5⭐️s. My mind is trying to process everything. In the best way. There are so many secrets that turn the tables in almost every chapter. The romance is really good. The betrayals. The magic. Just…. I want to do it justice, and I feel like words are failing me. Obviously, I really enjoyed this one overall. Highly recommend and need book 2. COMING JANUARY 7TH!!! ❤️

The narration by Anais Inara Chase and Ramiz Monserrat was amazing. I’ll have to find more from them.

Synopsis:
When the gold-dusted court invitation arrives at Suraya Saab’s forge, she believes it’s a joke. Nobles might seek her skills as a bladesmith—one of few who can imbue her work with precious jadu, the last source of magic in the realm—but she has no qualifications as a potential bride for the crown prince. Still, the invitation is the chance at adventure, and the means to finally visit the capital city her late mother loved. But what awaits her in Kaldari is nothing she could have imagined—and fraught with danger. It’s not the crown prince, but his impossibly handsome, illegitimate half-brother, Roshan, who captures her interest…and her ire. The invitation isn’t a quest to find a suitable bride, but a veiled hunt for the Starkeeper—a girl rumored to hold the magic of the stars in her blood. And across the city, unrest is brewing between the noble houses and the rebel militia. When the rebels attack, Suraya and Roshan find themselves on the run, trying to deny their simmering attraction and the knowledge that Suraya herself might be the Starkeeper. But Roshan is guarding secrets of his own. And with no control over the power stirring within her, Suraya has drawn the attention of a dark god, an immortal whose interest might be the biggest threat of all.

Thank you so much to @netgalley @harperaudio and @amaliehoward for the advanced listener copy. #netgalley #thestarlightheir #advancedlistenercopy #audiobook #listeningisreading #romantasy

This book was superb! I absolutely loved the balance of world building, plot movement, character development and the romance. This truly is such a well done romantasy book! I was a little confused by the very end, but it was definitely great set up for another book to come. Amalie has been a favorite of mine for historical romance, and this is such an impressive change to then write so well. I can’t wait to recommend this to everyone!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook early. I loved the narration and how each character was given a unique voice. The beginning was quite slow but easy to understand. About midway through the plot really began to pickup and was quite action packed.

The Starlight Heir
By: Amalie Howard

First of all thank you to NetGalley for sending me this audiobook in exchange for my review.

Brief plot: MC Suraya Saab an invitation from King Zarek and believes at first that it was a joke. She is definitely not a good fit to be the prince’s new bride. But she goes to Kaldari anyway on hopes of an adventure and to visit the place her (late) mother loved so much.

After she arrives she learns that it’s not a suitable bride they hope to find for the prince, but a hunt for the Starkeeper, a girl they believe holds the power of the stars.

And it’s not the crown Prince that Suraya fall’s smitten with, but instead his half brother, Roshan. After rebels attack, Suraya and Roshan find themselves on the run together. They try to deny feelings for one another along the way as well as other secrets. Could Suraya be the Starkeeper and Does Roshan have secrets of his own?


My rating: I’m giving this book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My thoughts: I think the author did a very good job with all the details of the story and in describing each scene. It was really beautifully written and made me feel like I was watching a movie while listening to the audio.

It was pretty action packed most of the time, but there were some parts I found a little hard to pay attention to. I loved Suraya’s character, and her strong personality. Roshan’s character was just ok for me. I feel like there just wasn’t much to his character. I did love their slow burn romance, and the little bit of spice.

The narrators for this audiobook did a fantastic job in bringing the characters to life.

I’m personally not the biggest fan of fantasy reads but this romantasy had me wanting to keep listening. And the twist at the end for me!

This book releases January 7th and I definitely highly recommend it, especially for all you fantasy/romantasy fans!

*Sweet thank you to NetGalley, author Amalie Howard & publisher Avon and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read early & review!!*

The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard
5/5⭐️

“”By the maker, I didn’t expect you,” he whispers.”

Let me start off by saying, I COULD NOT put this down! This story had everything that I can’t live without in a romantasy: an amazing magic system, mythical beings, handsome princes, rebellion, a strong-willed FMC, a deadly bride pageant, spicy romantic scenes, and vivid world-building!

This was so sexy, edge-of-my-seat, heartbreaking, and kept me wanting more and more. Our FMC, Suraya, is a commoner of House Aldebaran, living in her family’s inn, where she is a bladesmith on the side. She gets invited to the royal palace to take part in a bride pageant for the royal prince’s hand. Little does she know, it’s all a farce; a ploy to draw her out into the open.

Our MMC, Roshan, is the bastard prince, brother to the crown Prince Javed, who meets our FMC the day she arrives at the palace and is drawn to her due to their witty banter & instant connection. All hell breaks loose when secrets are revealed and violence ensues, causing our FMC & MMC to escape and place Suraya’s safety as their top priority.

“He presses a teasing kiss to the side of my neck. “When this is over and you’re safe, I promise to drop to my knees for as long as you like.””

The spicy scenes between our two characters are perfect. They are romantic, playful, sexy and sensual. I love that they start as strangers, become friends and move into lovers.

The magic system in this story is so interesting, it follows elements and runes which can be imbued into physical weapons. Portals and magical webs can be crafted which puts this story on a line between fantasy & sci-fi which I loved!

I cannot wait to read the sequel, and to know so much more about our characters story, as well as all the secrets that haven’t been revealed yet (God of Night).🤤

If ‘The Selection,’ ‘Spark of the Everflame,’ and ‘Red Queen,’ had a baby, it would be this book.
You have all of our favorite tropes: marriage competition, enemies to lovers, broody MMC, underdog FMC (who of course is actually a badass), chosen mates, fated destiny, etc etc.
To be fair, my actual rating would be somewhere around 3.75 simply because the pacing felt a bit off to me in the middle. The beginning of the book was very captivating, the end had me wanting to read the next book immediately, but I think I blacked out somewhere in the middle and felt like I didn’t miss much. (Please don’t let that deter you from reading this. I think I’m just in a bit of a book slump.)
Overall, I really enjoyed the storyline and am really looking forward to book 2. I have a feeling there will be some big revelations to

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook before publication!

I was completely intrigued by the description even though Romantasy is often hit or miss for me. Overall, I found this to be a fun time, though I wanted a bit more.

I enjoyed the banter with the second prince and thought they had some good chemistry, but was disappointed that we didn't get more with her dream lover (who I was way more interested in).

Overall, I think the plot thread that followed Suraya and the royal family was really well fleshed out and interesting, but I feel like the magical plotline with the gods was a lot more handwavy and didn't wrap up as satisfactorily for me. I finished thinking "I thought this was supposed to be a standalone, but I guess not." Only to realize that it is, in fact, supposed to be a standalone.

Anais Inara Chase and Ramiz Monsef did an amazing job with the narration.

If you like chosen one tropes, hot dream sequences, and knife to throat (unsexy) then I imagine you'll have a good time with this!

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC!!!

This book was not for me. I DNF this book at 75%.

So, if you like YA Romantasy like ToG or Fourth Wing, this book gives the forbidden interest, age gap, young relationships vibes. If you like sexual tension and a tiktok baddie, you’ll like this book. If you are into a mysterious shadow daddy and a fast plot but a slow burn you will like this book. I think that this book has an audience who will love it. It has ample 4-5 star ⭐️ reviews.


This book just wasn’t my cup of tea. I also found the tone of the voice actors voice to be hard to process tone wise. As though their voice was like a noise machine

I felt like I was constantly asking myself:
- how old is suraya, again?
- wait what time period or world are we in?
- is this Persian? I thought this was another world?
- hold old is she again?


I also rolled my eyes so hard when we suddenly had the only explicit scene of the book in a random cave and then they exit to a war/ conflict breaking out. Like was this cave in the middle of a town? I thought it was a secluded place he likes to hideaway?

This book lost points for me when it was confusing where we were time wise. When the FMC said “goals” but also somehow spoke incredibly proper. Her weird totally out of context sex dreams at the beginning of the book. And the she was a virgin cringe over the top romance scene.

I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to listen to this book in advance and I know this book has an audience that will love it.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for an ARC of this book.

It is a Romantasy about Suraya who has special powers that fits the prophecy. She attends the evil Crown Prince’s Ball to find a bride, out of curiosity. She meets the prince’s bastard brother, Roshan.

The Ball turns into a bloody arena and Suraya scapes with Roshan and meets the rebels.

Every side seeks the starkeeper’s power to win.

The audio narration is very good, changes with every character and changes with every emotion, making it easy to go through the book.

My problem with the book is the setting. Recently Americans try to make their erotica more exotic by choosing different cultures as settings and peppering their narrative with words from that culture.

This one happens to choose Middle East and India. I am not from India, but I am a Persian and found her usage of my culture as sex toy very disturbing.

The story happens in Kaldari that according to Wikipedia is a village in India. The names are Persian and Arabic which suggests Muslim population. And the part of story that guards try to catch Suraya when her headdress falls supports that.

But they have a bar that serves pints of beer. They Box, which is not a middle eastern or Indian way of fighting and is Greek and English. They should wrestle, that is the cultural way of fighting in these parts.

It is supposed to be in ancient times, since there are no guns and cars or trains or even carriages. But they serve potato for dinner in the Ball, which suggests at most 200 years ago.

It uses Persian language, words like Jadoo for magic, Ezhdeha for dragon and Simorgh for phenix but uses Magi and not Jadoogar which makes me wonder if she speaks Persian.

But people in this world speak English and not Persian and use Latin alphabet because the Prince carves a B on his brother and says B for Bastard, or Suraya thinks of Roshan’s flirting response, as best three syllables I heard.

It mixes Simorgh from Persia with Ezhdaha from China and magic ruins from Scandinavia and Chinese Jade power is used as opium.

The dance in an ancient ceremony in India or Persia or any other Eastern country is not ballroom dancing, specially not an Argentine Tango that Roshan and Suraya perform. But later when they are in the rebel village, there are belly dancers.

They talk about testing for sexual diseases and using protection and I wonder what is the time line of this story?

The mother binding the magic of her child, reminds me of discovery of the witches. The fighting to become future queen, seems like hunger games.

The characterization does not match the setting. Suraya and her friend are millennial American brats, Roshan is an imaginary boyfriend with today’s standards.

The descriptions are cliche and do not help either.

The plot is very cliche, like most books in this genre, no twists or surprises and a very predictable ending.

It is very confusing and seems like an AI generated setting and plot.

I understand that Romatasy fans might not care about the setting or plot or characters. But I do.

The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard was such a fun escape! The world-building in this book was absolutely amazing—it felt so vivid and alive, like I could step right into the pages. And the premise? Totally unique and refreshing, which is always a win for me.

The characters really stood out too. They had so much depth and emotion that I couldn’t help but get completely wrapped up in their journeys. I laughed, I teared up, and I was fully invested in their struggles and relationships. They just felt real.

The story itself had me hooked, and I already can’t wait for the next book! There were a couple of spots where the pacing slowed down a bit, but honestly, it didn’t bother me much—it just gave me more time to soak in the details.

If you’re into books with epic worlds, emotional characters, and a fresh twist, definitely check this one out. Amalie Howard knocked it out of the park, and I’m so excited to see what’s next!

🌟🌟🌟🌟✨ 4.5 Stars

This was an adventure. As a person who hardly reads fantasy, I really enjoyed this. The audio was done really well!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book went in directions I wasn’t expecting, which was interesting, but everything felt underwhelming and I wanted more. I didn’t care about anything and felt like I wasn’t understanding what was going on because of that.

I have received the ALC of this book. I thought the audiobook was well done. The narrators did a great job with the story. This book is a unique, diverse fantasy romance; it has influences from India and the Middle East, and I have never read anything like it before.
The characters were interesting as well.
Although I enjoyed my time listening to the audiobook, there was still something missing from it, and I can’t quite figure out what that something is
Thank you, NetGalley, the ALC of this title. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book. I thought that the world building was well done. I enjoyed the different places that they had to go and had no issues envisioning them. What I really liked was that it wasn't overly wordy or bogged down by being too descriptive. The other thing I really enjoyed was the magic system. I found that I really liked the majority of the characters. I did find the pacing to be a bit off at times, and felt that it read way more YA than adult. That being said I am excited to see how the story continues into book 2.

I really liked the narrators for this one and felt they did well with making the story come to life. Audio quality was also really good.

Thank you to Harper Audio and Netgalley for an early copy of this audiobook. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me, and I decided to DNF at 65%.

My reasons for DNF’ing were mostly disinterest in the characters and the story. I was initially pulled in by the fast pace and premise, but as we went along, I just never felt like I grew to know the characters or the world, and thus didn’t really feel connected to either.

I felt the narration was ok. (By this point in the book, it was primarily narrated by the female narrator, and I thought she did a fine job. The male narrator was good during his bit parts too.)

For those looking for spice in their romantasy, I do think this one delivered (2 scenes by the time I DNF’d, in addition to descriptions of “breath play” and shadows…👀)…but as I wasn’t feeling the connection to the romance, I wasn’t really invested in those scenes either.

Overall, I can see there would be an audience for this book, but unfortunately I am not a part of it.

I was able to check out both the ebook and audiobook - ARC’s courtesy of NetGallery. One of my favorite things about this book was the mythology - it had elements that I haven’t read it other books before so it was fresh and interesting. I really want to know more about Suraya’s world, and the political and magical structure of this universe, so I hope there will be more to come in the future.

I felt like the plot had a good pace - there weren’t parts that dragged so I stayed engaged whether I was listening or reading. Suraya’s character was witty and sassy and I loved her from the very beginning, even when she had some whiney juvenile moments. The slow burn romance was good, and the spice was well written.

The ending had some twists, and it definitely left me with questions and wanting more.

A really fun romantasy all around!

The Starlight Heir is a new fantasy romance from Amalie Howard, an author known primarily for historical romance. I think this book proves that there’s a huge overlap between historical and fantasy romances, because Amalie does a fantastic job crossing over.

The Starlight Heir is set in a Persian-mythology inspired fantasy world that delivers a lot of world building while still trying to feel fresh and fun. It was a bit of a difficult start for me – although set in a fantasy world that feels a bit ancient, the characters use modern slang. And it starts off with our heroine forced to take part in deadly trials to win the hand of the prince – which I’ve read before and didn’t feel super fresh.

However, after we leave the palace the book moves into much more interesting and original territory. There’s a rebellion trying to overthrow the evil rulers, a steamy romance with the “wrong” guy who seems to be harboring secrets, and lots of discovering her magical powers. The pace picks up about the halfway point too and the final third of the book is action-packed and full of twists.

All in all, a fun book for fantasy romance fans! And the audio narration is really top notch.

This story was very well executed and it had me hooked from the start. Suraya, the character with the major POV is a very brave, smart and interesting Fmc. Her character growth beginning to end was intriguing to wintness. Her relationship with Roshan was amusing, swoony and the kind of soul mate connection.
Roshan is the best of all the other characters in the book and i would have loved to see more of his Pov and i really wanted to know what he was thinking at certain moments in the story. Roshan's suffering related to his parents and the way Javed treated him and he still managed to be kind and have a good heart was amazing. Roshan is definitely my favorite character and i cannot wait to see more of him.
The only character that irritated me the most was Javed I hated him from the beginning as was the point of the story.
The narration by Anais Inara Chase and Ramiz Monsef was amazing and it is sure keep you on your toes all through the story.

I received an ARC of The Starlight Heir thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult, and it was the perfect start to my 2025 reading! The "chosen one" trope doesn’t always land, but here it was done so well, adding depth and excitement to the story. The magic system was fascinating, the characters were diverse and compelling, and there were just enough spicy moments to keep things interesting. I couldn’t put it down and will absolutely be purchasing a copy when it’s released. Highly recommend for fans of fun fantasy!

This world is immersive and well built, set in a desert kingdom where Jādū shards are believed to be the only remaining magic left from the gods. The story is brimming with adventure, magic, political intrigue, secrets, and betrayal as Suraya discovers that the marriage selection she has been requested to attend to choose the bride of the crown Prince, is a competition and death trial set to discover the starkeeper of the gods: her. Someone she previously thought was nothing more than a children’s fable.

Fantasy novels often remind you of other worlds in the genre. While this novel was no different, it also brought a fresh take I haven’t seen much of before in other aspects. The prose fluctuates between descriptive moments and plain language and reminded me of a more YA style of writing. Both the adventure and world building are fast paced, but the author manages to avoid information dumps throughout the novel and even gives you a breakdown of the faction houses of hierarchy at the font of the novel and a glossary of magical terms in the back, which I loved!

Suraya is a loyal, intelligent, and strong woman with a sharp tongue. While I enjoyed Suraya’s character and her journey as she discovers her powers, I would have liked to read more about her learning about, training, and harnessing her gifts. It felt as though she learned to harness the majority of her control from only some sporadic training. I think this would have also opened Suraya up to more personal growth, as I felt that at her core, she did not have much personal character development outside her gifts.

Roshan is a wonderfully layered and compelling character laced with secrets. He is a fiercely loyal protector, and despite being the illegitimate heir to the throne, he only wants what is best for his father’s people. His relationship with Suraya is a slow-burn, with lots of tension, and well paced in a way that makes the connection feel earned.

The book does not end on a cliffhanger, but several threads are left loose, so this could be a stand-alone novel or the first of a series. Hopefully, it is a series as I am interested to learn more about how the god of night ties into Suraya and Roshan’s world.
—
✨Romantasy
🗡️Desert landscape
🐦‍🔥Death trials
✨Chosen one
🗡️Prophecy & destiny
🐦‍🔥Political rebellion
✨Female bladesmith
🗡️Embued magical objects
🐦‍🔥Magic & runes
✨Astrology
🗡️Adventure
🐦‍🔥Magical mythical animals
✨Open-door
🗡️Love triangle?
🐦‍🔥Sporadic 2nd POV throughout
—
Story by Amalie Howard: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration by Anais Inara Chase:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration by Ramiz Monsef: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
—
Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager, HarperAudio Adult, and NetGalley for these complimentary ARC & ALC - all thoughts are my own! 📚
Publishers release date 1/7/2025