Brynla is a talented dragon egg thief, who is working for the House Dalgaard to keep herself and her aunt alive. Little does she know that, Andor, the son of the Sjef of House Kolbeck, is watching her. He watched as dragons left her alone instead for killing her for stealing their eggs. He watched as her suen magicked dog, Lemi, shifts from place to place.
Andor is looking for someone that may be able to help him steal a legendary egg that is said to offer immortality.
Can they find it together or will they each have their own endeavors and pursuits to obtain the egg?
Pick this one up to find out.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group & Penguin Random House for the advance reader copy.

I devoured this fantasy book and loved every bit of the adventure so far!

Andor & Brynla are enemies to lovers and also dragon egg thieves. They come from very different sides of their world trying to work together even though they're rivals. I loved the way the dragons were portrayed and how everyone covets their eggs and why. Also I adored Brynla's trusty sidekick, Lemi.

This book held so much magic and mystery and I can't wait for more!

Realm of Thieves:⁣
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Co you @prhaudio @acebookspub for my gifted copies! #PRHAudioPartner #BerkleyPartner ⁣
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“I don’t want a princess. I want a thief.”⁣
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Well this was a fun and adventurous romantasy! I really liked this new take on dragons. I love a dragon, trust me. Minus the phoenix that’s my number one fantasy animal. But I also never see them just hanging out, not trying to be ridden by a human. So seeing their eggs be the topic of discussion was really neat and I liked it.⁣
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I loved the world here. The powers are unique and connected to the dragon eggs. (More specifically the suen aka the magic in the yolk) I’m a sucker for map, so you know I appreciated knowing exactly where the Midlands and Banished lands were.⁣
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Audio was perfection. The romance scenes via audio were it. It’s dual audio with the dual POV and highly recommended.⁣
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Great beach read, honestly. The epilogue has me so read for the next installment, but y’all have to check out the first one first! Out tomorrow, 6/10!

Holy moly! I guess this is what I get for deciding to read a book based upon the author and not even read the synopsis 🤯 I was not prepared for this story! I know KH is good about delivering tales that none of us would even imagine, but Brynla and Andor's world was something else entirely.

I am excited to see where the story goes from here and to get lost in the world of dragons, magical eggs, goddesses and more!

Thank you to Karina Halle and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a first for me in Romantasy - I really liked the world and dragon egg part of the story, but I couldn’t stand the romantic relationship. I needed more dragons, and less toxicity.

I did not bond with the main characters in this story. Andor, the MMC, was possessive, dishonest, and cringy. Brynla, the FMC started out strong and independent, but once the sexual relationship began, she was essentially compliant. Every choice Andor made for Brynla was awful and icky. Brynla forgave pretty quickly with no impact to her trust in Andor. The discussions of Andor never yielding to Brynla was really hard to read. Several of Andor’s family members had the potential to be interesting characters, but they weren’t given enough time in the story to fully develop. The one character I liked in this story was Lemi, the dog.

I really liked the pacing and world building of this story. The pacing was overall medium paced. The locations and creatures were well described and vivid. The concept of the Jurassic Park-esque dragons, the suen, the wards, the dragon egg trade, goddesses, and political atmosphere were interesting and fresh.

This book lacked smart, thief heist plot twists. There were a lot of blunders. I really wanted more, especially from Brynla, as a thief and survivor. There were so many antagonists in the story, the main goal of the story was unclear. Antagonists included: the other dragon egg trade houses, the convent, the Black guard, Andor’s own family, the governments, and the dragons. Perhaps clarity will be provided in subsequent books in this series.

This book has spice, I would give it 2/5 🌶️.

Some tropes:
- who did this to you
- one horse

Overall, this book had a lot of potential and cool topics, with a fresh dragon twist bordering on Jurassic Park vibes. The romantic relationship negatively impacted my enjoyment of the story. I give this book 3 ⭐️’s.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of Realm of Thieves.

🐉 Spicy Romantasy
🐉 "Dune" meets "Jurassic Park" with dragons
🐉 Rivals to Lovers
🐉 "Who did this to you?"
🐉 Teleporting Dog
🐉 Chronic illness - extreme cramps

"Dune" meets "Jurassic Park" with dragons in this new romantasy series by Karina Halle. Brynla is a hired thief who steals coveted and illegal dragon eggs for the black market with the help of her magical dog. On one of her hunts, she is kidnapped by a thief of a rival house dynasty, in the hopes that she will work for his family instead. Brynla and Andor clash at every turn but they can't stop the sparks that fly between them.

This book has everything you would want in a romantasy - a unique and complex world that is filled with magic and mysteries, political intrigue, heart pounding action, transportive storytelling, and sizzling romance. Plus, a loveable teleporting dog who definitely stole the show!

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing / Ace for the advanced copy! 🖤

📖 Book Review 📖 In a magical land fueled by the illegal trade of dragon eggs, the fight for survival is on. Karina Halle pens a sweeping land so descriptive in words that it dances off the pages, creating an absolutely immersive reading experience. The only thing competing with the sweeping scenery is the characters, driven by the greed for magic found in the highly coveted dragon eggs. Lines may be drawn but boundaries are crossed in this riveting new romantasy novel. Karina Halle delivers a sultry summer hit in Realm of Thieves.

Dragons! Partially inspired by the epic perfection that is Jurassic Park.
It's been awhile since I read a Karina Halle book and my first of her fantasy books - I want the rest of the series IMMEDIATELY, though I almost sad that the center of the future books (based on the epilogue) will not be our leads in this one, Brynla and Andor.

Brynla is a Survivor. Scratch that, she's a SURVIVOR. She lost her rebel parents young, was forced in a convent for a dragon-worshipping cult where she was abused, eventually escaped to be with her aunt in the Banished Lands living in underground in the Dark City, and she works for this world's equivalent of a billionaire mafia that steals dragon eggs from where all the dragons are trapped and warded on a series of islands. Brynla is one of their thieves - taking a substance from inside unfertilized dragon eggs called suen that can give people powers.

Obviously, there's heavy politics involved in this like there are with lots of fantasy books, and I like her take on dragons a lot. The idea of intelligence while still being animals, and that they have their own bloodlines and generational memory, as well as being fierce AF.

Andor is a member of one of the powerful houses, who sees himself as the black sheep and is treated as such, who proves his value by risking trips to the dragon island to get Suen. He takes Brynla, tries his damnedest not to be attracted to her when she's his prisoner, but it's so dang mutual they can't help it. Andor lost his mother young and horribly, and he has a lot of sadness inside him that makes him doubt his worth. He's the kind of male lead that is better just for the experience of loving Brynla, even if he thinks she won't love him back.

The last five chapters are a series of shocks and craziness that had me gasping, but also revealed and set up so much for the rest of the series. I can't wait!

A great fantasy around dragon lore with enough depth to make the world clear, and a love story that will make you feel all squishy inside.

This was a exciting fantasy read! Very fast-paced, rivals to lovers, cartel-esque, and perfectly spicy. Brynla and is a badass and Andor falls first and hard!! A really cool read if you are wanting dragons without it feeling like every other dragon romantasy out there!

I am not a mafia romance reader, so maybe I just wasn’t the right audience for this book. I thought maybe it’d be different, coming from a fantasy setting instead of the real-world. But the fantasy world building here is surpringly sparse, for all it revolves around fantasy dragon eggs and their magic effects. In fact, this reminded me a lot of Jade City by Fonda Lee, if the jade magic element wasn’t really explained and the book never went into any of the details of how most of the mafias functioned or their various conflicts with one another.

In fact, this world felt very sparsely populated overall. The main character, who is not like other girls (she has naturally growing lavender hair and is the only person dragon magic doesn’t work on for special reasons) and she doesn’t appear to have or make any friends outside of her magic dog (we don’t know why he’s magic). The MMC has some vague *insert male friendship* vibes but I couldn’t really tell you anything specific about any of his friends, or really his family other than the shallow, they don’t appreciate him and treat him poorly type details. I don’t think I even got a good handle on who the MMC was. He lied to the FMC a lot, lied to his family, kidnapped her, blackmailed her, talked about being the black sheep of his family but spent his entire life trying to fit in with them and do their bidding. there’s even a moment when he finally stands up to them and then…. nothing happens? they just go back to normal?

I’m not sure if I’’m supposed to see them as the villains or not. They are set up to be the villains but also the MMC continues to work for them without complaint or conflict so it’s a little confusing there. Lots of plot points never seem to have the consequences we are told they’ll have so I felt a little disconnected from the stakes overall. Finally, a lot of the world building that does occur comes via info dump instead of being woven in to the story, which makes what should be some of the most unique elements of the book sort of boring.

An entertaining romantasy that can be summarized as mafia-meets-dragons. Dragon egg yolk imparts magical properties when ingested, and a set of mafia-style families control their trade across the different countries in this dragon-populated world (though the dragons are confined to their own island). The world building was fairly effective, conveying the geographies of the pertinent lands and their religious and political organizations without resorting to a giant info dump beyond the "history" intro section (which I probably only half paid attention to.) I enjoyed the main character, Brynla, and her magical dog, though I found the male lead, Andor, somewhat cliched, predictable, and mostly uninteresting. Even so, the adventure itself was well-paced, with a lot of action and emotional ups and downs. My actual rating would probably be more like a 3.5, but it was a strong start to a series that I can see myself continuing, so I'm willing to round up.

Andor
That's it that's the review.
Kidding kidding but really though Andor is
new book bf. I absolutely loved this story. The world building, the character growth, such great little details throughout.The way it starts off with Brynla stealing dragon eggs.LIKE FROM LEGIT DRAGONS NESTS I was like oh yes. We are in for a ride. I feel like it was such a different concept done completely right. Also can we talk about the cave scene and how completely swooned I am over Andor. thank you for another masterpiece

KARINA HALLE MY QUEEN 😩🤌🏼 once again another banger that i will be thinking about until my last breath. thank you so much for the opportunity to arc read !!

interconnected standalone series
illegal dragon trade
where mafia vibes meets romantasy
enemies to lovers
touch her and die
spice
he falls first
chronic illness rep
morally grey characters

Dragons in romantasy are all the rage right now, but instead of going for sexy dragon shifters or tamable, rideable magical creatures, the dragons in Realm of Thieves are ferocious, wild and above all, apex predators. A long time ago they ruthlessly ruled all but the coldest reaches of the realm of Dragemor, until the people surviving there figured out how to magically trap the dragons in the Midlands, harsh volcanic islands in the center of Dragemor.

When people figure out that dragon eggs contain a substance, suen, that gives humans enhanced abilities, a black market quickly develops, controlled by rich, powerful and ruthless houses on each continent. The protagonists, Brynla and Andor, are dragon egg thieves from opposing houses, forced to work together after Andor kidnaps and blackmails Brynla because he is certain that she and her suen-enhanced dog will be able to help him pull off something that will uplift his position in House Kolbeck. They go from rivals, to reluctant allies to lovers as they navigate the perils of deadly dragons, political intrigue, hostile family and shattering loss.

Both Brynla and Andor have been hardened by the circumstances of their lives, but they deal with it in different ways. Brynla is wary, distrustful and prickly. Andor leaps into things before he looks and has a tendency to be a bit flippant and irreverent.

Realm of Thieves isn't just a spicy action packed romantasy. It takes on some difficult topics too. I loved how loss and grief was tackled and discussed in the book (don't worry, the dog doesn't die!) It also touches on religious fanaticism and the accompanying trauma, and familial traumas.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Karina Halle for the opportunity to advance read and review!

🌹🖤 Realm of Thieves ARC Review 🖤🌹

Thank you so much to Karina Halle and the Renegade Readers Society for the opportunity to read and review this book

Realm of Thieves is a fantasy romance and book 1 in the Thieves of Dragemor series. In the realm of Dragemor, illegal dragon eggs are a lucrative commodity, often drawing in the most talented of thieves. Brynla is notorious for her skills, but when she is kidnapped and blackmailed by Lord Andor, can she survive in this world of politics and warfare?

This was an interesting fantasy read. I enjoyed Brynla as a character and found her strength engaging. Andor was an intriguing character but I found myself wanting just a little more from him. I felt like there was something missing with their dynamic and it was hard to explain, but it just felt flat.

I personally struggle with the kidnapper/prisoner power dynamic if it’s not handled well and, even though there was a verbal resolution to this, didn’t feel like there was an actual resolution as Andor still held a lot of the actual power and control in this book while Brynla lost almost everything

Overall this was a solid three star read. The world building has potential, but I struggled with the characters and their dynamics in this book. This book has a few potential triggers, so please check if you’re sensitive. This book was a bit of a slow burn but did have spicy scenes once it got going so overall two flames for spice

If you’re a fan of fantasy romance with interesting world building, engaging magic and interesting politics, then absolutely pick this one up

The start of the story had me so invested and i couldn’t stop reading. But somehow after the first few chapters I lost interest. I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters and the story felt like taking on a whole new trail than the one I was lead to think it would. I had to stop reading because I just couldn’t wrap my head around it all. It may be a great read for some but not for me at the moment.
Very grateful to the publisher for my copy through NetGalley, opinions are my own

I DNFed at 52%. The beginning sucked me in immediately. The world was interesting and the dragon lore was new and fresh. I also really liked the FMC. After the initial action, I quickly got bored. There was no clear narrative and the romance was starting to feel rushed and out of nowhere. Great concepts, just poor execution that couldn’t keep me engaged or interested

Thieves? Check.
Dragons? Check.
Hate-to-Love? Check. Check. Check!
Karina Halle has got RANGE! I adored her contemporary works, and I had no idea that she was in the romantasy writing realm. I am HOOKED!

3.5 stars rounded down. Realm of Thieves is really hard for me to rate, because there's a lot that I enjoyed about it, but also some things that bugged me. At it's core, Realm of Thieves features a strong, resourceful, dragon thief that falls in love with her kidnapper. For me, the star of the show was clearly Brynla, and her pup Lemi (can't forget him). I have literally nothing negative to say about her as a character or lead. Truly, I love a kick ass heroine, and I'm very much a sucker an animal sidekick. Plus, there's the endo rep, which I'm always down for. And she has purple hair, which couldn't be cooler. I also really loved (mostly) the scenes in the Midlands... they had major Jurassic Park vibes, and that's my all time favorite movie and one of my all time favorite books. So I couldn't get enough of those scenes. However, as I said above, there were a few things that didn't work for me, which may come down to personal preferences. 1) One of my biggest pet peeves in romance books is when something terrible happens and the couple deals with the event by having sex, which magically solves all of the problems. No offense, but if I'm angry or grieving or feeling betrayed, sex is not going to fix my problems. But proposing sex as a panacea might make me punch you. 2) Another thing that bugged me was the violence against animals. Yes, dragons aren't real, but for some reason, one of the scenes that depicted violence against them really bugged me. Especially given the context (i.e., people encroaching on their territory trying to steal their eggs- which also, bad on me. Hello, just read the blurb. Clearly they steal dragon eggs). There were a few other scenes that depicted violence against animals and it's not necessarily a trigger for me, but it's certainly not something I enjoy. 3) But for me, the biggest issue I had with the book was Andor, the male lead and Brynla's romantic interest. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally here for a good kidnapping, just like everyone else on booksta, but everything about him as a character gave me the ick. I didn't like his personality. I felt a lot of the things he said were cheesy, including when he was trying to be sexy. Yes, he was cocky, but all that did was make me roll my eyes rather than swoon. Plus, I felt him to be a liar and a betrayer. So all in all, I was not rooting for Andor and Brynla to get together. Literally anyone else in the book would have worked better for me. And again, this is a me problem. Other than these personal issues, the plot was interesting, there were a lot of action moments, and we obviously got a badass heroine. So, will I read book 2? It depends. Based on the way Realm of Thieves ended, I have a sneaking suspicion that the next book will follow a different couple, and based on the literal sentence we get of them interacting, I'm sold. He feels morally grey and she feels like the type of heroine that might be massively underestimated, which is pure catnip for me. I could see him being mean to her or even hating her but simultaneously shredding anyone that even breathes wrongly in her direction, and ughhh, I live for that type of angst. If the next book is a different couple, and especially the couple I think it might be, then I am 100% on board, and kind of already salivating for it.

Thank you so much to Halle, Berkley Romance (berkley partner) and netgalley for the complimentary copy.

As soon as I read the blurb for this I needed to have it in my hands. I love reading about dragons and thieves stealing dragon eggs just piqued my interest immediately.

The beginning is fantastic. Life or death, thrust right in, everything felt so purposeful. I was interested in who the characters were, especially Lemi because shifting dog, and I just didn't want to put it down. Around 20% though I just became bored.

I had little interest in the characters, the plot kind of felt like it was slugging, and the romance was, for me, just there. I became a bit less interested throughout the book until I get to the unsatisfying ending. The idea was incredible the execution was just not for me.

It still gets three stars for how absolutely invested and in love I was in the beginning and the writing itself.