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rlbooks8 's review for:
The Sorceress Transcendent
by Casey Blair
I've seen the writing prompt for a while that poses the scenario of a hero being injured and going to the villain's door but I hadn't read anything similar to this premise until now and it was amazing. Sorceress Transcendent throws you right into the story with Varius (H) having been betrayed by his kingdom and stumbling through a forest trying to get to his old enemy for possible safety. Theira (h) is a powerful sorceress who fought on the other side of their two kingdoms' years-long war, but she escaped her kingdom. I really enjoyed how their background was shared and the hesitancy of whether each was truly right in their opinions and thoughts about the other. Because they both had slyly not killed the other in battle and there was an almost flirty/mischievous quality to some of the interactions in their memories, which I dug. Still, they were enemies for years and both understand each other tactically more than anyone else so theoretically could be very dangerous to the other. But Theira does welcome Varius into her home and there's a cozy, vulnerable, sweet start to their non-battling relationship with slice of life moments and some emotional ones. Then danger follows. Written in third person, dual POV. No ow/om drama and neither appeared to be a virgin (no history given that I can recall).
This is a fade to black romance, let me make sure that's clear. There's great tension and flirtiness and chemistry and I really wanted at least one scene that was open door. This is my first book by this author so I imagine she doesn't write explicit romance and that's ok, I just don't read many fade to black romances and in this book specifically, I would have loved some on page heat. That aside, their relationship was so fun and interesting, I loved it. There was tiptoeing around each other to start and being unsure about what this could be and how to interact but they meshed so well and the book felt so intimate for a novella. Which again, that physical intimacy would have just given me another layer (and I'm done with harping on that).
The danger does come from both of their kingdoms and the political/military aspects of each are introduced for the world building. It wasn't clear why the war started between their peoples and the layout of the world wasn't clearly defined. There were lots of details about the magic aspect of being a sorceress for Theira and her background. Varius got to shine in his capacity as a strategist and former general, but his background beyond that wasn't shared. Still, this was a novella and did include quite a bit of world building and background for the shortness of it.
The final conflict and climax was fantastic and I loved Theira's mind as well as Varius' support. The book does end with them able to be together safely and to get their HEA. I always want an epilogue, it's a weakness of mine, but I was ok with not having one here given the ending and all the earlier cozy and cute moments of them together in her home that gave me a clear picture of how they'd spend their future time together. This was a fun read that made me fall in love with these two main characters very quickly and then left me happy for their future life together.
This is a fade to black romance, let me make sure that's clear. There's great tension and flirtiness and chemistry and I really wanted at least one scene that was open door. This is my first book by this author so I imagine she doesn't write explicit romance and that's ok, I just don't read many fade to black romances and in this book specifically, I would have loved some on page heat. That aside, their relationship was so fun and interesting, I loved it. There was tiptoeing around each other to start and being unsure about what this could be and how to interact but they meshed so well and the book felt so intimate for a novella. Which again, that physical intimacy would have just given me another layer (and I'm done with harping on that).
The danger does come from both of their kingdoms and the political/military aspects of each are introduced for the world building. It wasn't clear why the war started between their peoples and the layout of the world wasn't clearly defined. There were lots of details about the magic aspect of being a sorceress for Theira and her background. Varius got to shine in his capacity as a strategist and former general, but his background beyond that wasn't shared. Still, this was a novella and did include quite a bit of world building and background for the shortness of it.
The final conflict and climax was fantastic and I loved Theira's mind as well as Varius' support. The book does end with them able to be together safely and to get their HEA. I always want an epilogue, it's a weakness of mine, but I was ok with not having one here given the ending and all the earlier cozy and cute moments of them together in her home that gave me a clear picture of how they'd spend their future time together. This was a fun read that made me fall in love with these two main characters very quickly and then left me happy for their future life together.