⭐️⭐️ | Meh, Won’t Recommend.
Or, I read it so you don’t have to. You’re welcome. If you’re curious to know why this one isn’t worth your time, read on for the deets:
✨Heads up! Some links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. That means if you click and buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for helping me keep this blog running and my TBR endless! 📚
📖 What’s Inside:
- Forced proximity ⛺
- Single POV
- 💍 Arranged/forced marriage
- On-page intimacy 🔴
- ⛈️ Storm power/healing magic
- Rebellion
- 🌈 Inclusive
- Explicit language
- Political intrigue
Book Boyfriend Meter: 💛
Hot. But not for me.
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✨ Vibes:
The Bridge Kingdom — arranged marriage + political tension (read my review)
Metal Slinger — plot twists you won’t see coming + rebellion energy (read my review)
Basically: arranged marriage + forbidden love + high-stakes travel… that starts strong and then spirals.
💭 My (Brutally Honest) Thoughts:
I picked this up on a whim for $0.99 and honestly?
The beginning hooked me.
We’ve got:
✔️ Arranged marriage
✔️ Forbidden love (falls for the brother 👀)
✔️ Forced proximity travel
✔️ High tension ceasefire + rebellion
It was giving everything I love.
The first part?
Top tier tension.
And then it slowed down.
A lot.
The pacing:
Around the halfway mark, things got weird.
Like—
Why does this feel like the ending already?
And then… nothing really happens for a while.
The story drags, the tension disappears, and I ended up putting it down for a bit.
(Not a great sign.)
When I decide to give it another go?
I knew something was off.
And when the twist finally hit?
Yeah… I wasn’t a fan.
This uses the unreliable narrator trope—and not in a way that worked for me.
If you’re going to put me inside a character’s head?
Don’t hide the truth from me the entire time just for shock value.
It felt less like a clever twist and more like a cheap trick.
The final act:
Honestly?
A mess.
We get:
❌ Convenient plot twists
❌ A betrayal that crosses into cheating-adjacent territory (hard no for me)
❌ A revenge arc that gets forgiven way too easily
And the MMC?
Completely lost me by the end.
Any goodwill I had? Gone.
This started out so promising.
Like I was ready to recommend it based on the first half alone.
But the second half?
Completely unraveled it.
By the end, I was fully rage-reading just to finish.
I should have just DNF’d when I first put it down. But here we are.
In the end, I do not recommend.
👓 What to Read Instead
If you want a standalone fantasy romance rec with arranged marriage and forced proximity, read The Poison Daughter or check out my full list of standalone books here.
Looking for top-tier forced proximity books? I also have a list of books with the ‘only one’ bed/horse etc trope.
If it’s political intrigue you’re after, I’ve got you. Here’s a list of books with political intrigue, court drama and high-stakes
📌 If you appreciate honest reviews, save this pin to your bookish board and help spare a fellow reader from picking this one up.
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