A Heart Of Two Realms

Dying Lands #0.5

by Rosa Heart

The human and fae realms collide every seven years. Their monsters slip in through the tears between worlds and terrorise our people.

When a horde of goblins attack my hometown, I make sure we fight back, or die trying. The last thing I expect is aid from the nobility, least of all the Lord Protector’s heir. Lord Ronan and his elite band of fae hunters arrive on the eve of battle and I am forced to make an alliance, but I do not trust him. Lords use and abuse peasants like us.

I didn’t bargain on Lord Ronan being different. Charming. Dazzling. Compassionate. Then he offers me a life-changing opportunity - to join him in the hunt of fae that pillage our lands. I find myself drawn to him. Falling for him, but a forbidden love with a lord would only result in my utter ruin.

There is only one way I can have him, to throw off the chains of my class: I must take the sacred pilgrimage into the deadly fae lands and return as a priestess. I don’t count on meeting Nissien in the intoxicating autumn court and having my heart stolen by a second man. A fae who is both vicious and brutal. Whose immense power has even his friends cowering.

I must choose one man and one realm, but events spiral out of my control, and my two worlds collide in the most devastating way.

Only one man can live, and I must decide who will die.

A Heart of Two Realms is a heart-wrenching, dark fantasy romance with battles, explicit steamy scenes and touch-her-and-die tropes. It is perfect for lovers of A Court of Thorns and Roses and From Blood and Ash.

Available for FREE on the author's website.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Fae

Kindle Edition

About the author

Rosa Heart is a spicy romantasy author. She loves all things fantasy; magic, fae, dragons and epic battles with monsters. She has been writing since she was a child, but didn’t publish her first novel until she was in her 30s, written during the pandemic. Rosa lives down under, in Australia, where the sun is always shining, even on the coldest days. The oasis of her garden or peaceful bush trails is where she likes to go to unwind. Her favourite thing is to curl up with her cat, husband and a good book.

Reviews

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, and it helped me better understand Naomi's life and her later choices. I LOVED Ronan's character—it was so refreshing to finally have an MMC who isn’t morally grey but a genuinely kind and sincere soul who was not purely interested in sex and thinking about women's "ample" "generous" "sweet" body parts at every single page (as Aldrin's character does which is just disgusting). I was really sad that he didn’t appear in the other books; he would have been such a great character in those as well.

I also found Naomi’s lightning power fascinating, though I wished there had been more elaboration on it—or at least more reflection on its uniqueness. Since it's so distinct from any other known powers, why did no one ever question it or try to uncover how it was possible, given that it doesn’t belong to any known court? Did she inherit it through her father’s lineage?

One aspect that confused me was the "answers" Naomi and Ronan kept repeating—there was no question he gave her upon her departure, so that felt a bit odd.

However, my biggest issue was the inconsistencies in the timeline, not just within this book but also in comparison to the main series following Kiera and Aldrin's story:
- If the story took place within six months in the human realm (as stated at the end of the book) —the story starts with almost two months of the plot before Naomi left for the otherworld and her return comprised five months and three weeks of human timing all together—that would mean she spent almost a year in the otherworld. However, the pilgrimage is only supposed to last four to six months in otherworld time.
- But then, it states that time moves much faster in the human realm and that "months and months" have passed there. Even if she had been in the otherworld for four months—which doesn’t seem likely based on the text—it would equate to only about 1.5 months in the human realm.
- In The Forbidden Fae King, it is mentioned that three months passed in the otherworld while only about a month had passed in the human realm. This contradicts the timeline established in the prequel: “It is a little over a month in our human realm, but closer to three months in the fae world.”

[S C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been enjoying this series but the insane amount of inadvertently incorrect words - especially in the last chapters - is horrible. “Precipitate” instead of “precipice”. “Fill” instead of “feel.” Many many more. It’s as if someone used voice dictation to type this up, and no editor was consulted. Please edit this book and reissue it. The story is enjoyable otherwise.

[Karen G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so happy to see that this was available and gave a lot of answers to the Mother questions that came up in the Forbidden Fae King. But now I am ready for the next book in the series because there are still so many more questions.
So many emotions for Naomi and her travails. My heart bled for her and what she and her family were subjected to.
I cried 😭
I am in love with Ronan but also loved Nissien and his wildness. His love for Naomi was pure as only it can be for a fae.
I think in the 2nd book we will find out who he really was. (I have my thoughts on that already) There were some nuggets in the Forbidden Fae King. 🤷‍♀️
If it happens I will come back and edit.
I love Ronans fighter group. Kendrick 🫶
Kandra who was Naomi’s support the whole time. BFF 👯 🫶🥰
There is still so much prejudice in this world we live in now and I love how the author brought it in and showed how the strong can survive. ❤️
Not sure reading it first would have made a difference.
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️ just enough. 🤌 👄

Some spelling mistakes were pretty obvious and your proof readers should have spotted them easily. Get some more for your next book.

[Shannon Heck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Heart of Two Realms is the prequel to the Dying Lands series. The book follows Naomi, Keira's grandmother, on her pilgrimage to the fae lands. It was interesting because it gave us a first-hand account of Naomi's trip; however, there wasn't a lot of new information. I think the purpose is to garner more empathy for Naomi, but I didn't like her character. Yes, she was held captive, but she entered the fae lands with ill intent and was told exactly what would happen. And then, shockingly, it happened. So the book was interesting, but Naomi was unlikable. 4 stars for a good story overall because you need those morally gray characters to keep things exciting!

[Doodles McC · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is good to get Keira's grandmother (Naomi) back story. Naomi (a fierce peasant woman and illegitimate daughter of the local Lord) and Ronan's story. They meet in defense of the local village against murderous goblins, where she saves Ronan's life. She then joins his band of hunters, who take out any unwelcome fae creatures. But to truly live the life she craves she must make the pilgrimage to the fae lands to bring back magic. Unfortunately although it is a freebie, the sheer amount of spelling mistakes in the second half of the book were enough to break the rhythm of the plot.

[Makenna Moffat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot get enough of this series and I'm absolutely in love with Rosa Hearts writing!

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know where Rosa has been hiding, but I am obsessed with her writing! A must read 🙌🏼

[Mary J · Rating 3 out of 5]

A freebie from the author's web page so it is difficult to really complain that the book is in severe need of a good edit job, but it is. Distracted from the story a bit. It gave some history and a bit more understanding of one of the main characters in The Dying Lands Series so I am not sorry that I read it.