What do you think?
Sylvania #1
The Forest Bride: A Fairy Tale with Benefits
Her fiancé was a monster. Her rescuer may be worse.
When Princess Rose is sold in marriage to a repulsive brute, only one person can save her-Prince Dustan, the suitor she hoped for, and the one her father didn't choose. But Rose learns that Dustan harbors a secret: he may not be a prince... or human.
With nowhere else to turn, Rose follows Dustan into the forest. She hopes to hide from both her fiancé and her father. But can Rose trust Dustan? Or will his hidden agenda prove even more perilous than the marriage he helped her escape?
The Forest Bride is on the romance end of the fantasy-romance spectrum, with a hint of women's fiction thrown in. If you're a fan of Kerrelyn Sparks's How to Love Your Elf or you've imagined an adult Ella Enchanted who has sex with Prince Charmont, The Forest Bride is for you. Note: The Forest Bride contains sex scenes-if you don't want to read sex scenes, there is a PG version available (ISBN 978-0-9778068-6-7).
When Princess Rose is sold in marriage to a repulsive brute, only one person can save her-Prince Dustan, the suitor she hoped for, and the one her father didn't choose. But Rose learns that Dustan harbors a secret: he may not be a prince... or human.
With nowhere else to turn, Rose follows Dustan into the forest. She hopes to hide from both her fiancé and her father. But can Rose trust Dustan? Or will his hidden agenda prove even more perilous than the marriage he helped her escape?
The Forest Bride is on the romance end of the fantasy-romance spectrum, with a hint of women's fiction thrown in. If you're a fan of Kerrelyn Sparks's How to Love Your Elf or you've imagined an adult Ella Enchanted who has sex with Prince Charmont, The Forest Bride is for you. Note: The Forest Bride contains sex scenes-if you don't want to read sex scenes, there is a PG version available (ISBN 978-0-9778068-6-7).
288 pages, Paperback
Published November 30, 2020
About the author
Emily Jane Buehler
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Here's my short, third-person bio: "When asked what she'd be when she grew up, Emily always answered, an artist. An enthusiastic high school chemistry teacher, however, led Emily to study chemistry in college. After earning her PhD, Emily became a bread baker, which led to her first book, Bread Science. While writing Somewhere and Nowhere, the memoir of her cross-country bicycle trip, she realized that her childhood inklings were correct, and she was meant to be a writer. She currently writes cozy romantasy as Jane Buehler."
I only rate books if I can give 4 or 5 stars. If I feel compelled to review a book I didn't like, I leave off the star rating. I wish the rating meant "is a good fit for Emily" but because it seems to be taken as "is good or bad" I just don't feel comfortable giving another author 3 or less stars.
I'd love you to reach out to me on Goodreads, but I'm slightly technologically confused, so if I don't reply in the proper way, it's probably because I don't know what I'm doing.
Subscribe to my very sporadic other news: http://emilybuehler.com
Here's my short, third-person bio: "When asked what she'd be when she grew up, Emily always answered, an artist. An enthusiastic high school chemistry teacher, however, led Emily to study chemistry in college. After earning her PhD, Emily became a bread baker, which led to her first book, Bread Science. While writing Somewhere and Nowhere, the memoir of her cross-country bicycle trip, she realized that her childhood inklings were correct, and she was meant to be a writer. She currently writes cozy romantasy as Jane Buehler."
I only rate books if I can give 4 or 5 stars. If I feel compelled to review a book I didn't like, I leave off the star rating. I wish the rating meant "is a good fit for Emily" but because it seems to be taken as "is good or bad" I just don't feel comfortable giving another author 3 or less stars.
I'd love you to reach out to me on Goodreads, but I'm slightly technologically confused, so if I don't reply in the proper way, it's probably because I don't know what I'm doing.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
life-is-too-short
August 6, 2022The story is fine and the writing is nice, but it's very flat. DNF 40%
Read
May 31, 2022This is my first published fiction, and my goal was to write something lighthearted and fun and escapist. I love romantic fantasy but wanted some fantasy without the violence, and a heroine who has adventures without too much trauma and angst.
When I started drafting the novel, I thought there'd be a battle scene like in many fantasy romance books; but when it came time to write the scene, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to write about blood and gore, and if I'd tried to write a battle scene, it wouldn't have been very authentic. If you read the book, you'll see how I got out of writing the battle.
Once I'd recognized my goal of avoiding violence in my stories, I felt free to explore writing fantasy romance that's a bit more like women's fiction, where the conflict centers on the heroine's issues and daily life. The second book in the Sylvania series, The Village Maid, follows this route.
There are two things I wish I had done better. (1) My villains are totally one-dimensional. I know some readers hate this! I'm working on writing deeper antagonists. (2) There is a sad aspect of the plot, that's tangential to the central love story, and I don't think I realized how truly sad it is until after the book was published. It's been bothering me, but I'm hoping I can patch things up somewhat in a future book.
If you want to receive an email when a new book is coming, you can subscribe to my e-news at https://janebuehler.com (and download a free short story). Since I think we all probably get too many emails, I send emails only when a new book is coming.
In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions about my books.
When I started drafting the novel, I thought there'd be a battle scene like in many fantasy romance books; but when it came time to write the scene, I couldn't do it. I didn't want to write about blood and gore, and if I'd tried to write a battle scene, it wouldn't have been very authentic. If you read the book, you'll see how I got out of writing the battle.
Once I'd recognized my goal of avoiding violence in my stories, I felt free to explore writing fantasy romance that's a bit more like women's fiction, where the conflict centers on the heroine's issues and daily life. The second book in the Sylvania series, The Village Maid, follows this route.
There are two things I wish I had done better. (1) My villains are totally one-dimensional. I know some readers hate this! I'm working on writing deeper antagonists. (2) There is a sad aspect of the plot, that's tangential to the central love story, and I don't think I realized how truly sad it is until after the book was published. It's been bothering me, but I'm hoping I can patch things up somewhat in a future book.
If you want to receive an email when a new book is coming, you can subscribe to my e-news at https://janebuehler.com (and download a free short story). Since I think we all probably get too many emails, I send emails only when a new book is coming.
In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions about my books.
March 21, 2021
This story was ok.
It is simple. Also simplistic.
.
Spoilers below.
.
Rose was an inconsistent character, we're told things about her (such as her tremendous spirit and also her extremely meek ways) and we just take it on faith. It doesn't help that apparently she was under a love spell the entire first third, so we can't be sure she was acting like herself when we get to know her.
I did like the twist about the fairies also being held captive underground and lied to about humans. Dustin, though, and a lot of very convenient knowledge and lack of knowledge, which could have been handled a lot better.
Rose is magically able to solve problems by walking up to them and telling them to behave better. Overall. Wouldn't that be nice?
There were lots of easy way outs and convenient happenings, which appears to be part of the point of the writing, so I guess I can't fault it too much for that when it appears to be part of the thesis.
In the future, though, I would like to see the heroine be meek or be spirited, either works. Rather than have her oscillate between which one she thinks she is.
The dog Aid 100% should have been her father cursed by the fairies. Aid was great and was never explained. He was just a stray, and that feels like a missed opportunity.
It is simple. Also simplistic.
.
Spoilers below.
.
Rose was an inconsistent character, we're told things about her (such as her tremendous spirit and also her extremely meek ways) and we just take it on faith. It doesn't help that apparently she was under a love spell the entire first third, so we can't be sure she was acting like herself when we get to know her.
I did like the twist about the fairies also being held captive underground and lied to about humans. Dustin, though, and a lot of very convenient knowledge and lack of knowledge, which could have been handled a lot better.
Rose is magically able to solve problems by walking up to them and telling them to behave better. Overall. Wouldn't that be nice?
There were lots of easy way outs and convenient happenings, which appears to be part of the point of the writing, so I guess I can't fault it too much for that when it appears to be part of the thesis.
In the future, though, I would like to see the heroine be meek or be spirited, either works. Rather than have her oscillate between which one she thinks she is.
The dog Aid 100% should have been her father cursed by the fairies. Aid was great and was never explained. He was just a stray, and that feels like a missed opportunity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2022
A curious little book. I've been trying to put my finger on why it doesn't quite work for me. It has a very oral-tradition fairy tale lack of detail -- the characters are only sketched, the world is vague, there's very little description. That's appropriate for the genre, though, and reminds me in a way of the style of the Grimm fairytales. A princess locked in a tower who longs for escape. A fairy prince. Surviving on one's wits.
And yet. There's all this sex in the book. I don't mind books with sex, and it wasn't badly written (and honestly, finding sex scenes that don't make me cringe can be tough). But it's this oddly specific element in this very high-level watercolor textured story. It doesn't fit.
There is a fade-to-black version of this book, apparently -- I think that would make a great YA read. But this version isn't complex or deep enough to support the details of seduction, in my opinion.
That issue aside, my main criticism is that the characters felt more like archetypes than people, and Rose's traits and behavior were inconsistent, which made it difficult to grasp who she actually was. It's a first novel, I believe, so it should be interesting to see how the author develops with more experience.
And yet. There's all this sex in the book. I don't mind books with sex, and it wasn't badly written (and honestly, finding sex scenes that don't make me cringe can be tough). But it's this oddly specific element in this very high-level watercolor textured story. It doesn't fit.
There is a fade-to-black version of this book, apparently -- I think that would make a great YA read. But this version isn't complex or deep enough to support the details of seduction, in my opinion.
That issue aside, my main criticism is that the characters felt more like archetypes than people, and Rose's traits and behavior were inconsistent, which made it difficult to grasp who she actually was. It's a first novel, I believe, so it should be interesting to see how the author develops with more experience.
March 12, 2026
It was a sweet idea for a YA book, but it didn't live up to what it could have been. Trying to be a grown-up romantasy definitely didn't help.
May 1, 2022
The book description compared this to Ella Enchanted, and I almost never skip anything that has similarities to Ella Enchanted. I’ll stop before I start quoting passages from the movie (yes, I like the movie…sorry, not sorry) and just say that I’m very glad I picked this up. It didn’t disappoint, either as an Ella Enchanted reminder or as a story in its own right.
The “cozy fantasy romance” description given by the author is exactly how I’d describe this. It’s light and fun while still being serious. It doesn’t have a lot of the darkness I see in fantasy romance, and it still had enough tension and drama to keep things moving without needing to rely on darkness. Toward the end, things felt a bit rushed, as if too many things were trying to be resolved by the end of the book. I would have almost liked some of those to be a sequel, rather than included here. I felt like there could have been much more to those storylines. This aside, I quite enjoyed this. Interesting twists, and the arc of the romance surprised me, which doesn’t happen often.
Oh, and “a fairy tale with benefits.” Clever, awesome—I need more taglines like that in my life. 4 stars.
This book is part of my Author Discovery Project on Patreon. Check it out!
The “cozy fantasy romance” description given by the author is exactly how I’d describe this. It’s light and fun while still being serious. It doesn’t have a lot of the darkness I see in fantasy romance, and it still had enough tension and drama to keep things moving without needing to rely on darkness. Toward the end, things felt a bit rushed, as if too many things were trying to be resolved by the end of the book. I would have almost liked some of those to be a sequel, rather than included here. I felt like there could have been much more to those storylines. This aside, I quite enjoyed this. Interesting twists, and the arc of the romance surprised me, which doesn’t happen often.
Oh, and “a fairy tale with benefits.” Clever, awesome—I need more taglines like that in my life. 4 stars.
This book is part of my Author Discovery Project on Patreon. Check it out!
June 30, 2023
A lovely and light story, low conflict and high charm. Strong fairy-tale vibes, nice chemistry between the couple, and a good "come into her own" story arc for the main characters. The ending felt a little rushed to me, hurrying through things I'd like to have watched unfold and resolve more fully, but the most important parts finished very satisfyingly. I very much enjoyed it, enough so that I immediately picked up the next two (always a good sign).
March 13, 2021
This was an entertaining read. The world building was well done. I enjoyed that our heroine followed her heart and was brave in helping people. I envied her lock picking skill. I enjoy sex scenes, so I was glad to have them. I did feel there were too many villains. There were 4. I’m hoping for Larch’s story in the future and am looking forward to next novel.
September 9, 2024
Quit a little over halfway...the plot twists in 180 flips every so often, but otherwise drags. I say this knowing full well I have ADHD, and very little patience. Note that the writing itself is pretty good, but comes across as unorganized or wandering to someone whose brain needs CONSTANT movement in a forward direction from a story.
July 15, 2022
this was decent. the beginning had me for a loop bc i hate instalove but the plot redeemed itself and i was like you go girl. rose was badass and i loved it. dustan was okay? idk he wasnt as fleshed out as i wouldve liked but oh well. plot was still decent
November 17, 2022
The first two parts of the book was good. Then the last part felt rushed, ending all the conflicts too quickly. After all their struggles, it ends in a paragraph. It made me mad. I struggled to finish the book. Then the last chapter felt like a summery of the book, (essay like).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2024
super cute.
The plot held through till the end and I really enjoyed the book overall. The fairy romance was just adorable, I loved the characters and the twists and how cute everything was.
The plot held through till the end and I really enjoyed the book overall. The fairy romance was just adorable, I loved the characters and the twists and how cute everything was.
March 17, 2025
Cozy, low stakes read with fairy tale elements… a locked up princess, evil royalty, suspicious fairies, missing children, hints of revolution… all the good stuff with a satisfying resolution with people standing up for themselves.
March 30, 2023
Couldn’t get over the use of the word “underpants”.
August 13, 2024
2.5
Very bland in my opinion. Unfortunately does not give me the motivation to read the rest of the series.
Very bland in my opinion. Unfortunately does not give me the motivation to read the rest of the series.
February 10, 2023
reading this was like dreaming the nicest dream.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews