Scarlight

The Castles of the Eyrie, Book 1

By: Evie Marceau

Narrated by: Rachael Beresford

"Do you promise you haven't come to steal me away?" I whispered.

He turned his head so his lips brushed my palm. "Do you want me to?"

As a child, princess Bryn was saved from a wolf attack by a prince from a rival kingdom that left them both scarred. Rangar's people believe that a life saved is a soul owned, and ten years later, Rangar returns to claim his prize: Bryn.

Yet Rangar arrives on the night that Bryn's people rise against their despotic rulers. With Bryn's castle on fire and most of her family dead, she has no choice but to escape with Rangar's help. Was she rescued . . . or kidnapped?

Taken to Rangar's wild kingdom, Bryn slowly finds beauty in the harsh Outlands. There, she discovers magic is not the sin she's been led to believe. As she learns the full truth of her family's tyrannical rule and plans to take back her kingdom by the sword or marriage, Bryn falls under the spell of each of the three royal brothers.

But which brother will end up with her hand-and her heart-not even magic can foretell.

Contains mature themes.

©2022 Evie Marceau (P)2023 Tantor

I need more world building

I did like the story. I just think more information could be supplied about the environment and other side characters. It's hard to picture it in my head when there's really no description. As for the narration... I have never had to speed up a narration. I like saving my audiobooks. That being said, the narrator has a good voice, but the speed of her speech was very slow. Once I sped it up, it sounded normal. Not sure if that was an error on the recording part or just her natural voice. 6/10

Oh Evie!

The story is fantastic. The pacing is great, the twists unexpected, and the growth was phenomenal. Watching the FMC grow into herself and realize the ways of the world around her was really impressive. Bryn was faced with impossible odds and even though she was raised as a pampered princess she faces them head on. There wasn’t a point in the book that I was bored or wishing I was reading something else, Evie really presented a perfect book. I am very much looking forward to reading book 2 to find out what will happen between the FMC and the 3 Baers.

A good start to a unique series

I didn't know what I was walking into with this one. I fell in love with Evie's Goskissed Bride series and jumped at the chance to check this series out. Goldilocks and the Three Bears reimagining but with a Viking twist. I love it! Rangar saved Bryn when they were kids, and according to his beliefs, her soul now belongs to him. Bryn disagrees and thinks he's a brute. When he's the only one to save her from a brutal attack on her kingdom, she learns that there's so much more to this soul bond than she ever thought possible.

That ending, though... guaranteed I'd jump right into the next book!

Good Romantic Fantasy

This was a pretty good book. it was far more about the romance than it was about the fantasy aspect of the story, but I don't mind that once in awhile and the two main characters both learn and grow a lot throughout the book together. it's sweet to see their relationship develop. The warring and unrest in the Kingdoms is interesting as well, but it's very much going on in the background of the story thus far. Hopefully there will be a bit more action in the next one, as I do plan on reading the entire trilogy.

Also, the narrator had a very calm and pleasant voice that was overall nice to listen to and I liked her quite a bit.

I look forward to starting the second book. Definitely worth a read if you're really into the romance and sweeter side of things, with the MMC having the whole "I'll burn the world down for you" aspect towards the FMC, I believe you will really enjoy this as they do show their love and friendship develop at a nice pace over time (minimal spice as well, but no doing the deed yet). But, if you tend to prefer more action, quests, fantasy, magic, etc...it may drag a bit for you.

I got bored

I have to agree with another poster, I got bored. I skipped around and even got the second book, but still could not get into it.

Boring

This book is incredibly boring and honestly pointless. Some parts were decent so i pushed through just to see where it might go but by the end i just returned it. I did start the second book but quickly decided to DNF after about 3 chapters. The narration isn’t good either. The whole thing was a mess