Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an earc in exchange for an honest review. This book comes out May 16.

*4.5* I've enjoyed this. it was fast pace, fun, entertaining. Really love the plot and world. I think what prevents me from giving fully 5 stars is that although I thought the romance was cute, I really wish it was flushed out more. I feel like they didn't get to know each other enough to fall in love. other then that, I've enjoyed it and can't wait to see how this duology ends

Thank you NetGalley and Dartanyan Johnson for this advanced reader copy.

Reading the description of this book I knew it would be right up my alley. I love magic kingdoms, mythical creatures, and adventure!

I do wish there had been more of a back story for the main characters. While I liked them, I felt a bit disconnected to them for the bulk of the story. It was mostly fast paced with problems arriving or action happening quite frequently, which kept it interesting.

In the last 20% I REALLY wanted to unravel the mystery and see what would happen to our beloved MMC Prince Aeveus, and I have to say I didn’t expect the twist in the story at all.

This was also a sort of “enemies to lovers” story and the attraction build up flowed well. I would have enjoyed more world building, but overall an interesting magical adventure.

After being framed for the death of his father the king, Aeveus is determined to figure out the truth. But first he must escape the castle prison and hide his appearance under a disguise.

Karessa was directly affected by the violence that surrounded the death of the king and she is determined to hunt down Aeveus and claim the reward for his capture.

With the help of a band of trackers she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.

Troupes include: found family, dark magic, royalty, Fae, quest and other types of creatures.

Overall I really enjoyed the relationships in this story, including the romantic relationship. I found myself rooting for them. Although, I did not get the amount of attraction as I usually enjoy in a romantasy. It felt as though they were friendly and then suddenly they were a lot more.

At times I found the plot disjointed and struggled to get through the story. I did enjoy a couple of the twists, but the big twist at the end left me feeling confused and disappointed.

🪨Ashes & Rubble💎
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️3.5 but I rounded it up.

When I read the summary for this novel, I was excited to read it. I think the plot is fun and reminds me of quest-oriented epic fantasies. The camaraderie between the unlikely squad was warm, and the banter funny at times.

Sometimes, though, the dialogue felt forced and cliché. I don't think the main characters were ever fully described. I know I'm the kind of reader who enjoys a clear image of what the characters look like. Because of that, I wanted more depth from the characters and felt that by the end, I still didn't really know them.

I would have liked more memories of Karessa and her brother to solidify her motivation for hunting down Prince Aeveus. By the end of the story, I wanted to know they would make it out on top, so even with me wanting more from the characters, I still cheered for them and liked them.

The romance felt very sweet and demure, which is surprising when Prince Aeveus is supposed to be morally gray. I didn't get morally gray from him, I misunderstood, and that while he was deadly with his combat skills, he's a big softy. Lol.

Overall, I feel like there needs to be more world-building and character development. Even with that in mind, I liked the pacing of the plot and the adventurous feel of Karessa and her comrades' quest. If you're not a character-driven reader like I am, you'll enjoy this book!

Thank you, Dartanyan Johnson and NetGalley for my ebook ARC!

Prince Aeveus is a wanted man. The kingdom has put a bounty on his head for killing his father. Everyone saw him kill the King but he didn't do it and needs to find the person who did. Karessa is determined to win the reward for the capture of the prince. She wants to help her family have a better life. She decided she will need some help on her quest and teams up with Clyde who is a tracker and his companions Matthias and Esteriella. They go on a wild adventure full of magical creatures, battles, and surprising twists!

I really enjoyed the plot. The fighting scenes were so good. I was never bored or wishing more would happen. It was very fast paced and I could not get enough of it. I do kind of wish the romance had a bit more build up to the relationship. But I still enjoyed it and loved their story. I absolutely loved that you explained a lot in the Authors note. It was like all of the questions I had were answered and that was so awesome!

Can't wait for the next book! Thank you Dartanyan Johnson and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to be a part of the ARC Team!

✧₊‧˚⁀➷ 1.2/5 .ᐟ

ʚɞ ⁺˖ pros. i had high hopes for this, but it was just. forgettable? but a very quick read—i completed it in two hours—so at least it doesn't drag. matthias and ester were cute, somewhat. the "he'd wait for her for 100 years" bit is just adorable.

ʚɞ ⁺˖ cons. i didn't connect to anything, any characters, any storylines, or any of the romance. the writing, directly from wattpad. dr. seuss-y alliterations right from the prologue, descriptions that are written as asides instead of being integrated with the actual story. the plot was a sequence of very generic stock events in fantasy with no unique personality to any of them. karessaevius would have been normal romantasy slop either way, but whore male lead who "has never thought of women as people" until the female lead showed up is just icky when written by a male author. in general, the characters are immensely shallow, romantasy leads #5689 and #6723. they're stock people in a stock universe doing stock things. just extremely uninspired.

i received an advanced copy from netgalley in exchange for a review.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ARC Review ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Ashes and Rubble starts off with the king supposedly being murdered by the prince, but he insists he is innocent. Meanwhile, a girl whose brother died the night of the attack seeks to collect the bounty on the prince’s head to help provide for her brothers wife and child.

This story was a lot of fun to read. There were several great elements of fantasy written in, at times it felt like our characters were going through a D&D campaign traveling from one city to the next and facing various enemies along the way. The characters were well developed and had a lot of depth to them. Overall I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this series!

Thank you to Dartanyan Johnson, D.CATZ publishing, and NetGalley for this free eARC in exchange for an unbiased review

Thank you to NetGalley and D.CATZ Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I thought this was a decent cozy fantasy with an interesting adventurous premise but unfortunately I just couldn't connect with the characters, I don't feel attached to them. There wasn't enough character development, so therefore I couldn't really get into their situations. The romance was endearing and okay. Overall, it was just an okay read for me. I don't think I'll be continuing the series because I don't think I was the target audience for this but still grateful to have read it.

I really enjoyed this book. There was just one spicy scene, but it was good! The characters were well executed and so were the relationships. I did feel that the ending was a bit rushed, and I would have liked to know more about Aeveus’ time ruling the kingdom.

From the chaos that erupts in the kingdom, the main characters find themselves on an epic quest that takes them to unexpected places and to face new challenges.

This was a great read. I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding and how there were many kinds of magical communities and creatures. The story was exciting with great fight scenes. I also liked the dynamic and humor between the characters.

I liked that there wasn’t too much romance and the only issue I had was that it felt a little rushed, I would have liked a little more depth and backstory to the characters.

I've read Ashes & Rubble by Dartanyan Johnson, an adventurous fantasy with a pinch of romance.

It's about a prince Aeveus, who gets accused of murdering his own father, the great King, and escapes prison together with his 2 best friends Matthias and Estriella to find the real murderer. On his path he meets Karessa, a regular human girl, who is in search of prince Aeveus to get the bounty on his head. But she doesn't know it's him, because of a spell. Together they make a wonderous and adventurous journey.

I really loved the story and it got me captivated from minute 1 until the end.

The author has taken us on a journey with trolls, elves, ogre, chimaera's in this wonderful story. Can't wait for the next ones (books) to be released.

I've read this as an arc by Netgalley, the author Dartanyan Johnson and D.CATZ Publishing and I give it definitely a 4-star read!

I’m going to DNF this book. I don’t usually leave star ratings for DNFs but I have to on Netgalley. This book feels like I was dragged into book three of a series and know nothing about the characters, setting or plot. It’s going in one ear and out the other. It’s just a collection of scenes with no through line between any of the. I don’t know what else to say.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ARC.

Overall, a perfectly fine read. We have a quest within a quest, secret identity, and some hijinks along the way. The writing felt like it had a bit too many contemporary quirks and lingo for my taste, and I didn't really pick up on any romantic vibes or tensions and the talk about love felt like it came out of nowhere.

Personal preference, the random things that needed pronunciations would be just fine in a glossary instead of in line parentheses, which were a little distracting.

Ashes & Rubble is a fantasy adventure with betrayal a d secrets! After reading the prologue I knew I was going to be hooked and couldn’t stop turning page after page. The romance aspect didn’t feel very fleshed out. However this is an all round good book and I would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book! Had all of my favourite things in it, Magical creatures, funny MC, banter, adventure and a great story!

The prologue had me hooked immediately and I just had to keep reading to find out what had happened. The twists were great too and unexpected which made for a good read.

I enjoyed the MC relationship with each-other and with their fellows. They developed well. The pacing of the story was great too and the action was well written and not rushed at all.

Looking forward to the next one coming out!

This story had a decent plot and good world building. The characters were enjoyable and the pacing was good. I would definitely recommend to those who enjoy high stakes fantasy. My only note and the reason it got a 3 stars instead of 4 is because the romance could’ve been developed better and for me it didn’t work well with the overarching story line and themes within the book.

In an unexpected attack on the king, Prince Aeveus is suddenly found wanted for the murder of his father. While on the run in a quite convincing disguise, he encounters Karessa, who is searching for him with the hopes of earning the bounty on his head. Throughout the book, they encounter numerous dilemmas as they search for the true murdered of the king.

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like it had just the right amount of romance and action, and a fitting pace was kept throughout the book. The battle scenes were also very well- written, leaving me eager to know how their outcomes.

The only thing i feel put my rating down slightly was the fact that i feel the characters didn't have enough depth to them. I think if they had more of a background to them, one they shared between themselves throughout the book, it would make them feel more alive.

Overall, however, I really enjoyed Ashes and Rubble, and i can't wait for book 2 . Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read this book.

"Ashes and Rubble" was engaging, with an effective pace throughout. The battle scenes were well-written and immersive. I am looking forward to further character development in the second book, especially between Aeveus and Karessa. I think “Ashes and Rubble” did an overall good job of laying the foundation going into book two.

Thank you Net Galley and Dartanyan Johnson for the early copy.


I thoroughly enjoyed this read. There is deceit, adventure, and excellent world building. My only critique is I think the romance could have been better crafted. All of a sudden love was being thrown around and it was weird.

Ashes & Rubble is a gripping, fast-paced fantasy adventure that thrusts readers into a kingdom riddled with deception, danger, and intrigue. Dartanyan Johnson masterfully weaves a tale of betrayal and survival as Prince Aeveus, falsely accused of regicide, races against time to uncover the truth before he is captured and executed. Meanwhile, bounty hunter Karessa and her enigmatic elven partner, Clyde, add depth to the chase, making for a thrilling game of cat and mouse through monster-infested terrain. With compelling characters, rich world-building, and high-stakes action, this first installment of A Kingdom Cast in Shadows is a must-read for fans of epic fantasy filled with mystery and adventure.