Book Review: Elven Alliance books 1-4 by Tara Grayce
So I kind of read this first book on a dare.
I think I read a lot of books on a dares. I’m very picky, and I’d been wanting to read some cozy fantasy that might be fairytale-based but might not. I tried The Way of Kings by Sanderson and got horribly, mind-numbingly bored (and also irritated that it’s 3 books in 1 and I had to read the whole massive slog to see freakin’ Kaladin get off the bridge crew). I’d tried this book and that book, and this author and that author, and nothing really clicked. I got to where I was annoying my friends by taking their book recommendations and listing off why I stopped reading each one. Yeah, I’m a jerk that way.
Anyway, I sampled the first Elven Alliance book by Tara Grayce and got hooked. Here’s what it looks like:
Essie would do anything for her kingdom…even marry an elf prince she just met that morning.
The human kingdom of Escarland and the elven kingdom of Tarenhiel have existed in an uneasy peace after their last wars ended with both kings dead. As tensions rise once again, desperate diplomacy might be the only way to avert war. If only negotiations between elves and humans were that simple.
When a diplomatic meeting goes horribly wrong, Essie, a human princess, finds herself married to the elf prince and warrior Laesornysh. Fitting in to the serene, quiet elf culture might be a little difficult for this talkative princess, but she’s determined to make it work.
With impending war and tenuous alliances, it will be up to Essie to unite her two peoples. And maybe get her hands on elven conditioner while she’s at it.
From bestselling author Tara Grayce comes a no-spice, humorous fantasy romance / romantic fantasy tale of elves and epic magic perfect for fans of K.M. Shea, Kenley Davidson, and Sylvia Mercedes!
Anyway, I started reading, and the book was funny. Like, funny with my own similar sense of humor. The heroine is spunky but not a terrible person. She’s determined to do right by her kingdom and her elf husband, and she treats both of them well. I’ve read several books with the spunky human marrying the shy elf husbando, and the heroine proceeds to disrespect her elf husbando and treat him like garbage. Not these books! Within a few chapters I totally shipped this princess and the painfully shy elf assassin.
So … I was reluctant to pick up book 2. In my experience, book 2s never live up to book 1s, so I’ve developed the bad habit of only reading book 1 of everything. But my friends assured me that the elf prince gets his own scenes in this book, so I picked it up and gave it a try.
Marriage to an elf is complicated…especially bringing him home to meet the family.
Princess Elspeth of Escarland married the elf prince and achieved peace between the elves and her human people. But after a recent ambush by the trolls, it is clear the trolls are trying to start a war between the elves and humans once again. To keep their peoples at peace, Essie and Farrendel travel to meet Essie’s family and negotiate a stronger alliance.
Yet in Escarland, not everyone is happy with peace. Traitors lurk in both Escarland and Tarenhiel, and it will be up to Essie and Farrendel to flush them out. The consequences of failure might be more personal and deadly than they can imagine.
The best selling Elven Alliance series continues with this no spice, humorous, swoony romantic fantasy.
I typically dislike books where the girl takes her guy to meet her family, because it’s such cringe. But this book surprised me by not being cringe. It continued being funny, and poor Farrendel was coaxed out of his shell a little … only to be slammed back into it. Because this book is a cliffhanger. You know how book 2s are!
So I had to pick up book 3.
Essie should be planning her happily ever after, not planning a war.
Although they once were enemies, the humans of Escarland and the elves of Tarenhiel have allied to fight the trolls from the far north. But alliances are tricky things even in the best of times, and with Farrendel, the elves’ foremost warrior and Essie’s husband, captured by the trolls, the circumstances appear dire indeed.
But Essie won’t give up, and she will make her two peoples work together to fight this war if it’s the last thing she does. One way or another, she will get Farrendel back, no matter what it takes.
The Elven Alliance series continues in this epic, no spice steampunk fantasy romance / romantic fantasy adventure featuring elves and happy endings.
So this book was a little rough. Farrendel gets tortured (off screen, thankfully) for most of it. The majority of the book focuses on his sister who betrayed him and got imprisoned, herself. And on Essie, of course, who is busy making the elves and humans play nice as they coordinate their armies for an invasion. The humor I’d enjoyed in the other books wasn’t quite as prevalent. You can tell this was originally supposed to only be a trilogy, and this is the Big Serious Third Book.
Oh, how this series got away from this author. 
Anyway, it does have a decently happy ending, with evil sister married off to the troll prince, and serves her right. But it couldn’t stop there, because …
Essie has her elf back…but his mind is still stuck in that dungeon.
The war is over. A peace treaty has been signed. But Farrendel and Essie still have a battle ahead of them. Will Farrendel be able to build a new life with Essie now that he no longer has a war to fight?
Melantha has ruined her life and the lives of all those around her. Now that she finds herself far from home and married to a troll who was once her enemy and captor, can she figure out what love and honor truly mean before it is too late for all of them? Not everyone in Kostaria is happy with peace or with their new elven queen. If Rharreth and Melantha cannot find a way to bring peace to their troubled kingdom, war threatens not only their happily ever after, but Essie and Farrendel’s as well.
This book is like 500 pages. Half of it is Farrendel going through therapy and rebuilding himself, which is rough at first, but it gets better and better. He winds up getting into building magitech powered by his own magic, and it’s sheer joy to read. The humor and comedy of these parts are cranked way up, including gag gifts for certain stiff elvish family members.
I really didn’t want to spend any more time with Melantha after what she did to Farrendel, I don’t care if she did repent. But I gave her a chance because I liked the troll prince guy. She actually turns out to be pretty cool and uses healing magic offensively, which was really entertaining. The troll prince, Rarreth, is kind of a beta at first, because he was the younger prince and wasn’t supposed to be king, after all. So seeing his growth into the king his country needs is also really fun to read. By the end he’s kicking butt and chewing gum, including dueling the usurper who tries to steal his throne.
So, I guess I’m basically fated to read the rest of these now. I think there’s 9 books, and I need to read them and find out what’s up with the other characters who have been having drama in the background. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to read books from an author who loves their world and their characters, and isn’t just bashing out books to make a buck.
