Now and then, even clichés are enjoyable and make the plot a pleasant read. The story of rivals-turned-friends-turned-lovers unfolds with action, dynamism, and a fair amount of originality that helps make the novel smooth and highly entertaining. The fantasy setting, two well-defined characters both in their personalities and their weaknesses, and a narrative style suited to the novel’s target audience (along with good writing that ties everything together) ensure that the entire book is an engaging read.

What fascinated me the most was the academic setting, which has a unique charm thanks to original descriptions and a distinctive plot and event structure. A very favorable point for me is the presence of a subtle romance that aids the narrative without weighing it down; instead, it blends with the plot twists presented here, making everything more dynamic.

If the upcoming volumes enrich the setting and the events are managed to give them the right historical pacing, then it will undoubtedly be a fantastic saga that will fully express all its potential.

I loved the banter between the characters. Sometimes I would catch myself giggling - the sign of a good book for me! Great magic system with a strong female character. The romance works for the story - a little fast but explained. Characters are well-developed throughout. Plot moved along at a great pace.

I was excited to see what it had in store. The blurb promised enemies-to-lovers vibes, cursed magic, and a kickass heroine, which sounded right up my alley. But, truth be told, the book didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Right from the start, I was intrigued by the potential of the enemies-to-lovers dynamic and the whole cursed magic thing. However, as I kept reading, I found it hard to really get into the story. The characters, who started off hating each other, just kind of stopped without much development, and suddenly they were all buddy-buddy. It felt a bit forced and didn't quite click for me.

While the idea of cursed magic was cool, it didn't grab me as much as I'd hoped. And even though the main character being a female keeper thrown into forced proximity situations sounded promising, it didn't fully deliver the excitement I was anticipating.

Sure, there were some moments where I was intrigued by the plot, but honestly, I found myself zoning out for a good chunk of the book. It just didn't hold my attention like I wanted it to.

Overall, "Keeper of Scarlet Petals" has its moments, but it didn't quite live up to the hype for me. It might still appeal to YA fantasy fans, but if you're looking for something truly gripping, you might want to keep searching.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC copy of this book. Shout out to the author, I think anyone who can write a book is amazing. I really enjoyed the premise of the story but felt a lack of buy-in at the beginning. I would have loved a prologue with some history of magic and the Xoloni. Some parts felt over described and others not described enough. The dialogue didn’t flow quite as naturally as it could have between characters, especially where Riker was concerned. There were also a lot of typos which overall doesn’t impact my review of the book but it bothers some people. There was a lot of potential for Jasmine and Asher as main characters but I felt their romance was very rushed. It definitely read more as a YA book versus a NA. This is solely my opinion, I know others really enjoyed it!

This book was ok. I wasn't as engaged with it as I thought I would have been.
I did however like the characters and the development of them. I thought it was well written and expressed who they are.

The plot of the story was good but I felt like it had missing information. Some areas had a good build but then it went flat. I did feel like I didn't fully understand the keeper's job which made it hard for me to follow what was going on.

I think this book has potential but I also think it needs more work on the outline of the book.
Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read this book for free and give my honest review. Thank you, A.N. Skye, for writing this book, I did think parts of it was good! I will be reading more of your books!

The cover and synopsis had me interested from the jump. The author does a great job of writing in the third person and the world building I this is great. The characters were enjoyable and written well. This is a great fantasy with tons of action going on but remaining easy to follow and understand. Jasmine and Asher are great MC's. This is a YA which I dint realize but I still enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this book. The third person always takes me a bit to get used to but the author did it really well. It was also very descriptive- I felt like I was there with the characters. I loved how it also kept you guessing, I had ideas as to who the leak was but all of my guesses were wrong. I am super excited to find out what happens in the next one. I do feel that the beginning was a bit drawn out and it was a lot of the same day to day stuff that I feel could have possibly been taken out. Other than that though it was a great read! Thanks for the opportunity!

This is the first publication by author A.N. Skye. Keeper of Scarlet Petals was published last month and it is the 47th book I completed reading in 2024.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, mature languages, and mature situations, I categorize this novel as R.

The Whitewater Kingdom is strong, but under subtle attack. The Sanctuary , students who are potential Keepers and Mages are taught their respective skills. Mages learn the intricacies of magic, while the Keepers refine their combat skills and learn how to advise their charges. The Mages, with their Keeper bodyguard, are the primary defense of the Kingdom.

Jasmine has only been at the Sanctuary for six months. Most of her 19 years-of-life were on the streets, just struggling to survive. Now she is at the top of her first-year class in combat skills, but struggles with the more subtle arts required of a Keeper. Jasmin is shocked when she is abruptly chosen to leave Keeper training and prematurely begin her Keeper duties with a Mage student. She is surprised when her new charge turns out to be Asher, the young man who had been her most challenging sparring partner. He comes from a noble family which had recently been murdered. As the only member of his family left, he has been transferred to train as a Mage and eventually assume leadership of his House. Their friendship rapidly becomes an unexpected, intimate relationship.

Attempts are made on Asher’s life, which Jasmine must confront. A group known as the Last Light is behind the assassination attempts. Asher and Jasmine only have two other students as allies. Lydia is a fellow Keeper in training, and Pina is studying magic. The four young students team together to survive. This task is made all the more challenging because of a traitor in their midst.

I enjoyed the 8.5 hours I spent reading this 364-page young adult fantasy. This was an excellent fantasy novel. The plot was full of action and intrigue. It also has threads of romance with a slight touch of LGBTQ. I like the chosen cover art. I give this novel a rating of 5 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

This book is one I got early from #netgalley and I am so thankful for that. I would give this a 3.5 but rounded it up for the review. It was an interesting read and I liked the character development and I’m always up for force proximity type of reads. I feel like there just wasn’t a much draw that kept me interested and obsessed. I feel like maybe it was just me but I needed something to really pull me in and keep me. Like reading non stop. Not that there wasn’t good parts or great moments but I felt like it was just inconsistent. I definitely know a friend or two that would love it and recommended it already. Keeping my eye out for more of this author’s work because I feel like I will want to stick around they develop and grow as a writer

I believe this book may have been mismarketed as enemies to lovers — the main characters don’t really go through this arc throughout the story that shows where they ever disliked each other.

The characters, while I enjoyed them, felt a bit underdeveloped and I definitely would like to learn more about them.

The Magic system was very interesting, but I feel like this was another underdeveloped aspect of the story that could have used more time on the page as well.

A great read with NA/YA flavour, a bit of spice in there as well!

Good pacing with just the right balance of storytelling and world building.

I love that the protector is the woman in this story, and the build up of the characters was really fun to read, with good banter and some quirky aspects to their characters, and the twist in the plot was well written! overall a great read :)

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn't influence my review. Tropes include: forced proximity, hate to lovers, guy falls first, fantasy romance, bodyguard romance, fighting
This. This is all I want in a book.
Guys their chemistry????????????? LIKE READ IT!
I don't even know what else to say, just read it.
This book is perfect for fans of Scholomance and Fourth Wing.

I think the story has a lot of potential. The premise is intriguing, and the story has some great moments of suspense, mystery, and friendship. I like Jasmine's voice and her inner dialogue, and her relationship with Asher has some great moments. The story has a nice cast of supporting characters. Esther is intriguing, and Qien gave me Snape vibes. And I especially liked Lydia and Pina and what they added to the story.

My main issue with this book is that, to me, it still reads a lot like an early draft. A great draft, but one that could incredibly benefit from more work and editing.

There is a lot of missing information in the book- We hardly know anything about the characters and the world they are a part of. And it felt like such a missed opportunity because I really do want to learn more about this world!

The concept of the keepers and the Starvein, and the Xolani, and the delicious tension of being stuck saving your rival's life, and being thrown into the position Jasmine found herself in, has so much potential, but right now it doesn't have enough depth.
We have no information about the world outside. Why do they even need magic? who are they fighting against? How does the class system work- what do you do if you are not a Starvein or a keeper?

The keeper's job description is unclear. I get why they need to be bodyguards and advisors, but why do they need to also cook? can't the Starveins cook for themselves? All the scenes about Jasmine's inability to cook felt unnecessary and didn't add much to the plot or her character.

The magic system is incredibly confusing, and the characters seem incredibly uninformed about their own world. Someone who came from a family of Starveins like Asher should know a lot more about magic and how it works. We also don't know why Asher chose to be a keeper. Isn't being a Starvein (even a weak one), better in their world? did he even have a choice?

I get the need to keep some mystery, but it doesn't really make sense that no one is in charge and these poor untrained kids have to figure it all out on their own without proper guidance.

I want to see more of this academy and what they are doing and learning.

I would also love to have more information about Jasmine's parents and upbringing, and her ancestors.

Overall there is not enough tension and suspense in the story-
The "enemies to lovers" doesn't really work, because they were never really rivals, and they move to friends and to lovers fairly quickly and without any real conflict. Even with the bed sharing and the forced closeness, the tension and the longing weren't high enough for me.
-big revelations are discovered too easily.
-even the plot twist at the end isn't really a plot twist, since we never liked or trusted that character and it would have worked a lot better if she was a real mentor to them and someone they actually trusted.

The book relies almost entirely on dialogues, which are often too long, and don't read like real conversations.

The book is in third person, but there are also many italicized paragraphs in first person that show Jasmine's thoughts. And while I love seeing characters' direct thoughts, especially when it's snarky comments, in most cases these paragraphs would have worked so much better in third person. It wouldn't "break" the writing style like it does now, and I think it would be less confusing to read. Especially in the audio version when you can't tell if it's a thought or a dialogue. Another option could have been to make the entire book in first person, since other than two scenes the book is entirely from Jasmine's point of view.

There was certainly something in this book that captured my attention and made me curious and intrigued enough to finish it, and I'm sure a lot of people would enjoy the sweet romance, the magic, and the mystery!

Jasmine is a Keeper in training. A Keeper’s sole purpose is to protect their charge at all cost. And there is only one way out of being a charge….death. Jasmine is ready for this life, she would rather this than her previous one. But when she is assigned to be the charge of her previous sparring partner, Asher, she has second guesses on whether she is ready for this commitment.
As Jasmine and Asher are now forced to be together they start to realize that there is an unbreakable bond that may strengthen over time. They also must learn to trust each other's gifts to find out who their true enemies are. When the assassins come will Asher and Jasmine be ready, or will they die in the ultimate fight for their lives?
Overall rating 4 /5
This was such a fun world to be immersed into. The gradual build up of tension between Jasmine and Asher was intriguing. I would love to see more of the world outside of the Keeper’s training facility in the next installment and maybe a little more spice.

*Thank you to A.N. Skye, Netgalley and Aethon Books l Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the ARC copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

This was an easy to read book that had a slow burning romance and was ideally suited for the young adult market. I liked the characters Asher and Jasmine and their rival to lover cosy romance. The book itself had the bones of a great story though for me it could have done with more world building and a bit punchier plot pace. Overall, I did enjoy the book.

I thought it was enjoyable and structure to be good series. I did however, feel that the enemies to lovers aspect is lacking.
I hope the editor will do a great job of correcting the many errors and repeated phrases, so I do think that will help with the finished product.

I powered through this book in 2 days, though it probably had something to do with the more intense books I read before this one. It's a mildly interesting romantasy with an interesting mystery at the heart of it. It's good for a quick holiday read or as a lighter palette cleanser after a heavy, intense book. It's set up for a sequel, but it failed to interest me enough to want to read the next installment.

“Keeper of scarlet petals” is a fast paced NA romantasy that gives off vampire academy vibes.

It had all the makings of a good book with tropes I love like bodyguard and charge romance, mystery, suspense with a bunch of assassination attempts that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Although the magic system was a little confusing at times, I had fun reading this book!

This book just wasn’t for me. It had so much potential, and I thought that the concept was super cool but the delivery fell short for me. I really wanted to like it, but the pacing felt stilted and the characters felt immature and flat. The action sequences were super fun and really the only reason I finished the book to be honest.

Thank you #NetGalley , #KeeperoftheScarletPetals, Aethon Books, and A.N Skye for the pre-release copy. I did purchase the audio to tandem read with the kindle copy. Book now out and available with KU. I did round up on the stars but this is definitely a solid book. I was settling in for a very young YA book but pleasantly surprised me as not exactly. It’s listed under “New Adult.” The book is nothing like it, but I kept getting of Vampire Academy vibes. As in the Keeper is a YA with very adult responsibilities and all the adult’s were missing for most of the book. I didn’t completely guess the ending but wasn’t exactly surprised either. I would recommend but also just great another series I’ll need to add to my list of ever growing.