Lore of the Wilds - by Analeigh Sbrana

I took a gamble with this one! I haven’t picked up a romance or fantasy since… I don’t even know when, but I was immediately drawn in by this hardcover! After reading LOTW, I felt like I got to know the characters and was left with ALL the feels - from love and tenderness to grief and betrayal.. wow… beautifully descriptive, cinematic storytelling by Analeigh Sbrana! I need book 2! Lol

I really wanted to like this book but there were just one too many flaws in this book. The potential is there but just fell flat. The pacing in writing is outrageously fast and jumps from one scene to another. SPOILER ALERT For instance, when the fmc was taken through the forest, the author did not bother to talk about the journey and boom she's at the castle. This happens a lot more throughout too, the romance.......I know this is a fantasy book but my gosh was soo silly and rushed. There were some other parts that were confusing like the plot twist. It was not twisting. I am sure may be the author was rushed and could not spend more time on it or that there were limitations for them. I am a little curious on what happens in the next book and hopefully this time the characters will be more flushed out (or at all).

Excellent book! I was worried when I saw the page count and the storyline hadn’t moved drasticallly enough in the first 100 pages, but it picked up and soon I couldn’t put the book down. Romantasy is my favorite genre and very rarely do you see representation in this genre. I love the book sleeve artistry!

“Where the moonlight touched the book, it exploded with starlight.” With words like those, you can only imagine the intensely breathtaking world building that continues on each page. I have never walked through a forest and smelled the moss and morning dew, but after reading Analeigh Sbrana’s debut novel … I am pretty sure I have experienced these things first hand. This book. Oh my heart, this book! This is my first fantasy novel and I don’t know how anything could ever live up to this. A story that draws you in from the first beautiful pages, and characters that have more depth than most people you know in real life. An unimaginable twist that left me actually speechless and scrambling to find out when I would get a chance to read book two. I cannot adequately explain the feelings this book gave me, but for heavens sake read this book. *I was given an early copy of this book but have purchased three copies so far!

Absolutely 5 stars for this debut fantasy romance book! The perfect combination of cozy fantasy and romantasy that we all needed. And it’s spicy!! I absolutely adore Analeigh’s lyrical writing, it was so easy to be swept into her world and be right there with Lore. I could picture everything so effortlessly. I was so addicted to the story in this must read page turner! I can’t wait for others to read this book so we can all talk about the ending!! I am so blown away by this debut novel and can’t wait for Lore 2. The on page representation of anxiety was so relatable and accurately depicted. Plus the diversity among all the different characters was wonderful. I’m going to miss Lore, Finn, and Asher until the next book!!