Dive into a darkly enchanting urban fantasy where the vibrant pulse of a modern city intertwines with the hidden realms of fae and vampire societies. This novel is a perfect escape for readers who yearn for stories brimming with intense emotions, where queer protagonists navigate treacherous landscapes of ancient rivalries and forbidden desires. Experience a world where the delicate balance between the mystical and the mundane is constantly threatened, and where intricate, deeply felt relationships are forged in the crucible of constant danger. Prepare to be swept away by a narrative that masterfully blends supernatural intrigue with the raw vulnerability of its characters as they confront external threats and internal conflicts, all while discovering the profound power of connection in the face of overwhelming odds.

I don’t really know how to sum up how I feel about this book. I was looking forward to it however it didn’t grip me. I hope this book finds its reader but sadly this time it just wasn’t me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free eARC of this book to read in exchange for my review!

I really wanted to like this book. I thought the idea of it was fantastic but the actual execution was severely lacking. I cannot tell you how many times I started, stopped, and restarted trying to get into this book.

Book was not available to read more nor has it been published since. Therefore it is impossible to review.

I really enjoyed this book. Fae and diverse characthers? Right up my alley. Transmasc and gay protagonist is so good to see in a fantasy book.
This is an incredible debut novel for the author. I loved the pacing and the writing style. I loved the diversity. I loved how the Fae mythology was presented in this book. I loved that Nox was a transgender male and demisexual and that Curtis was pansexual. I loved the fact that this book is queer, in both protagonist and side characters.
I did have some issues with Nox, who's supposed to be in his 40s, at times as he was acting a bit more like a teenager would. I do get that even adults are imperfect but at moments he just seemed immature.
I also kind of felt like there was a similiarities between Twilight and Ace of Blades, in the way of abilities and training.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and it was a fun read.

I was no able to finish it was too hard to get into and it just wasn't for me. I did not finish this book the character was really hard to get into reading about. I did not find this character relatable.

I absolutely loved this lgbt romance.

Such a great book with a solid storyline and great characters.

I eagerly look forward to reading more from this author.

A definite recommend

Oh, Michael Nyx Knightley, you tricky little thing you. I am so on the hook for more, I think I might suffer withdrawals of my own. I seriously am so into this book. I NEED more now, please!

Nox Caldwell, a trauma surgeon, gets himself mixed up in mind-altering upside-down fairytales are real sort of situation one night on his way home from the hospital. He stops to help the Sherrif at an accident scene and is suddenly embroiled in a fae territorial drama with his quiet hometown's newest and most infamous citizen, Curtis Duchesne.

So, I went into this book not really knowing too much about it other than Nox was masc trans and that this was a paranormal romance-ish mystery sort of book. I am on the newer end of reading about trans characters and I am so here for reading more with trans inclusion. I love that not only is Nox trans (and the author does a wonderful job of not getting too hung up on explaining too many details) but he also has the demisexual aspect as well. I enjoyed that not only was Curtis pansexual but they were surrounded by friends and family members that were also varying shades of sexuality and served as great support for them. Well, except for Nox's grandfather et al, ya know, cuz he was a narrow-minded something or other.

Nox and Curtis have an almost palpable push-pull between them that I always find such enjoyment reading. I will say Nox does get a bit brash and impulsive. Curtis comes off as a close-to-the vest sort. You almost get the feeling that he's not completely the good guy he pretends to be. I spent a lot of the book waiting for him to be a lying liar from liar-town and turn a complete 180 and be a serious bad guy. I love a constant who can you trust plotline, it really builds the suspense when reading.

I did want more "romance" from the book but I understand that this is absolutely a process and with a demi MC you have to build the relationship solidly before any of that can happen. And if I spend 1/2 the book figuring if I could trust Curtis, I imagine the same is true for Nox. ::shrug::

I am absolutely loving the storyline and I cannot wait for more.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

There was absolutely nothing wrong with this book it just wasn’t for me. I liked it enough to read but it never fully captured my attention. I definitely know other people will really enjoy this book, I unfortunately just wasn’t one of them.

3.5 Stars.
*This was more enjoyable than i thought it would be. Nox was sort of annoying at time and veery childish but i grew to like him. Sadly my ship did not sail, but oh well. It had great phasing, sometimes alot of talking and Nox was sometimes very overly dramatic, heh.

So... i couldnt finish this book... Pero no porque sea malo, no, simplemente porque no avanzaba. Si bien me acordaba lo que pasaba y tenia un ritmo relativamente rapido, NO PASABA NADA. Me violentan los libros asi.
Si me vas a poner vampiros, haceme un guiño de que existen en la primera pagina por lo menos.

Ace of Blades by Michael Nyx Knightley

Debut novel that I hope will be the first in a new series. Though many reviews, so far, have compared it to the Twilight Saga I see bits and pieces of many/most paranormal fantasy books that have been written. The good ones have something that is a bit different that sets it apart and makes them special - I feel this book could be one of those that has that little bit extra…even in the pre-publication format that I read.

What I liked:
* Nox: abrupt, abrasive, chip on his shoulder, doesn’t take guff, bright, physician, military veteran, trans-masculine, demi-sexual, good friend, and a lot more than he realizes at the beginning of the book,.
* Curtis: paranormal with special abilities, variety of Fae, drinks blood, alpha, leader, commanding, intriguing, pansexual, protective, could be a love interest for Nox in the future, I am eager to learn more about him.
* Drew: ex-fiancé of Nox, dentist, divorced, father, changed by life circumstances, shapeshifter, still cares for Nox, could be a future love interest for Nox.
* The supporting cast – human and other – there were several I want to know more about
* The elements common to such stories/sagas/series:
- paranormal creatures: vampires, fae, elves, shapeshifters, succubus, etc
- magical abilities
- immortality aspect
- the idea of a show down coming in the future and the preparation for it
- hunters and hunted
- good vs evil
- blood and its importance to the story
- historical elements – mythology
* The potential for romance
* Lux: Nox’s fraternal twin
* What Nox finds out about himself and his family
* The lgbtqia aspect(s)
* That it is adult and not younger reader relevant
* The use of the tarot and wondering if it will be used in the future books, if there are books to come
* That there is potential for more books in the future

What I didn’t like:
* The treatment of Nox by his grandfather
* Not having all the “details” that would flesh things out BUT those will no doubt be provided in future books of the series – if this is to be a series.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc! I loved so many things about this! Our main character is Nox, a transmasculine trauma surgeon. Yes, he's pretty badass. He's also sort of childishly temperamental at times, and has a tendency to make bad decisions. I loved him.s I've seen people say that Nox is annoying and too childish for a man who's almost 40, but honestly I found his anger was usually either funny or it just made sense for who he is and his situation. Also, I know plenty of grown ass people who act like toddlers. At least Nox is a good person in general, and doesn't use his anger to write homophobic Facebook comments ;)

I was really happy to see another aspec character (Nox is demisexual), and there was so much representation overall: pansexual character, gay characters, genderfluid character ... And probably more that I just don't remember at the moment.

The only real issue I had with the book, which is just a personal preference thing I guess, is that it sometimes dragged on a little too long with describing things that were not essential to the plot. I think the book could have been a little shorter. I was also a bit confused at the abrupt ending, followed by an epilogue and then some more extra stuff? Anyways, I want to read more about Curtis and Nox already. And more Curtis + kids + Nox time. Also can someone please make some fanart of Curtis lifting up Nox like a sulky cat?

I am so sad I didn't like this book. As the #1 fanboy for supernatural gay fiction, I was super excited to read this! There's so much rep. However, this book fell flat in a lot of ways for me. I did like the lore, I thought the world was well built and well thought out, and I did like the bit of family dynamic with Nox and his family.

There are a few things I didn't like, though. Nox felt very juvenile. He's almost forty but reads like someone who's at most in their early twenties. He's petulant and arrogant and not in a cute way. There's multiple times he acknowledges his behavior and does nothing to fix or better it. Another thing is. we don't really get explained how he uses or learns his powers. For something that's important to his character, it's glossed over entirely.

The romance was another thing I didn't quite understand. The whole first half of the book is building up to a romance with Nox and Curtis. Then they have a fight ???? kinda, and now Nox is back with his ex ???? and despite Curtis no longer being the romantic lead (again: ???), they're still increasingly romantic and sexual. And they're not friends suddenly??? Throwing in another romantic lead halfway in and completely derailing the other storyline was confusing and unnecessary. We root for Nox and Curtis and then all of a sudden they aren't an option anymore ??? Ok???? It just made no sense.

Lastly, the main other thing I disliked was the plot. Or the lack of plot. It becomes abundantly clear about halfway through that there is no overarching plot to this book. There's no end goal, and the entire climax feels intensely low stakes because nothing in the book was ever working towards it. We simply go from one scene to the next, and most of the time those scenes have no connecting joints to others. The entire last bit seemed so anticlimactic because we don't care about the villain and besides surface level motive, we have no idea why he's doing what he's doing. He's shallow.

I really wanted to love this one, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me.

As a rule I don’t go out of my way to read fae books. Until recently (author I like inserted fae characters into her series and books were fabulous) I just hadn’t found a fae book I really liked. That said the blurb for this one intrigued me and I couldn’t resist.

Originally I liked the writing style and I was congratulating myself on my choice.

And yes there’s a lot here to like. But I had two main issues.

The first was Nox. I found him abrasive and simply unlikeable at times. I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he’s supposed to be nearly forty. Yet a lot of the time I had to remind myself he wasn’t a teenager.

The second was it was just so slow. Particularly in the middle. I read relatively quickly and a book this length should have taken me a couple of days at the most. But I got stuck in the middle and I just couldn’t seem to get past it. I was days to finishing this and while I liked the idea and I’d like to see where it’s going. I won’t be continuing on.

The reviews are excellent so I’m assuming it’s me. It’s usually me.

In my opinion (for what it’s worth) Nox just needs to grow up and the book itself needs cutting down.

I voluntarily read a review copy kindly provided by NetGalley.

Let me start with, holy sh*t. This is top tier stuff. This book has a Trans main character, gay beasties, and the fact that their is demisexual representation too? And I think this was a debut book for this author? This is what we need! This book was possibly one of the best in this genre. This has some of the best representation I've read in years! Only downside is I kinda wish the ending was a little different, but I get it. Easily 5⭐

1.5 *
The first fourth of this book had me hooked, but sadly it kept going downhill from there to the point I barely skimmed the last 40%. this book was just too long, so many filler scenes were thrown in, so much random lore that didn’t affect the story, and too many random plot twists. It was convoluted and messy. I wish it was like 2/3 the length of this book, it just kept dragging on and I lost all interest

Ace of Blades is an adult queer fantasy by Michael Nyx Knightley. While it isn't listed as the first in a series, by the way it ended, there's no way the author won't be continuing the main character story.

Transmasculine surgeon Nox lives in Stony Hollow for the quiet and close friendships. When he runs into Curtis, who is new to town, his entire life is thrown into chaos. Curtis is a Fae and Nox learns there's something in his blood that makes him irresistible to them and deadly at the same time. From there, Nox discovers more hidden abilities about himself, secrets of his family, and that there's other non-human beings in his life.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Would I recommend this to my friends? Not so sure. When I saw a review giving at 5 stars and comparing it to Twilight except adult and queer, I knew I had to read it. I will always be trash for Twilight however there were too many similarities in major plot points for me to enjoy those similarities in a positive way. I'm not going to go into those similarities here, but at the end of my review I will have a spoiler paragraph for whoever is interested.

Things That worked for me in Ace of Blades: The writing itself was easy to read and follow along with, even if it dragged at times and could have benefited from some editing to make it shorter without losing anything from the story. The queer representation made my heart so happy. Nox is transgender male and demisexual, Curtis is pansexual, and they're surrounded by a whole group of queer friends. The story also highlights forms of intimacy that have nothing to do with penetrative intercourse.

The characters themselves is where I get conflicted. Side characters were great, and our fae Curtis was a poster boy for mystery, wealthy and dangerous with a soft spot for those he cares about. I'm not even going to go on about Drew because I honestly wish he wasn't there. Now on to our lead character, Nox, our sole point of view of the entire book. He's almost 40 and could give Bella Swan a run for her money in the immature category. He was immature, he was bit of an a**hole, impulsive and brash, he was angry at the world, and he made that known with how he behaved. It's been a long time since I've read it a main character's point of view that was so unlikable.

In the end, I really feel like Ace of Blades would have benefited greatly from multiple point of views. Especially to balance out Nox's personality. Maybe if we saw him through Curtis's eyes, I might have warmed up to him. If this does continue as a series, which I would be surprised if it didn't, I'll probably read it because hopefully this story grows for the better because it really did have potential.

Trigger/content warnings: Violence, light BDSM, and a family member refusing to acknowledge our lead's transition.

:::Spoilers::
Twilight similarities here we go: Nox meets Curtis who is a wealthy Fae and he literally compares and is referred to as a vampire in the book. Nox has something in his blood that makes fae attracted to him which if we recall Bella had blood that was intoxicating to vampires. Knox also learns he has a mind ability that can mask that sent which is pretty much what Bella can do when she can project a mental shield. Both have to train in order to master their ability. You're thinking where's Jacob, he's represented in the form of Drew. Drew Is Nox's ex fiancé who he was with pre-transition. But Drew's back and he is now a Grim, which is compared to as a werewolf in the book. So we got Nox, our special human, a spiky toothed Fae who drinks blood, and our protective wolfy friend. Throughout the book they have a sort of love triangle going on where they each give Knox something different but without all the teenage angst because they're all in their like 40s yet when one ditches him he goes running to the other for comfort lol there are also other similarities that are more minor that I won't mention but if you've read Twilight you'll definitely pick up on them.

I read this in a single day which, considering other books have sat half-finished for three years on my currently-reading shelf, says a lot. The fact that this is Knightley's debut book is astonishing and I am so excited to see where the future takes this talented author. The main character, Nox, was someone I immediately identified with and his flaws feel realistic while providing a reason to both be frustrated with his behavior and have him grow as a person. Curtis was a riot, positioned from the perspective of an ages-old being that hasn't quite figured out how being human works and gets caught off guard when his normal tricks don't immediately work. I loved the fact that Nox is demisexual (as someone who is asexual) and was absolutely delighted when his sexuality wasn't treated like he had to be kept innocent or chaste and instead explored the desire to connect with another being and be sensual without it being sexualized. I was intrigued by Drew and appreciated the balance of his reaction to his ex being trans vs his own interest in Nox as well as the relationships fostered between the three by the end of the book. Many people in the reviews are calling it a love triangle but as someone who is polyamorous, I found it far more akin to that experience. They all have different needs from one another and (based on the end of the book) it seems like as those needs change their relationships with one another will change too.

All in all I am super excited to read the next book and have definitely added Knightley to my watched authors list!