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rlbooks8 's review for:
His Forsaken Bride
by Alice Coldbreath
At first this was a very slow read for me but once I settled in more, the details of court life, machinations of characters, and the relationship of the h and H became more interesting. This is a character-driven story and primarily takes place at the palace so there's a large focus on court life. The story is written in third person, dual POV. No ow drama, some om drama from h's ex-husband but not because he wants her back, no virgins, and no bc.
Oswald (H) was my favorite in the story and I kept thinking he was layered, like an onion and then laughing at my own Shrek reference. But he was and what I liked most was that he didn't realize he had these layers until he was having to deal with all the feelings and changes as he adjusted to having a wife. Sometimes I did want to shake him though. Fenella (h) was sadly not as enjoyable of a character for me. She made an interesting foil against Oswald (I don't think pairing him with a lady more like him would have been better), but her growth just wasn't substantial imo and her reactions to all the changes were often more frustrating than sympathetic. I didn't want her to turn into a court savvy lady suddenly since that would be unrealistic but something was lacking here for me. I loved that both were jealous of each other and I liked the steamy scenes. I did feel sometimes that their current relationship hinged more on their past betrothal than where they were now. There were also some elements of their past I wish were explored more though.
Side characters play a big role throughout the story, as support and conflict. Several have stories at this point in this world, continuing in this series and then in her other Karadok series. Not all of the side characters sparked my interest but a couple have me curious. The more I think about this read as I write this review though, the more my brain is turning over some of what happened and wondering.
There's an epilogue, but it's not much of a jump ahead in time and I would have liked more of one, even with these characters making appearances in other books. Ms. Coldbreath's Prizefighters series is definitely my favorite of her books still.
Oswald (H) was my favorite in the story and I kept thinking he was layered, like an onion and then laughing at my own Shrek reference. But he was and what I liked most was that he didn't realize he had these layers until he was having to deal with all the feelings and changes as he adjusted to having a wife. Sometimes I did want to shake him though. Fenella (h) was sadly not as enjoyable of a character for me. She made an interesting foil against Oswald (I don't think pairing him with a lady more like him would have been better), but her growth just wasn't substantial imo and her reactions to all the changes were often more frustrating than sympathetic. I didn't want her to turn into a court savvy lady suddenly since that would be unrealistic but something was lacking here for me. I loved that both were jealous of each other and I liked the steamy scenes. I did feel sometimes that their current relationship hinged more on their past betrothal than where they were now. There were also some elements of their past I wish were explored more though.
Side characters play a big role throughout the story, as support and conflict. Several have stories at this point in this world, continuing in this series and then in her other Karadok series. Not all of the side characters sparked my interest but a couple have me curious. The more I think about this read as I write this review though, the more my brain is turning over some of what happened and wondering.
There's an epilogue, but it's not much of a jump ahead in time and I would have liked more of one, even with these characters making appearances in other books. Ms. Coldbreath's Prizefighters series is definitely my favorite of her books still.