In the Shadow of a Wish

Fareview Fairytales, Book 1

By: Maci Aurora

Narrated by: Bridget Bordeaux, Jake Bordeaux

Auri Fareview, practical and realistic, does what she can to serve her impoverished family. When she finds a golden key that could be the answer she needs to save her sisters from the unjust Marriage Laws of her land, she discovers the treasure might be more than she bargained for. Enchanted, the key is home to an imprisoned god, who wreaks havoc on her body, her heart, and her soul. And those aren’t practical matters. He has the power to break her.

Nixus Uraiahs has lost track of how long he’s been imprisoned by the spell on the key. There have been six key-keepers, all of whom have failed to break the spell to free him. He will hold this 7th key-keeper accountable to the bargain of the spell: three wishes and a price for each. There’s no hope in her freeing him, however. Nix knows she'll be like all the key-keepers who came before her. Except Auri approaches her wishes differently than any of the others, and Nix begins to see her as more than just a key-keeper. She intrigues him, proving her strength, surprising him, and enchanting him. Nix realizes his heart is at risk of being captured by the seventh key-keeper, and that is a risk he can’t afford to take knowing his villainy is just a single wish away.

©2022 Cami Walters-Nihipali (P)2025 Cami Walters-Nihipali

Instant 5 stars

I absolutely loved this! From the first few minutes, I knew it was a five-star book. I even whispered to myself, "Ooo, this is gonna be five stars, I just know it," and I didn’t jinx it!

Even though this is based on a Grimm fairy tale, the Golden Key, Maci Aurora crafts a uniquely immersive romantasy with rich world-building. Auri, trapped in a kingdom with oppressive marriage laws, discovers a key that leads her to Nixus, a cursed god bound to grant three wishes. Cynical and self-loathing, he doubts Auri will be different from past key-keepers, yet they are instantly drawn to each other. As she navigates his magical prison, the tension, sizzling romance, and sibling banter—especially from a dragon-shifting goddess—made this a fantastic read.

The narrators for this audio book did an excellent job of making the story so immersive. The quality was great, but the female narrator stood out the most, I did feel the dual POV balance leaned more toward the FMC. I would have loved more chapters from Nixus’ perspective to even things out or at least had the male narrator do all Nixus lines.

Overall, I’ve fallen for this series and can’t wait to dive into book two. If you love fairytale romantasy, this is a must-pick!

Obsessed

Such an interesting story I love the characters and the concept the twists and turns the emotion just to good

Unique!

🎧
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

🗝️Dual POV
🪄So much tension
🗝️Spicy
🪄Magic

This is the first book in a romantasy series. The characters - Auri and Nix- had an instalove. Nix is a god who is trapped under a curse and has to grant wishes to key holders when they find the key and summon him. Auri finds this key and is stuck with Nix until she’s asked for all 3 of her wishes. This is a spicy, unique, and wonderfully written story. The audio version made the characters realistic, made the story a better experience for me!

The book ended on a cliffhanger in preparation for book 2.

Audio Quality: The voices were consistent, feedback was great and there was no foreign noises.