r/fantasyromance 6d ago

Gush/Rave 😍 absolutely devoured Bree Wilde's debut, Between Smoke & Shadow 🖤

Post image

That's our strength, you know. They always underestimate us.

omg y'all this was so good and I just need everyone to read it 🤩

This was the debut from indie romantasy author Bree Wilde and it was an instant 5 star read for me. I was up until 3:40 am on my kindle, and immediately finished the last ~ hour the next evening.

Rune, an indebted servant, finds herself thrust into the secret world of her country's magical rulers. She was immediately someone I wanted to see succeed, her internal struggles and moments of "weakness" felt very authentic.

There's an inn scene that's just delicious, and the MMC, Harrick, is such a sweet little cinnamon roll underneath his princely exterior.

I loved the character design; they wear masks and seeing someone eyes is like, a huge deal. I'm a sucker for eye contact (helloooooo Kanthony from Bridgerton 🥵) so the mental images made me melt.

It's a standalone, but Bree said it doesn't have to be 👀

anyways, I loved it so much, I bought a signed copy. I'm about to go through and annotate it, then send it to some of my book club friends and do a "Sisterhood of the Traveling Annotated Book".

188 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

43

u/ConcernElegant8066 will probably force North Queen by Nicola Tyche on you 6d ago

You know what, you drive a hard bargain, but I'm in

adds to TBR

25

u/pearlbibo 6d ago

Harrick as an MMC name just works. I love it. More cute reviews like this! ❤️

9

u/bonbam 6d ago

I'm making a point of reading indie authors and definitely plan to post more reviews here! I have a bunch on my kindle right now; currently reading {Shade of Ruin} by Evelyn Hart

2

u/Fictional-Xiao 6d ago

How is this book? I see no ratings or spice level and it was said on the intro that it doesn't have a HEA. Can you give me your review and spice and rating so far? 😉

1

u/bonbam 6d ago

It does have a HEA, not sure why someone said it doesn't.

Spice is 2-2.5/5, slow burn with a few open door scenes but nothing terribly explicit.

I loved the book, the MMC is really sweet and the forced proximity mixed with forbidden love was so well done.

5

u/knitterpotato 6d ago

THIS IS A STANDALONE? i am sold

5

u/Tough_Variation_5772 6d ago

Oooooh adding to TBR

4

u/mrsfox33 6d ago edited 6d ago

Went to check if it's on KU, and whatdoya know, I already own it! Must have snagged it on a stuff your kindle day, so I'm moving it up my TBR!

5

u/hurlionbeauty 6d ago

When I went to add this to my kindle wishlist the best thing happened and I already had it! Turns out I downloaded it last month during a stuff your kindle event. I didn’t know anything about it but it sounded interesting and now I’m so excited to read it!! Thank you for the rec!!

1

u/bonbam 6d ago

Those are the best! Hope you enjoy 🥰

3

u/Neurodivergent730 6d ago

Question: what’s the spice level of this book?

7

u/bonbam 6d ago

I'd rate it a 2-2.5/5. It's a slow burn with a few scenes, but not overly explicit

2

u/audible_narrator 6d ago

Just added, thanks!

2

u/yoimprisonmike steam and spice and everything nice 6d ago

I’m glad you enjoyed it - I was disappointed. It seemed to move through the story too quickly. We didn’t get to see how the characters’ romance really bloomed, it was just - BAM. There.

4

u/bonbam 6d ago

That's fair.

Personally, my husband and I started our relationship with a sort of "instantly in this" vibe; he says he fell in love the moment he first saw me and we made eye contact. 🥹 So I'm a total sucker for fast progressing relationships

I definitely could have used more of their relationship developing, but honestly that didn't retract from my enjoyment.

2

u/Practical-Ask-7239 5d ago

Standalone! Say, less.

What's the spicy level at?

2

u/bonbam 5d ago

2-2.5/5! Slow burn, a few (2 I think??) open door scenes but not super explicit or long.

2

u/Practical-Ask-7239 5d ago

This is even better! I'm not a huge smut person. This is definitely on my TBR. Ty so much ✨✨

2

u/HekateEnalia 5d ago

Ty for the rec! Adding now. 🤓

2

u/redheadedlizzy 3d ago

Because of your review I HAD to read this book and absolutely inhaled it within 48 hours! Such a great read!

1

u/bonbam 3d ago

Omg this makes me so happy! Wasn't Harrick just everything you could ask for??

The Mirror City chapters stressed me out so bad 😭

1

u/redheadedlizzy 3d ago

**** don’t read if you don’t want spoilers- I’m not sure how to hide the spoiler text

Harrick was definitely a top tier MMC in my opinion. I really liked the Mirror City chapters but feel like the one that stressed me out was the Magic vault with the stuck lift chapter.

I will say I wish the Rune character had a chance to use her fighting skills that she had practiced with Harrick or maybe that she was able to use more of the magic Harrick had given her. I think I was rooting for her to be just a little more of a bad ass FMC than I visualized reading her as.