Expected publication date: June 25, 2019
Fantastic Beasts meets Assassin’s Creed in this epic, gripping fantasy romance from debut author Maxym M. Martineau.
Exiled beast charmer Leena Edenfrell is in deep trouble. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts on the black market—an offense punishable by death—and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes him an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life.
If only it were that simple. Unbeknownst to Leena, the undying ones are bound by magic to complete their contracts, and Noc cannot risk his brotherhood of assassins…not even to save the woman he can no longer live without.
This is one of the most highly anticipated debut novels I’ve been hearing about this year so I was thrilled to receive the chance to read it early via Netgalley. I don’t read as much sci-fi/fantasy novels as I used to (I was a Star Trek/Star Wars nerd growing up!) and now when I do they have to have a romance element. There was also something about the description that reminded me of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews which made it a lock. I will admit that it started out a little slow for me, but it didn’t get take long for the story to suck me in completely.
Leena has been falsely accused of the ultimate crime for her people-taming a human-and exiled from life in Hireath by the Charmer Council. In order to survive, she has committed another crime, selling her precious beasts on the black market. When the story begins she is closing a deal for one of the most sought after beasts, a Gyss that can fulfill one wish every 6 months for their owner (at a price) when she realizes she is being watched. Leena decides to draw the stalker out and with the assistance of one of her beasts, is able to capture the man following her. She is shocked to discover that he is a member of the Cruor, a group of assassins that are known for their persistence in fulfililng the contracts they take on. Leena knows then that she is in real trouble and must determine who wants her dead, so she forces the assassin (Kost) to take her back to his home to try and get the information she needs in an attempt to have the contract drops.
Once in Cruor she meets Noc, the guild master and leader of the band of assassins. He is furious at first, however when Leena offers to give him a beast in exchange to have the bounty taken off of her, Noc jumps at the chance. He bargains her into giving the Cruors four B-class beasts, assuring her that if she complies, none of his men will fulfill the contract. This is of course misleading, as he does not include himself in the guarantee which Leena does not realize. Both sides however need certain beasts for their own reasons; Leena wants a Myad, a beast that no other charmer has been able to tame in hopes that it would force the Charmer Council into allowing her to return home. Noc wants a Gyss to remove a curse that was placed on him a long time ago preventing him from showing love or affection to anyone as that would mean their death. Neither one knows what the other’s true intention though, but they set on a journey with 3 of Noc’s men including Kost, Ozias and Calem to obtain the needed beasts.
The story quickly picked up steam for me once Leena and the Cruors met and started out on the mission, as I loved the interactions between the men. Calem in particular was hilarious in his perpetual horniness, but they all had their (dare I say it?) charms! I also enjoyed the various beasts that are described throughout the story and thought that they brought a special element to it that I haven’t seen before in previous books I have read. As much as I enjoyed the book there were some minor issues for me. At times Leena seemed overly naive when you would think her years in exile would have driven that out of her. But in his own way Noc was as well; there is one part in particular I’m thinking of, but I don’t want to spoil it for you! (Let’s just say I knew what was going to happen after his wish.) I also thought the storyline could have been tightened up to bring the length down as it was a pretty long read.
However as I said, these were minor issues for me and I still really enjoyed this first adventure into this world! I’m awaiting the next adventure as the answer to the question of who placed the contract on Leena was not answered in this one. I don’t know if the next book will remain focused on Leena and Noc specifically but I’m really hoping for more about the others-especially if Calem ever settles down! I would definitely recommend this one to anyone who reads high or urban fantasy romance novels!
Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the chance to read this early!