Stunningly written, while it does continue the story begun in The Winter Queen's Tale, this expands the world and the characters and adds in ROMANCE.
Vale, the frost queen's brother, takes center stage as he agrees to a marriage with a mortal girl to fulfil an ancient ritual and satisfy his sister's wrath after her proud grandmother insults the frost queen's beauty.
The lore of this land is simultaneously familiar, borrowing from fairytales and Nordic vibes, and unique. The characters are sympathetic overall.
It does end in a bit of a cliffhanger, so be warned of that. Hopefully book three is out soon!
A masked groom. A frightened bride. A vow as harsh and unyielding as winter.On the edge of the mortal lands in the north, Sonya strives to be the perfect noblewoman. Playing her harp provides the only respite from the demanding decorum of the Earl’s court. Until, in a fit of hubris, her grandmother declares to a faery emissary that Sonya possesses greater beauty than the Snow Queen. A price must be paid for the insult. The price of a maid, sacrificed to the ice.Prince Vale Frost lives in the shadow of the Ice Palace his sister has wrought. He believes…
This was a lot of fun and had me snickering. I somehow missed that it was a portal fantasy when I received the ARC from the author (I got one of those, all opinions still my own) which I guess the Wonderland part should've been a clue but I still wasn't expecting it to start in Oregon.
The humor in this is really good. It's fast paced, keeps moving, and the characters and gadgets are very fun.
The leads do fall in love very quickly but in kind of an idiots in love way that makes it work, like these two have two brain cells a piece. His are dividing between inventing and flirting. Hers between revenge and flirting.
Clean, though the characters do have a healthy appreciation for each other's "physicality" which I personally like, but I've seen some readers get pearl clutchy about, so I'll mention it.
Ex-personal trainer Maddie Upton seeks revenge on the jerks who sabotaged her promising career. She's laid low in Oregon for a year, and payback is mere hours away.Her perfect vengeance plans were on track until she fell into a steampunk Wonderland with a giant chessboard that makes people disappear and corsets she can't lace by herself.Enter Simon - genius mechanic and chronic flirt - who needs to get his sister out of prison. Maddie needs a way out of this maddening place ASAP. She'll help him with the jailbreak; he'll help her get home. Simple enough.But Wonderland isn't simple. Besides…
This is a good deal of fun, fast paced, heartfelt, with some fun references and a lot of twists on Christmas lore. Claire is a fun character whose snarky first person narrative really carries this and it makes good use of a soft magic system that borrows from without owing too much to any particular Christmas lore.
Light religious elements, light romantic elements (kisses only)
For Claire Samson, the only way to survive Christmas this year is to escape it.
High-achieving Australian medical student Claire Samson has struggled to enjoy Christmas in recent years, but this is the first Christmas she will be all alone, with her parents overseas and her grandfather in a coma. Claire is desperate to quit med school, but medicine was Grandpa’s dream for her, and her rural hometown desperately needs more doctors—doctors which could have changed her grandfather’s prognosis.
Just when Claire thinks Christmas will be unbearable, a steam train straight out of Platform 9 ¾ appears . . .…
His secret identity is her big scoop—if she can just avoid falling for him.
When superhero, Glint's, aka Henry Nichols's, powers go on the fritz after a supervillain attack, he finds himself rethinking his priorities. Years of devotion to public service have left him with little for himself, and with forty swiftly approaching, he finds himself longing for his youth on his grandfather's farm. An incognito vacation is just what he needs.
Former reporter Lara Landis lost her career and her only long-term relationship all in one humiliating blow. Broke and rudderless, she retreats to her parents' small town grocery store to try and make one last career rally, but how is she going to get a big scoop living in the middle of nowhere? When a poorly disguised superhero lands in her neighborhood, insisting that he's just a normal guy, she can't help but smell a story.
As their chance encounters turn into a begrudging friendship, Lara is surprised to find a caring, sincere human beneath Henry's press-conference-ready exterior. When the truth comes out, though, her big story could turn into his worst nightmare.
A PG, Kisses Only Superhero Romance Author Note: A Superhero for Christmas is set in the same world as the Supervillain Rehabilitation Project series but is a standalone story that can be read on its own. If you enjoy the story, please check out the other tales in this universe.
I suggest starting with either Blind Date with a Supervillain or Reformed.
