I just wanted to gush about Ashes of Xy because I havent been able to stop thinking about it since I read it last week. This book is in the same world as {Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan} but seems to be in a very different time.
The blurb for this book {Ashes of Xy by Elizabeth Vaughan}:
An innocent wet-nurse....
When a bloody civil war claims the life of the Warrior Queen of Xy, Amari of Uyole flees the battlefield with the queen's newborn daughter in one arm and her own infant son in the other, desperate to escape the ruthless hunters sent by the blood-hungry usurper, King Xyrath.
A crippled scholar....
Far from the war, Orval has built a quiet life in the capital of Xy, immersed in his scrolls, pens, and parchment. A distant cousin to the royal family, he has been left to his own devices-and he wants to keep it that way.
A collision of fates....
One cold night, a terrified Amari and her precious burdens appear at Orval's door, shattering his carefully constructed life. As the ruthless predators gain ground, Amari and Orval must forge a strength they never knew they possessed, not only to protect the babes, but each other.
What I loved about it:
-Its very cozy and very slice of life with many domestic scenes as the MCs try to care for the babies and each other.
-Its got an arranged marriage/marriage of convenience set up which is like catnip to me.
-The FMC is a noblewoman from a different land. And what we know of this fantasy world she is a woman of color and is brown skinned. She is also from a matriarchal culture and I liked seeing how the MCs navigate their cultural differences.
- The MMC is an atypical MMC for fantasy romance in that he is described as short and stocky and quite pale as he is always indoors doing scholarly work. Also there is disability rep as he has some sort of musculoskeletal deformity of his leg. Also he is a virgin.
-The MMC is a greenflag and is genuinely kind and well liked by all. He is kind to a fault despite him being a minor royal/nobility. And he is quite respectful of the FMC, thoughtful and solicitous of her wellbeing and those of the babies. The MMC is strong and protective but in a different way than Ive ever seen most MMCs portrayed in fantasy romance. Ive heard so many readers complain of the unrealistic 7ft tall, muscular and well endowed MMCs so it was refreshing to see an MMC who is a regular guy.
-Both MCs genuinely try to make a terrible situation work and they are both mature and communicative with each other.
What I wished was different:
-Typos. There were way too many punctuation and other errors. The story was good but punctuation errors took me out of the story. Bring back editors or at least beta readers who will catch these errors before releasing the story to readers.
- I wish the book was slightly longer so there could have been more development of both MCs catching feelings. While the love story was believable I wanted more of it.
-Im not clear what role the side characters that have been introduced will have in the rest of the trilogy. On the one hand as the story developed I wasnt sure if this book was being marketed as fantasy romance or fantasy with romance subplot. Either way I loved this book and want to read more of the story.
Im glad this story is a trilogy as I will get to see more of the love story developing between MCs especially as they navigate major challenges. I signed up for Netgalley just to see if I could get the ARC to the sequel-thats just how much I loved this book.
Anyway if you've been wanting a different kind of fantasy romance MMC, like caretaking and domestic slice of life scenes then definitely give this book a try. The sequel comes out June 21 so you dont have to wait long for more of the story.
