What’s the Story?:

The Heir That Was Promised™ is dead. His twin sister, Briony Rosewood? Officially screwed.

Bombard has sacked her kingdom, auctioned off her people like magical battery packs (called heartsprings, which is somehow even creepier than it sounds), and sold Briony to Toven Hearst—a broody former classmate with bad people skills, a whole lot of money, and the exact kind of blond-haired, gray-eyed, morally complicated energy that screams: yes, this will be a problem for me

What follows is a dark, trigger warning-riddled fantasy romance told in dual timelines. Despite its HP fanfic roots, the worldbuilding and magic system feel totally original. And the sexual tension? Off the charts.
The slow burn will hurt, but trust me—you’ll like it.

✨ My Thoughts: 5 Stars, No Notes ✨

Yes, this started as HP fanfic (The Auction), but if that scares you, don’t let it. Julie Soto has fully leveled this up into its own rich, unique world with a creative magic system (think mind magic vs. familiars) and layered political tension. The whole vibe feels fresh even if you can spot the original bones.

What I loved:
1️⃣ The morally gray worldbuilding. Evermore thinks it’s evolved and superior; Bombard thinks Evermore is unnatural. Both are very hypocritical. Basically: fantasy geopolitics are messy.
2️⃣ The Big Bad is a woman who apparently bonded with the last dragon and said “let me stage a coup, thanks.” Totally iconic, even if I have to root against her.
3️⃣ Toven Hearst. That’s it. That’s the bullet.
4️⃣ THE TENSION. Listen, the spice is light (borderline 2-3 peppers), but the tension is a 47 out of 10.

What mildly made me want to shake Briony: Girl, for someone so book smart, you are spectacularly slow on some very obvious dots that need connecting. But honestly? Still not enough to dock a star. Not even close.

So good. Dark, gripping, original, and the start of what’s going to be a trilogy—so mentally prepare yourself for those cliffhangers.

Bottom Line: It’s called Rose in Chains. You are not signing up for cozy. But if you like your romantasy dark, tense, and wildly addictive, welcome. You’re home.

📚 Rose in Chains releases July 8, 2025.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the ARC 🖤

This book drops you straight into the war-torn darkness with zero hand-holding and I loved it for that. The atmosphere is heavy, foreboding, and tense from the first page, and I immediately felt the FMC Briony’s confusion, fear, and internal conflict. She’s a character who grows on you. Book smart but not quite street smart, Briony isn’t some untouchable, badass heroine and that’s what makes her feel real. She’s flawed, a little naïve, and sheltered, which can be frustrating at times, but it makes sense given her background. She’s learning, slowly, and you can feel her edging toward something stronger.

Toven, the MMC, is enigmatic, broody and aloof but with glimmers of something deeper. The history between him and Briony adds so much tension, turning what could be a typical captor/captive setup into a deliciously complicated mess of friends to reluctant allies to forbidden maybe-somethings. Their slow burn is painfully slow... but the potential is so good. The brief moments between them had me clinging to every word. Please let Book 2 feed us well.

The world is dark. Really dark. Definitely check the content warnings. We do see on-page details of dark and triggering acts—this isn’t a fade-to-black kind of book. While Briony is mostly (like 99%) spared from enduring the same horrors as the others, she witnesses them and is fully aware of what’s happening around her. The brutality is explicit, just not inflicted directly on the FMC, and it adds real weight to the world. If you’re a fan of darker tropes like I am (forced proximity, captor/captive, enemies to lovers, emotional trauma galore), this one delivers.

My only real gripe? The pacing lagged a bit once Briony arrived at Toven’s house, and her obliviousness to certain dynamics made me want to shake her. But again—single POV, third person, and she’s been incredibly sheltered, so it tracks. Still… a girl can hope for a little more awareness (and maybe a dual POV?) in the next book.

Overall, Rose in Chains is a gritty, emotionally rich series opener that sets the tone for what I hope is an even darker, spicier sequel. If you like your fantasy romance to hurt a little before it heals, this one’s for you.

🌶️ 0.5/5 Spice (but fingers crossed for more in Book 2)

I really enjoyed this read, especially knowing it originated as a Dramione fanfic. I am a sucker for these kind of stories plus I like Julie Soto's writing so far.

That said, the world-building felt a bit rushed. The first few chapters threw readers into the setting without much introduction, and the major plot points, like the battle, capture, and enslavement, all happened quickly, without a lot of buildup. I personally would’ve liked more time to ease into the world and understand its dynamics before everything unfolded.

The romance is a very slow burn. Not much happens romantically in this first installment, but I didn’t mind. It laid a solid foundation, and I’m definitely intrigued to see where it goes next. The book ended on an interesting cliffhanger that makes me want to pick up the sequel as soon as it’s out.

One note: while it isn’t overly graphic, the story does touch on some dark themes. I'm unsure if this is meant to be categorized as a dark romantasy or a romantasy with dark elements, either way, I recommend checking the trigger warnings before diving in.

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the eARC!

Are you kidding me this is so good?! Julie Soto, I was unfamiliar with your game. This is dark, decadent, daring, and so so delicious!

Setting aside its source material and its beloved lore, this holds up as an incredibly solid adult romantasy. Unlike anything I've ever read before, the story is highly addictive. The characters are complex and mysterious, the romance is the slowest of burns that will shake you to your core, and the world and magic system itself is phenomenally constructed. I need more now.

It pains me to say this as this was one of my most anticipated reads this year, but the book doesn’t live up to the hype. You can definitely tell this is based off a fan fiction just in the world building alone. We get so little world building I had more questions finishing this book than when I started. The characters were also not as well developed, we got flashback scenes which I did enjoy as it provided a bit more backstory to their relationship, but in the present day the characters get almost no development. The thing that saves this book is the romance. It was not a slow-burn in my opinion, but it still worked and it was the main thing that kept me interested in the book.

Amazing book- It reminded me of the handmaids tale and dramione fandoms! I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I loved Briony and Toven's romance and tension. I would give it a 5 stars but I will say that at some points in the story it was a little too slow and the author often repeated herself. I would definitely recommend this book if you enjoy romantic tension, magic, and and trauma. So much trauma...

One of the best feelings in the world is when you feel absolutely feral for a book.

And that was precisely how reading Rose in Chains made me feel. I was rabid, ravenous, and couldn't get enough. I devoured this book—and at the end basically crashed entirely out from the intensity of the huge reveals and cliffhanger.

This dark romantasy (definitely check any trigger warnings, and take care of your mental health while reading this) follows Briony Rosewood, the princess of Evermore whose twin brother —a prophesied savior—has just been killed in battle. In the aftermath, she and many other Evermore citizens are captured, branded, and auctioned off to wealthy families in Bomard, the realm they were at war with. Briony is purchased by Toven Hearst: the boy who both bullied her in school and fascinated her, and whose terrifying family is extremely well-connected within Bomard's society.

As much as I loved the angst and tension between Briony and Toven, the political intrigue and extremely high stakes, there were aspects of this book that frustrated me, despite the fact that I enjoyed the story and definitely see the huge amount of work that Julie Soto put into adapting this Dramione fic to an original story with the shape of that beloved work but distinct enough to stand on its own (and avoid, you know, a lawsuit). Though the worldbuilding is fine, the development of the magic system—heart magic versus mind magic—left me confused in some places as the plot progressed. It's not necessarily a massive issue, but there were definitely times that I was furrowing my brow, thinking "Wait, what?"

But. BUT. The pacing is quick, the chemistry between Briony and Toven sizzles, and the changes Julie made to characters and overall plot when adapting this story will have those who love the fic screaming out loud—and those who are reading it with no prior knowledge of the fic gasp. I had a very hard time putting it down, and even though there are a few things in this book that I feel a bit furious about (!!!), I definitely will be picking up the next in the series. I NEED to know where the story is going to go.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Uh... How do I even begin?

I am so sad and disappointed. I really enjoyed Thrashers and I wasn't expecting to. Soto made me enamored with her prose and ability to treat sensitive matters with a lot of respect in that narrative. The gripping paranormal mystery was exciting, she got me to love a mystery thriller which is not usually my jam. So when I found out she wrote a high fantasy book with a forbidden romance with emphasis on the angsty pining? I was sold!

... that is until I read it. What happened? How did the writing quality go so downhill? Why were the characters so flat? Where was that sensitivity to dark and sensitive materials? I'm stunned and stumped, not in a good way. I will not be continuing the series. I'm rounding up to one star.

Thank you Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an e-ARC copy of Rose in Chains (Deluxe Limited Edition) by Julie Soto in exchange for my honest review.

Briony's world ended the day the battle finally stopped. After years of war, her brother, the heir and King of the Eversuns, was slain in the fight against Bomard. Briony collected herself and her brother's fiancée and attempted to flee the aftermath. Unfortunately, they are captured by Bomard soldiers and sold to the highest bidder as energy sources to the wealthy elite. Through a sick turn of events, Briony is the new property of one Toven Hearst, long-time crush and even longer-time enemy. She must now work to find information about her people and a way to return home. What Briony never expected was to find unlikely companions in her current hellscape and that hope was not entirely lost.

This book is straight up one for the Dramione girlies. I was super pleased with the main characters' chemistry and enjoyed their slow-burning longing dynamic. This is a *slow and developing* relationship build, but I think it was absolutely worth it. The reader feels the history via flashbacks, the seething distaste via the current environment, and the urgent hope via the unexpected connections. I also appreciated that the characters felt like adults. The nature of this book is a very heavy and dark topic and I am glad that the reader feels the seriousness of the situations they are facing.

I give this book 4.5 stars and look forward to reading more in this trilogy!

I'm absolutely unhinged with how much I love this book.

The world building and magic is top tier. It felt unique and the atmosphere of it keeps you so invested. It takes place surrounding the Eversuns, who practice mind magic, and the Bombard who practice heart magic. The two conflicting regions were under peace treaty and children of the two nations shared schools when war broke out. Following the war, the Eversuns were being taken hostage and forced into servitude.

Briony, a princess to Eversun is taken and sold at auction. Bought by Toven, somehow who she has history and went to school with, she finds herself constantly on the brink of new dangers.

What makes this book top tier and stay up till 3 am reading worthy: the angst, slow burn, political intrigue, high stakes, and dark twists. I was absolutely addicted to this and couldn't put it down. To stay I cannot wait for the rest of this series and a physical copy to reread is an understatement.

Thank you to Forever publishing and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! My only issue is now waiting for the next book 😭

A kingdom in ruins, a princess sold at auction, and the mysterious family who buys her. Rose in thorns was a fun ride, with high stakes and depravity around every corner. The mysteries and reveals were engaging and left me wanting the next book immediately. The slow burn romance is also intriguing and you really get sit in the romantic tension with two enjoyable characters who are burdened by the society and war surrounding them. While this story was heavily rewritten to distance itself from its origins as a Dramione fanfiction, it’s still fairly obvious. This story still feels like an Ao3 fanfiction, with its long, drawn out plot and no clear structure. It’s clear that this is only part of a continuous story. While this structure struck my nostalgia and entertained me, it may feel strange to read for an audience with less experience reading fanfictions. But overall I personally enjoyed this (very dark) story, and patiently await the next book in this series.

Julie Soto’s first official foray into fantasy is, without a doubt, a magical, yearn-tastic, smashing success!

Artful world building, complex characters, and intriguing plot are just the beginning. The show-stopping, angst-filled budding romance encompasses a yearning slow burn that I have been waiting my entire life to read.

Perfectly paced from the first page, this brilliant start to the Evermore trilogy was quite literally un-put-down-able. Reaching the end was devastating if only because I now have to wait an indiscernible amount of time for the sequel.

As a previous reader of The Auction, I thought the adaption to original work was incredibly well done, and the story stands wonderfully on its own. The characters felt uniquely their own whilst still giving favorable call backs to the original inspirations.

I was so thoroughly impressed and obsessed with Rose in Chains, and I will indeed lie awake each night in my own restless yearning for the rest of the series.

If you love the slowest of slow burns, intense yearning, magic, and so much more, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), NetGalley and Julie Soto for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. Still screaming about this acceptance and so grateful to have been given the opportunity.

This book y’all. I am foaming at the freaking mouth over Briony and Toven. Slow burn at its finest, gobbling up every little crumb we are given. And the world building, the emotion, the character development, truly a masterpiece from start to finish.
Contrary to my normal reviews, I will not be including a synopsis in this one as I feel this book is one that you need to go into blind, whether you’ve read The Auction on A03 or not. This book is an emotional roller coaster that has you begging for more. Definitely some hard topics so check your trigger warnings as always because those are there for a reason. And remember that this is book one of a trilogy so this is only the beginning.

I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I finished it, pretty sure I even dreamed about it last night. Every detail was crafted so beautifully within the main story, along with the flashbacks to years past filling in some of the gaps. I absolutely loved Briony, her cunning, her intelligence, her compassion. I can’t want to see how much she grows as a character.
And Toven, gosh. I feel like we’ve really only seen glimpses of who he truly is as a person, and I’m crossing my fingers that at some point we will get a POV from him because the infuriation I felt at his coldness without a scrap of explanation, gah. Even so, I’m obsessed, and I will accept every little morsel of affection he gives.
The secondary characters are phenomenal as well, I definitely hope to see more of them in the rest of the series. The camaraderie between the girls at the auction, and how that developed further even though they were separated. I smell a revolution coming and I cannot wait to see how it unfolds.

Overall, I need the next book like right now and I am so excited for the special edition to be displayed on my shelf!

A big shout out and thank you to Nerd Daily and the publisher Forever, for giving me this amazing opportunity to read Rose in Chains early in exchange for an honest review.

I cannot remember the last time in my career as a reviewer that I have stared this long, this hard and this wordlessly at a blinking cursor, both wonderfully devastated and utterly beguiled.

As readers we all have favourite authors, favourite tropes, favourite storylines. Some books break those preferences we have and remake them and then remake us. I walked into Rose in Chains with a clear expectation of how I wished for it to go, from my past experiences with similarly themed stories. About 5% in I knew this book was not going to go in the direction that I had anticipated and I suddenly had a thought: “What if I held on to my expectations, anyway? Would this book be something I enjoyed anyway?”

It was a risky experiment to have chosen to pursue, as most books end up being quite the disappointment when they don’t meet your preconceived expectations of them. For the first time in my life, I held back against trusting the author and going with the flow of the book. And for the first time in my life, I was so so grateful the author did not go in the direction I had anticipated/hoped to see her explore. For if she had, I would’ve not experienced Rose in Chains as the emotionally shattering experience that it was.

Soto has chosen to walk down the road less travelled with her plot. Walking in with the idea that this story is about a boy saving a girl and a girl saving him right back would be a grave mistake on the reader’s part. This book is about a girl’s world being ripped out from underneath her feet and her slow, painful and dangerous climb back. The book has the strength to break and mend your heart seven times over, make and unmake your thoughts, twist your understanding then smooth it out.

The narration in this story follows an unpredictable non-linear storytelling pattern. In my experience, these are tricky to position in a book because they can sometimes take away from the pace of the running timeline. However Soto has truly outdone herself weaving what can sometimes feels like two different melodies side by side before they merge into one ringing tone that resonates long after even the last page is turned.

The book reads in single person perspective and we delve deep into the mind of the FMC, Briony Rosewood. The simplest way to have readers enjoy a story is to make them feel for the narrator(/s) or the characters of the story. Soto mercilessly takes us on a journey that makes us feel a multitude of emotions for nearly every single character. Two of my own personal favourite experiences was one, how Soto has written characters who can incite many contradictory emotions as more of their motivations begin to emerge and two, how tertiary characters that appear for perhaps three scenes have a lasting impact on the plot, world building and emotions of the characters and the reader.

The world building in this story is threaded through with the finest needle into every single word from the very first page. The narration and story telling style only further supports it with the FMC and the readers being kept in the dark about many aspects of the story and unveiling truths together. Initially, there is a large influx of character names and the author does a subtle call-out of it that as a reader can make you feel more confident of not recognising and remembering everyone. However, with time, Soto narrows down the world to a few known characters before slowly expanding it again. This, added with the non-linear narration, fills in all the gaps that any reader could have.

Soto’s writing is heart of Rose in Chains. While reading a book, to live through the eyes of a character is rather different from living as a character themselves and Soto ensures you’re so comfortable with her world, story and characters that many moments of the story you feel, grieve and arrive at conclusions with the protagonist. Soto’s writing is what ensures that no matter what notions, expectations, feelings a reader walks into Rose in Chains with, they will certainly leave devastated and shaken in ways that they had not prepared for. Perhaps I recommend walking in with doubts, the journey you take through Soto’s book to come to trust and fall in love with her work was what made this book mean more to me than anything else.

I cannot imagine waiting another day for the next book, much less a year. This is the closest I have ever come to wishing I had not read this book early, for that means the longer the wait to reading the next one.

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto is a 5 on 5 for me. Thank you for writing Soto, I cannot wait for every single book you’re going to publish in the future.

So this isn’t my first time in Dramione-adjacent territory, but I haven’t read The Auction. When I got Rose in Chains as a #ARC, I decided to read it first, and then read the fanfiction later. That plan still stands. I’m absolutely gonna be diving into The Auction soon.

Before anything else: check your trigger warnings. This book is dark. There’s graphic violence, death, sexual assault, slavery/submission, and a level of cruelty that’s just baked into the world. It’s heavy. If you’re not in the right place for that, absolutely wait.

The world here is brutal and oppressive, with that high-stress, soul-squeezing tension that reminded me a bit of The Handmaid’s Tale. You’re dropped into this place where power is absolute, resistance is deadly, and even your thoughts don’t feel safe.

Briony is one of those characters who survives by being smart and angry and holding it all in until it almost breaks her. And Toven? An infuriating mystery. Cold, unreadable, and way too compelling. The slow burn is torture in the best way—and yes, I am still recovering from that ribbon scene.

There’s so much layered into this—rage, control, resistance, memory, desire, grief. The flashbacks hit hard. The secrets are everywhere. And every time you start to feel like maybe you know what’s going on, something shifts.

This is 100% a book I want a trophy copy of, and I’m anxiously waiting for the next one. It didn’t wreck me quite as much as Manacled, but it’s a very close second. I devoured it in under two days and it was impossible to put down—and of course, the cliffhanger ending killed me. This is definitely gonna be a book that I need a trophy copy of. I’ll anxiously be awaiting the next book, and in the meantime, I’ll be reading The Auction.

Huge thanks to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC.

Nothing pains me more than sitting down to write this review. This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I was SO SURE I was going to be obsessed with this. I have not yet read the fan fiction this is based off of, but going in I know this was taken from a Dramione fan fic story.

From the beginning, there were SO MANY characters thrown at us, and honestly not enough world building for me to fully grasp what was going one. What was this war? When did the king die? Who all were the bad guys? Why did they even take over? Why do people not like Mind Magic? A few of these things were answered throughout the book, but I felt pretty detached from this world and these characters. I think we were supposed to feel attached to certain characters that bad things happened to, but I barely knew them, so I was never super emotionally impacted in any of those moments. The heroine is super close to her brother, but we're entirely told they're close, and I never felt that bond between them. I needed more development there.

I did enjoy the romance, while super super slow burn, but I almost wish the hero was...MORE morally gray? It was clear to me he was actually really nice, and some of the flashback scenes a bit earlier would have been great to see a bit more into him as a character and what he's done in the past.

I'll definitely still pick up this next book, this just ended up falling flat for me.

I was so excited to receive this and it didn’t disappoint for me. I’ve loved everything that Julie Soto has written at this point. This is a dark fantasy romance not just a fantasy romance. We are immediately thrown into this world at the end of a war where our main character Briony is captured and stripped of her magic. Briony and other survivors are auctioned off and the story takes off from there and what she has to go through.

This was a very fast paced book - I did not want to put it down however I don’t think it was perfect. This 100% focused on the relationship between our two main characters(which I loved) but I wish we got more world building. I really wanted to know more details about the world. I even felt like the world building was happening in conversations with the Briony and I just had to ask myself “why wouldn’t she already know this?” but overall that didn’t bother me too bad!

I wasn’t going to bring up the fan fiction which this is based off of but I think it’s important to note that this does stand on its own I don’t think you need to read the fan fiction at all. I think for myself though when I was reading this I was comparing it to the fan fiction quite often like I had that in the back of my mind the entire time.

I highly recommend this! A solid 4.5 star read.

Julie Soto single-handedly turning me back into a Romantasy girlie with this one, like whaaaaat!

Rose in Chains follows Briony, princess of Evermore, as she fights to survive a political upheaval that has turned her people into prisoners auctioned off to serve the most rich and powerful magicians.

This book had the most diabolical sexual tension and delayed gratification - as a diehard slowburn girlie, my cup runneth over! (Like, will I ever get over that whole hair ribbon thing? Not likely!) That romantic tension set against a high-stress Handmaid’s Tale-esque backdrop made for such an engrossing story. I’m locked in for the other two books now!

Big thanks to Forever for letting me read this one early in exchange for my review.

Is the prophecy wrong? Perhaps it is about the other twin? Plenty of suspense will keep you reading to figure out if a fallen kingdom is doomed or if it will be saved. You will fall in love with the characters and hope the evil magician gets taken out.

I don’t even know where to start because this story absolutely wrecked me in the most beautiful way. Julie Soto’s fantasy debut is utterly magnetic, a sweeping, emotional enemies-to-lovers romance wrapped in magic, heartbreak, and quiet rebellion. From the very first page, I was pulled into Briony’s world. The writing is lush and immersive, but what really stole my breath was how intimate it felt. I also loved how this book doesn’t shy away from the heavy. The grief, the loss, the weight of surviving, it’s all there, but it’s written with so much care and depth. And amid the pain, there’s still so much softness. Briony’s strength doesn’t scream. It simmers, and it’s that quiet defiance, that slow reclaiming of her voice, that made me ache for her. And every page reminded me why I love this genre because when fantasy is done right, it breaks you and heals you in the same breath. I already want to read it all over again. I can’t wait enough for the next instalment already.