This story had a very unique and interesting premise. I thought the idea was very creative and it made me interested in the book.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't connect with it. I kept losing track of the plot and characters. Even though I read the whole book, I feel like I'm just remembering a movie I watched half asleep. I just didn"t feel much for Ravenna or Saturnino, or their romance, but I did appreciate the slow burn and the tension. Some momemnts where they get more bold in their relationship are also worth mentioning as things that invoked reactions.
I do feel like this book has the potential to be big in romance/romantasy booktok circles. It should definitely be taken more lightly as not every plot point is resolved or makes sense.

I adore Isabel Ibenez writings. She writes amazing romantic fantasies mixed with history. I’ve read all her books and once again this one was a five star read. I can’t wait to read the next book in this world. Thank you for the arc!

Graceless Heart is a beautifully written, romantic fantasy set against the rich backdrop of Renaissance Italy. I was immediately drawn in by the concept—a sculptress with forbidden magic caught between politics, religion, and a slow-burn romance. Ravenna is a strong, determined protagonist with a sharp mind and a lot of heart. I really enjoyed following her journey, and her dynamic with Saturnino was full of tension and depth.

The magic system, especially the idea of the stones, felt fresh and intriguing. I just wish we got to see more of the other stones and their powers—it would’ve added even more richness to the story. Similarly, while the setting was vivid, I think the world-building could’ve gone a bit deeper to help me fully immerse myself in the world beyond the court and politics.

That said, the story kept me turning pages. The balance of romance, danger, and political intrigue made for a compelling read. I’d definitely pick up a sequel if there is one—I’m curious to see where the story and magic go next!

Thanks to NetGalley & the publishers for this ARC! All thoughts are my own.

Before I start, I just want to preface that I recommend this book. It had several new aspects I’ve never read before and the world building was MAJESTIC. 10/10 for the world building.

Whilst the world building & setting were marvellously done - the romance part of this story is where it lost some points for me. It was insta-lust ; the repetitiveness of his attractiveness was intense. The MMC went back & forth as wether he liked/tolerated the FMC or not - and then he kissed her when he had been very rude the chapter prior… I got whiplash. The interactions between them were awkward and stilted. I couldn’t feel the chemistry.

The magic system was really interesting and several new elements were presented to the readers - which hooked my interest. Character wise, I did go back and forth as to wether I liked/tolerated the FMC. She was very whiny and impulsive. On another note - I don’t normally like religious settings but this was well done! The impact the religion had on the FMC was well depicted & you could feel the pull. I do wish she’d have her character development sooner than the 75% mark though.

I saw some twists coming and some shocked me. The plot was well written and made me curious despite the romance & relationships being lacklustre for me.

ARC Review
Graceless Heart by Isabel Ibañez

Rich in atmosphere, tension, and dark allure, Graceless Heart is a spellbinding fantasy set in an alternate Renaissance Florence—where magic is outlawed, secrets are dangerous, and power comes at a cost.

From the first chapter, Ravenna Maffei is a heroine you want to follow. A gifted sculptress hiding a forbidden power, her quiet resilience and deep loyalty to her brother ground the story even as the stakes spiral. When she exposes her magic in a desperate attempt to save him, Ravenna’s life is thrown into a brutal competition hosted by Florence’s most feared immortal family. And that’s where things get very interesting.

Saturnino dei Luni—the cruel, beautiful heir of the immortal dynasty—is the kind of character that keeps you up at night. Ibañez walks a razor-thin line between menace and magnetism, and their dynamic crackles with slow-burn tension and danger. The romantic thread is compelling without overshadowing Ravenna’s agency, which I appreciated deeply.

The setting itself is a triumph—darkly enchanting, politically charged, and richly textured. The blend of historical inspiration with fantasy was seamless. Ibañez’s prose is elegant and sharp, making even the quietest moments feel weighted with consequence.

🔍 Constructive feedback:
• The worldbuilding, while lush, can be dense early on. Some readers might want a glossary or timeline to keep track of historical and magical elements.
• A few side characters felt underdeveloped compared to the strong leads—I would’ve liked deeper insight into their motivations.
• The pacing dips slightly around the midpoint, but the finale more than makes up for it.

💬 Final thoughts:
Darkly romantic, dangerously political, and entirely addictive, Graceless Heart is perfect for fans of For the Wolf, The Wolf and the Woodsman, or The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. If you love morally grey love interests, heroines who are stronger than they appear, and historical fantasy with teeth—this is your next obsession.

This is the first book that I have ever read by Isabel Ibanez and I must say that I was very impressed with what I read. It is one of those stories that will open your eyes and make you think about some of the concepts of everyday living. I won't go into some of those factors as I don't feel it is my place to do so but I found it to be a very huge eye opener. I know for a fact that I will have to look into her other books and I am sure I will enjoy those as well.

We are introduced to Ravenna who is sculpturess with a secret gift to perform magic which she hides because of the persecutions of the time period. When her brother is kidnapped she willbgo to great lenghs to save him. Even if it means that she has to team up with someone she does not care for. Will she be able to survive the outcome?

I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

Standalone fantasy romance set in Italy? Sign. Me. Up. This book stands out in a sea of others given its unique setting and premise.

This was a thought-provoking novel that made me think more deeply about the ways religion can be used for both good and bad. However, the romance plot line fell flat for me—the yearning and tension just weren’t there, and it was hard for me to feel invested in that part of the story. I think first and foremost this book is historical fantasy, so it’s best to go in with that expectation.

Things I loved:
The tie-ins to historical events
The chapters from other character’s POVs
The liberal use of Italian throughout
The cat!

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but it wasn’t the obsession-worthy book I was hoping for. This will definitely hit the spot for other readers though!

3.5 ⭐️ Low 🌶️

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Be careful when you read this. It is ADDICTIVE. You may end up binge reading the last 200 pages 😂. The story is a bit of a slow burn. Where it was taking some time for the lovers to become lovers. Although, once it happened the story REALLY took off. It was very angsty and the twists were amazing.

I really loved that this book was an equal mix of fantasy and historical fiction. At first, I thought the book would be mostly Historical Fiction because the vibe had a very The Borgias (2011) tv show feel going on. I was totally loving it. Although, about half-way the fantasy side really started to show in the book and it is SO GOOD. I loved all of the fantasy twists it really sunk me into the book even more than I already had been.

I think this book is pretty accurate in it's historical aspects (minus the fantasy elements). The clothes and the settings were described good. The book seemed to be researched really well. I grew up Italian Catholic and I also used to read a lot on Renaissance Italy and the Borgias. Back in the day, the pope was everything. If he did not like you then you were bound to have some problems. Especially with the Borgias. The pope, in this book, and the Luni family seemed to mimic the Borgias with their bad behaviors. I thought that was very interesting and I really liked the drama that it added.

The romance and the spice is written really well. The characters shared some good banter and their attraction to each other seemed very natural. The spice was on the lighter side and it added to the story and did not take away from it. Nothing romance or spice related ever seemed unnatural, too little, or too much.

I really liked that this book had a variety of tropes that I like to read in books. This book has tropes such as:

⚔️   Enemies To Lovers
🏰   Forced Proximity
🩹   Who Did This To You
🔥   Slow Burn
🏛   Political Intrigue

I very highly recommend this book to anyone who likes: Kingdom of The Wicked, Caraval,The Borgias (2011, TV Show), as well as fans of Isabel Ibanez's other books. If you enjoyed the plots in those books then you might enjoy the plot in this one as well!

This book is not for me.

I am Catholic, and choosing to set a work of fiction during the weakest moments in church history and use the church and pope as the villain felt personally offensive. Honestly, I get that there is plenty of material there to work with. But especially on the heels of excitement about Pope Leo, this… hurt my feelings haha. It got a long wrong and seemed to have thinly veiled criticism of Catholicism in general.

Setting my personal issues aside, I also felt like the character development was weak. I never felt anything for Ravenna or Saturnino. She developed feelings for him for absolutely zero reason. Maybe readers who aren’t Catholic would have had an easier time of connecting with them, but I still think they were objectively poorly developed.

(I received an advanced reader copy from NetGalley.)

Set in 15th century Italy, this story revolves around Ravenna, a sculptress with a magical talent. The book begins at a sculpting competition where Ravenna tries to win her brother’s freedom. However, she attracts the attention of the Luni family who kidnaps her and forces her to accomplish an impossible task. From there, she learns about the political and religious tensions in the country, even attracting the eyes of the Pope, and has to learn how to survive in a world that sees her as a potential weapon.

I loved the magic system, the politics and the romance (duh). However, I will not lie, the dialogue was cringe at times. Did it matter for me though, absolutely not.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Graceless Heart
by: Isabel Ibañez

My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ravenna is the eldest daughter of an innkeeper and a sculptress in 15th century Volterra. She enters a competition hosted by a dangerous family and ends up kidnapped and taken to Florence by the Luni family. There, Ravenna gets embroiled in the political and historical drama of Florence in the 15th century in a way that is magical and refreshing! This historical romantic fantasy was so well written and the tension between Saturnino and Ravenna was delicious! The pacing was perfect and I never wanted to put it down.

This book is a must read if you like:
👑 Enemies to Lovers
🖤 Forced Proximity
👑 Slow Burn
🖤 Villain Romance
👑 Forbidden Love
🖤 Political Intrigue
👑 Magic vs. Religion
🖤 Gemstone magic
👑 Standalone!!!

Thank you to Saturday Books and NetGalley for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3 ⭐️
🌶️🌶️- ch 37, 38 & 40
Open door but not very spicy/explicit details

-Summary-
This historical romantasy is set during the Italian Renaissance by Isabel Ibañez. Magic is forbidden, and religion holds immense power. The main narrator, Ravenna Maffei, is a skilled sculptor who possesses magic but keeps it hidden. Despite the risks, she risks everything to save her brother.

Ravenna enters a competition hosted by Florence’s most feared immortal Luni family. The winner receives a boon and money. Of course, Ravenna wins and uses her boon to save her brother. However, unexpectedly, the Luni Family take her away as a captive and assign her an almost impossible task.

During her captivity, Ravenna forms a relationship with Saturnino dei Luni, the oldest son of the Luni family. She becomes the target of a war she wants nothing to do with while battling an internal conflict between her mind and heart.

This story is told in 3rd person from multiple characters.

*This story contains dark themes and TW/CW, including but limited to: murder, violence, religion trauma, death of family members, and abuse to main characters. The TW/CW page was NOT included. But proceed with caution*

-Review-
I had high hopes for this book, but I found it challenging to connect with it. One aspect I appreciated was the slow-burn romance. Despite the story spanning only two months, Isabel effectively wrote the pace of the romance. It felt natural and authentic, and the tension was perfection. I also enjoyed Ravenna’s clear cognitive dissonance and her journey of overcoming it. Lastly, I loved how Isabel intertwined Italian Renaissance history with magic and fantasy.

Now, let’s discuss the three reasons why I struggled with the book.

1. The excessive use of Italian. There were entire sentences without any explanation or translation. I frequently had to use my Kindle’s translator app, which disrupted my immersion in the story. While I understand that this is a historical romance, the overuse of Italian felt unnecessary and didn’t contribute to the narrative or setting.

2. The plot holes. I’m not sure if you could even call them plot holes, but there were several unresolved elements, unexplained additions, or inconsistencies in the story.

For instance:
- We’re provided with a list of different magic stones/types, but we never see their actual use, except for one, which was also useless and literally, not USED.
- The identity of the courier remains a mystery, and the reasons behind the pope’s authority over him are unclear.
- The fate of Ravenna’s aunt is left unexplained.
- Why did a character with a mother who was a powerful witch/fae possess ZERO magic?

I could go on and on, but I can’t due to spoilers, which is also why I can’t list the third reason. I’ll update my review after the book’s release.


Thank you, St. Martin's Press | Saturday Books & NetGalley for my gifted advanced book copy 💕

All my reviews are my own opinion.

i received an e-arc in exchange for my honest review:

i think a lot of people will love this one when it releases, but for me it just wasn't what i envisioned. it had very promising elements that reeled me in such as the renaissance setting, a unique magic system with stones and sculpting, plot inspired by the medici rule, and an intriguing villain. sadly...it just read like every other romantasy where it's insta-love with characters that didn't leave an impact. this book has potential to be much better than it is if certain aspects are improved such as exploring more of the world (and not giving brief mentions that so-and-so exists) and actually creating depth between the character's relationships that aren't superficially relied on describing how ethereal he looks every page. This is also where certain parts tend to get super repetitive.
i will say, the concept was nice and i adored all the art explored throughout. the pope's povs were very interesting in the beginning of the story as well.

3.5 stars

The story really dragged for me. I kept putting it down and seriously considered DNFing (which I hate to do), but I pushed through. If you’re like me and struggle with the pacing early on but appreciate the author’s writing style and the clear amount of research that went into building the rich, atmospheric setting of Renaissance Italy, then I’d encourage you to stick with it until just past the halfway mark.

The plot didn’t fully capture my interest until around 50%, which is why the rating is what it is. I don’t want to wait that long to become interested in a book or have to hope that the second half will redeem a considerably low initial impression. Before that point, I wasn’t particularly invested in the characters or their motivations. I think if some key developments had been more evenly spread throughout the first half, I would’ve felt more compelled to continue sooner.

That said, once the plot twist hit, I was hooked! It picked up significantly and held my attention through to the end.

I do wish we had learned more about the Courier. I love a good mystery that keeps the reader guessing, but even just a glimpse into his backstory or what drives him would’ve satisfied me.

** Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early arc copy in exchange for an honest review **

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for providing me with the e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

As a fan of Isabel Ibañez’s Secrets of the Nile duology, I had high expectations of Graceless Heart. Unfortunately, I didn't like it as much as I had hoped.

The few things I liked were the historical references to the time period and the world building. Overall, I felt like Ibañez did a brilliant job of painting a picture of what 15th century Italy was like.

However, the plot fell flat and it was a chore to push myself through this book. It was very slow and only picked up around 60% in. After that part, I started enjoying the book more than I was before. However, I still wasn’t able to connect myself to any of the characters, finding some of the POVs to be completely unnecessary and not adding much to the story. The magic was interesting but I wished there could have been more of it. The plot twist was unexpected, and it just felt like the book sped up much faster after that.

As for the romance, I didn’t feel much of the chemistry between Ravenna and Saturnino. She was constantly describing his beauty, and it felt like her feelings to him were born only out of attraction. I couldn’t quite understand Saturnino’s character and wished we could have gotten more of his POVs instead of some of the other characters. I do think their romance was improved by the latter half of the book and am glad they got their happy ending.

The writing was decent but I do have some criticisms. In my opinion, this book did a lot more “telling” than “showing”. It would describe Ravenna’s emotions instead of showing them through facial expressions and dialogue. Although this may just be a personal preference, I don’t particularly like to be spoon-fed information and would rather figure it out using the implications. Another issue I had was constant repetitions throughout the book and some of the paragraphs feeling too clunky. Some of the metaphors were strange (ie. “some people might find attractive if they liked the look of medicinal apothecary bottles” in reference to Ravenna’s eyes), and sometimes the descriptions would be too much.

While I’m sad that I didn’t like this book as much as I wanted to, I think it’s a decent book if you’re in the mood for a historical romance with some fantasy elements!

This was unexpected for me. I found the story to be completely unique and compelling. I loved the premise so much as much as the characters, writing and intriguing plot. Thank you so much for providing me the arc, this read was phenomenal and it certainly exceeded what I had expected.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I think this is one of my new favorite books of the year 😍 I loveee Isabel Ibañez’s writing style and her world building. This was no exception, I couldn’t get enough. She is truly an artist with her words.

Ravenna was such a good FMC, I loved her from the beginning. Her emotions really came across and I was so sad for her about the divide between her and her family & community because of her magic and their views on it. I loved how it portrayed her self-loathing of her own magic because of the mind set of those around her and how they treated her once they knew.

I loved Ravennas attraction to Saturnino and the slow burn of it all. Though I really wish we got a couple more chapters of his POV so we could see him falling for her as well since it did feel like it all just kind of clicked after the river. But I still loved it regardless.
Most of the chapters being in Ravennas POV with a couple chapters in between being others POVs to fill in gaps in the story was actually so interesting and I feel like it really kept the story flowing so well.

But without spoiling anything, I loved all the backstories included and the twists and reveals happening in the second half of the book. The pacing was great and I was so hooked on figuring it all out. I feel like it all came together so perfectly.

This book is a gorgeously written historical fantasy set in Renaissance Italy. The prose are very descriptive and I love the intermingling of Italian words and phrases now and then. Ravenna is a comeplling heroine who is resilient and driven throughout this whole journey. Even though I adored how the romance between her and Saturnino was a slow-burn, the romance itself felt a bit rushed and trope-heavy. I usually adore reading multiple POVs as it can bring a more dynamic view to a story, but in this case it felt a bit distracting and I would have preferred some deeper looks into a few of the side characters. But despite this all, the book has a unique premise, gorgeous cover art, and immersive storytelling were so fun and engaging.

I love everything Isabel Ibañez writes, so when I heard she had a new book coming out, I was beyond excited. Admittedly, my enthusiasm dipped a little once I realized the story was set in my least favorite time period… something about the Medicis and that whole era just makes my eyes cross. But that’s purely personal preference and says nothing about the brilliance of the book itself.

Despite my hesitation, Graceless Heart had me hooked from the start. The layered betrayals, the rich magical elements, and especially the different magical creatures (I gasped when I learned the truth about the Luni family. It made perfect sense and blew my mind) kept me captivated on every page.

The tension and yearning between Ravenna and Saturnino were palpable. I’m a sucker for a seemingly “bad” boy who might actually be morally gray, and Ibañez writes those characters so well. She also seamlessly weaves real historical figures into this fantasy world, which added a fascinating depth, even if I could’ve done without the Medicis!

Huge thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Saturday Books for the early copy. Ibañez continues to deliver beautifully crafted stories with unforgettable characters, and Graceless Heart is no exception.

This book got better as it went on. I really like the cat and twist, the chapters from other POVs provide a lot of context. The romance wasn't selling me at first, but they did grow on me. I also really liked the magic system but I wish we'd gotten more of it! This felt long and short at the same time.