ashley_dang096 's review for:

Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai

5.0

---

A descendant of the god of medicine on the run in the middle of a deadly family squabble finds herself intertwined with the half-elf top fixer of his company, renown for how deadly and cold he is... yet he has a curse upon him. Both of them are dealing with secrets, obligations, and yearning for freedom... and have been secretly yearning for each other for some time now. Elle is the descendant of the god of medicine, but when her older and younger brother get into a deadly battle that results in one of them wanting to kill off the rest of the family and Elle having to take matters into her own hand, finds herself trying to keep a life of low profile, hiding her skills and even her name to protect her brother. Elle is gifted, but she hides her abilities, taking mediocre magical jobs yet she has one exception, half-elf Luc, a security expert that is as handsome as he is feared... yet for Elle he has only ever shown her kindness and affection. Luc is cursed, he is under the control of his tyrannical boss and forced to do things he doesnt want to. He’s been living a life of isolation, cutting off emotions and attachments because his job has forced him to become a shell of a person... yet the moment he met Elle and began to befriend her he can’t help falling in love with the beautiful and sweet magical calligrapher who doesn’t know his reputation, who doesn’t know what he’s done, and who has only ever treated him with kindness unlike how everyone else treats him as a monster. Yet when Luc’s latest mission coincides with Elle’s own family troubles soon both of them well have to reveal their secrets... and also their feelings for one another. They’ll have to ask themselves what they’re willing to fight for and how far they’re wiling to go to protect each other. This was such a fantastic contemporary fantasy romance filled with elves, magic, romance, duty, and so much more. Seriously the romance between Elle and Luc was just precious and I had such a great time reading this book!

*Thank you Tachyon Publications for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*