⭐ 4 /5

👑 Political and High Stakes
💔 Royal family drama
🌌 (Rejected) Fated mates
🔥 Enemies-ish to lovers
⚔️ Teacher x student
🖤 She's the badass, he's the cinnamon roll

Okay, this book started out so strong. The first half had me absolutely hooked — the trials, the tension, the political intrigue, all those “zero to hero” vibes I love. Ramiel’s journey had so much promise, I was hooked and flying through pages thinking “yesss this is it.”

But then somewhere after that point, the pacing went sideways. Things started to feel downplayed when they should’ve hit harder, and the heat hit out of nowhere. Like… huh? 👀 I know it’s going the fated mates route, but I wanted more build-up before the reveal — that delicious tension, the angst, the push and pull. Instead it felt rushed, and it took me out of the story a little.

Still, I can’t deny the book has a solid plot underneath, entertaining even. The trials and betrayals kept me turning pages, even if the execution sometimes felt messy. Even with filler moments that dragged, there’s still plenty of action, drama, and a romance thread that keeps pulling you along. And that ending? Of course it had to leave me hanging right when things were getting juicy. Definitely a setup for more books.

Overall, it’s not perfect — a little messy in execution — but I still had fun with it. It gave me enough drama and promise that I’ll probably peek into book two just to see where this chaos goes 👍🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A scrawny prince, a lethal elf, a fairy frenemy — and a dragon waiting at the end.

We open with Prince Ramiel’s POV. Because of a prophecy, he was never trained in swordplay or strategy — instead he’s been confined to arts, sciences, and tea parties. Lanky, prudish, and without a scrap of endurance, he would rather read than rule. But when his warrior brother, the heir, dies unexpectedly, Ramiel’s father announces that he must slay the dragon to claim his inheritance. The cruel catch: he is still forbidden to learn either magic or martial arts.

Ramiel sets off in desperation with Ronan, his late brother’s friend, in search of a teacher. Enter Ether, a wood elf summoned by the king for ominous reasons, and soon to be suspiciously entangled in palace intrigue. She soon discovers that Ronan is actually a fairy — her sworn enemy, given the ancient betrayal between elves and fairies that cemented human supremacy.

They smuggle Ether into the castle, but before any training can begin she needs to recharge her magic reserves. Cue another errand: Ramiel must catch a magical fish. Against all odds, the encounter awakens his own magic — something his companions declare impossible. While they are returning with their decidedly pungent catch, Ether is busy uncovering secret passages and the prophecy itself. To complicate matters, she is ordered by the king to sabotage Ramiel’s training or watch all elves slaughtered.

Back at the training ground, Ramiel and Ether collide in more ways than one — a mating mark appears on their arms, forcing them into a bond neither expected. Ether, still undecided whether to betray him, lures a dangerous creature to the training grounds. Too late, she regrets it, saving Ramiel from death but not from disaster: he is gravely wounded. The court mages’ questionable “healing” costs him his eyesight, making his dragon-slaying destiny all the more grim.

Ronan, Ether, and Ramiel flee to an ancient ruin in the magical forest to begin real magical training. There, Ramiel slowly connects with Ether, while Ether faces the slaughter of her village and the testimony of a centuries-old elven ghost who challenges everything she and Ronan believed about their history. Even Ramiel’s heritage proves less straightforward than it seemed. Training advances — until the king abruptly calls them back, moving up the crown prince’s formal presentation aka dragon fight.

Ramiel, barely prepared and on the brink of death, accepts help from a ghostly voice that reveals itself as his dead brother, a powerful mage. The catch? His brother plans to inhabit Ramiel’s body. Ramiel regains his sight, the king is killed, he just struggles against his brother’s control long enough to ensure that Ether and Ronan can escape, before collapsing.

The story ends here, and yes — I’ll certainly pick up the sequel. I want to see how Ramiel grows from reluctant scholar to something more, and whether his allies can rescue him from his brother’s grasp.

This is very much fantasy with a romantic subplot rather than romantasy. And it’s refreshing that the “damsel in distress” is actually the MMC, while the FMC is the fighter — a neat reversal that worked well for me.

Since Ramiel doesn’t come with a scent, we’ll take Ronan’s instead: dried daisies, the spice of rain, and salt. Not bad company to keep.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest opinion.