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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
I love the way Donna Grant crafts her worlds. There is magic and wonder around every corner.
With this story Donna Grant has shown, yet again, that she can craft characters that feel real and whole. They draw you in and make you care about their fate. IMO, that is the mark of a great story and author.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as I have.
Happy Reading!
With this story Donna Grant has shown, yet again, that she can craft characters that feel real and whole. They draw you in and make you care about their fate. IMO, that is the mark of a great story and author.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as I have.
Happy Reading!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Received as an ARC, thank you to Donna Grant for the opportunity to read this book!
In a world where the elves outnumber humans 20 to 1, humans find themselves at a major disadvantage to the magic wielders. In Rising Sun, we follow the POV of Ravi, our elf MMC, and Yasmin, our human FMC. Forced to work together to prevent a humanitarian disaster, they have to put their prejudices aside in order to survive.
I found myself engaged from the very beginning, despite finding some of the world building a bit clunky, and I only got more interested as time went on. I was unaware that Donna Grant had so many series already published, I think potentially reading one of those might have helped the beginning of this for me, but I enjoyed it nonetheless! The love story within this novel was so fun and followed all of the tropes I find myself enjoying. I did go into it fairly blind and I believe that might be the best way to start this book. If you like an independent, takes no crap from anyone, fmc then you will definitely fall in love with Yasmin! I did find it hard to enjoy Ravi at first, but I think as time goes on in the story, he begins to change in a way that made me more apt to liking him.
This is romantasy at its finest, even for a non-romance person. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast paced, entertaining, and easy fantasy book!
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Yasmin, is a grifter, a thief, a survivor. She is also surrogate big sister to a group of rag-tag abandoned and abused human children. When she picks the wrong pocket she finds herself facing prison and she knows neither she or the children will survive her captivity. When the Elf in charge offers her a way out she reluctantly goes along with her plan. But returning to Shaldorn could be the end of her...she escaped once, she may have used up all of her luck.
Ravi detests humans about as much as Yasmin hates Elves. But on the journey to Shaldorn he cannot help being impressed by this resilient and determined woman. She drip-feeds him parts of her story and he finally understands just what she went through behind those imposing walls. And he can't seem to help himself wanting her!
The intricate differences between types of Elves, their powers and politics all make for a super interesting backstory. High fantasy, romance and action blend well together. Yasmin is prickly, plucky and a true survivor. Ravi begins as this aloof and arrogant elf but Yasmin chips off some of those edges and by the end he's kind of a big-hearted softie!
The world building is fabulous and descriptive enough to suck you in but not enough to bog you down. Great start to a new offshoot series in the Dragon Kings Universe!
Ravi detests humans about as much as Yasmin hates Elves. But on the journey to Shaldorn he cannot help being impressed by this resilient and determined woman. She drip-feeds him parts of her story and he finally understands just what she went through behind those imposing walls. And he can't seem to help himself wanting her!
The intricate differences between types of Elves, their powers and politics all make for a super interesting backstory. High fantasy, romance and action blend well together. Yasmin is prickly, plucky and a true survivor. Ravi begins as this aloof and arrogant elf but Yasmin chips off some of those edges and by the end he's kind of a big-hearted softie!
The world building is fabulous and descriptive enough to suck you in but not enough to bog you down. Great start to a new offshoot series in the Dragon Kings Universe!
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Slavery, Medical trauma, Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What can I say about another Donna Grant series? Do we get to meet new, fascinating, complex characters? Yup … YEAH!!! Will there be glimpses of other characters from previous books in other series? You betcha … more YEAHS!!! Will these characters play with our emotions and demand our attention? ABSOLUTELY!!! Oh Boy!!! Will we miss sleep because we won’t want to put it down? OF COUSE WE WILL!!! The only thing else I can say about Rising Sun? When is the next book?
An elf and a human have to put their mutual animosity aside and face the horrors of their past in this magical tale.
Rising Sun is the first book in a new series about the elves on Zora that we first met in Dragon Lover (book 5 of the Dragon Kings series). I don’t know why I’m still surprised by the way that Donna Grant can create new characters and new plot lines in this super extensive universe that is already teeming with so many interesting characters and events.
Yasmin had a very traumatic past that was revealed in bits and pieces and showed her phenomenal fortitude. Ravi was an intriguing mixture of hard and soft. He had to be hard because of his job as spy, but he was very solicitous of Yasmin almost right from the start. Both had to let go of their race-based preconceived notions about each other.
Ravi and Yasmin’s journey to stop a war was fraught with nail-biting danger interspersed with moments of exquisite beauty and tenderness.
The elven world and culture seemed multi-faceted and interesting and I am excited to read more about them. And, as usual, the author very cleverly sprinkled subtle hints around at the end about what may be coming next.
I can highly recommend this entire universe of books if you like shifters, fae, elves, magic, thrilling action, and steamy romance. You can start with this book and this series, or go back and discover the magic of Donna Grant’s Dark World.
Thank you to the author for providing me with a copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rising Sun by Donna Grant
Elven Kingdom series book #1. Paranormal romance. Spin off from prior Dragon Kings series.
Nothing could make Yasmin return to Shaldorn. Until she is given an ultimatum of taking an elf into Shaldorn or face imprisonment for the rest of her life. Not really having a choice, she travels with Ravi through the freezing mountains for days, camping where they can find shelter. She refuses to face the place where she was a prisoner at the whims of the rich and sadistic. But Ravi is on a mission to save his people and he will do whatever necessary to save his world.
🎧 I listened to an audiobook narrated by by Shane East. He has a very deep and low voice for Ravi which had me upping the volume and slowing the playback from my preferred speed. On the other hand, when he is vocalizing Yasmin’s speaking voice or the children, it’s a slightly higher pitch and louder causing quite the variance in volume from male to female. By chapter 5ish, I got used to the variance until Chapter 31 has Ravi whispering with the opposite side from Yasmin. For the majority of the performance beyond this, I enjoyed the emotional and perilous journey of strangers to soul mates.
Heart thumping danger, passionate interludes, and a story enthralling enough to read in one sitting.
Fantastic hook in the last minute of the epilogue of dangers yet to come.
I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Tantor Audio.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
overall 3.5 stars Yasmin & Ravi
ARC: 4 stars
This was a great read for the first book in a fantasy series. I honestly haven't read a lot of fantasy involving elves, so it was fun to learn more about these magical creatures. This story lead Yasmin & Ravi on an exhilarating quest. Yasmin, a human who seriously hates elves, is forced to lead Ravi, an elf not super fond of humans, to a top secret place of debauchery - a place she barely escaped with her life. They're on a mission to break in, retrieve a weapon that is intended to be used against the elves and get out alive without being caught.
It's an exciting adventure with some interesting world building. The character development is solid. It was heartwarming to see Yasmin open up to Ravi and Ravi fall for her once he begins to understand her more. Yasmin is a very strong FMC. She has been through some incredibly horrific things, but still opened her heart to take in and care for abandoned and abused human children, kept her word on the mission regardless of having several opportunities to attempt an escape and faced her trauma head on like an absolute bad@ss.
ALC: 3 stars
In fantasy books where the POV is regularly shifting, I think it's important to either have multiple narrators or distinctive voices for even internal dialogue between the various characters.
I'll be honest in saying Shane East isn't my favourite narrator. He didn't deliver a bad performance by any means, however I do feel like there was room for improvement or this book would have been better off if narrated by a female or a voice actor with more dynamic tone. Personally, I really don't like Shane East's version of a female voice and that's the main reason I'm not a fan of his narration. I feel as though I would enjoy it more if he did works in duet narration. As the only narrator, there were times were times where I couldn't tell whether he was narrating from the FMC or the MMCs POV, as even the internal dialogue was delivered with the same tone.
Thank you to NetGalley, Donna Grant and Tantor Audio for the ALC & ARC.
ARC: 4 stars
This was a great read for the first book in a fantasy series. I honestly haven't read a lot of fantasy involving elves, so it was fun to learn more about these magical creatures. This story lead Yasmin & Ravi on an exhilarating quest. Yasmin, a human who seriously hates elves, is forced to lead Ravi, an elf not super fond of humans, to a top secret place of debauchery - a place she barely escaped with her life. They're on a mission to break in, retrieve a weapon that is intended to be used against the elves and get out alive without being caught.
It's an exciting adventure with some interesting world building. The character development is solid. It was heartwarming to see Yasmin open up to Ravi and Ravi fall for her once he begins to understand her more. Yasmin is a very strong FMC. She has been through some incredibly horrific things, but still opened her heart to take in and care for abandoned and abused human children, kept her word on the mission regardless of having several opportunities to attempt an escape and faced her trauma head on like an absolute bad@ss.
ALC: 3 stars
In fantasy books where the POV is regularly shifting, I think it's important to either have multiple narrators or distinctive voices for even internal dialogue between the various characters.
I'll be honest in saying Shane East isn't my favourite narrator. He didn't deliver a bad performance by any means, however I do feel like there was room for improvement or this book would have been better off if narrated by a female or a voice actor with more dynamic tone. Personally, I really don't like Shane East's version of a female voice and that's the main reason I'm not a fan of his narration. I feel as though I would enjoy it more if he did works in duet narration. As the only narrator, there were times were times where I couldn't tell whether he was narrating from the FMC or the MMCs POV, as even the internal dialogue was delivered with the same tone.
Thank you to NetGalley, Donna Grant and Tantor Audio for the ALC & ARC.
“Rising Sun,” by Donna Grant
When Yasmin is caught stealing, she is given a choice, imprisonment or take Ravi over the Dangerous Peaks to Shaldorn. Despite her fear of going back to that place she agrees to take him but to try to escape as soon as possible. They continue to get closer during the expedition, complicating Yasmin’s original plans.
This was a really good romance book. I loved the mashup with elves, humans, and dragons. There was enough action and world building that it wasn’t just a romance and was interesting to imagine. The romance is very enemies to lovers and passionate with internal turmoil. I really like all the books by Donna Grant that I’ve read, and this one didn’t disappoint. I had the audiobook version, and the narration was really good and paced really well. 4 out of 5 stars.
-Elves
-Humans
-Dragons
-Magic
-Enemies To Lovers
-Forced Proximity
Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced