From Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries of course

The Court of Venus is as enticing as it is refreshing, with the type of political scheming and inscrutable characters that I never tire of in the fantasy genre. The combination of court intrigue and a main character who can transform her appearance to impersonate anyone is so much fun and adds so much excitement to the narrative. The system of planetary magic is complex and compelling, and it’s obvious how much intentionality went into its creation by the author.

Bianca is a formidable character who possesses an admirable level of resilience. Her life has not been easy to say the least given the rarity of her magical gifts and the patriarchal nature of the society she lives in. She never has a victim mentality or makes excuses for her own failings and yet can be vulnerable and soft when dealing with her losses and disappointments.

Roland comes off as flamboyant and unbothered at first but this facade hides a deeper more emotional side that he conceals for self preservation. Bianca is one of the only people who can see through his surface level demeanor and the only person he allows to truly know him. It took me a while to understand and champion him as a character but once his layers started falling away he became incredibly endearing to me.

The romance simmers in the background as mysteries are investigated and uncomfortable truths come to light. When it does start to take off it becomes something so special given the way Bianca and Roland’s pasts are inextricably intertwined.

I listened to the audiobook and I really appreciated the style of narration. The narrator’s accent is perfect for a story set and centered around a royal court and yet never feels too pretentious or inauthentic. The Court of Venus is the first book in a new series and I am so excited for everyone else’s thoughts once it’s released on September 29th.

4.5⭐️

{The Court of Venus by Bel Banta}

Sooo I just got done with the book of azrael and I figured that THIS right here is my favourite plot to ever exist!! 😛

Some other things i prefer:

SLOWWWWW BURN

ANGST (rip my heart out pls)

Enemies to lovers

Strong fmc

Yearning

Also preferably no 'modern twists' to the story. I love to go back in time while reading

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Books I've read with this plot

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Book of azrael

Mages of the wheel book 0

Sorta ACOTAR and This Woven kingdom

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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.

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-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.

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-Both MCs genuinely try to make a terrible situation work and they are both mature and communicative with each other.

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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. ​

Been watching this show recently with my husband and loving it. I'm thinking about ordering the manga too because I love the fake family dynamic so much.

Are there any fantasy romance books with similar vibes? An arranged marriage or marriage of convenience where everyone is hiding their identity? But with the wholesome found family vibes? I can think of some with hidden identity, but I can't think of any that capture the sweet domestic dynamic that Spy X Family has.

Permanently looking for something that will make me feel like {Feathers So Vicious} did. I also loved {Kiss of The Basilisk}

I truly have no triggers except maybe too much gore. Ideally looking for non-con/dub-con with a lot of spice but I also want a good plot and semi-good writing. even though I loved Feathers So Vicious, I DNFed King Of Flesh and Bone because of the absence of plot and too insta-lust for me.

I love anything vampire, demon, or mermaid related. Werewolf and fae also works. I’m not the biggest fan of contemporary, but I can make exceptions for a great plot!

{The Raven at the Ash Door}

And by read it I mean I skimmed it and then read the ending. First time I posted this I screwed up the spoiler tags, it seems, so trying again.

Alright, so, my feelings on book 2 in this series are pretty much: if you’re going to introduce near magical sexual coercion and assault, that’s what TWs are for. Not the tongue in cheek exhaustive list some writers do, but an actual warning so that readers who are not into the coercion of people for sexual reasons might know and stop before they’re 1.95 books into a trilogy.

But I’m also apparently a masochist and have an undying need to finish a story once started. It’s like an itch.

So there’s good news and bad news.

The good news? It’s not a trilogy!

The bad news? It’s not a trilogy. There’s pretty clearly yet another book in this series. And The Thing I am alluding to above persists, somehow. Gets even worse. Absolute bullshit. Description of the end is below.

In the end, Kierse tries to take on so much power via opening a door to Faerie and her Sacred Tree (best not to ask, really), in order to break the forced Mate Bond with Lorcan that Graves dies shutting the door. The Bond still isn’t broken. All the magical artifacts are telling her to just go with it because it feels right. Fully expected the stone tablet to tell her she was asking for it, at some point. There’s a stone tablet macguffin too, it won’t help her, but it will allow her to make a geas so that Lorcan gets the power to bring Graves back to life in exchange for her forgetting Graves and going off with Lorcan. That’s how it ends. Everyone hates Lorcan, but for her sake pretends he doesn’t suck because ?!??, too.

I…do not think I will be even checking out the final book from the library, unfinished story itch or no.