I received this book for free from Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
How to Love Your Elf by Kerrelyn SparksAlso in this series: How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days, So I Married a Sorcerer, Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon, The Siren and the Deep Blue Sea , When A Princess Proposes , When a Dragon Falls
Series: The Embraced #4
Published by Kensington Books on February 25, 2020
Genres: Epic Fantasy Romance
Pages: 336
Format: eARC
Source: Kensington Books
ASIN: B07S6K8XV9
Raised in isolation on the magic-shrouded Isle of the Moon, five girls became five sisters. Now women, they are ready to claim their places in the world—and perhaps change it forever . . .
FLAME AND FORTUNE
Sorcha knew the mission was dangerous. Leaving the safe grounds of her brother’s kingdom and parlaying with the elves across their border . . . well, treachery seemed at least as likely as true peace. But to support her sister, Sorcha would brave far more than the underhanded ways of the elves. Or so she thought, before she was taken hostage.
Of course, her captors didn’t count on her particular abilities—or on the help of the Woodsman, the mysterious thief who made his home in the forest. He saw the battle from the trees, saw the soldier attacking against incredible odds to save a comrade—and then saw the valiant fighter revealed as Princess Sorcha of Norveshka. He can’t tell if he wants to kidnap her or kiss her. But despite Sorcha’s stubbornness, his inconvenient honor, and a rebellion on the cusp of full war, something burns between them that neither can let go . . .
How To Love Your Elf is the newest installment on book four of the “Embraced” series. There has been some confusion on the order of the series since for some reason on Goodreads it has this book as book one for “Embraced by Magic” series ..however, if you check her website you will see that she just has the Embraced series. So not sure why there is such a mix up on Goodreads. So hopefully that clarification will help.
Our delightful story continues on with our heroine “Sorcha” who is traveling with her sister when they are ambushed and set into a trap believing that the elf princess “Jonetta” had honest intentions. But now Sorcha in a mind of trying to save a lieutenant in the army trying to protect her, is killed by a traitor she is taken captive but then she is rescued by the “Woodsman” a feared leader (very similar to Robin Hood in some ways) but the Woodsman is fighting for a different cause, to free his people from a corrupt evil and claim the throne as he is the grandson of the current King. But in hiding, Sorcha and the Woodsman find a tender love that will be challenged by their enemies.
How To Love Your Elf was such a fabulous story that lifted my spirits in such a poignant yet witty way. It has been way too long since the last book was written and I do feel for the complications with the publisher drama she dealt with but I do appreciate that this author has been honest and upfront about this issue. And now its fabulous to see her writing again and we have both books of the series being released in 2020. This delightful book is releasing in just a couple of weeks and then book five (the conclusion–I am guessing) will be released in August.
There has been so much intrigue surrounding the Elves, and so this book really helped clear up so many matters of confusion that some readers (including myself) may have had about this book. It’s so interesting to see this and to see the world dynamics that this author portrayed in this story. I have loved this fantasy world that Kerrelyn Sparks has created for her readers. As much as I loved her “Love At Stake” series, my great weakness is a good fantasy world and she has really nailed it on the head. I will say the biggest drawback overall is the romance. I felt like there could have been more focused attention on the actual love story between the Woodsman and Sorcha. There is some focus but just not as much as I was hoping for like we received in the previous two books to be honest. Now I definitely got a kick out of the story and its a sold 4 rating for myself, however, I do wish it could have been longer so that the romance didn’t suffer quite so much.
I did find that this story really suited me quite a bit though, and it isn’t like the romance was badly written just that it needed a little more attention and focus. But I truly adored this whole “denying the chemistry” trope where they both have this powerful attraction to each other but deny it quite a bit. It definitely made for quite a few entertaining moments. And it was such a joy to see our old favorite characters, plenty of plot elements, mysteries unfolded on the Elves culture and some leads up to Maeve and Brody’s book.
Overall I found How To Love Your Elf to be an enticing read that leads you on a beautiful adventure into this fantasy world of intrigue, unique elements and endearing characters….you definitely don’t want to miss out on this one!!! A TRUE TREAT!
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