I loved this RH book. I can't wait to read book 2. It's a must read.

**Review on https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ **

Rose and her boys were inseparable as kids, so much so that her father took her away because those with "the spark" can't commingle with those without. Now, 11 years later, Rose and her parents have returned to the estate abandoned so long ago so that Rose can come into adulthood and marry. But Rose has not forgotten her boys, nor they her.

​Reverse Harems are my most current reading obsession. The thought of being a loved by many (attractive, smart, successful...) men who are perfectly happy sharing​ is pretty much the most ridiculous idea, but geez isn't it fun and the best kind of fantasy? I have been gobbling up tons of RH books that I can get my hands on recently and when I stumbled across this one about a witch and the human men who love her (but she can't have) my interest was 100% piqued!
​I did like the that there were hints of fairy-tale to the story as well, with an evil conniving stepmother who ruled Rose's life to the nicknames she was called, like Briar Rose.​

​Rose has a best friend, Philomena, who just happens to be ​imaginary. The two do everything together, be it go on adventures or just banter about life...but nobody else could see Philomena. At first I thought that maybe because Rose is a witch she conjured a spirit or something cool to be her friend since she had nobody else, but nope! Just an imaginary friend, one of her favorite characters from a book she ever so much enjoys. And yes, Rose is about to turn 25 and her best friend is a figment of her imagination, so pretty much she has 2 sided conversations with herself and acts like it is a surprise at what Phil says. I don't know how I was suppose to feel about this (except it was awkward and uncomfortable, and it made me pretty dang depressed for Rose), to be honest.

It really felt like Rose was a child, maybe a blooming 15 year old girl who is ready to learn about life. But really she is the most sheltered, passive woman in her mid-twenties, with zero life experience and no real qualms about the fact that she is treated like a young mindless child. Her marriage has been arranged, her friends are hand chosen, her walks are supervised, and even at times her stepmother dresses her. I kind of feel like she was living out of time- maybe this would all seem more reasonable or expected in a historical setting instead of the modern time this story takes place in. I did like that she became a much more confident and capable person as the story progressed, more the adult that she was aged for. It was really nice to see her character grow through this story and I am excited to see how much more she can do in the next book, be it emotionally and magically.

Overall, Eva was able to blend the reverse harem aspects of the story into the mystery and magic of the world to create a nicely balanced and fast read. I look forward to what the next book will bring. I highly recommend this if you are looking for an afternoon read full of paranormal potential and some HOT steam!

I am voluntarily reviewing an advance, complimentary copy of this book.

What an interesting new series! I really enjoyed the plot and the characters, and looking forward to the next book!

This revers harem book, and it evolves around multiple guys and one girl. I like it and this is a series. So good If you like a book with a romance with lots of love. Then this a bok for you.

In a world where only the women have magic and their consorts refuel said magic by being intimate, we meet Rose Hallowell, a witch soon turning the critical age of 25. If she hasn't taken a consort from one of the other witching families by then, she will lose her magic spark forever.

Returning home after a forced 11 years absence fills Rose with joy, even if it is to fulfil an arranged marriage. It also brings back memories of her 5 childhood friends with whom she grew up and who were ultimately the reason she had to leave. They were unsparked and as such not fit company for a witch so they took her away.
Wanting to know how they are doing, she sets out to meet them. Only to discover she is fiercely attracted to not one, but all of them. Rose cant stay away even when she knows she is destined to marry a man she has no feelings for.

When she discovers a heinous plot against her the race against time and a magic wielding stepmother has started.

My take on the book:
I was actually surprised how good this was :)
Not that I had no faith in the author, but with it being a pretty short book I was afraid it would feel rushed... it wasn't :)
It was well written and as far as I could tell, there were no errors in the book.
Pacing was good, the author took the time to go into detailed descriptions at times so we could follow along effortlessly.
Character development was good. We got to know the history they shared, what happened during the time they were apart and we have an imaginary best friend who really is the best! (wish I could have one myself as cool as Philomena!!).
The relationship between them felt normal. Yes there was that attraction (they are prime male specimens after all), but starting of as reunited friends, they got to know each other again.

Since this is a Reverse Harem, yes, there is sex involved. This is by no means a slow burn RH.

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book, courtesy of NetGalley, and I really enjoyed it! Now let's hope we don't have to wait that long for book number 2 :D

If you're looking for a fix to your RH craving, search no further and go read this one!

On the cover we see Rose Hallowell holding her hips. She must never have revealed that she is a witch. Her fiancé is her beautiful mother who chose her for her. His childhood friends remain in his thoughts, even if they are not of the same world. She will discover family secrets she had never imagined. We lied to him, we betrayed him, to get revenge, she's going to do that to her head.

A first volume with engaging characters, a story to take. Eager to read the first and second volume.

I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.
The main reason why I requested a copy of this title was my newfound obsession with everything reverse harem. I didn’t even stop to consider my previous experiences with the author writing, her style.
The thing is that if I purely look at the story from the technical parts then it’s pretty great. The writing is so much neater than it was in Dragon’s gift (the other book I read from Eva Chase) and the plot builds along cleaner lines as well. The world building is on the simpler side but well established and if you into the whole witches and magic thing then there is a great possibility that you are going to like the book more than me. I even see some small hints to Cinderella in it and it was an interesting twist to things. I saw the possibility in this but it just didn’t click for me.
However, my main problem was with the main character and the disconnection between her personality and the whole speed she charges into the reveres harem situation. It just made me feel like the events in the story were to orchestrated, not natural or genuine. Rose is almost 25 yet she acts like a shy and conservative 16-years-old in my opinion, partially because of her upbringing and the strange controlling environment of the witch community. But this whole situation just didn’t fit with the events for me and was a huge obstacle of my enjoyment. It doesn’t help either that while there is mystery going on in the background (which is predictable as hell) the focus is on her character and her relationships with the boys. Overall, it was a bit boring for my taste.
Also while the story is practically told from different point of views, alas the boys get their own chapters as well, I don’t feel we got to know them well enough to establish a connection to them. Something that would have helped me raise a need to read the next book.
It was an okay read, I finished it quickly and there wasn’t anything overly bad about the story, it was just not for me.

ARC - I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest
Rose believed the words from the stepmother.
She gave up her childhood friends because of those words.
Now, she is finding out that she has been lied to.
Rose is going to take control of her life once for all.
I loved the storytelling + the characters
The storytelling + the character's build were awesome!

I received an advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is a really different and interesting story line by Eva Chase.
I have been very into reverse harem fiction lately and while this is not the best of what I have read recently in that genre it is still quite enjoyable and a fun escape.
Looking forward to the second book.

This was a romance subgenre I wasn't too familiar with before I picked up this book, but it was a fun introduction! There were times it felt a little closer to a YA/coming-of-age novel (apart from the obvious sexytimes). Rose is supposed to be in her mid-twenties but sometimes felt younger than that, and a lot of it probably had to do with my least favorite part of the novel: her imaginary best friend, Phil (though as I write this, I'm wondering if maybe eventually she might be revealed to be not so "imaginary" after all?). Either way, Phil felt like a weird means to give Rose a female confidant and, again, made her feel like more of a YA protagonist. The relationship between Rose and "her boys" was really sweet and believable and it ended on a cliffhanger that had me eager for the sequel. I'll be looking into other works by this author.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Slow starting but to be expected for a first book. Quickened at the end and left off on a cliffhanger. Got into it halfway through when the mystery/action began, before that it read a bit like a fairytale. Looking forward to the second book.

Consort of Secrets brings together a witch about to come into her powers and her long ago childhood friends. The plot thickens when a scheme against Rose is discovered and she turns to the only people she can trust to help her. Will their childhood bonds be enough to hold them together or will their feelings turn into something more?
I struggled with this story for the better part of the book. The pacing was slow, a little too slow at parts and simply slow at others. While the premise of the story was intriguing enough I found myself skipping ahead to get on with it. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Rose and her boys but it felt like it was taking too long to get to the point so I skimmed a lot of it. It did get a lot more exciting towards the end and the pacing picked up a little bit. It was certainly a lot of fun to see Rose and her boys all coming together (pun intended!)
The tone at the beginning of the book was sad and bittersweet as Rose reconnected with her boys all the while trying to figure out what was going on with her stepmother and resigned to marrying someone she didn't love. Perhaps I was feeling overly emotional when I started reading the book, but I felt like it was a heavy weight on my heart and it was not a happy read. I kept stopping while reading because it made me feel so sad and weighed down for the first third of the book.
Rose is a witch. Or at least she's going to become a witch once she gets her powers through a consort ceremony where she essentially marries the guy who will light up her magic bring it forward permanently. Rose is innocent in many ways. She's ignorant of the plans her stepmother has for her and unaware of the kind of person her fiance is. As she rekindles her friendship with her childhood friends, her confidence grows along with her feelings for them. Feelings that never went away from the time they were children and playing together. There's a kindness and generosity to Rose too as she discovers wrongs committed a long time ago that she tries to make right. Even though she's twenty-five, she comes across a lot younger than that. More innocent than anything else. But I did admire her tenacity and determination as she tried to uncover the mystery surrounding her stepmother and her engagement. It was good to see her finally take control of things and take charge of her magic and her life.
It's hard to get to know all the guys in Rose's life because there are so many of them and each one of them are so different. I always find it a challenge trying to get an in depth understanding of them individually because developing the characters in such a relationship is not easy. With Rose and her four boys (five if you count the missing Gabriel) it takes time to get to know them. There's Damon. Rough, surly, devil-may-care. More interested in showing a cold, calloused facade than revealing how he truly feels to protect himself from getting hurt again. There's Seth, Kyler's twin brother. Where Kyler is charming and carefree, Seth is cautious and restrained, but the both of them are equally passionate. And finally, there's Jin. Colorful, creative and cheerful. They all mean the world to Rose and she to them. The eleven years of separation put a dent in their friendship but after a slow, rocky start those bonds from long ago come back in full force and tie them together once again. It was wonderful to see them coming together again, united with Rose after they had drifted apart over the years, each going their own separate ways, with their own individual careers. I missed Gabriel, of course, because Rose misses him. I hope we get to see him soon and find out more about him.
There's an interesting plot twist towards the end and some shocking revelations occur. I'm curious enough to want to find out what happens next but I also hope the pace of the story picks up because wading through parts of this one was painful at times.

I have been very into reverse harem fiction lately and while this is not the best of what I have read recently in that genre it is still quite enjoyable and a fun escape. I really like the characters and I feel like they are fairly well fleshed out and he story holds my interest. I think this series is stronger than the other books I have read by Eva Chase. I am reviewing this book based on an ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

Consort of Secrets was a fun read!! Rose is a savage witch! She is hard-core and doesn’t take any crap! This book had steamy paranormal action. It was dark and adventurous! It was great!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.