The Last War We Ever Fought

Blue Fairytales #2

by Wendy Heiss

The world is plagued with turmoil.

Rowan is a soldier fighting in a war ridden land for the far flung peace that appears nowhere in sight. Everything takes a turn when her fight seems to be nearing its end, and the God of War joins their last battle to victory. Once he realises one of his strongest soldiers is not who everyone thinks her to be, the God of War finds himself wanting to know the truth.

And as the end to their war approaches, ugly realisations settle in.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Novella, Fantasy Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Ebooks

123 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2023

About the author

Wendy Heiss is a indie author debuting with a new adult fantasy trilogy, Winter Gods & Serpents, the first book in The Auran Chronicles. She has graduated with a Forensics Science degree in the United Kingdom, but literature has been one of her passions since she could manage to read and write. Despite being severely tempted to ride the Agatha Christie route to crime novels, she chose to follow the Tolkien path to fantasy. She forwent fingerprint powder for ball pen ink inevitably forgoing her parents hope for a good life and becoming what they always feared...a figuratively starving artist, which is why she won't quit her day time job any time soon.

Reviews

[SK]

The author might as well have plunged a knife into my heart with that ending....

✔️ Enemies to lovers
✔️ Forced proximity
✔️ Grumpy fmc x morally grey mmc
✔️ Forbidden romance

Although I did love the first novella a tad more, this one was nothing less than heartbreakingly beautiful. I loved Elijah and Rowan so much. Their chemistry and banter is everything. I adored it so much..

I loved Elijah and how patient, loving and so into Rowan he was. The fact he searches for her in every lifetime was so darn romantic tbh. Rowan and her deep hurt was a bit relatable on some levels. The dynamic between them although is representative of War and Peace, it reminded me so much of Cassian and Nesta tbh.

I don't wanna talk about the ending 😭😭


~•~•~
WAIT WAIT WAIT... He searches for her in every lifetime?? Starting it right now

[Clace]

4.65!

"So be mine. At least for tonight. Then i will beg yet again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after."

The author clearly said HEA not guaranteed but my inability to believe that led to me being in a shocked state as i finished this book.

i would also say that the only reason these books are so enjoyable for me is because i knew this is a novella and i went in expecting not a detailed plotline or action scenes just a good romance book which is also character driven. So if you are reading this, do not expect any conflict.

These novellas are so damn enjoyable. Wendy's writing style is so gripping and immersive and these books are so fun to get you out of a slump or just to read a light book that not too long this is perfect. The writing style also helps the book not feel insta-lovey there was definitely slow-burn and angst in this one.

Rowan and Elijah were right ones for each other but did not have enough time. i loved these two so much and i loved how different they were to the characters from the previous book. the setting of the world though same felt so grim and dark. I loved their interactions sm they made my enjoyment level skyrocket.

The romance was so 🤌 like?? how did you manage to write that under 160 pages, it was so smooth, the way everything fell together and fit and how it was cute but also hot and how well the communication was handled.

Tropes:
.God of war x General
.Enemies to Lovers
.Forbidden Romance
.Forced proximity
.Spice

These novellas are truly very impressive and i would recommend them.
___
I know nothing about this book except that its an enemies to lovers, the general tricks the god of war, Forced proximity, written by Wendy Heiss and has a beautiful cover. i guess that is all that i need to know!!

[Hoda]

” she would wait for him at every sunrise. Thousand more. And he’d come to her in more than dreams. He’d come to her. He would find her as he had always found her.”

Shout out to wendy Heiss who knows exactly how to break her readers heart in a very short pages. She clearly doesn’t know the concept of hea 🥲 I can’t wait to see how she’s going to break my heart again when the third one comes out.

” anyone else’s but mine. No, you’re not. Finders kippers rowan of ingburn. So be mine. At least for tonight. Then l will beg yet again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after”

The writing was really beautiful and captivating. I enjoyed this one more than the first one because it was funny and the banter was chief kiss.. the way she was able to make it a slow burn in such short pages was perfectly done.

” you were like the sky to me, my rowan. Ever so blue, ever so exquisite, ever so far away from me” 😭😭

Elijah and rowan are my babes 🥹 the romance and the banter was everything, it had my smiling, blushing like an idiot. I loved how obsessed he was with her and how she ignored him. How he wanted to listen to all her thoughts and how he’d always watch her 🥹 i need elijah in my life 😭

” Quotes”

” Rowan had never been afraid of gods, but she’d been afraid of men. Because she’d seen them do worse harm than any god had ever done”

”you changed. You changed so much, my little thief. If you didn’t look like my every dream, my biggest wish, my utmost desire, I wouldn’t have recognized you in this lifetime.”

“ my heart was yours from the start and until the very end”

“ I don’t know if my eyes are deserving of you, rowan. To behold something this beautiful.”

“ be the death if me, rowan. I want to die happy”

Buket being my crying partner was the best thing 🫶🏻🫶🏻

~~~~~~~~
I'm so excited for this 🤭 buddy reading with my precious girl buket ♥️♥️

[buket]

• 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖.

• 𝙷𝚎’𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚎𝚍.

wendy,
i want you to know that i’ll hate you as long as i’m alive. and when i die, i’ll continue hating you in the afterlife 🥰



💌 “When you bury me like you buried the rest of your enemies, speak it. I want you to speak my name.” His eyes dropped to her lips. “I want you to be the very last one to do so.”

🤍 “Be the death of me, Rowan.” His lips were on her face, on her neck, on her shoulder. “I want to die happy.”

🩷 “Finders keepers, Rowan of Ingburn. So be mine. At least for tonight. Then I will beg yet again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after.”

🦋 “My heart was yours from the start and until the very end.”

❤️‍🩹 “You’re not mine, Elijah. I don’t want you to go, but you’re not mine. You belong to someone else. I can’t pretend nearly as well as you do.”

🩵 “You were like the sky to me, my Rowan. Ever so blue, ever so exquisite, ever so far away from me.”

💔 Maybe their story never had an end because the red string of fate tied to them always tangled when they met in the middle.


we did cry.
~~~~
me asking hoda if she wants to cry with me<3

[Maeghan &#x1f98b;]

« In another life, I want you to be my mother. » He smiled at her, not like her captain, not like the other soldier she’d trained and honed to kill, but like the boy he had never had the chance to be. « I’d ask the gods for you to be my sister, but we’ve bickered in this lifetime enough, so be my mother » 💔💔💔😭😭😭
I cried so much I couldn’t breathe. This whole page is just full of tears.

« I am proud of you. Well done. You’ve grown up so well » 😭😭😭

I just cannot stop crying. I always struggle with stories when they have children/teens because my youngest brother is my child (I’ve raised him since he was born) and godddddd pleaseeee authors I BEG YOU - ANYONE BUT THE CHILDREN OK MY HEART JUST CAN’T

The romance in this ❤️‍🔥😭 but the ending???? WHY

On another note…. Did this just cure my reading slump or am I still fragile???????

———•
I’m not out of my slump yet but my beloved angel Vivian got me this novella 🥺 she made my week 😭💗

[Arsal]

It's funny how my friend encouraged a group of us to read this book and for the first time ever it worked and turns out IT WAS A GOOD GODDAMN BOOK.

[Isadora]

3.5 Stars! While I didn’t love this one quite as much as the first, I did have a marvellous time reading this story and getting to know our characters. The world building is much richer than book one however I found the ending a little confusing and just kinda thrown in there with not enough explanation to back up what was happening. The story is centred around a war general and the God of War himself. It takes place in a war camp and mentions the upcoming battle between these two realms a lot. However for a story with these themes there seemed to be a little too much downtime lol and I wish that more action took place.

Characters were amazing! We have Rowan who’s very much giving Mulan vibes. She’s bruised but brave and courageous, tough yet still soft and kind. The type of person that will throw a knife at you but also burry the bodies of the people fighting against her. Not to sound all British but Elijah was so naughty 🫢 but in a cheeky way (Brit word x2?) His care and love for Rowan was prominent and beautiful to read. Get you a man that says “I don’t know if my eyes are deserving of you Rowan. To behold something this beautiful” LIKE YES

Speaking of love, the romance here definitely had a little more cooking time than the first one so if you struggle with insta-love this might still be for you! The transition to enemies to lovers was perfection I dare say. Mix that in with a little reversed grumpy sunshine and a dagger to the throat scene here and there and we’ve got our self a recipe for giggles and feet kicks my friends 😩🤌

Oh and if I haven’t convinced you already there’s this line 😉 “Pray to me and I’ll give you all the strength there is”

[Saskia [University era]]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
5 heartbreaking stars
emotional damage 3
The cover is gorgeous, I mean look at it.
He calls her ''My thief'' ♡ ⋆｡˚
»»———-　　———-««
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷Wendy Heiss has done it again, this book is filled with heartbreaking emotion
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷THE END?? that was just heartbreaking and suffering
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷This book is just pure raw emotion, war & grief, pining love, and filled to the brim with emotion. (and a little bit of spice at the end)
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷It's a really easy and light read
I really needed to recover from that ending
»»———-　　———-««
➸ ''Humans always have such ways of coping with what they fear. Wishing it away isn't the greatest one.''
➸'' The more she looked at him, the more he noticed that entranced him entirely. A spark.''
➸ ''He looked at her, too. He looked at her as if she were something that belonged to him. Maybe she did.''
➸ ''There is no hope in war, Rowan. If you wish to decieve me somehow, you'd achieve greater results of that word.''
➸ ''If you would ask me to guide your blade directly to my heart, I gladly would.''
➸''yes, my little thief, invoke me, chant my name like a curse and let me haunt back those that have haunted you.''

- I really do recommend Wendy Heiss as an author, especially her Blue Fairytales novelles <3
otherwise you're missing out on her masterpieces

[๑ seungchaccomin ๑]

‘you were like the sky to me, my rowan. ever so blue, ever so exquisite, ever so far away from me.’

no thoughts, head empty. the ending had blown me away 😮

───────────────────────

pre-read:

after i read the tw's for this one (especially, hea not guaranteed), it looks like it's gonna be a sad one 😃


at the end there was you - ✮✮✮
the last war we ever fought - ✮✮✮✮
where the light no longer follows - ✮✮✮✮.25

[annotated by Noi (in & out)]

"What about her? What did she become?"
"The air I needed to breathe." 💔

This was horrible. But, this was tragically beautiful too.

It's a war book and that's why it took me more than a week to read 130~ pages (I hate war books).

[Dahlia]

𓏲 ๋࣭  ࣪ `+.5 🌟
crying rn because what was that end ?

I don't know how can someone write a perfect heartbreaking romance in 140 pages without making anything feel off or missing ... Because honestly I don't have the right words to describe this 💔

I loved the romance, the characters, the plot, everything about this was amazing ( even that end 🥺😩) Elijah was so flirty he made me giggle and kick my legs i would love to be at Rowan's place because Elijah the man you are 🙏

THAT ENDING ? fuck you i just kept staring at that "end" hoping it was a joke , how can they not end together after everything 🙏💔
But hey I did this to myself , the author did say Hea not guaranteed 😃

⌗quotes to be added as always 🙈
SPOILERS ⚠️

๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑"I don't want to hurt."
"Is that why it was hiding away? Because you don't want to hurt?"
"Elijah-"
"Yes, my little thief, invoke me, chant my name like a curse and let me haunt back those that have haunted you."  ๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑


๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑  ๋. "I don't think I can leave, Rowan. I don't know what to do."
"Then don't," she said, her voice small.
"Repeat it again for me. I don't think my ears believed it."
"Don't leave, Elijah. If you're mine to kill, that would make you my hostage. Hostages can't be free." ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑


๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑ And then she did, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his jaw. Barely a touch. Barely a kiss. "Please go," she breathed, dropping her head on his shoulder.

"Don't ask me that."

"You're not mine, Elijah. I don't want you to go, but you're not mine. You belong to someone else. I can't pretend nearly as well as you do." ๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑


๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑  ๋ ࣭"You're not dying, are you?" It was more of a plea than a question.

"I've told you. I can only die by your hand. You're the only one I've given permission to kill me." ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑

๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑"I like being near water," she confessed, offering a piece of her of what made her happy.
"I know you do. And I am terribly envious."
"I don't mind being near you either."
His mouth twitched and he dug his lip on his bottom lip, barely containing his smile. "Oh?"  ๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑


๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑  ๋"I can finally tell you this," he said, wiping away her tears.

"Tell me what?" she asked, suddenly panicked that there was no time for her to hear what he had to say, afraid the poison would take in too quickly

"That I've found you in every lifetime. In every lifetime I've watched you die. In some you've died in my arms, too. Those are the ones I remember the most. You never remembered me. You don't remember me still. You won't remember me. I hope you won't."

Rowan couldn't move.No. It didn't make sense.
"No," she whispered. "No, I am not her."

Blood suddenly streamed down the corner of his mouth. "My heart was yours from the beginning and until the very end." ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑

you don't know how much I cried at this ..😃


๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑"No, you're not. Happens to the best of us. We change." He lifted a weak hand to her face. "You changed. You changed so much, my little thief. If you didn't look like my every dream, my biggest wish, my utmost desire, I wouldn't have recognized you in this lifetime.
I knew something was different. I knew this would be my last, the moment I recognized you. You cheated the Gods this time."
His thumb swiped over her eye. "You buried your soul so deep that they all had thought you had died."  ๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑ 💔💔💔


๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑"You're her," a cold, dark voice called from behind her, and she froze, waiting for her mind to stop dreaming.

It had been far too long of a time to remember his voice so well. And she'd fallen prey to the Gods of Deceit too many times to allow herself to hope.

When she turned, he stood there, like every other dream. Violent violet eyes and all, and staring at her with so much hate, staring at the sword she carried on her back.

When she'd been passed Dawnbringer by the Gods, Rowan had learned that peace was just another war. That she was a cruel god like the rest. One who deserved the hate in the eyes of the man who still held her heart

"I am," the Queen of Gods said, feeling tears streak her face. "I am," she repeated, smiling at him, knowing he wouldn't smile back at her.  ๋ ࣭ ⭑๋ ࣭ ⭑

THIS WAS THE FINAL STRAW 💔😩😭

---
not waiting another second to pick this up 🙈

[nadine (s-ia)]

i don’t know about you guys but the moment I saw the cover I immediately thought of eren and mikasa

[earth to vivie']

“𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙣, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙚, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚.”

“𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.”
“𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚.”

: ̗̀➛ 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹, this was so utterly beautiful and it broke my damn heart, peace fell in love with war, the story of 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘭 and 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘭, one could not exist without the other, a young girl and boy who gazed at the orange skies making bargains and promises of their own, what a tragic story, the story that has no ending..
I'm so mad at the ending tbh (and I'm mad at you hodaaa, you cruel little thing you could have freakin warned me, i fully blame you for my heartache 😭)
the writing style was so beautiful, i love the idea of this series so much, many would say that they are short and not detailed enough to enjoy but the author meant for them to be like fairytales were told and i have absolutely no complaints, i mostly love how her writing makes my hopelessly romantic heart feel ❤️‍🩹

“𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙞 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙.”

“𝙨𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚𝙜 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧.”
: ̗̀➛ can you hear me screaming and sobbing?

𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀:📖
(bare with me cause i loved the whole damn thing)

“𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚, 𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙣.”

“𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧.”

“𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

“𝙨𝙝𝙚’𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙨.”
“𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙨.”

“𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜”

“𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧? 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚?”
“𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙞 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚.”

“𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚.”

“𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙞 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙞 𝙙𝙤.”

“𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙬𝙚’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨”

“𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙙𝙚”

“𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙛 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧.”
𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙.

“𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙧.”

[Natalie]

NTS:

⚠️ Spoilers galore!!!! Well actually, fuck it! Look me in the eyes and tell me your nosy ass isn’t gonna read it 🫵 Fuck off and read it like you planned to all along 🫵

I’m not at liberty to disclose how I acquired such valuable information, but let’s just say someone from my workplace bravely volunteered for this mission (I psychologically manipulated her into it, potato potato...). By “volunteered,” I mean I told her to start this book without knowing anything because I mentioned that it had an HEA. 🥰 It was simply my way of returning the thoughtful energy she showed me with her last recommendation, where she very generously allowed me to discover the lack of HEA all by myself. She became surprisingly emotional when she realised what I’d done and started hissing things at me that were clearly overflowing with affection. One of her little emotional outbursts sounded suspiciously like a raspy, venomous “beeez” or was it “beech”? Either way, I’m fairly certain it translates in ancient friendship dialect to “you are a radiant goddess of compassion and I wish to bear your children.” I just looked at her tear-streaked, murderous face and whispered, “Omg staaap, I know you’re so grateful to have me, gurl 🥰” Honestly, I’m touched. 🥹

The FMC is a human general and strategist. She is deeply traumatized, wants to die, and has been secretly sabotaging her own side's war effort because she is sick of the slaughter. The MMC is the God of War. He is ancient, exhausted, and has a martyr complex.His need to suffer is so intense that he probably cries when he stubs his toe because finally something happened to him. He is also looking for the reincarnation of his lost love, Peace.

The premise is that War and Peace are bound by fate but can never actually be together. He finds her reborn as the FMC. She does not remember him. She insists she is not her. He follows her around, protects her, and falls for her anyway. She wants to kill him. He wants her to kill him. They locked horns and fell head over heels, bless their sweet, simple little hearts, but that train was chuggin' straight off a broken bridge with the conductor blackout drunk.

The MMC dies. He drinks the poison that was meant for her, and he does it knowingly, fully aware of what it will do to him. He dies in her arms, and there is no ambiguity about it; he is dead. The moment is heavy and final, and it leaves her shattered.

The FMC commits mass genocide. She poisons an entire camp of soldiers and sends poisoned letters to a queen and her court. She does this to stop a worse genocide against the other nation, but it is still mass genocide. Death punishes her by cursing her with immortality. She has to live forever with the guilt of what she did. That is the curse.

In the epilogue, the MMC appears again. It is ambiguous whether he is reborn or something else. He hates her. The concept is that War and Peace are doomed to love each other and never be together. That is factually correct for this book. So no HEA. Do not expect one.

Triggers include major character death, mass genocide, PTSD, suicide ideation, war, child death, attempted assault, and depression💔💔😑😑😖😖

Final thought: this author's plots are like a siren's call. They lure you in with beautiful writing and then drown you in misery. Fuck that. I am not reading this.I will kindly tell this book to eat shit, and I will accompany that with a hand motion that is not a wave and it means "fuck off" without saying "fuck off." It is the digit that is not my thumb, index, pinky, or ring finger. I am too pretty to be this miserable on purpose🥰🥰

Can any of my besties tell me if this author ever writes HEA? Because I would love to read a love story by her with an actual happy ending. Just once. Please....

Also make sure you direct all your love and gratitude to the mastermind behind my sufferi-....wait a minute, for fuck sake babe, pipe the fuck down! I can hear you whispering such sweet, tender endearments from over here, no need to shout your affection🥰 Wait... did you just say "go shove a cactus up your ass?"... Rude🫠

[carolina (semi ia)]

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ She had not realised up until then how much peace there was in the eyes of war. How calm the centre of chaos was. How soft anger could be. How gently did it look back at her.

: ̗̀➛ 4.5 stars

I've read many full-length novels that didn't make me feel half as much as this little novella did. No words can do justice to how heartbreakingly beautiful this story is. I knew it was going to be sad, as it doesn't have a guaranteed HEA, but I felt my soul break in two as I read the final chapters. I cried so much 😭 I'll never recover.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ "To feel so deeply is something only a human heart can do. Whether it be suffering, hate, desire, anger. Humanity all feels it intensely. Humans don't only suffer. They cannot. Not when they can feel so much more than any creature ever can."

I love Rowan and Elijah so much, their banter was so good and it's fantastic how the romance is a slow burn considering how short the book is.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ "I don't know if my eyes are deserving of you, Rowan. To behold something this beautiful."

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ "Finders keepers, Rowan of Ingburn." His lips found her ear, and he whispered, "So be mine. At least for tonight. Then I will beg yet again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after."

I don't know how Wendy does it, but she is an incredibly gifted writer. Not only is her writing absolutely stunning and so evocative, she also creates characters with so much depth.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ "You changed. You changed so much, my little thief. If you didn't look like my every dream, my biggest wish, my utmost desire, I wouldn't have recognised you in this lifetime."

The author’s note also made me cry, the way she describes how the idea for this series came up made me feel so emotional.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖ There is no such thing as falling in love too quick or not quick enough. There is no such thing as a love story being too short or too long. That is the magic of storytelling, and the magic of love, too.

જ⁀➴ more quotes:

She was so envious of the rain that bitterness was going to burn a hole through her heart. If she could only be so free, so unpredictable, so unapologetic, so guiltless, so pure and so peaceful yet violent.

But her scars weren't just scars. They became his wounds.

"What did she become?"
"The air I needed to breathe."

"Rowan," he called her name like a prayer made to a cruel god who would not listen—the cruel god she was would never listen to someone like him.

"There are countless other ways to win wars."
"I'd like to hear every single one of them if you will allow me."
"Shouldn't you already know them all?"
"I do, but I like hearing you talk."

She stood and glared down at him who was now looking up at her as if she was some sort of a shrine, violet eyes eating her whole. Rowan had never been looked at like that. Like she was something to behold.

"Is this an offer to lay with you?"
"That's an offer for you to get the fuck out."
"Rowan, Rowan," he cooed, standing. "Stop being so horrible to me, you're going to steal my heart, too."
"You have one?" He grinned at her as he backed towards the exit.
"Can't you hear it? It's practically screaming out your name."

He was envious of her thoughts. For being inside what nothing else could get inside off—her mind.

"You were like the sky to me, my Rowan.Ever so blue, ever so exquisite, ever so far away from me."

"Yes, my little thief, invoke me, chant my name like a curse and let me haunt back those that have haunted you."

[jess]

“There it is,” he said. “It was just hiding away.” “What is?” she whispered. “Your pretty soul.”

this was genuinely painful. although no tears were shed it felt like someone was cutting onions 😔

“I don’t know what is this sick and twisted fascination you have with me.” “I might be sick and twisted, but believe me, my fascination with you isn’t.”

“Yes, my little thief, invoke me, chant my name like a curse and let me haunt back those that have haunted you.”

“So be mine. At least for tonight. Then I will beg yet again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after.”

[Ash ꣑ৎ (quit)]

4.35 stars!!

Read if you like:

🫐 Grumpy fmc x morally grey mmc
🫐 Forbidden Romance
🫐 Enemies to Lovers
🫐 Forced proximity
🫐 Dual POV


**Minor spoilers ahead**


.ೃ࿐⁀➷ Rowan

I loved Rowan sm ❤️❤️ It might have taken me a little longer to fully love and understand her like I did with Winter, but I still loved her, nonetheless. I loved her development as a character and how she was eventually able to open up to Elijah and learn that she is allowed to take care of herself sometimes 🥹🥹 Overall I love her, and I just don't know how the author makes me feel so attached to these characters in only 160 pages ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹


“She would wait for him at every sunrise. Thousand more. And he’d come to her in more than dreams. He’d come to her. He would find her as he had always found her.”


.ೃ࿐⁀➷ Elijah

Ahhh another mmc I have fallen desperately in love with 😍😍 Soooo at the start I was a tad worried that Elijah was not going to deliver 🫣🫣, but there are no words to describe how happy I am that he served, and he served so hard 😩😩 I loved Elijah and how patient he was with Rowan, and how he looks for her in every lifetime was just had my heart swooning 💞💞


“Finders keepers, Rowan of Ingburn. So be mine. At least for tonight. Then I will beg yet again tomorrow. And the day after. And the day after.”


“You were like the sky to me, my Rowan. Ever so blue, ever so exquisite, ever so faraway from me.”


.ೃ࿐⁀➷ Rowan + Elijah

Ummm so where do I begin??? I love these two sm 💞💞 I love the grumpy fmm and the morally grey mmc dynamic of these two and I was having such a great time 🤭🤭 Their banter was so good, though I still think that Winter and Az's banter is still the one to beat. These two have also captured and broken my heart 💘💘 and Wendy I don't know if I can deal with any more pain 😢😢

“My heart was yours from the start and until the very end”


* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 • * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ * 。° 。 •

Rtc when I can see through my tears 😭😭😭

[｡.•*¨*•♬✧maeve ✧♬•*¨*•.｡]

⭐️4.5/5 i want to give this 5 stars but it starts out a littleeee too slow for me…..other than that, I LOVED IT😭 omg. i cried so many times. this is genuinely such a beautiful love story- i will never stop thinking about it!!!! elijah and rowan are just perfect.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

🌶️2/5 this is a short, slow burn….so there is really only one big smut scene BUT IT DELIVERSSSS!!!! i was dyingggg!!!

.𖥔 ݁ ˖. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

dark romantasy novella (interconnected standalone series)
morally gray all around
god of war x soldier/general
M/F
mental health struggles
war/genocide
star crossed lovers
enemies to lovers
forced proximity
hurt x comfort
slow burn
praise
etc.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

he searches for her in every lifetime🥹

.𖥔 ݁ ˖. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

ugh this had me kicking my feet at points!!!! so so so sweet but also beautifully heartbreaking:(

.𖥔 ݁ ˖. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁

i highly recommend this series!!!!! so magical🖤✨

[Mads]

“You were like the sky to me, my Rowan. Ever so blue, ever so exquisite, ever so far away from me.” 😭😭😭😭

[lisa ★]

i am sending wendy heiss my therapy bill

[Laura (Hiatus)]

I saw the authors insta and man I was so relieved to see 4 more books in this series because she can write 10 and I'll gladly devour them all.

[Payal (uni- semi ia) (updating ratings, ignore me)]

4.5☆ rounded up
Another book I finished in two days I still don't care that it was not even 150 pages💪💪

A book that ends in tragedy?? Someone should have warn me ahead??no, I don'tread content warnings and TWs I was happy that there was a epilogue left and we're gonna get same thing as the previous book but hello?? WHAT HAPPENED TO MANNERS AND HAPPY ENDINGS WENDY?? Why twist a knife like this?

I could not even cry at the ending, I was in a fucking class😭😭 Don't talk to me ever again wendy heiss yes, I am going to read her full length novels too

I love rowan and elijah with all my heart. They both are precious and should be protected unlike wendy did🗡 I literally fell for them in the very first page.

I need to get to home and cry🗡😭

[Yasmine Van Den Meersch]

It’s unfair how deeply I love these books.
It’s sooo perfect in every way, I am obsessed!
The way Wendy writes is pure magic and - safe to say - the besttttt spice I’ve ever read. I live for every word in that book, so I thank the Gods for that. (Pun intended)

For short: go read the books, you won’t be disappointed x

[Oana]

5 CANNOT STOP SOBBING STARS

Miss Wendy who gave you permission to be this cruel????
I don’t have a single thought in my head I’m still crying as i write this.
This felt like a greek tale, LITERALLY A RIPPING MY HEART OUT TALE.
Before i started this book I promised myself I would not cry while reading this one. Well the jokes are on me🤡🤡
This books shredded to pieces my little sarcastic heart
I need you to pay my therapy bills

The reverse grumpy/ sunshine thing??? The banter?? No one does it better than miss wendy right here.

READ THESE NOVELLAS

[Mariem]

When War fell in love with Peace


*********

“I can finally tell you this,” he said, wiping away her tears.“Tell me what?”

“That I’ve found you in every lifetime. In every lifetime I’ve watched you die. In some you’ve died in my arms, too. Those are the ones I remember the most. You never remembered me. You don’t remember me still. You won’t remember me. I hope you won’t.” 

—————————————

She had waited for him at the edge of every lifetime. All thousands of them. Sometimes he’d come to her on a white horse, sometimes he’d come to her through a body of mist. Smiling like only he could. But only in her dreams.

[Taylor ◡̈]

✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

“𝘙𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯, 𝘙𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. “𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.” “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦?” 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵. “𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘵? 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.”

𝖲𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖨 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖽𝗂𝖽𝗇’𝗍 𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗍𝖾𝗇.

𝖳𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗀𝗈𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝖺 𝗍𝗁𝗋𝖾𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖺 𝗁𝖺𝗅𝖿 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋 𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗂𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝗆𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝗒. 𝖠 𝖻𝖾𝖺𝗎𝗍𝗂𝖿𝗎𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗆𝖾𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗅𝗂𝖼 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒, 𝖽𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗎𝖾𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝗁𝗂𝗅𝗈𝗌𝗈𝗉𝗁𝗒 𝗈𝖿 𝗉𝖾𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗐𝖺𝗋.

ೃ⁀➷ 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗾𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀:

“𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘙𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘯… 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦.”

“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘵𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”

[blank ⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺]

This was so short but gave me everything I wanted out of the story. Simply put I am a slut for heartbreak.

[Grace McGraw]

This is fucked and made me cry.

To be the War that is in love with the Peace and Peace that is in love with War. The Sun in love with the Moon. A stunning reflection of an ancient story. Is it worth living forever for just a moment together?

[Sorina§]

Enjoyment:⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Writing:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Romance:⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Atmosphere:⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

The way Wendy Heiss makes me giddy and breaks my heart into tiny pieces under 150 pages is crazy.

[charisse ♡]

fuck. i'm bawling.