I devoured this book—The Mist Thief is everything I adore in a fantasy romance and more. LJ Andrews continues to deliver heartbreakingly beautiful stories in the Ever Seas world, and this one just might be my favorite yet.

From the very first page, Skadi and Jonas stole my heart. Their enemies-to-lovers dynamic is sharp, emotional, and addictive in the best way. Skadi is fierce and fractured, the kind of heroine who fights her fate at every turn—and Jonas? He’s a morally gray cinnamon roll (yes, it’s a thing) who somehow manages to be deadly and tender all at once. Their chemistry is electric, their banter is perfection, and the emotional slow burn? Utterly chef's kiss.

The political intrigue, magical tension, and looming war against the light elves kept the stakes high, but it’s the romance that had me swooning and gasping and flipping pages long into the night. This book made me feel—joy, pain, betrayal, longing—and I loved every second of it.

The Mist Thief is a stunning, emotional, and addictively romantic ride that only LJ Andrews could deliver. If you love epic fantasy, complicated love stories, and strong heroines paired with soft-hearted warriors, this one is a must.

🖤⚔️🖤 ARC REVIEW 🖤⚔️🖤

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️

“Be monstrous, be gentle, and be kind. I want you every way.”

REVIEW:

It is not a secret that I'm absolutely OBSESSED with everything LJ Andrews writes. When I found out this was going to be Jonas' book I audibly squealed! If you've read The Broken Kingdoms then you know his parents. They are without a doubt my favorite couple from TBK so I knew this one was going to be special. What I didn't realize was the absolute CHOKEHOLD this book was going to have on me! Seeing Jonas all grown up and turning into the man he is was just amazing and then you add in the Elven lore and magic and the relationship between him and Skadi and I was an absolute puddle. No joke I have over 400 highlights in this book. I am unwell in the best possible way. The way LJ Andrews creates worlds that draw you in and writes characters you can't help but love is truly a talent. She creates a full cast of characters that you can't help but adore and want to see more of. If you've read TBK you'll also enjoy all the little nuggets of connection she sprinkled in. I cried more than once at a few *cough cough Asger* - I know you enjoy our pain ma'am but that hurt 😭😂

This story is full of tension, angst, betrayal, touch her and 🔪 moments, and more. While it is a standalone in the Ever Seas world, I HIGHLY recommend reading The Broken Kingdoms first, it will make this all the more special, I PROMISE.

TROPES:
⚔️ Dark Fantasy Romance
🖤 Vikings, Pirates, and Elves
⚔️ Arranged/forced marriage
🖤 Touch her and 🔪
⚔️ Forced proximity
🖤 "My Wife"
⚔️ Morally Grey but Cinnamon Roll MMC
🖤 Warrior FMC

“The only reason I fear you, is because of how swiftly you had me on my knees. If you’ve stolen anything from me, it is my heart.”

Andrews has done it again. I didn’t think I could love a pair more than Livia and Eric, but Jonas and Skadi have sure given them a run for their money. I’m going to call it a tie because I love both couples and their storylines so much. Skadi stole my heart though with her love of reading and Jonas for his gift to Skadi. I really enjoyed how The Mist Thief tied in so many characters from the original series. I absolutely adored how Kase welcomed Skadi to the family by involving her in a heist. It’s one of my favorite moments from the entire book. Speaking of, with everything Skadi endured there really was no better place for than among Jonas’s people where she could be sweet or free to be a monster if she chose without fear of judgement. I also really enjoyed getting to explore more of the Elven side of things. Andrews continues to show her skills with world building and developing complex magical systems. The plot itself moved along well balancing the slower get to know you moments with high stakes twists and betrayals. Additionally, The Mist Thief features arranged marriage, who hurt you, touch her and die, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, banter, and found family. I highly recommend reading The Mist Thief.

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ++

Holy hells! What an amazing addition to The Ever Seas!! LJ Andrews never ceases to amaze with her exquisite stories! The Mist Thief was no exception!
I wasn’t sure anything could live up to Erik and Livia; but let me tell you…this book was EPIC!!

I was sucked in and held captive from the very beginning! Her worlds are so immersive and engaging!

Her prose in this book is absolutely magnificent! This book was so well paced; never rushed, never slow! It is utter perfection. The characters were so beautifully written! I mean, come on, Jonas is 🔥 and
I loved Skadi so much! Even being Elven, she adapted and fit in so gloriously with the Alver clan! A “family” she came to love! Their romance is engaging and beautiful! The banter was amazing and had me giggling so many times! And, of course, the spice is perfectly on point!

I really can’t state strongly enough how much I love this world that LJ Andrews has created! I have been invested since the first Broken Kingdoms book I picked up! It will be utter torture waiting for Mira and Tait’s story after that cliffy ending!

Be kind. Be gentle. And be monstrous

I went into this book not having any expectations and boy was I blown away. I absolutely loved this book! I devoured it in less than a day.

This story was so beautiful to me. Skadi is such a hurt and broken soul who is quite literally loved back to life by Jonas, the fierce, yet tender, Alver Prince. I loved watching their relationship grow and develop and turn into an incredible bond. The message behind their relationship is so powerful for me, as I related a little too much with Skadi. So, I was thrilled when she came into her own and was healed by true, unconditional love and adoration. The way that he loved her so wholly instead of making her believe there was something wrong with her was so lovely.

The found family vibe in these books is next level, and I really enjoyed how well all the characters from other books are woven into each Ever Seas story. It’s an incredible experience reading any LJ Andrews book, and The Mist Thief was no different. Andrews has the ability to write in a way that makes the reader feel as if they’re living the tale themselves.

Tropes:
Touch her and die
Who did this to you
“Where is my wife!?” Moment
Marriage of convenience
Found family
Epic battle
Incredible banter

𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙨, 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙄’𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣.

In an effort to protect the alver folk and fae from the Ljosalfar light evles, Jonas agrees to an arranged marriage to Skadi, a princess of the Dokkalfar dark elves. Their union would provide protections to their people and kin and prevent another war - but neither of them anticipate their sacrificial political alliance to become a passionate, wicked love straight out of a nightmarish fairytale.

“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝗯𝗲 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨, 𝙒𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚.”

Okay, mark me down as officially obsessed with LJ Andrews and her writing. The only complaint I have is how long it took me to finally read The Ever Seas duet - thank goodness I got this arc because it has completely derailed my TBR in the best way possible. Jonas is an absolute top-tier book boyfriend, the nightmare prince of my dreams. And Skadi! Oh Skadi - my sweet baby. Their romance is everything... The instant, reluctant attraction, the tender bath scenes, the hurt-comfort while overcoming their trauma together, the banter and titillating dirty talk... The heart wrenching declarations of love and devotion. This is the book the rest of my 2024 romantasy reads will be compared to.

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙣𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙢𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡. 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥.”

This book took me on a wonderful journey and I loved everything about it. This is the third book following The Ever King and the Ever Queen.
I was sad at first that we were saying goodbye to Livia and Bloodsinger being the main characters but Jonas and Skadi and their banter was amazing. I loved seeing that banter and burn grow and now I'm sad that I'm saying goodbye to them too.

On the bright side I know they'll show up as supporting characters and won't completely be gone.

I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy:
Morally grey character x cinnamon roll character
Arranged marriage/marriage of convenience
Sloooow burn
Forced proximity
Enemies to lovers
Found family

I love Jonas and Skadi, they might be my new favorite couple. Jonas is so possessve and protective but in the sweetest ways, he also does the kindest things for Skadi and ALWAYS has her back.
Skadi is a strong independent woman who deserves to be loved how Jonas loves her. Their love story was so natural, even with an arranged marriage lol.
There were twists in this book that I expected but also didn’t lol.
I also love that Kase really treated Skadi like his own daughter, I legitimately teared up it was so sweet.
This is full of found family, marriage of convenience, morally grey cinnamon roll MMC, one bath, and so many more good tropes!
Honestly LJ Andrews is one of my favorite authors and each book keeps getting better and better, so go read this asap!
The bonus scene in this book has me even more excited for the next couple! Cannot wait for that book release!
Thank you Berkley for the arc!

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group|Ace Books, NetGalley & LJ for the ARC.

This is an updated review for the added bonus material 💕


Updated Review:
Rereading this book had me at awe. In my original review I mentioned this book being slower than Liv & Erik’s story but rereading this book had me appreciating the slowness. It was gentle and soothing- it was meant for healing.
The bonus material❗️ Gasping for what this might mean for us. I was screaming in joy and excitement.

Original review:
First & foremost, it was a challenge not to compare Skadi & Jonas to Liv & Erik.
This book is your typical marriage for convenience story. There wasn’t much action or plot like the Ever King & Ever Queen. However, I’m glad we got to see Skadi get a happy ending. Her character did annoy me a little bit but her behavior was realistic given how she was raised. And I loved that she eventually grew into a badass FMC!
Jonas- meh. He was too soft for me but he was the perfect match for Skadi.
This story had my favorite trope: found family 🩶 Jonas’s family and clans were so adorable, funny, and supportive. Loved the side characters.
Overall, enjoyed the book.

Another *chef’s kiss* book! Okay fine, THIS one might be my favorite.

This stand-alone Dark Romantasy had all the Banter and Tension, swooooooonworthy moments, Burnt Cinnamon Roll MMC Nightmare Prince, with a headstrong, powerful FMC, Marriage of Convenience, Enemies to Lovers, Touch her and you know, Pirates and Vikings, Fae and Elves!

It had me kicking my feet in excitement and squealing the entire book!

LJ Andrews is always an immediate grab off the shelf and this one was no different!

Jonas may be a cinnamon roll, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be ruthless. And Skadi?! She’s thaaaat bish. She gives Jonas a run for his money, but there’s no way the nightmare prince will back down.

If you like enemies to lovers, forced proximity, magic of all sorts, found family, hot, hot spice, and touch her and d!e vibes, this is for you.

It’s the third book in The Ever Seas series which follows The Broken Kingdoms series, but it can also be read as a standalone! If you do, I can guarantee you’ll be sucked into all the amazing side characters and want to go back to read the entire catalog.

Don’t skip this one—it’s everything and more!

2025: 5 stars
Updated to add that the bonus chapter that is going to be included in the new traditionally published version is an interesting little snippet. I feel like this is the first we've really gotten to see of Tait's POV and that makes me even more ready for The Stolen Crown. Looks like the final version of The Mist Thief will have a teaser for TSC in it and I desperately need that!

Thank you Berkely Pub/Ace books for the eARC. My thoughts are entirely my own.

2024: 5 stars
Absolutely wonderful continuation of the Ever Seas series!

I will admit, I still enjoy Livia and Erik more, but Jonas was always a favorite character from their books and I got attached to Skadi pretty quickly here too!

Jonas and Skadi get married as a way to combine their kingdoms, but it's obvious from the very beginning that the heat between them is building. The banter and the wittiness from Jonas and Skadi was captivating. Jonas brought Skadi out of her shell and into who she is meant to be and it was so sweet to watch that blossom.

I loved exploring more of the alver lands. I haven't read The Broken Kingdoms yet and this explored a lot more of the characters from that series and really has me itching to dive into it. If you've read TBK, I guarantee this will leave you kicking your feet at all the interactions with the characters.

The ending will definitely leave you itching for the next book!

Read if you love:
-Burn the world for her/him
-Elves & Fae
-Pirates & Vikings

Thank you LJ & Berkley. In lieu of LJ releasing her new series this month, 𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓑𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼, I decided to reread one of my all time favorite series which is being traditionally published by Ace.

The Mist Thief is a beautiful tale woven with heartbreak, betrayal, found family, and putting yourself back together again. It gave me all the feels. The Eastern Kingdom is my favorite kingdom in LJ Andrews’ Broken Kingdom’s series. I felt nostalgic with all my favorite characters and the morally grey guilds. I am obsessed with Kase and Malin, so I knew I would be in love with their boys. Jonas gives me all the Kase vibes. The banter between Jonas and Skadi is amazing. I love a good enemies-to-lovers slow burn romance, loved watching their love unfold, and couldn’t help but say finalllllly! LJ Andrews continues to create epic love stories in this world, and I never want her to stop. The sense of finding your home and where you’re meant to be is absolutely beautiful.

Here, darkness was beautiful. Here, we schemed. Here, family didn’t mean blood. Here, was home.”

“𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮, 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵. 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮, 𝔀𝓮 𝓼𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓭. 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮, 𝓯𝓪𝓶𝓲𝓵𝔂 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷’𝓽 𝓶𝓮𝓪𝓷 𝓫𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓭. 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓱𝓸𝓶𝓮.”

𝓣𝓻𝓸𝓹𝓮𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓫𝓮𝓼:
✨ Romantasy
✨ Interconnected Standalone
✨ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Slow Burn
✨ Hilarious Banter
✨ Touch Her/Him and ☠️
✨ Arranged Marriage 
✨ Found Family
✨ “My Wife”
✨ Morally Gray MCs

“𝓑𝓮 𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓵𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓱. 𝓘 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓹𝓲𝓮𝓬𝓮.”

I'm so glad to be back in the Ever Seas series! And it was so fun getting to read about Jonas and Skadi. I feel like this book has bigger connections to the Broken Kingdoms series which I loved. I loved that we got more time in the Eastern kingdom with so many cross over characters. You can still read this series without reading the Broken Kingdoms series though.

I feel like this book was the perfect way to write an arranged marriage. It made the romance a slow burn but I loved it. I loved Jonas so much in previous books so the growth of Skadi was bigger for me in this book. I loved how Jonas accepted everything about her and helped her accept herself. She honestly fits with him, his family, and his friends so perfectly.

I got an ARC from Netgalley and Berkley that I am extra thankful for because it came with the bonus material that will be in the books when they are traditionally published. I loved getting the chapter from Heartwalker. It has me even more excited for The Stolen Crown.

The Mist Thief by LJ Andrews is book 3 of The Ever Seas series. This was by far my favorite book of the series thus far. I loved Jonas (the nightmare prince of debauchery and rizz) from when I first read of him back in The Ever King, I was suspicious of his plan towards the end of The Ever Queen, and I could NOT wait to read his story. I was so excited when I found out book 3 would revolve entirely around him. This is a story of arranged marriage of convenience, touch her and die, who did this to you, forced proximity and found family. The perfect balance of swoon worthy romance and kick-your-feet spice. The two main characters, our nightmare prince and elven princess are forced to learn to trust each other in their own darkness; the words fly off the pages and land right in your heart. An epic battle and one of the happiest happy ever afters I’ve ever read in a fantasy book, this story was wrapped up like a gift with a bow on top! This wasn't just a typical romantasy, this relationship evolved from convenience and duty to true trust and reading that evolution felt so raw and organic that it was genuinely emotional to experience. The main characters had trauma, they had depth, they were written like real people and the connection they had with each other developed in a way that didn't truly guarantee a happily ever after until they made it. They chose each other in more ways than one and because of that it felt more impactful than so many other books of similar style and genre. LJ Andrews is an artist, the imagery in her stories and the emotions evoked by them are genuine and a delight to experience as a reader.

This is my favorite book of the Ever Seas series and I absolutely adored getting Jonas and Skadi's story! The relationship between them seemed to develop without feeling too rushed and the banter and chemistry between them was fabulous!! I couldn’t help but swoon over Jonas every time he showed how much he cared for Skadi, even if it was before he realized it. My heart felt for Skadi as we learned more about her past and seeing her learn to accept herself made my heart so full. I loved everything about this book and will always love seeing the characters from the Broken Kingdom series have such a presence!

While this book can be read as a standalone, I am glad that I opted to read The Ever King & The Ever Queen before diving into this book!

⚔️ Arranged marriage
⚔️ Morally grey/cinnamon roll MMC
⚔️ Touch her / him and 💀
⚔️ Found family
⚔️ Who did this to you?

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"And in that moment, when she is the only one you want standing with you against a foe, that is when you will know you've fallen in love with your wife."

I loved Jonas and Skadi and their messy journey of a marriage of convenience.

Skadi has been raised to believe her magic will only ever bring destruction, and she will never be truly loved; especially by the enemy, who she is now married to.

Jonas is the sarcastic, witty, cunning and sexy bad boy we all want on our side. He just needs to get over himself first 😂

I adore how fiercely he believes in Skadi and loves her for who she is at her core.

"Be kind, be gentle, and be monstrous. I will want you every way."

Jonas is the swooniest...

"I have been caught in the blaze of your fire, and I swear to you, I will never douse it."

And he has a twin 😉

A spin off of the Ever Seas duology (which also is related to the 12 book Broken Kingdom series) the Mist Thief follows Skadi and Jonas's story, and its just as delicious as the others.

Jonas and Skadi are my absolute favorites and theres AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.

5 star book as usual!

Here, darkness was beautiful.
Here, we schemed.
Here, family didn’t mean blood.
Here, was home.

Oh. My. Norns! I swear LJ puts crack in these books... once you start them, they're impossible to put down. Jonas and Skadi 🔥 Seeing Kase and Malin again 🔥 The amount of quotes I saved could produce another book 😂 I absolutely love this world! Jonas is a whole new level of nightmare and I'm here for it!

I arc read this book for its indie release and LOVED it. I am so excited for its traditional pub release. I am so thankful to have gotten to do a reread and enjoy the bonus content as well. The Ever Seas is one of my top tier series.