Firstly I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for sending me the digital ARC copy of this book.

Our main character Morgana de Laurent is a witch who lives in an old kingdom where witchcraft is forbidden. Adopted by a rich baroness she disguises herself as a human to live a simple life.
But after the death of the king new problems arise. She needs to protect her only friend Princess Lafreya and her true love Leopold Ellingham.
The peculiarity of this book is the fact that the whole world is tied to tarot cards. In fact, since the birth a certain tarot is assigned to a certain person. Besides, this tarot enhance and foresee the future life and destiny of the person in question.

I really liked reading this book, not only for the interesting plot but also for the world where it was set. Moreover, the writing style of the author is magical and intriguing. In certain ways mysterious.
As for the charactes, I really appreciated Morgana. She develops during the narration, becoming stronger and wiser. Even though sometimes she thinks too much about the others's safety than hers.
Last but not the least I enjoyed reading about the love story betwenn Morgana and Leopold which develops along the different adventures.

I suggest this book to fantasy readers who are fascinated by tarots and their use.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Keen Quill Press for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

And oh boy I'm gonna be honest. This is NOT a good book. Oh, scratch that. This isn't a book. It's an idea poorly executed that made me wanna through my kindle to the wall (shhhh he's gonna hear it!).

Ok so explain something to me. The title is called Cards of Fate. So is it a rhetorical title? I mean where were the cards? Yeah, on the title of the chapter.

Ok so the writer needs to do a little (ok a lot of research) when she wants to write a historical novel. Ok? I mean Mr Google has a LOT of info about time frames. You can't use "My Lady" and then speak like formal slang. You know?

Don't get me started on the I'm-a-witch-in-a-land-that-witches-are-burned-and-staked. Ok? even Edward's "I'm a vampire" scene in Twilight was better executed (no offense Stephenie Meyer).

Ok so it's a fantasy romance. So you expect romance. Yes? Well uh no. So, everyone says it's ok to like him. She likes him. He likes her. So they get together. Yes? No. Confused?

Man don't even get me started on the sex scene. Ok let me tell you something? Am I the only one that felt that the sex scene was cringy? Like kiss her neck, not lick it. I mean what? Maybe we have different opinion on what's considered sexy. Yup. That's might be it.

This was a book with a No No in multiple aspects. But yeah, no.. it wasn't for me. It's ok though. Not everyone can write a book. Clearly.

And it's sad because I haven't read anything by this author but based on this novel I won't read anything of her again.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really intrigued by what this book could possibly be. I love tarot wo that really drew me in. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. I didn't find the writing bad but I also found myself reading a story that felt rushed at certain points. The chemistry between the characters was just not there. I don't know, I guess in my head I was really excited about it and the actual read wasn't what I'd expected.

I’m honestly not sure how I feel and may adjust my rating after a few days of thinking about it, this was written well but also not if that makes any sense at all. I was let down overall. I felt the characters were likeable but I wasn’t connected or invested in them. The romance was ehh, and I felt the cards was almost a ploy to sell it as I don’t see them pop up in the plot really, only the chapter names.

Cards of Fate by A.R. Kingston was a fun and interesting read.
This new fantasy romance novel kept me turning the pages.
I enjoyed the characters who I found to be very likable.
The plot was well paced and the character development was done well.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You Netgalley and Keen Quill Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC
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thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book for an honest review!
1 star and DNF at 57%
I'm gonna get one thing completely straight: this book is the WORST
I went into this book with high expectations like an adult fantasy with political intrigue and some romance?? omg a fantastic premise. too bad the execution was completely and utterly horrible.
i had so many things I hated about this book I had to start a whole NOTE about them and there were some bad things I had to say. if yall could see my kindle highlights you would be LAUGHING.

-the tarot cards aspect is LITERALLY only the names of the chapters omfg i wish there was more but the author apparently wanted a dull romance instead of what the description said.
-There were so many plot holes, SO. MANY. like we get told that our main character, Morgana, is a witch in a land where witches arent allowed to be and will be killed if found out. her longtime crush, Leo, is the captain of the guard but coincidentally does not agree with killing witches and has had a long crush on her too.
ok cool ig, is it a slow burn and both think their love is unrequited?
no. they both are in love and know the other likes them too.
so WHY are they not together?
because morgana doesn't think its the right time even though EVERYONE says its fine and he doesn't know shes a witch and even if he did, he would not care.
guess what happens?
NOT EVEN HALFWAY SHE HAS TO USE MAGIC IN FRONT OF HIM
"yes leo, I'm a witch" and then she passes out.
like WHY DID YOU HIDE IT THAT LONG IF YOU WERE JUST GONNA USE IT AT THE MOST LIKE MUNDANE TASK. FIXING A GODDAMN BRIDGE. LIKE YOU COULDN'T JUST.... JUMP OVER IT HOW LONG WAS THE CHASM??
- between the two guys that are with her. One guy is Leo and the other is Leighton, who is engaged to the princess of their land and is on a quest with them to save her.
YEAH. THE PLOT OF THE BOOK IS TO SAVE THE PRINCESS WHO IS KIDNAPPED BY THE DEMON KING. THIS PLOT IS BROUGHT UP AS LIKE ITS NOT IMPORTANT?? like that plot is so buried i forget about it until Leighton brings it up.
anyways back to the two boys. so leo hates leighton cause leighton is friendly with morgana and morgana is LEOS GIRL obviously. then morgana passes out
yall remember. after she used magic to build a bridge.
and he suddenly trusts Leighton after they get to a witch named Baba Yagas house and she saves Morgana.
now don't get me started on how every single random character can just TELL morgana and leo wanna fuck so bad.
"oooo i can smell yalls lust cause I'm a witch and that's all i care about and anyone cares about in this entire book." like i get it but... there is no reason they arent together.
okay anyways next grievance:
-the POV's
i get what the author is trying to do but why tf did i care about what Baba Yaga thought about the three main characters? like couldn't the author had made this a little interesting and made us think maybe this witch is evil? that would've been a good like quest thing to do. also on kindle i have no idea whos mind we are in until the author says their name.

- THE NAME MORGIE IS SO UGLY WHY IS THAT HER NICKNAME IS SHE A FUCKING FROG???? LIKE WHAT WAS THE REASON THATS SOMETHING U CALL UR LITTLE SISTER NOT UR LOVER??

- there was one point where leo said morgana had told him when they were kids that she felt she had a connection with the demon king. BUT SHE DIDN'T TELL HIM SHE WAS A WITCH LIKE IS IT BETTER TO BE CONNECTED TO THE DEMON KING???
-morgana lived in a land where magic was forbidden and talking about magic was forbidden. But she knows every single thing about magic users and magic spells and all this shit? how???? no explanation ok
- THE WAY THEY TALK OMFG like are we in royalty and you say "my lady" and all that or are you gonna say "nah i think you need to think about your life" WHICH IS A REAL QUOTE FROM THE BOOK BTW. like get the way of speaking correct before you write characters in a timeline where they speak in a different way like what.
- so morgana and the boys get back to their homeland (which forbids magic users) and there's a fake princess there who says they need to lock morgana up. i was like omg ok so some action morgana is gonna get tortured whats gonna happen all that. cause they make it such a huge deal that they have to lock her up and shes getting executed the next day.
WRONG.
shes saved by the nightfall. which is in 4 pages. nothing exciting leo saves her easily and they fight some soldiers and leave. but leo doesn't care to kill his men even though at the beginning of the book he cared a lot and wanted to make sure they could spare their lives. nah toss those morals out the window!!!
- okay at one point morgana cuts her hand to use magic and leo stops them in their path to bandage her up. but at the same time morgana notices his arm is cut and bleeding so she says they should bandage it up too and he just...smirks at her??? and says its okay??? like dud you have all the supplies out just do it
- OK THERE WAS A MONSTER and leighton says that to kill it u have to sever its head. okay cool we have something to do. OH ACTUALLY ITS HEAD CAN FLOAT OFF ITS BODY AND EAT U. so how tf are you supposed to sever its head?????? no sense.
- everything is so overly explained. like if the author didn't mention SA and cocks in the first 10 pages of the book i would've thought it was for middle schoolers. why are you telling me more than showing?? why are characters talking for half the page to tell me what they are doing?? like SHOW ME.
- also morgana goes into a shop to buy new clothes and yk she needs to go in and out, but she literally starts telling the shopkeeper her whole life story?? like "yeah i was gonna get executed" "yeah I'm a witch" "yeah i was orphaned" oh and guess what? this RANDOM SHOPKEEPER COULD CLEARLY TELL MORGANA AND LEO WERE A THING. no reason how or why. then she gives morgana some free salve and then basically tells morgana to fuck leo to tell him thank you. .......WHY IS THIS RANDOM LADY TALKING TO YOU ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND YOU ARE FINE WITH IT??
- the sex scene.
i literally just wanted to read to this part to see if it would be any good.
it was like 3 pages long and not good.
he kisses her, licks her neck. she STOPS HIM IN THE MIDDLE TO SAY HES TURNING HER ON LIKE???? duh??? and then he just fucking sticks it in. shes guttural screaming and he purposely chooses to cum inside her. without permission.
great.
100% a pregnancy is gonna happen but i do not care to read further to figure that out.

also this book is so predictable. the demon king saves her so many times and morgana has no idea why!!!????? then she remembers only her bio mom who got killed by the demon king when she was 3 but has hazy memories of her dad. omg i wonder who it is!!! morgana also has this random shadow that is like her "evil side" and she doesn't allow it to control her. omg babe i wonder why!!!!!
the demon king is her fucking father I'm placing all bets rn.

The writing? also bad. nothing made sense, i found a ton of grammar mistakes too, so i assume she edited this herself? very dull, very boring, and it sometimes would try to describe things whimsically, but would just repeat the same thing over and over again, like i get it the forest was as black as night. the darkness seemed to swallow them, etc etc etc. and again, the way they spoke had no flow to it at all and would basically be telling the reader what they're doing like SHOW DONT TELL.

i am so tired.

This is a fantasy romance novel. The book follows the journey of a witch named Morgana and a knight named Leopold. The romance between Morgana and Leopold is nicely paced. Morgana's character was likable, I would've wanted more detail and depth in both the story and the characters. It is a decent read for fans of fantasy and tarot theme lovers.

This book really surprised me, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did but Kingston really *again* surprised me. Each aspect of this book hit the mark incredibly well, from the magic to the romance and everything in between. There was something in the execution of this book that was near flawless.

Obsessed.

Right from the beginning.

To the end.

“I won’t only listen - I’ll help heal your wounds.”

Firstly, the writing style 🤌🏻
It fit the entire narrative of the book perfectly. It was elegant and easy to follow. But the toned and the writing style gave a different depth to reading.

Now the book.
It’s got romance, straight of the bat with a love interest she claims “the timing isn’t right for” but is quite obviously into.
It’s got magic. A world where there are anti-magic laws and people are burnt at the stage. Our main character is a magic user. But has a personal advantage of being “cousins” and best friends and a personal adviser to the princess and soon to be queen.
There’s adventure, when the princess is kidnapped they have to go searching.
There is talk about fate and destiny and how much control we have over who we are and will become.
It’s third person so you get to see the entire story with a Birds Eye view. You get to understand how each character feels and their individual decisions and obstacles.
There is a bit of spice, nothing too radical but it is throughout the story.
And it’s a happy ending that made my heart so full ❤️

Triggers:
There are times when memories are visited about when the main character was 13 and her 50 year old teacher took advantage of her.
The books setting is more of a historical feel where something like this might be considered the “norm”

Finally,
Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and A. R. Kingston for allowing me to read and review this book! I have absolutely adored it and want more!

This is a typical Romance/Adventure story following a character who is a witch in a time when that was a huge no no. The book was very surface level and the world building could have been worked on a little more. I think the characters played well with each other and liked their dynamics but still just a little flat and too cute? I also was not super invested in the blah-zay romance and just wish the writing made up for it.

I noticed that the reviews were all over the place for this but I have to say that I loved it! 5 ⭐️ because it really worked for me. I liked the flow and story telling. I’m not big on witches lately but I loved Morgana de Laurent!
This was a sci-fi fantasy that had romance (my personal favorite), adventure and a rescue. The world building was great and I loved Leo! The romance and friendships really made this a five star. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks Keen Quill Press via NetGalley.

What drew me in right from the start are the Arthurian character vibes that you can feel from the very first pages:in fact from the beginning you will find a medieval setting with witches,knights, pyres, demons and a magic system based on tarot cards.
Each character in fact has his own tarot card to which his fate is linked. Also, as a lover of tarot, I really appreciated that each chapter was associated with a different card!
I really loved Morgana: she is a strong and independent protagonist who does not hesitate to sacrifice herself for the people she cares about. She also had a beautiful story arc in which she managed to face and overcome her own traumas, thus managing to give herself a well-deserved happiness.
Leo, on the other hand while he isn’t my type of character, managed to win me over with his sweetness and devotion to Morgana whom he always put first at every opportunity ,even if it leads him to risk everything he has always worked for.
Their relationship was the sweetest: it was the perfect example of loyalty,devotion,patience and mutual blind trust that made me melt several times.
I also really liked how Morgana , despite her being a runaway witch and all her secrets, found in Lafreya,Leighton and Leo a beautiful support group throughout the .
In conclusion, if you like stories with a medieval background full of magic , adventure and in which the main character manages to come to terms with himself,this is the book for you! The only flaw was one where I would have liked to see a little more of the Demon King, but otherwise it has very smooth writing and an ending that half will be obvious and half will surprise you!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Morgana de Laurent is a witch who lives in Perdetia, the last kingdom in Dresbourn to still enforce the practice of witch-burning. Orphaned in the anti-magic crusades of the cruel demon king, Morgana is adopted by a wealthy baroness, who urges her to hide her true identity in plain sight. But it's not the stake she's worried about; it's the fate of the only man she's ever loved, Leopold Ellingham, and the safety of her best friend, Princess Lafreya.

Honestly, it sounded good. I loved the cover. But from the very first sentence until the last, I just could not get into this. The writing, for me, is clunky and flat. I did not feel the chemistry between Morgana and Leopold. I also found the plot a little underwhelming and repetitive. And the dreaded miscommunication trope just took me out of this completely.

I really wanted to enjoy this. Hopefully if you're reading this, you still want to read this book and it's something you'll enjoy.

* I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending this ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book*

This book was so much fun, I started it while I was in a huge reading slump and it’s helped immensely!
“Cards of Fate” follows the journey of our protagonist Morgana, a witch who was orphaned at a young age at the hand of the evil demon king, she was adopted by a rich baroness and consequently had to move to Perdetia, a kingdom where witches like her are outlawed and burned to the steak. She’s been in love with Leopold since they were kids, but his ambition to climb through the ranks and become captain of the royal guard has gotten in the way of their blooming love. Now that her best friend Princess Lafreya is about to be crowned queen, things could finally be different for them, but the future queen’s kidnapping sets in motion their journey to take her back.
This was such a thrilling read, filled with adventure, magic, friendship, love and also quite a bit of spice. I would have loved it even more if the ending was little more developed since it felt somewhat rushed, but overall I really enjoyed this novel and I’m so glad I got the chance to read it.

I loved this book, it was so well written, the characters were everything and the world building was so well done too. Morgana was a strong woman that loved her friends fiercely and was loyal to the people she cared about. Leo was a good man in a dificult position but he chose her everytime, no matter what. These two show us what true love really is, it's patient, loyal, ever lasting, forgiving, trusting, just the way they loved each other, each of them would rather die than be without the other and would do anything to keep the other save and I loved that, that's true love. I guessed the twist at the end because there only two options and one of them made more sense than the other but I really liked it nonethless, that twist was necessary and well done

“ Everyone is born with a fate card…Most folks these days preferred to pretend that they were the masters of their own destiny, but their card would guide them on their journey, even if they were not aware of it. “

I've always found stories about tarot cards and witches very fascinating, so when I saw this story with this cover I immediately picked it up. Unfortunately it was not what I expected.

The story is about a witch, Morgana, who lives in a kingdom where witchcraft is illegal.Having the princess as an ally Morgana is about to change the political system so all the magical creatures will be able to live freely, when the princess takes over the kingdom. But an unfortunate event changes the plans and the fate of these creatures is at stake...

Although the idea was great I found it not well developed. There wasn't the intrigue, the witch hunt and the use of the tarot deck that I would have liked. Also the dialogues were a bit immature..


Overall it is an easy to read story that can be picked up by someone who likes light fantasy stories.

Thank you so much Keen Quil Press and NetGalley for providing the eARC in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Keen Quill Press for giving me an eARC in exchange for my honest review! This review is based on my experience reading CARDS OF FATE, and is in no way affected by my receiving an ARC.

In CARDS OF FATE by A. R. Kingston, we meet Morgana de Laurent, a witch who lives in the one kingdom where witchcraft is still illegal, Perdetia. She knows she won’t have to worry for longer, as her best friend Lafreya is poised to become queen. However, after danger strikes in the form of a kidnapping, Morgana and her beloved Leopold race to save the lives of many.

This book was really unique! I loved the magic system in this world, it’s one that I have not seen before. I also loved the worldbuilding; I wish there would be another book in this world so we could see more of it!

There was an aspect of CARDS OF FATE that I was not a huge fan of, however. Issues with danger or even relationships seemed to be solved quickly with very little tension. I would have liked to see certain situations take longer to be resolved.

Overall, this was a fun read. It was full of adventure, romance, and magic. The development of Morgana throughout the story was a particular highlight for me!

So as a woman with the name morgan, I have to object and cringy at the nickname Morgie that Leo frequently calls Morganna. Morgie is a no-go for me so that personally took me out of the story however apart from that this was a fun typical fantasy with the forbidden magic trope. Morganna and Leo however seemed to lack the chemistry that the love required. She seemed to have more chemistry with the Duke and I kind of wanted Morganna to be with the demon king until I figured out the plot twist. I dont know i mean this is a very easy fantasy with nothing super special or bad about it. It just kind of lands in the middle and I am bummed because I started out really excited and into the story but it just kind of felt rushed.

This book captured my attention with the cover. I honestly didn't read the synopsis very thoroughly because I wasn't sure what I was going into. I liked the witch and guard, friends to lovers romance. I also enjoyed the journey and all the creatures that were roadblocks along the way. The writing itself wasn't very engaging, I didn't feel the chemistry between the characters despite wanting to. I also wasn't ever sure what the ages of these characters were because they read very YA but yet the smut was very NA. I was also thrown into the story with names and places so it took me awhile to get the gist of the plot. The journey became very repetitive after the 3rd time they encountered a creature, Leo would get injured, Morgana would save him, she would question his loyalty, he would reassure her and repeat. Leo was also a very whimpy character for being this bad ass captain. The ending was really rushed. We spent all this time journeying to reach the demon king and only the last 10% was even that and it was really easy to do. Although I did like the twist ending with him being her father it wasn't enough. I ended up giving it three stars.

I loved the concept of this book, the magic system with the cards amazed me. But everything felt flat, the characters, the writing, the plot, the problems, resolutions, all of it.