Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC. I could not stop listening to this audio. OMG. This had everything. Kings, princesses, sexy bodyguards and betrayal. Hopefully as the series goes on it will have love. This book does have spice, but it is so good. Can not wait for book 2.

Oh romantasy books, how I've missed reading you. Let's start with this cover, loved it. The colors, the raven and feathers. Very well done and eye catching.

Let us talk story now. That opening gave me hope for more romance being involved in this story. Though we have the inkling of something to come, we mostly just have internal dialogue about how Solomon is in to Devonry but he isn't worthy of her. And Devonry being like oh Solomon is annoying but also she is attracted to him. We have a dual POV and the audio has dual narrators (yay!) my favorite POV is Solomon, I feel like he has a bit more depth to him than Devonry does. Devonry has been locked in her ivory towry for 20 years and has no real sense of the world. I do like that she is trying to grow as person and wants to be someone who can protect herself. The problem is there is no real time for her to learn to protect herself.

I love the action sequences and the awakened magic system. Though I don't feel like we learn too much about these gifts and where they come from or how they work. I know they are gifted by their gods and are passed through their blood lines, but I don't feel that magic system was explained well. Solomon is a character that is vampire like, we have some that can heal, some that see the future or past, it is all very interesting.

We have a few tropes going on which include one bed/one horse, Forbidden Romance, Bodyguard romance, Soul mates or mated bonds. The romance is a slow burn. I mean a snail's pace and it won't even happen in this book type of slow burn. I needed some kind of something in this book, but there was nothing.....nothing! Besides fantasies and dreams, that is not what we need people! There are several interesting characters that come into play that I would love to see more of.

Overall I did enjoy the story, the narrators were amazing! I could have done with less of the Dev internal monologue because she was a bit rinse and repeat. I loved Solomon. I wish the story had more to it than it does. We went around in a lot of circles, but nothing mushed together. We don't see much of Dev training, we need to know more about the awakening and magic system, and we need some more romance! I can't wait for the next one though.

This was so so good!! So looking forward to the next book!!💜 the audio book was awesome! The narrators did a fantastic job! This book as everything you love in a fantasy! Magic, meets and gods! Sing me up for another book!

This was a great fantasy read that follows Princess Devonry and her sworn bodyguard Soloman. It starts off like many books featuring a female protagonist - a woman dissatisfied with the restrictions placed on her life due to her station and circumstances with a broody bodyguard who sucks the fun out of her life and a super fun guy friend who she has known since childhood but doesn't see as often as she'd like. Tragedy and betrayal strike and Devonry and Soloman are forced to flee for their lives. They assume alternate identities as they try to escape the country to amass allies in order to come back and reclaim Devonry's throne.
I enjoyed the dual POVs so we got to hear both Dev and Solo's interpretation of the events taking place throughout the novel. We are also treated to some juicy plot twist information when we dive into Solo's POV that will definitely cause chaos for Dev in the next book - I am totally looking forward to it!
I listened to the audio ARC version of this book from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media (and am leaving this review voluntarily) and really like the narrators for the book. They definitely brought extra life to the story and contributed to my enjoyment.

Oh my gosh I absolutely loved this audiobook! The world building, the characters, all of it formed a fantastic reading experience!

It’s a slow, slow, painfully slow burn. The audiobook is great because you can listen to it at a faster speed and the two narrators did a great job!

The plot has been done before and didn’t have enough of a twist to capture my attention. It took 75% of the book for me to then go “oh this is actually getting interesting.”

The characters a fun and fit in the stubborn female identifying lead and stubborn male identify lead, butting heads, and being truly into each other the whole time. But it wasn’t enough for me to care about them.

Unfortunately I rate this between 2-3 stars. Just isn’t for me.

Thank you NetGallery for the preview, it’s always a pleasure to read and review!

This read was a fun romantasy book.
It was very mid to me, but still a fun read!
I think the fmc's inner dialogue is what missed the mark for me. It just wasn't as self assured as I enjoy.

Tropes:
Who did this to you?
Forbidden Romance
Bodyguard Romance
Soulmates
Forced Proximity

‘Crown of Blood and Glass’ by Lucinda Dark and Rebecca Grey was good, solid romatasy read. The the audiobook, performed by narrators Nick Mondelli and Islay Jacobs, was amazingly done. Recommend!

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘣𝘺 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 (𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬-𝘺𝘰𝘶!). 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

There are so many things I can say about this book. Was it too long? Absolutely. If I had been the editor for this book, I could have given an absolute list of scenes that could have been cut. Was this book too short? Somehow, also yes. It was such a strange place to leave the book, and nothing was resolved in the slightest. I want to read the sequel not because I enjoyed this one but because I feel blue-balled by it.

Taking place in a world where nobles are awakened with various powers, Devonry is a princess who has led a fairly sheltered life inside the castle of her country's capital. She is the heir and has been groomed to take on a role of peace by marrying a prince form an adjoining country. However when that plan goes amiss by a betrayal, she needs to flee or turn into a puppet queen. In comes her former childhood best friend, now general she despises, and noble of House Blood -- Soloman. On the run, Devonry and Soloman become fugitives. They must rely on each other to survive but will Soloman be able to keep his deepest secrets from Devonry and still be able to protect her?

This was a very enjoyable audiobook. The voices of Devonry and Soloman are very well done with good pacing and really capture the personalities of the two. Soloman took me just a smidgen to get used to as I had given him a different voice in my head to start (he didn't chime in for a few chapters), but then the character fit the voice and there was no awkwardness.

The novel itself is enjoyable too. It starts out with a pretty hot scene that foreshadows the relationship vibes for the rest of the novel. But then settles into the story of Devonry, the betrayal, and her and Soloman's time on the run. There are definitely some pretty classic tropes going on in this book (enemy's to lovers, fated/bonded romance, sheltered princess) however they are not too distracting and play well with the story. The only thing I really have a complaint with is that the novel ended kind of abruptly. Hoping the next in the series picks up strongly and continues the story with good pacing and engagement with the reader. 4 stars.

Review based on a Advanced Audiobook provided by Dreamscape Media and NetGalley. Thank you!

I loved this! The story is presented in a dual pov which worked well for me to get a complete picture of the relationship and dynamic between the two main characters Devonry and Solomon. It adds to the tension of why they behave the way they do. Here we have a slow burn romance between the princess and her bodyguard. I got from blood and ash vibes but with a story completely unique. There is adventure galore, although I did lose some of the plot points as to why Devonry had to travel but this is possibly due to listening on audio.
I enjoyed the female narrator more than the male, but like that there were two as it added depth to the dialogue. There is quite a bit of swearing throughout but I didn't mind it as it felt fitting for the narrative.
The story did a good job of world building and setting up for more characters moving forward.
I will be getting this as a physical book and cannot wait for the sequel.

This was a really great read! I loved this world with this royal family that's connected to this Goddess, with the Awakened who have some pretty similar characteristics to vampires, along with some magical capabilities. Oh, and an epic romance, can't forget about that!

Devonry is a sheltered princess, and Solomon is her guard. They're not to be together, but Solomon knows that they're soulmates-and her father knew, but said for this life, that they'd have to stay apart. Which was pretty cruel of him to do to the both of them, even if Devonry didn't know. To lose that connection, to know that it's there and to not have it, bad for Solomon. Bad for Devonry, particularly int his story, because she fears that she's bonded to her now ex-friend who killed her dad and took over her kingdom. If she knew about Solomon, then she wouldn't have worried about. Oh, she'd be dealing with a few other things, since boy, do they have a stormy relationship with so much banter!

A lot of this book is Devonry's development, because she'd never really left the palace grounds before, and defnitelly didn't have any survival skills. Watching them grow closer, watching her see her kingdom, and some of the issues that they're dealing with...yeah, I had a great time watching her progress!

I'm really hoping that the release date of November 3rd for the 2nd book is right, because I need to read more! When we got that epilogue, and hadn't connected with the point in time in the prologue...yeah, I need to get to that point! I need to know what's going to happen next!

This was a really fantastic read, and I can't wait for more!

This book was such a refreshing surprise and I loved it!! I received an ARC of the audiobook and I have to say this is a book I would have much preferred reading. The dual narrators were good, however there were quite a few moments where I felt they almost didn’t do the inner conflict of the characters justice. I highly recommend the book and this story, I just don’t know that I’d recommend the audiobook.

Princess Devonry thinks the thing she needs to be concerned with the most is her coming of age, unawakened powers, and her betrothal to a man she has not met. That and her childhood friend turned war hero, general, and guard being an overbearing pest. But on the eve of her birthday celebration her kingdom is overtaken by a threat from within, taking her father’s life and sending her on the run with the man being framed for it all.

Solomon Winett is a powerful awakened, a respected general, and a fierce warrior, but above all else he is bound by the vow of his house to protect the royal family. But even stronger than his vow is his pull to Devonry, who can never know that she is in fact his mate.

But as they travel together, trying to find themselves as well as some common ground and allies in order to take back the throne for Devonry, both of their eyes are opened to what could be in their future…and what may have been in a past that neither one of them could have ever expected.

Devonry was a great and well thought out character. She deals with her grief and her silver spoon upbringing as you would expect her to, but in the end she digs down deep and finds what she was truly born to be: a leader and a queen. Solomon was the epitome of soft only for her and his code of honor binding him to keeping her at arms length was heartbreaking. It was frustrating to watch him disregard Devonry and at times think and treat her like she was some annoying child and not a rising queen, but knowing that was how he downplayed his own undeniable feelings for her put it all into heart wrenching perspective.

All in all I did not see the twist coming at the end and while I’m definitely bummed we never made it to THAT scene in the prologue, I will DEFINITELY be reading book two as soon as I get my hands on it!!

I am so disappointed and sad with how low I'm rating this book because in truth I actually really enjoyed it. The audiobook is really well executed with dual narration that truly brings the story to life. I really enjoyed the writing style, the characters, the forbidden, bodyguard/princess romance, the gods and 'awakened' humans plotline...

However, this was far too similar to the anime/manga, Yona of the Dawn. The sequence of events and scenes, especially in the first half of the book, are pretty much EXACTLY the same as Yona of the Dawn. So much so that you can guess what will happen next if you've watched the anime or read the manga. This was incredibly disappointing for me since as I've mentioned I actually enjoyed my time with this.

I really wish this story had a more original plotline because the romance between Devonry and Solomon coupled with a really intriguing magic system, made for a very cool concept for this fantasy romance. Unfortunately this turned into a disappointing read for me.

4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Set in a world where the gods are reincarnated through the royal line, we follow Devonry - crown princess and next in line to rule. After a betrayal changes her life, she must rely on her personal bodyguard - Solomon - to not only keep her safe, but also to help her keep her kingdom. She has hated Solomon and his overprotective tendencies for years so this is no small feat for her. This first in a new series has a lot of action, banter, and a slow-burn that will have you flipping pages to find out what happens next.

Read this book if you like:
- bodyguard romance
- hate to love
- dual POV
- vampire like characters

Crown of Blood and Glass is OUT NOW and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Crown of Blood and Glass was a phenomenal fantasy book and is book 1 in a series! I loved the narrator’s in this audiobook and the way they complemented each other. This book definitely ended in a bit of a cliff hanger and left me wanting more. Can’t wait for the next book!

Fast paced and exhilarating, “Crown of Blood and Glass” follows Princess Devenry and her devoted bodyguard, Solomon as the navigate life after the assignation of her father and the destruction of her kingdom. Dev and Solomon are childhood friends who have become more and more at odds with each other as they have grown. Where the princess is strong willed and staunch in her beliefs, her bodyguard is just as stubborn. But when they are left completely alone in the world with no one but each other they learn that there is more to their relationship than either of them ever realized.

“Crown of Blood and Glass” has so many of my favorite tropes including:
- one horse
- unwilling allies
- one bed
- unrequited love
- “who did this”
- chosen one
- vampiresque mmc
- slow burn romance
And more! Yet it never comes of as corny or unoriginal. I drawn deeply into their story. It was action packed and I enjoyed the way Dev and Solomon were both so clues so much of the time to each others private thoughts. There were a few moments when Solomon’s self deprecating internal monologues got a bit tedious and repetitive - like we get it you’re a martyr - I think the male narrator wasn’t a perfect fit in my opinion. However, I loved that Dev and Solomon each had their own narrator, and, in general, I like a brooding mmc so it was okay. Both of the protagonists show a lot of character growth that I often find lacking in romantasies like this one, and I am really looking forward to book 2.

I recommend this book to romantasy lovers and fans of FBAA, TOG/ACOTAR, Plated Prisoner, and Fourth Wing.

I received this audiobook as an ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙍𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: 🌶🌶🌶

I loved the premise of this book and it delivered on plot, slow burn tension, and intrigue.

This started off with a bang, literally. The prologue was a sex scene...that happened sometime after the start point of the book...but never actually played out at all in the book, which I found a little odd.

I would have liked some more explanation about the 'Awakened' and the Houses — I found the worldbuilding with these a little lacking.

The narration was good, but I found there wasn't a great deal of range (in relation to side character voices), which sometimes made it tricky working out who was speaking.

I loved the character growth, especially the FMC, who started as a whiny princess used to having everything handed to her, and ended as someone ready to fight for her people and kingdom.

While I had some small issues, I'm looking forward to the next book so I can find out what happens next (and whether that steamy scene happens 😏).

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒆 𝑴𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂, & 𝑵𝒆𝒕𝑮𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝑨𝑳𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.

Crown of Blook and Glass is the perfect book for someone looking for another romantasy series to dive into. Full of popular tropes like one bed/one horse, bodyguard & forbidden romance, hate to love, soulmates, and reincarnation, this book will capture anyone looking for new characters to swoon over.
This book is told in a dual POV between Devonry, the female princess, and Solomon, her bodyguard. The chemistry between these characters is slow-burning, fiery, and HOT. I enjoyed seeing their relationship grow as both characters adapt to the story's events. Devonry has a huge development throughout the book as she works to become useful in her escape from the palace and the danger she faces; this creates a situation where she is forced to learn from Solomon and others around her. Solomon is also forced to be protective while allowing Devonry to grow and become able to protect herself.
While their relationship does not go very far, very slow burn indeed, I cannot wait to see how their chemistry increases throughout the story.

thank you for this arc in exchange for an honest review. In my opinion this book started off really strong and caught my attention almost right away! I liked the characters and the plot was a decent fantasy plot. However once I got about 40% it slowed down immensely and lost my interest. It started feeling repetitive and we didn’t learn a whole lot after that.