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ayeitsdaye 's review for:
Crown of Earth and Sky
by Emberly Ash
Crown of Earth and Sky is a steamy enemies to lovers fantasy romance with Arthurian flavour. Arthur Pendragon, destined to secure peace and unite the Terrestrial and Elemental kingdoms of Annwyn, is murdered before he can ascend the throne. His twin sister, Veyka has been the spare “Princess of Peace”, sequestered most of her life, becomes the Queen of Secrets. To be Queen demands power, but Veyka’s secret is that she is the only fae without any power at all. Knowing her time is likely short, she crumples under her grief and lives only for the hope of revenge.
A new Terrestrial Heir emerges to unite Annwyn, the Brutal Prince Arran Earthborn, the most powerful terrestrial fae to exist. Thrust into an unexpected destiny together, Arran and Veyka have to overcome well placed mistrust in order to survive a scheming court in a power vacuum, for the sake of their people if not anything else.
The turns with the mystery first offered to Veyka and Arran was really impressive, as someone who has heightened pattern recognition, the foreshadowing sometimes felt imperceptible in a way that delighted me! I didn’t spend half the book waiting to call my hunch which was SO refreshing.
At first I REALLY didn’t like Veyka despite how similar she is to me, but this Queen of Secrets is an onion with layers. Usually I’m turned off by instant attraction, enemies who can’t stop thinking about each other for no discernible reason but I found Veyka and Arran’s relationship played out well with heavy complex feelings from both sides. Huge points for having a powerful, large woman in charge, taking up space apologetically. Bigger points for an alpha male who clearly wants to worship her despite better judgement.
What initially kept me was the world building which is weaved through dual perspectives, enough to provide appropriate structure for the reader to build upon visually. You get dropped right into trouble the second you have your bearings which can be so difficult to time, but I think Emberly Ash nailed it. Both protagonists brought something to the table, the way Ash has structured their perspectives felt like a very natural multiple POV. With a medium pace, I never felt jarred by the change, and there were only one or two points where I had to check whether I was reading from Arran or Veyka’s perspectives.
The spice was everywhere and absolutely delightful, the voices felt comfortable, confident and not cringy. Ash writes proper eye-porn, liberally sprinkled throughout. If it was a slow burn I would’ve chucked my kindle across the room because the sexual tension is just always there even with a robust plot. Though I was left a bit dissatisfied with this first resolution to the threat within the kingdom, the reveal fell a little flat, BUT I feel like that’s for a reason, because I love a good cliffhanger that speaks to the much larger conflicts ahead.
All that to say, I’m enthused about starting the sequel today with high regards, and even higher expectations ☺️