I really enjoyed this book. The plot was very interesting and I did like the main characters. I did feel a bit bored (and skimmed over) when the author kept describing different locations, customs, and memories. It felt a little unnecessary and I would've rather had more interactions between Barra and Silvi, but I know that some people will probably love the extra world building. When Barra and Silvi moved from enemies to lovers I was surprised since it was sudden but as the book went on I understood more how it happened so fast. Lastly I think this book really needs a pronunciation guide, I got 30% through the book before I learned I was pronouncing half the peoples names very wrong and probably the location names too.

Well, you can't say this book isn't original!

Boy was this a different kind of book. I want to say it's like Lord of the Rings, but only with the different types of people/clans...whatever you want to call them. Once they all came together, it was a little hard to remember who was who, but I think I got it.

I did really like Barra and Silvi together. I thought they were sweet and clearly chosen by the Gods for a reason. I do have to admit that their initial descriptions left a lot to be desired. Barra, a Neamairtese witch, basically never washes her hair and sticks trinkets in it. Silvi, a Svekard, has clean hair but basically doesn't wash her body to the point that body odor is discussed. Not really the sexiest intro to the two main character I've ever read...

Overall the story was interesting. It did get a little tedious in descriptions, and at a point I would have loved more dialogue, but there was a lot to set up.

I was granted this book as an eARC, and you'll see through my other reviews that reading ebooks is hard for me, so I wasn't 100% sure what I was expecting going into this book. I knew it was romance, I knew it was sapphic, and that was about all I knew going into it. What I didn't expect was a novel of rich world building, deep and thought out (opposing) cultures forced to work together, which details about how cultures worked, what made them similar, what made them different, and how these cutlures, worked together in the overarching world.
Yes, there was a story, a plot simple Romeo and Juliet-esque plotline coupled with a general adapt and overcome theme, but to me the MEAT of the book, what made this book so gosh darn GOOd was not the story itself, but the characters, the interactions, the world building, culture building, language building, an absolutely epically written and depicted climax... and at the center of it, a really beautiful, (and really spicy!) sapphic romance.
On top of everything, it tied everything up really neatly, but also left the ending in such a way where there could be (and I hope there will be) a sequel, to be able to delve more into the world, the customs, cultures, and experiences that each group depicted in the book lives in.
If you are someone who likes to read more about character interactions with niuanced themes and deep world building, and isn't afraid of spicy, then I think this would be a perfect book!

Thank You Ney Galley and Bold Strokes Books for an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First off I have to address the cover; it's giving early-2000s-self-publish-fantasy, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but just gives the impression of inexperience. I am very glad I picked this book up, but it was definitely in spite of the cover rather than because of it.

But once I got past the cover, this book was nothing short of a great time; sapphic romeo and juliet, but also magic, soul mates and saving the world? a classically good fantasy. This is a debut fantasy, so I can excuse some of the pacing issues where it felt like a lot of tell rather than show, but there were plenty of great moments that balanced out into a great read overall. There were honest to god multiple times I got goosebumps because of something cute/awesome happening.

Also, although I tend to hate the instant love trope, since so much action was happening, it didn't feel too sudden.

Fun steamy fantasy, 4/5 stars

~as always, made sure to read a detailed trigger warning because there is some implied stuff that may upset some readers~

3.50 Stars. This is an interesting take on fantasy racism, as it forces the leads to confront it head on. but I believe this is a debut, and it does go through some issues with pacing, that I feel like a lot of fantasy debut authors have to deal with. That said, I thought the worldbuilding was great in that it was detailed and felt lived in and real. The only issue is that there were places that felt like the plot didn't move at all.

Barra's people choose their next ruler through magic when the previous queen dies, and Barra got chosen on the way to be sold into slavery. She also can't fully come into her powers until she meets and matches with her heart's mate. The kicker is that her mate is another slave from a warring nation. They have almost no common cultural heritage, and must navigate a massive number of prejudices that built up due to mutual cultural misunderstandings.

I think the central bit of the conflict between Barra and Silvi was so compelling that I just kept reading despite the plot and story just sputtering to a halt in many locations near the beginning of the book. Barra and Silvi are complex leads that had to grapple with their own misgivings, and in the case of Silvi, not knowing what the heck was going on, as they journeyed together. I also liked how the romance built up - it built in different ways for the pair of them. For Barra, she almost seemed compelled to fall for Silvi, but she definitely knew of her attraction as she interacted with Silvi more. For Silvi, because she had no clue why a magic wielder from a warring tribe would want anything to do with her, it a couple of small moments, then a decision after a big moment to change her perception. I think people might interpret this as insta-love, but I don't think so. Silvi makes the decision to start loving Barra, because she finally sees the human behind all the mysticism. That shift is a highlight for me, because Silvi is an empathetic character to begin with, but it took a lot of time and one fairly scary moment to finally see Barra as a person. Just so well done.

This is a solid debut, and only really suffers from huge areas of info dumping. If that gets cleaned up, I think we will have an excellent fantasy author on our hands. I also hope that Jennifer Karter continues to write fantasy since it is not represented enough - in my fantasy fan opinion- in LGBTQ fiction.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ignore the atrocious cover THIS BOOK IS SO SAPPHIC, SPICY, AND AWESOME.

Looking for sapphics? Fantasy? Spice? Warring gods? Shared bed trope? Soulmates? Magic? Enemies to lovers? YES. I figured. This is probably for you.

I almost didn’t pick this up because the cover was quite genuinely serving clip art circa Y2k. However, this was such a bloody awesome read.

I would say if you like game of thrones, any books with Viking style feels, the hobbit; then this is a great sapphic alternative. It has such a vivid fantasy world and the gods and story path is entirely captivating.

This book took me by utter surprise and stepped on my throat and all I can do is thank it because THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A RIDE.

Also, the writer is into d&d which? Perfection. And it really shows through in the worlds and such captivating characterisation of each clan. Even down to the family/relationship values of the clans with some being monogamous and some polyamorous was really cool to see.

Both MC’s are women in their mid 20’s which was interesting to see too. Lately, every book I read I’m finding they’re either 18, mid 30’s or there’s a massive age gap so this was a nice change from that.

TW’s / CW’s listed below (please skip if you don’t want any vague spoilers)



(Ones I personally noted, may be more)


Tw// graphic sex scenes (consented), depictions of seizure, gore/violence, some ableist language, enslaved people, branding, teeth pulling, SA (attempted graphic but short scene) SA (medical enforced genital checks), murder, war, colonisation, mentions of rape (non descriptive)

A very good debut with a well-developed plot. The main characters Barra and Silvi communicated well and had great chemistry despite the language barrier between them. I was not disappointed, quite frankly, it was quite a page turner.

Thank You Ney Galley and Bold Strokes Books.

Pro:
Detailed fantasy world
Enemies to lovers romance
Becoming a hero
Cultural acceptance

Con:
Sometimes it feels like the characters can easily find things they need much too easy for the situation they are in

This is a book worth reading, but it’s not a book I will add to my “more frequent re-read”-list.

This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

Barra is the newly chosen queen of the Neamairtese, and this happens in not the best time. To complete her connection a mate is chosen for her. Only, it was not the mate she was hopping for to say the least. Silvi, a veterinarian who belongs to the Svekard people is chosen as Barra's mate, turning her world upside down, not only was she kissed by a witch and is now and outsider to her own people. Silvi now has super speed and strength and a witch who is trying to communicate with her in a language she doesn't know. Not to mention her and her people hate, despise and fear witches. Can they find a way together and let go of their tough hatred and prejudice?

This book is a debut and a very good one. I really enjoyed the set up of the story, the background, the why's and how's. The author did a very good job in setting up the world so we could enjoy the story. Both Barra and Silvi's character development was very well done, slow and steady. Their connection was also slow but strong. A very good enemies to lovers - slow burn book.

I will definitely be reading future books by this author.

I received this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a first read for me from this author (in fact I am not totally sure but this might be the first published book for this author?), so went in with no expectations of their writing style. That being said I found overall the story to be believable and the main characters, Barra and Silvi, enjoyable and wanting to see where their journey goes-even if the start of this journey was not of their choosing.

I found this book to have so many themes that it had me really reading the story from different angles-you have differing cultures thrown together unwillingly, language barriers to overcome, culture prejudice's long held that had to be overcomed, and societies that felt they could just take what they want with human life (basically class warfare). So much going on and amongst it a love story with Barra and Silvi who basically do not like or trust each other, just the Gods meddling with them. This story is written with differing Gods, rituals, queens and mystics all having to come together to save each other from one common enemy.

The book was pretty slow at the start, a lot of detail of clan life, beliefs, why each tribe hated the other, forced daily marches, all in my opinion could have been cut down but still get the background needed for the story-I get understand where each tribe came from and why they hate each other but in my opinion just a bit to much information I found myself kind of skimming over. Once they reached the enemies walled up city, there the action really got started and moved along at a perfect pace. Lots of action and warm feelings for Barra and Silvi-enemies working with enemies for a common goal, the full force of magic and they battle to determine who 'wins'-all that and of course the Gods that stepped in at the end.

I received an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but would have written the same opinion if I had come across this author on my own.

To see my Amazon review, it is under CC-a love story wrapped in a struggle and great war

An enthralling enemies to lovers fantasy book where the protagonists have to overcome culture differences and age-old prejudices to achieve their joint destiny.

Witch Barra was chosen to be the Queen of her tribe, the Neamairtese, while she was in captivity. In order to gain full powers to her magic she is required to bond with her mate. When the gods led her to their rival clan, the Svekards and identified Silvi as her mate, as inconceivable as it was, the pair went on a tumultuous journey from hatred to acceptance to falling in love.

While the Svekards embodied strength and bravery, the Neamairtese, spirit and skill. The combination was potent and magical and their love pure and powerful. This is a treat for fantasy lovers and romantics alike. This being a debut I’m looking forward to the next from this author.

I just reviewed The Witch Queen’s Mate by Jennifer Karter. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.

3.75 stars. There is not a lot of wlw fantasy out there so I’m always happy to see a new book appear. In this case it was a debut book meaning a new author of fantasy, which makes me double happy. This book was not without some (debut) bumps, but I enjoyed reading it and will keep my eye on this author for future books.

The protagonists Barra and Silvi are part of two rivaling groups of people. Both have their own language and customs, which are vastly different. Barra is a Neamairtese, which are very free-spirited nomadic people that possess magic. Silvi on the other hand is a Svekard, they are loud, proud and strong (they reminded me of Vikings), they are afraid of magic and their biggest enemies are the Neamairtese. Need I say this is an enemies to lovers storyline? Karter put a lot of effort in getting us acquainted with Silvi and Barra, to understand them individually as well as their cultures and their personal growth throughout the book was very well done. I thought it was amazing how they actually communicated as they don’t speak each other’s language. In terms of romance I didn’t immediately see the match because they are so very different, but I was intrigued anyway. The switch from hate to intense love was a bit too fast for my liking, even with the fated love/mate trope, but I did like them as a couple in the end.

The big issue I had, however, was the pacing. It was slow at moments and I got an info dump feeling at times. The cultures are explained in great detail and especially their gods and history, and while interesting, it was a bit much at times. I’m also not a fan of stories within stories of which there were a lot.
And now I’m going to contradict myself, because in the current format I thought it was too slow at times and could be shortened, but I also kept thinking: “this is too short”, it might have been better as a duology or even a trilogy. The format of a romance was chosen and all focus is placed on the two MCs and their thoughts and feelings. In fact, for a fantasy book there was not a whole lot of action, while there is a lot happening, especially in the second half of the book. Many of these events were sort of fast forwarded and described without much detail and because of that I didn’t connect with these parts of the story, but if I could have seen the impact of these events with more details and especially 1 or more POVs from the people affected, I think I would be hooked to these parts of the story as well. That would have meant that the romance format would be traded for an epic fantasy with a romance storyline, which was probably not the intention of the author, but I’m throwing it out there anyway.

Despite some bumps I enjoyed reading this very much (I mean, look at my rambling, this book made me think, that’s telling) and I’m curious to see what Karter will write in the future. If you like fantasy, and don’t mind slightly heavy-handed cultural descriptions, especially of their many gods and deities, this is a book to read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Barra's gods chose her to be the next queen of the Neamairtese at the worst possible time. She and a group of her people are being marched to the far-off Empire of Victricus to be sold as slaves. Barra, who is headstrong and independent, never saw herself as a leader, and her chances of saving her people are dwindling when her heart's mate turns out to be a Svekard, the Neamairtese's ancient sworn enemy. Silvi, a Svekard veterinarian, was just trying to make it through the march south when she was kissed by the Neamairtese witch Barra. Silvi now has superhuman speed and strength to protect the witch, even if it means harming her own people, which is an incredible disgrace.

I quite enjoyed reading this one. I think that the worldbuilding was written in a way that made me easily understand where the story is currently taking place and all that. Although there’s a tad bit of an instant ‘I love her’ part that I didn’t quite get cus Silvi kind of loathed Barra and didn’t understand why her body acts the moment when Barra’s in harm and that she’s suddenly saying she loves her. Anyway, this was a solid debut book. I might tempt myself into rereading this one in the future and might also change my rating then.

Featured presentation: The Witch Queen’s Mate by Jennifer Karter

The time is ripe for new heroes to rise up and shape the destiny of their people.

Cast: Barra, the newly appointed queen of the Neamairtese. Silvi, a veterinarian from Svek who was chosen to be Barra’s mate.

The Plot: Barra is chosen by the Lady to become the new queen. She does not believe herself to be capable of leading her people, especially not since she has been captured and is heading to the Empire of Victricus to be sold as a slave. On top of everything, her chosen-by-magic mate is a Svekard, the Neamairtese's sworn enemies! And Barra’s own magic is dependent on the bond between her and her mate. How do you overcome generations of animosity to secure your people’s future when you cannot even understand each other’s language?

The blazing: Initially we see everything that happens from both Barra and Silvi’s perspectives. This not only cements the differences between the Neamairtese and Svekard peoples, but also gives us insight into their perception of the other.

I loved how both Neamairtese and Sveks valued memories and people over possessions and wealth. The ways in which they go about honouring especially memories are vastly different, but that does not devalue the validity of the other’s memories.

Barra’s initiation ceremony early on in the book set the tone for the magical scenes to come. Ms Karter did brilliantly to create the perfect mystical atmosphere with her descriptions of the elements combined with the rituals they followed.

Ms Karter created chemistry between Barra and Silvi despite the language barrier! The magical bond between them facilitated the connection, but it was only active when Barra was in distress. The success of their endeavours (and ultimately, the story) was rooted in their empathy for each other and the resultant budding relationship.

The bright: Both the Neamairtese and the Svekard groups consisted of younger people. This meant they had to dig deep within themselves to rise up to the challenges they faced. The supporting characters not only enhanced the MCs, but they elevated the narrative.

The bleak: This is not a criticism on Ms Karter’s writing, but I wish we could’ve seen more of Silvi’s father. It is clear from early on that he is significant to her and he is written as fatherly love in human form.

The burned-to-ashes: Nothing.

And then The Plot Thickens as we journey with the Neamairtese and the Svekards towards the Empire of Victricus. Ms Karter slowly reveals how differences between peoples can be misconstrued and the catastrophic ramifications that can result because of misperceptions.

Barra’s magic is powered by the Lady via the elements and this gives a down-to-earth feel to the narrative which I found both soothing and captivating. The vast expanse of the world Ms Karter created feels real and is backed up by superb writing and fascinating characters.

Honourable mention: Ms Karter’s dedication!

Studio: Bold Strokes Books

Closing credits: I willingly leave this review based on an eARC copy graciously granted to me by Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

This was a delightful read. I love that the development of Barra and Silvi's relationship wasn’t fast-paced and them realizing that just because they have different views doesn’t mean that couldn’t co-exist to make both their views be known. I love the descriptions was vivid and how everyone realizing that being different isn’t a bad thing because you never know that difference can make a different. I would so love this as a movie throwing that out there.

I couldn't put this book down I was completely gripped. This is a trope that I love and the author did it so well, it was well written with an engaging plot and well developed charcaters that i really cared about. There was the perfect amount of romance in the book to work well within the plot and the book was full of vivid descriptions and rich imagery I felt like I was between the pages. I loved it.

This book had me from the dedication and it never lost a single moment of my attention thereafter. I fell hard for this star-crossed lovers story... well, Gods-crossed lovers, and the journey of watching these two MC's come into their own and then blend their lives without losing themselves? Flawless. The descriptions are so vivid that you'll smell the fires, you'll feel the fog, you are going to squinch your face during the fighting, and you are gonna hug those you love a little tighter. I didn't care where this story was going, I was along for the ride and just let the author take the wheel and phew! What an adventure. I hope there's another book because I want to know so much more about these women and their people- I'm aflutter with questions. Will definitely read more books by this author. Completely enraptured.

The Witch Queen's Mate was an absolutely amazing book. In my opinion there were absolutely no flaws, and I literally could not stop reading. It felt like time flew when I was reading it, and I just enjoyed it so much.

I usually don't enjoy enemies to lovers books, but this one has to be one of the best ones ever written. The pacing was amazing, and I didn't feel like the development of Barra and Silvi's relationship moved to fast. The language barrier also made it even better, they hated each other, but once they started actually tolerating and falling for each other they tried their best to communicate with actions, and even teaching them the language, which was one of the cutest things.

There was a perfect balance of angst, smut, and fluff, and I just never got bored. Although I wasn't expecting Silvi to realize that Barra was human like her in that specific way, it was a good development to the story and I'm glad that there wasn't anything that actually happened, because it's not always needed.

Just learning about the different cultures and clans was an amazing experience, and how their stories of their beliefs were so different but ended up aligning was very well thought out and unexpected but delightful. I loved seeing Silvi and Barra also learn and accept that they were different from one another, but that it wasn't a bad thing. They worked together to bring their groups together and did whatever they could to get them to victory, they fought the prejudice and they helped each other out in ways that have never been done before, even the Gods praised them.

This book was an amazing read, and all the characters played a really big part, there was never a dull moment. The end was satisfying, and the structure of the story was perfect, I could imagine this being the perfect movie. I 100% recommend this to anyone who enjoys enemies to lovers, and magical lesbians.