4⭐️s
-Fake Marriage
-Romantasy
-Tarot Cards
-Unique Magical system
-Broody/Morally Grey MMC
-Little Fawn

“You want to be mine little fawn?” mhmmm..Kane was sooo yummy that he deserved his own POV. I probably would’ve gave it 5⭐️’s. I actually enjoyed this book more than I initially thought I would. Hannah was a bit frustrating through the book, she’s very naive and came off a bit immature. II kept slamming the book closed wanting to yell at her for some of the decisions she made or just her whining! I loved the unique magical system but was 50/50 with how much modern day things were included in the book EX: cell phones ,Uber, Target panties lol I don’t usually enjoy fantasy books that’s written that way but this was good. The tension in this book was making me antsy because Hannah was attracted to Kane right away, I didn’t expect it to be a slow burn & the chemistry just was a bit off to me. Also, I didn’t understand how Hannah was able to impersonate a brown person being white anyway, there was some holes but it didn’t make it any less enjoyable to me.I just kept wanting to read more! The spice was pretty hot!! I loved it . Definitely a book I’d recommend to others to read. First book by Kristin Cast but won’t be the last. Thanks NetGalley , Sourcebooks and Kristin Cast for giving me the opportunity to Arc Read this book!

An interesting twist on portal fantasy romance.

When a last second, impulsive trip to a Tarot shop ends with Hannah being practically booted from the shop with a tarot card in tow, she can't imagine that things could get any stranger. But the next day, after a failed presentation at work, an unfortunate encounter with her cheating boyfriend, and a missed bus have ended with her slipping on ice, falling through a portal. Transported to a realm with no cell signal, no electricity, and a tall, dark, and brooding warrior that things she's been sent to save them all, Hannah loses the tarot card that brought her here (and her purse) and needs to find them both so she can get home ASAP and make up for her disastrous work presentation. But when she finds herself fitting in to the world of Towerfall more and more and begins to catch feelings for the broody warrior who has become her protector, getting back to the real world might be a lot harder than she imagined.

This was an interesting, albeit shallow, portal fantasy romance. Elements of historical romance, fantasy, and even some contemporary elements blend together to create a world where there are more realms that one and they can be traversed by those who possess the means to do so. I enjoyed my time reading this story, I just wish there had been a little more meat to it. Both the romance and fantasy plots felt a bit shallower than I tend to prefer. I tend to like stories with more detail and a lot of aspects of this read felt a little glossed over.

That being said, I loved the witty banter between the characters and the contrast between Hannah (your average contemporary corporate ladder climber who has thus far been extremely unlucky in life and in love) and the historical fantasy aspects of the world of Towerfall. There is just something special about a woman being accused of witchcraft for using her phone. I thought the use of tarot was an interesting twist on a magic system and that the doppelgangers between realms was a very nice touch. Except for Stephanie. Fucking Stephanie.

Overall, I'd be intrigued to see where this series goes as it continues but it's not a book I think I will find myself reading more than once.

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Bloom Books via NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this due to the premise and tarot-themed magick system. It was fun to learn about the parallel universe and to watch the FMC (SLOWLY) learn the high-stakes social rules of the alternate society. That said, I ran into some hiccups that made it hard for me to fully enjoy the book.

I think it would have been more interesting if some of the parallel characters didn't play the same roles--it became predictible whenever she would recognize someone, because we knew what kind of role they would take on based on her experience with them in her universe. I could see how keeping the parallel characters "good" or "bad" makes sense in theory, but one character being a jerk at work then being an evil usurper of the crown felt really extreme and dramatic.

It was also hard to believe that this character would've chosen to stay in the alternate universe. It was clear that the goal was to have her have few ties to her realm, but I think she needed to have a worse life than she did in that realm to abandon it for this one.

Lastly, I wish that we knew more about the magick system. It was hard to really empathize with the political distress or be worried during certain key scenes when we don't really know what the magick does or what its limits are, if any.

I think that there is definitely a niche audience for this book--I would recommend it to people who enjoy a modern person's mannerisms, motives, and experiences in a historical setting. I learned that just isn't me, unfortunately.

First, I love the tarot card cover. The use of Tarot cards in this fantasy is great but everything else really confused me. Kristin is a really well put together author so I am confused on how some things happened in this book. I don't how the next installment could go. I hope this gets better with the second and answers quite a few of the questions for me.

This is a fun parallel universe story with good descriptions of the alternate reality. I liked that the characters have a doppelganger in Pentacles and the fact that they had the same good vs. evil persona in both worlds. I also appreciated that the author made sure the differences between the societies were noted and explained. The FMC learned, admittedly very slowly for someone working in corporate America in a major city, what she couldn't say or do. I wished she wasn't such a passive character for over half the book. It would have helped with the flow of the story. I also wanted a more in-depth discussion or development of the magick of the Tower and the prophecy.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. I had a hard time getting into the story and ultimately decided not to finish it.

Overall this was quite an enjoyable read! I loved the mesh of modern times and a medieval past. I found myself really liking the main characters. It definitely was an easy read but an enjoyable one. If you like fish out of water, magic, protective men, and romantasy you will enjoy this book.

There are things I enjoyed about this book, and other things that felt frustrating.

The idea behind another world based on tarot cards is very original. I love that each world had mirroring characters that impacted the plot and character development.

However, I did not enjoy the FMC throughout the majority of the book. She felt very whiney and helpless for the majority of the book and it made it difficult to get through the first 30%. The ending also felt very rushed and disjointed.

My favorite parts of the book were the spicy scenes. I thought the author did a good job building tension between the two main characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While this book has its flaws, I was overall charmed by the premise and characters. There were some key plot holes (IUD removal, frozen credit card, and dopplegangers) but it was creative and entertaining.

As a kid, I found the Stephen Donaldson book "The Mirror of Her Dreams" among my dad's eclectic sci-fi and fantasy books. This strongly reminded me of that duology but without the depressive overtones and with legit spice.

I'm not a tarot believer (though I've read multiple urban fantasy books that use them) so I skipped the explanation in the prologue. It didn't detract from my enjoyment. The whole book is Hannah's first-person POV, with some inner monologuing along the way.

I think the author did a good job of balancing Hannah's modern Chicago life with her time in Pentacles, Towerfall. I especially liked the food, clothing, and transportation details in Pentacles. Those fantasy areas are often glossed over.

The fantasy clothing was part of a deliciously spicy scene, too. Pentacles is plenty modern when it comes to k*nk.

The villain has a very silly name and the politics of the kingdom are glossed over at best. As well, it's not made clear the scope and size of the Towerfall Kingdoms.

Still, this had humor and spice and a rousing self-esteem adventure.

The premise of this book hooked me but unfortunately this book did fall a bit flat for me. I wanted to see a bit more of the world building and magic system throughout the book. The tarot elements were so intriguing and one of my favorite parts of the book. I think it could have been developed a little more though. This book held lots of banter, tension, and action which I loved. Overall, this book was a little bit of a miss for me but I could see how some people would love it!

Big thanks to Kristin Cast and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for a review.


This book has some realm travellings, steam, glow ups and more! The FMC grows a backbone which (if you are thinking of putting it down cause of her woe-is-me attitude, don't just yet!) Is great cause she's a little hard to enjoy in the first half or so of the book.
The MMC seems like a hunk, right from the beginning and makes the story enjoyable when the FMC is tiresome.

There are some world building issues that were hard to get past - they take the Clark Kent/Superman glasses off troupe a little to seriously.

Overall I'm giving it 3.5, rounded up to 4.

Anyone who knows me knows I love a good fake dating/arranged marriage trope, so The Empress was right up my alley. Add in a ruthless, morally grey, battle scarred MMC? SOLD. Say no more.

The tarot card based magic system was unique and it reminded me of one of my favorite childhood TV shows (Card Captors). My only complaint was that Hannah (the FMC) came across as quite mopey, but if I was in her place I would be too. So….it was relatable in that regard, and I couldn’t hate her for it lol.

I am at a loss as to the overall ratings for this book on review platforms and would strongly recommend picking it up and giving it a chance. I had a great time and if you enjoy an engaging, historical fantasy romance I think you will too. The Empress was the first book I have read from Kristin Cast, and after reading this book I am disappointed I hadn’t come across her work sooner.

Kane really carried me through this book. He was hilarious and the fake marriage was quite a nice touch, but Hannah was annoying (as everyone else has said) with her complete ignorance to the world around her. I really hope that when I was in my 20s I wasn't this immature.. she also fell down a lot which was kind of annoying. Maybe it has been the constant strong FMCs I have read about that FMCs that are not quite strong really don't jive with me.

Unfortunately I dnf'd this book at 28%. I was really intruiged by the world and being thrown into an almost alternate reality. I just didn't enjoy the FMC, her personality was just not something or someone I enjoyed reading. And I'm not sure if there was supposed to be chemistry because I wasn't feeling it.
I'm sad because I was excites for this, just not for me right now.

DNF @ 17%. I could almost immediately tell that the writing wasn't going to work for me. I'm disappointed because I love tarot and have read other books where it is the central theme and enjoyed them. The FMC talks/acts like every woman in early 2000's romcoms, which aren't my thing. I just couldn't get into this one. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Readers who love a youthful narrator and the instalove trope will love The Empress, which intriguingly weaves the Tarot into an out-of-time-and-place story. Hannah, our narrator, has a truly unfortunate set of events that leads to her falling through a portal. She lands into the arms of Kane, who is VERY hot, and she and Kane battle greedy, evil forces in the Kingdom of Pentacles, such as the Four of Pentacles (called Four in the book), and one of the meanings of this card is "greedy about wealth"-- so the embodiment of cards as characters was a fascinating story element. A few spicy scenes round out the love story here.

I was excited to read The Empress by Kristin Cast. It had a very intriguing premise, as an almost seductive Outlander with tarot inspired magic. However, I felt a bit let down. The pacing of the relationship was off and felt unbelievable, and the tarot magic was confusing.

I loved this book so much!! The story is so unique and interesting I can’t wait for the next part!!!! Kane!!!!! I bought the paperback!!!! While the fmc made bad decisions the concept of going into a different time period was so cool. The story mad sense for the time period and her constant fight to try to blend in while being from a completly different world. I enjoyed this!

I have many thoughts. The things I liked: the tarot card inspired magic and the idea that there is a mirror world out there is super fun. I also enjoyed the FMC's girl power vibes. But so many other things I had an issue with. It read like a very YA novel trying to be adult. The "spicy" scenes were cringy and didn't add anything to the story. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it would have been intended to be a YA book and just deleted all of the "adult" scenes. The two main characters were so unlikeable. The FMC was absolutely insufferable and immature at times, while the MMC was a liar. It's just a terrible combination for two love interests. The conflicts between characters and even just the FMC's thoughts in general felt very juvenile and immature. Thanks Netgalley for the e-ARC!

Frankly, I had mixed feelings on this. In some regards, I loved it, in others, it drove me crazy.

I love a good parallel universe story. I think they can be brilliantly done and show the innovations of worldbuilding when written well. This book could have done that, but there were too many inconsistencies. Firstly, Hannah is an abject moron, and acts in every possible way EXCEPT her self-interest or self-preservation the entire book. No efforts to blend in or learn the customs of the world she was dropped in, with so many after-the-fact “oops!” moments that you just had to roll your eyes at. I also was a bit confused on the tone of the writing in places where Hannah, a very airheaded character (even though she is said to be in her mid-20s), starts describing the architectural features of the palace in extreme detail, highlighting different colors and interior design details that I had to look up to know what she was talking about. The tone felt incongruent, and it took me out of the book numerous times.

Let’s get to the romance. Kane and Hannah have such instalust that turns into such instalove, it is laughable. There is little to no build-up, no depth to their relationship, and honestly, Kane’s character development as an individual is rushed and not done the service it should have been given for such a main character.

I mention all of these detracting factors first because it was a real bummer to have all of that impacting my desire to love her disguise moment, the mistaken identity, and the “touch her and you die” of it all! The spicy scenes were fabulous too, but the characters were generally written so badly, I couldn’t be arsed to care. I give this 3⭐, and mildly begrudgingly at that.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*