This book reminds me of those children's books that have an utter lack of description and dialogue more than a tad too direct to be realistic, where it jumps from point A to Z without explaining how you got there or what's going on, leading to a messy and undesirable reading journey. In terms of the story itself, I was initially intrigued since it was about tarot; however, it really wasn't. The book came across as a poorly made romance book with a poorly explained fantasy world. The author presented the fantasy world without any depth and, like the readers, couldn't connect any of the dots. The romance itself was lust-based at best, with neither character feeling anything for the other aside from attraction. Now, the characters themselves all felt one-dimensional, and I didn't connect to any of them. Nonetheless, the cover is stunning, and, in my opinion, this book's saving grace and description, which were misleading back then, are what led to my interest in this arc. I want to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for this ARC. This e-ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions remain my own.

Pick up a tarot card in the snow and fall into a new world! This was an interesting story in a unique concept I had read before.

Interesting tale about womens rights set in the "dark" ages. Seemed more like a historical smut novel from Avon books. As much as I loved Kane the romance seemed quick. Not a fan of S&M with The Good Girl talk. Liked the friendships. Sounded like there may be more books as there are more kingdoms. I would read them.

4⭐️
2🌶

A fantastic start to a new series with tarot inspiration! I’m very curious where this series will go.

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Kristin Cast book (blasphemy, I know) but when I saw this title and that it was going to be an adult fantasy romance I knew that I NEEDED to read it as soon as possible.

'Scarlett St Clair meets Outlander' is a comparison that I think makes a lot of sense, and it's funny because as a fan of both of those I would never have thought to put them together or that it would work as well as it does.

I'm a sucker for fake marriage, it's one of my absolute favorite tropes and pair that with snarky banter and I'm sold. I felt that the writing and pacing was well done in terms of making sure that there were enough light moments to balance out the darker ones. It makes the story feel a bit more realistic and immersive in that way.

I do think that this book will not be for everyone - there is a bit of insta-attraction and the world building is not the best, but the twists and brooding hero Kane make up for that (for me at least lol)

The author did a really great job considering she is mostly known for her YA writing, and I think that in The Empress some of the more commonly done YA things did show through (not always in a good way) but I'm definitely on boared with reading future adult books by Kristin - she's going to do SO well as she keeps on venturing into the adult sphere.

The Arcana aren’t just figures in a tarot deck—they’re real. Terrifyingly real. That’s what I learned when I found a tarot card in the snow and was yanked from my world and into Towerfall. The first thing the people of this harsh, cruel realm did was try to kill me, and they probably would have succeeded if Kane hadn’t taken me to his hideout in the woods and nursed me back to health. I don’t know if I can trust him. He’s too hot to be good news, he’s definitely hiding secrets, and I’ve already seen him kill two people to protect me. If I hadn’t just been helplessly dumped into his world, the blood on his sword and his dark, brooding mood would have me running in the opposite direction. But right now, convincing the Kingdom of Pentacles that Kane and I are married is my best chance of getting into the palace, and back to my own world. Because there’s something wrong with Towerfall. Something deeply, deadly wrong. And if anyone finds out Kane and I aren’t really husband and wife? Well, then both of us are dead.

The opening of this book really had me pulled in when our FMC, Hannah, falls into the magical realm of Towerfall. While this is a romantasy and not supposed to be necessarily relatable, I remember thinking that if it happened to me I wouldn’t be half as calm and collected. As minimal as it may seem, I actually loved seeing Stephanie and Chad because I was right there with Hannah cussing them out 🤣🤣. The romance in this story was a weird mix of insta lust and a slow burn and while Kane is all broody and morally grey and right up my alley, I just wanted a bit more. I think this book is perfect for those just trying to get into the romantasy world but not quite ready for a complex world or magic system.

This absolutely an amazing read that had me glued to my kindle. Love the world building and the characters were amazing.

Finding the words to describe this book is...difficult.

Never have I read an Alice and Wonderland style book with tarot cards in place of the classic playing cards, spicy scenes worthy of the title "dark romance", and the vibes of a Stephanie Garber novel mixed with a an American fantasy tv drama.

The gold nuggets of this book truly lie with the different style of alternate universe, the BANGER of a first chapter, and our strong willed heroine.

With the AU - there's just something absolutely thrilling that happens when you're introduced to a character and suddenly find them under a different name, different background, and in a different world with the same face and personality. It makes me want to find every double character and see the differences in their lives from the king to the baker to the candle stick maker.

Our main heroine was both refreshing and frustrating to read about, which was quite fun. Hannah is very strong-willed and often quite petty, resulting in the fabulous events of wrong decisions and misunderstandings due to her temper and cement solid mindset that wields her like a sledgehammer to the plot of a whole universe. Her narrative is hilarious to me because while she is so confident that she's doing the right thing, she's also quite unconfident in herself worth, which makes her almost like an unreliable narrator even though you can see the truth through her internal monolouge of self worthy lies. I think in my head I compared her to Jane Austin's character Emma and had to laugh over some of her decisions in the attempt to avoid the alternative of chucking the book at my wall.

The weaker parts of this book are in the romance and the politics.

While I'm down for a strong man to clown around with, I feel like the jump from flirting to bdsm was sudden, emotionless, and confusing. It's been a while since I've skipped over a spicy shmex scene in a book, but because of the lack of connection and small bits of chemistry between Hannah and Kane, I found myself hoping for the scenes to end quickly and even skipped over several pages in an attempt to move on. While the end effect was somewhat "eh" to me, I think it really could have been nailed if there had been more time to feel the pull between characters, more flirting instead of hard-core nicknames and kink-play, and more conversations between Hannah and Kane. It may have made me root for them more of I knew who I was rooting for.

And the politics. You lost me.

There were just so many characters and so many angsty underplots that I didn't know who to trust and often didn't remember why the kingdom was even in peril other than the angry mobs outside the gates.

Honestly it's a shame we don't get to see more from such solid characters that you can tell have a lot of thought behind them and plot ahead of them.

Really, what this book needs is some time to marinate in the good parts it has and push the weaker parts to be on the same level. It felt like the book at some point just reached a barrier and really needed to just go further to make it a splendid fantasy novel.

*A huge thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for making this title available for pre-publishing reading and reviewing!

I went in with such high expectations, especially with those comps. Outlander meets From Blood and Ash in a tarot-inspired world? Yes, please! But, unfortunately, this felt like the most surface-level exploration of those themes. It's Outlander because our FMC jumps between worlds, From Blood and Ash because it's spicy...but mostly, it was giving 2000s era romcom in a fantasy setting. Which was a choice.

FMC Hannah is every down-on-her luck main character in a millennial sitcom, complete with a failed presentation at work, a loser boyfriend, and a weird rivalry with her pretty, successful, mean girl coworker. In an effort to turn her life around, she stops at a tarot shop and gets a reading, with her most important card being The Empress. On the worst day in a string of bad days, this card literally teleports her to the world of Towerfall, which only she can save from corruption. Of course, she's paired with a battle-scarred warrior whose only trait appears to be his hotness, and they must pretend to be married royalty in order to infiltrate the castle. Hannah's goal is not to save the world, but to get her tarot card and go home, but she quickly finds herself falling for Kane and enjoying the world of Towerfall.

And when I say quickly, I mean quickly. Now I don't mind insta-lust at all, especially in a book billed as high-heat. I certainly don't mind a hearty dose of spice. But what I mind is when physical attraction is all there is; I can't tell you why Hannah and Kane fall for each other, other than the fact that they're both hot and available--and because I can't feel that, there's nothing in this romance I can root for. I felt there was far more chemistry between Hannah and her other-world bestie, Marion. There was also significantly more on-page time with that duo, which may have contributed to it. In the author's note at the back, she lists Marion as her favorite character, and I could instantly tell.

Since I wasn't feeling the romance part, I hoped I would at least fall for the fantasy, and that part kinda delivered? I see hints of tarot in the worldbuilding. Our villain is literally Four (of Pentacles), and the kingdom of Pentacles is dripping with wealth and excess. Hannah's journey, while it felt very surface level, does fulfill the promise of The Empress card. I did wish there was ultimately more complex politics within our fantasy world, perhaps some more moral grayness to everything as was promised (something other comped romantasies did deliver on), but I did find the world of Towerfall one I didn't mind spending time in. But there is so much page time wasted on other things--THREE makeover montages, a weird mean girl rivalry that just makes Hannah look bad (do we hate women here?), and repeated self-deprecation by Hannah--that I hardly felt like I got to know Towerfall.

This was...not my favorite, and I am not sure I'll continue with this series. If future books in the series center around different FMCs, I may give them a try because I do like the worldbuilding. But the romance, main characters, and plot all felt underdone, and just did not live up to the expectations of that beautiful cover and intriguing blurb.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bloom Books, and Kristin Cast for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

3 stars

A fast-paced romantasy with a sexy hero and an interesting premise. The heroine, Hannah, on what is almost certainly the worst day of her life, finds herself transported by a tarot card into the realm of Towerfall where she has to find her place.

What I liked: The premise of a realm based on the tarot was an intriguing one. The writing was easy to read and engaging and I was immediately drawn into Hannah's situation. The hero, Kane, was immediately interesting. Everything flowed relatively well and the pacing didn't lag anywhere, the tension was good and the spice spicy.

However, I struggled just a bit with Hannah herself. I felt for her immediately upon her introduction and was rooting for her. However at a lot of places her attitude and language were oddly flippant for the various situations she was in which made her seem rather ditzy. Though I enjoyed her friendship with Marion and was rooting for her romance with Kane they did feel as if they came on a bit too quickly.

This really did not lag, nothing was slow or remotely draggy to read, the scenes of action pretty fast paced. When everything finally came to a head it did so very quickly and the resolution was satisfying. Overall I think that for someone looking for a fun romantic adventure through a tarot based fantasy this will satisfy very nicely.

It wasn't quite the right book for me, but I certainly had no trouble reading it. I will be interested to see what other stories the author sets up for the rest of the series and the rest of the realm of Towerfall.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC.

The lowest rating I will give a book I've read in its entirety is a two star, and unfortunately that is what I've given The Empress. It may claim to be tarot inspired, but that is meant extremely loosely as tarot is not a central focus of the story.

The FMC Hannah is extremely unlikeable. Not only that, she's very immature and it is quite annoying. There is no explanation as to why she is chosen to be the "savior" for the Kingdom of Pentacles, nor is there much world building. The romance between her and the MMC is literally only superficial and reads as a poorly written Bridgerton-esque fanfiction (but throw in some magick at the most random times!)

This book was just very poorly written.

great book and I loved the action and the romance . I loved seeing the friends and family. I loved that they were able to figure things out. Overall a great book .

The magic system of the tarot cards is interesting. I do think that I wish it was clearer that this was a portal fantasy. But the style gives CW show and I am not sure it is exactly what I expected. I do think that the main character of Hannah will be very relatable . Over all it’s fine but it does not stand out in anyway. Also the fantasy language looks a lot like words that were misspelled vs taking inspiration and the reason of its own language

If you’re a tarot junkie, you will enjoy the lore of this book! The world is easy to jump into and understand. The plot is fast paced, the main characters love story being the focus of the story. I found the main characters lacked emotional depth and complexity, and although the “pretend marriage” trope is always a good one, it didn’t land quite right for me in this one. There wasn’t much to invest in as far as stakes, conflict, and relationships beyond getting to the spice, which could be what you’re looking for! And in that case, that reader will enjoy this book! Thank you for this ARC!

I really enjoyed the seamless blend of fantasy and contemporary elements, with the touch of tarot adding an intriguing layer (though I do wish there had been a bit more focus on it). The relationships in this book truly stole the show—Hannah and Kane’s dynamic was absolutely captivating, and ‘Little Fawn’ has to be the sweetest nickname ever. The banter was top-notch, the spice was fantastic, and I loved how the story, while part of a series, wrapped up beautifully with a satisfying ending. A thoroughly enjoyable read!"

Thank you NetGalley and Bloom Books for this ARC Copy!

I saw this cover and absolutely fell in love with it, I just wish that the story had gripped me as much as as the cover had.

This book was just not for me but I do know that it will be for a lot of others who really enjoy romantasy. I just never could connect with the FMC, and the MMC was not it for me. I can definitely see how he will be beloved by the right reader, but sadly that is just not me.

I really WANTED to enjoy this book, but it just fell short in too many ways for that too happen.

Hannah is going through a rough time in life when she gets whisked away to the mystical world of Towerfall, where the Arcana are real figures, not just tarot cards. Towerfall is a world where magic was once practice, but it has been outlawed and anyone who practices gets banished or killed. Hannah meets Kane when he heroically saves her life and the two strike up a deal. Both of them need to get into the palace of the Kingdom of Pentacles - her to escape back to her own world, and Kane to save Towerfall from certain destruction, so they will pretend to be married to help each other accomplish their tasks.

So I just had a couple of issues with this book that I really couldn't move past in order for me to enjoy it more. First, the blurb talks about how the Arcana are real, terrifying figures in Towerfall, but that's not really fleshed out all that well in the actual book. There's the tower, hence the name Towerfall, and there's the Kingdom of Pentacles and the Kingdom of Cups, and of course the antagonist to the Kingdom of Pentacles, Four. But that's it?? The Empress is the tarot card that brought Hannah to Towerfall, and she never actually meets the embodiment of the Empress! It was frustrating to be expecting a living tarot deck to be depicted and to get so little. AND there's supposedly these mirror versions of people that live in different realms, so there was Kane and then there was Earth-Kane, and there was Ivy and Stephanie who were mirror versions of each other. Hannah is from Chicago which is a large city with lots of people and she keeps meeting mirror versions of people she knows in either realm and I just feel like the odds of her meeting THAT MANY people she knew from the other realm were extremely slim and it bothered me.

Second, I felt like the spice was a little cringe-y to read and that's coming from me, a voracious spice lover. The lust just kind of came out of nowhere, and honestly Hannah seemed immature in so many aspects and it was really highlighted by the spicy scenes. The "good girl" stuff was somehow both over- and under-played. I don't know, I just didn't vibe with it at all.

Third, the drama/conflict between Hannah and Kane as the "third-act breakup" was so dumb, and again just really highlighted her immaturity as a person. He shouldn't have kept the secret from her, that was dumb of him but her response was so extreme and then she got over it in like one day... which was wild.

And finally, fourth, I totally get why Hannah went back to Towerfall, but the way she did it was so out of pocket I was just stunned for the last 10% of the book. She just racks up all her credit card(s) (which is understandable to go out in style, but that debt has to be dealt with one way or another) and she calls her mother and sister and is just like "I'm taking a self reflecting vacay to Europe, and I'm getting rid of my phone so you won't be able to contact me, but just know I'm safe! Toodles!" And the thing is, is she will never be able to come back from Towerfall, this isn't a vacation at all, for all intents and purposes she will be dead to them. And her family is just fine with that explanation??? It was just wild to me and I can't get over it.


So yeah, I didn't really like the book despite desperately wanting to. The premise had so much potential but it fell flat in so many ways it just couldn't recover. I do still want to say thank you to SOURCEBOOK/Bloom Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I still hold so much appreciation for the opportunity even if I didn't love the book, so thank you.

I liked this but I unfortunately didn’t believe the love story and couldn’t really become invested in the worldbuilding. I liked the side characters more than the main characters.

Hannah bombs a presentation, probably costing herself the promotion she was up for, and then finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her, and finds her clingy and beneath him. Brutal. But a visit to a tarot reader leads her to a while different realm. Kane, the hot warrior who finds her and keeps saving her asks for her help to save his kingdom...

I was surprised at the steaminess of this book. I was anticipating the fantasy side of it, but didn't expect the low-key bondage kink that Kane and Hannah dove RIGHT into.

That said, I enjoyed the fantasy "down the rabbit hole" type of world shift that happened, and that the people Hannah knows in her world have doppelgangers in the other world. The story is really interesting and well-written, and I'd be interested to read more of this series. This feels like a really interesting opening to a while world of kingdoms related to tarot, and I'd be more interested to see the not-of-their-world person comment on the similarities a little more than what happened here. I am not very knowledge on tarot cards or their meaning, and would have benefited from a little more exposition about them.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in return for sharing my thoughts on this book. Thanks to the author and publisher for this opportunity!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
3.5***

I try to go into books blindly, but I had read the synopsis prior for this one and was pretty excited for the unique/fresh tarot card element.
Unfortunately something fell flat for me and it turned into another basic romantasy novel.

The banter, spice, and action was enough to keep the pages turning and not dnf- but something deeper was missing and I just could not connect with any of the characters. Felt like a lot of filler rather than going into anything- maybe it's one of those first book set ups for the rest of the series?

Overall it was a decent romance book- just lacking the oomph for me to be great.