A Bond of Venom and Magic by Karen Tomlinson
Expected Publication: October 14th 2016 by Smashwords Edition
The Wraith Lord is hunting; his prize, the key to unleashing darkness and Chaos upon the eight Kingdoms.
For Diamond Gillon the war raging in the south seems a remote danger until her home is brutally attacked. Having lost everything she holds dear, Diamond is catapulted into a terrifying new world in which legendary beasts arise, magic is condemned and half blood fae, like her, have no rights. Despite her growing feelings for her saviour, Commander Hugo Casimir, he remains a paradox – not only is he a heartless killer, he is owned by the cruel immortal fae queen; a queen who will murder her own people for magic.
As Diamond’s circumstances become ever more perilous she is drawn deeper into Hugo’s world and discovers the lengths to which he will go to save what he holds dear. Will Hugo become her friend, her protector, or – an enemy not worthy of her trust?
A Bond of Venom and Magic is a tale of two people bound by magic and secrets, but trapped in the complexities of love and betrayal. It is the beginning of an epic journey, one that will test Diamond’s resolve and determination to battle an evil that threatens not only her world but that of Eternity, the land of The Guardians and The Goddess.
Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from the author. This in no way influences my opinion.
Can I just say… WOW!!!! I was expecting this book to be good, but this book exceeded expectations and was AMAZING!! Like… I fangirled on Goodreads, I sat and gaped when the book was finished, and I have already requested an ARC of the second book from Karen when the become available. *Breathes* I’m getting ahead of myself… clearly! I will try and make this review as coherent as possible, and I won’t be giving anything away… but there may also be a lot of fingerling going on! Before I continue though, can we just take a moment to admire the cover? I want to frame it and put it on my wall! Anyway…
This book gripped me from the very first pages. Right from the very beginning, this book is swathed in action and it does not let up until the very end. As a reader, I was sat on the edge of my seat and I didn’t feel like I could sit back and relax, because there was no quiet moment with this book!! As soon as one problem was gone and done with, another raised straight afterward! I was left reeling and spinning and feeling so many feels that I don’t even know where to begin with them! Even now, I could just sit and gape for a while because this book is one hell of a ride! It was a seriously strong start to the series and I really need the second book… I have a book hangover!
Diamond is really naive… but in a really weird way, you want to help her rather than slap her because she just needs it! Normally I hate characters like this, but she bursts through with moments of strength and stubbornness and she stays true to herself throughout, even though she can be really naive at times. She adapted throughout the book and she changed to fit her situation and she overcame her problems in the best way she could – but her naivety got in her way a lot!! I just wanted to adopt her and hide her and never let her go again!
Hugo!! This guy… Where do I even begin. There were times where I wanted to slap him, times when I wanted to hug him and never let him go. This guy brought out a rollercoaster of emotions in me all on his own and I loved it! Seriously though, You have to decide what you want. You can’t have everything, brother! Doesn’t work in our world and it won’t work in yours. Especially because of the evil queen!! Like, how could you even serve her??? Seriously, what is your malfunction, HUGO?!?!? This character really seriously needs to do some thinking about what he wants, because all he is causing is trouble for everyone around him!
I don’t want to say too much, but I think it was really clever how the author managed to fit the title itself into the book so that it made sense! I was kind of concerned at the beginning how the title would fit into the book but now I am just sat here and I love it! I would take either bond with Hugo any day!! *dreamy eyes!* *Ahem* anyway…
That ending!! How could you do this to me, Karen? How could you do this to any one of your readers?!? Especially because I have to wait a lifetime (Ok, beginning of next year) for the next book!! What do you expect me to do in this time?!? How do you expect me to get over that ending… because I won’t and I can’t and I just… ugh! Like I said, major book hangover. The ending was absolutely amazing and I don’t even know where to begin getting over it. Maybe I just won’t.
This book is a beautiful specimen of a book. Who wants a physical copy when it comes out? ME! Who is going to sit and stroke it for hours when they get a physical copy? ME! Who is going to sleep with it next to them? Yup, you guessed it, yours truly! This book left me reeling with everything that happened, all of the action and the amount of information we were given, but never felt like an info dump!! I am so stoked for the second book (and for when I get my hands on a physical copy of this book) that I may just need to build a time machine to get my hands on the next book. Why not??
I rated this book a glorious 5/5 stars… but it really deserves 100/5 – but Goodreads won’t let me!
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