Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Kristin Cast for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was so intrigued by the gorgeous cover and premise, but that’s where my interest stopped. I really wanted to enjoy the tarot card magic system, but there wasn’t enough world building or magic description. It felt like any time magic was being done, it was off to the side with no description. I couldn’t get a feel for how it worked.

The main characters were also not my cup of tea. Hannah is so down on herself that it felt like Cast didn’t want us to root for her. There are no redeeming qualities in place before she’s like “I suck so much.” When she ends up in the other realm and meets Kane, his personality isn’t any better. It’s just: horny. That’s the whole personality.

The writing was cringey at times and made me want to quit reading. “I can’t die…I haven’t even grown my own sourdough starter.”

The premise of this book sounded really good. I like the idea of tarot cards and magic. The reason this fell flat for me was the FMC I found her to be very juvenile. While this is supposed to be an adult book it came of YA with her personality. I wish there was a bit more of the magic system and world building. I do think there's some good bones here and will read the next one.

Thank you NetGalley and bloom books for the gifted ebook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloom Books for the opportunity to read this as an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5⭐️ A classic “fmc discovers not only a new magical world, but her true self, potential, and strength”

This was my first read by Kristin Cast, and I had a decent time reading this story! The premise was VERY intriguing and pulled me in, but the overall execution could have been better.

For me, it was the rushed romantic dynamic between the fmc (Hannah) and mmc (Kane) and the overall style of dialogue that threw me off. The over-use (in my opinion) of “trendy” / “current pop culture” words and phrases kept pulling me out of the story and often times felt unnecessary. And although the storyline was about the fmc and her self-discovery and growth journey, I could barely connect and found her personality and decisions kind of annoying and cringy at times. The plot was decent but felt a little chaotic and all over the place at times, making it harder to keep track of the main objective.

I do want to say though, that there were many beautiful and uplifting messages / manifestation phrases within this story, which I highlighted and truly appreciated. This definitely has Outlander vibes in terms of different realms and such which I enjoyed, and I did like the world-building that was given!

Overall, although this book maybe didn’t totally hit it mark for me, I am still intrigued to see where this series goes and how it develops! I think that this world and concept has great potential!

—

Overall Ratings:
Star: 3.5⭐️/5
Spice: 1.5🌶️/5
Emotion: 1💧/5

Tropes:
💛 Fake marriage
❤️ Romantasy
💛 The Chosen One
❤️ One bed
💛 Broody Mmc
❤️ Tarot card inspired
💛 Mmc has a nickname for fmc
❤️ Different realms

I really enjoyed this book. This is definitely a book for lovers of romcoms and fantasy mashups. This is not a romantasy, it does have some fantastical elements but gives more historical romance vibes.

I loved Hannah’s growth and the storyline. The pacing in some parts of the books were a little off and not everyone will like Hannah as a main character but overall I had a lot of fun reading it and would definitely recommend it to friends!

I adored Hannah's acceptance of this strange world after she abruptly left her normal life behind. She's sassy, stubborn, and a lot of fun to watch. There is a really cool vibe to the series itself. It has a romantic yet somewhat historical feel to it. Although Towerfall has magic, it lacks most contemporary conveniences, particularly those pertaining to technology. Overall, I thought the story, the adventure, and the tarot references were fantastic.

I’ll start off by saying that I have not read books by this author before, I know she has multiple other books, I just have never read them. I was interested in the concept of the tarot cards and fantasy element - made me think it would be a less gothic version of One Dark Window - and I think because I went in with those expectations I let myself down. Very immature, flowy rom com kind of writing vibes, which for me, was not my cup of tea. I found the flow and writing hard to get into and disjointed. The cover is beautiful and it did have potential, just needed some structure and more character development that didn’t center around making bad choices.

I thought the Tarot card being the key to another world was a great idea and a good place to start, but this book didn't develop into something I could get my teeth into. The storyline had so much potential, but the sex scenes seemed to be the main point of the story, and it just wasn't for me.

Thank you Kristin Cast and NetGalley for providing me with an arc! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Actual rating: 3.5 ⭐️

What to expect:
- Fantasy world with multiple kingdoms
- Realm travel/time travel
- Spice 4/5 🥵🥵
- Dirty talk/bondage
- Tarot cards
- Quick and easy read

Going into this book I had lower expectations, mainly due to the average Goodreads rating (at the time it was 3.20) but I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised!

I’ll start with the fmc, Hannah. She’s a woman who seriously cannot catch a break. I mean she really doesn’t have much going for her until she falls through a portal into another realm. Personally, I enjoyed her. I found she could be a bit immature at times but for the most part she was a strong, relatable fmc.

Alright onto the star of the show, Kane. Damn, where can I me one? Amazon? Nope. Already tried. Seriously this man is amazing! He had the hot broody vibe down pat 🥵 and don’t even get me started on his dirty talk, 🫢 did not see that coming. I would have liked some more backstory on him because there could be room for some very interesting plot lines. Also I could understand how people would see him as your typical romantasy mmc, but that doesn’t bother me 🤷‍♀️

There were a few things I didn’t like about the book. I wish there had been more relationship building between the two characters. I think we had a few meaningful scenes than almost all sex scenes until the profession of love. Now I will give it a bit of leeway as it is a standalone.

I also felt the plot was a little dull for me. It made me feel like I was reading a children’s fairytale book, at least where the plot is concerned. I mean a woman falls through a portal into another realm, meets a handsome man and together they save the kingdom and become king and queen. Now I guess that could be said about any fantasy book but this one in particular was quite similar.

Recommend if you want an easy to read romantasy book!

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 .