this book are absolutely villainous! They are among the most horrifying villains I have ever read- probably two of the top three, actually. Because of them, this book seems darker than the first installment, but that darkness makes the forbidden romance shine so much brighter, as well as the heroine's selflessness.

I have to say it again: the romance was so beautiful. If you, like me, love a couple that seems doomed to tragedy and fight it tooth and claw, this is the book for you! I cannot stop thinking about the bittersweet longing these two shared and all the obstacles in their way. This was absolutely everything I look for in my romantasy books and I cannot recommend it enough.

Note to more sensitive readers: this book contains extreme violence and gore with on-screen killings and torture, darker themes, demons, and zombies.

I received a copy of this novel from the author. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

If you're looking for dark fantasy combined with swoony romance, this is the book for you!

 Check it out on Amazon




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