Crown of Blood and Glass

Awakened Fates, Book 1

By: Lucinda Dark, Rebecca Grey

Narrated by: Nick Mondelli, Islay Jacobs

Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

My closest friend has lost his mind. He killed my father, took over my kingdom, and despite the blood that now stains his hands, claims that we’re fated to be together.

My salvation comes from the most unlikely of sources.

To reclaim my throne, I’ll have to rely on the one man I’ve hated my entire life for survival.

Solomon Winett is the noble descendant of barbarian warriors and the bane of my existence. He’s obnoxious, stubborn, and the only one who rescued me from a fate worse than death.

I just need to remember one thing: once the line between hatred and passion has been crossed, there's no going back.

©2023 Lucinda Dark and Rebecca Grey (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Unique Story Telling

This was a good start to this trilogy! I like the dual POV, action & drama start out early & the tension between the MC's wasintriguing. Couldn't wait to jump into book two !!

3.5 Stars 🌟

In this new series, we meet a Crown Princess who finds herself in quite the disaster. She is betrothed to a Prince from another country, and has been for many years since she was a child. Unfortunately, she has never met him and it is his younger brother Nasir that has been the one to come to her country to visit her and get to know her.

For her coming of age ceremony, the Prince still does not come and the younger brother Nasir is there. At that time, he does the unthinkable and assassinates her father the King and says he did it for her. He had asked the King to change the betrothal agreement from his brother to him and the King refused. So, he killed the King and wanted the two of them to live happily ever after. She is devastated and runs away to escape.

It seems that Nasir is "awakened" which means he has powers apparently given to them by the gods that gives him the ability to "control" other people. He somehow did something to her guards because she had to flee when things were getting out of control - she is the daughter of a goddess and will someday have powers as well, but has not yet "awakened".

There is also her guard Solomon. He has been with her since the beginning and she is his "charge". He is the Blood General and was born "awakened" - which for him gives him strength, battle prowess and just overall fighting ability. When Nasir assassinates the King, he somehow gets everyone to believe that Solomon was the one who killed the King and sets the entire kingdom after them. Solomon is responsible for getting the princess safely away.

So that is the premise. The princess has lost her kingdom and has to find a way to get it away from Nasir and get it back. She is extremely immature when we meet her. She seems unrealistically angry with Solomon, whose job it is to take care of her. She seems petulant and it is hard to root for her in the beginning.

Things do get better, but it does take a while. I am going to continue on because I received the audio ARC for book 2.

I like it

With so many fantasy romance releases out there that include a royal on the run with their loved- hated bodyguard, this felt easy with a storyline I could follow. Looking forward to Book 2 in this series.

Decent Fantasy Romance

Things I liked about this: frenemies to lovers vibes, decent paced plot, “touch her and die” MMC, narrators.

Things I didn’t like: plot felt weak/rambling to me, weak and prudish FMC, no spice.

Not my favorite but definitely better than others I’ve read/listened to.

very similar to an anime called "Yona of the Dawn"

I love the narrators. This book was a slow burn that made me excited for the second book. This premise is nearly identical to an anime I watched some time ago called Yona of the dawn, so if you ever want a visual of similar storyline, I'd check it out.

Amazing!

The narrators were amazing, the story line was amazing, the slow burn is amazing. Basically this was amazing.

Great start to a new adventure

Love this book and the narrators. Both MC's are very likable and the love story is amazingly good.Can't wait for more.

Repetitive and whiny

Whiny and annoying FMC that lacks gumption—same internal monologue on repeat. Not worth the credit. Also, majority of the book lacks spice.

Boring

Maybe I’ve read entirely too many romantasy books but this one is so boring. I DNFd at about 50% mark. I really don’t understand the high ratings this book has received because honestly neither MC is interesting. Definitely a waste of a credit