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Sylvania #2
The Village Maid: A Fairy Tale with Benefits
She’s gone from riches to rags…
Once a castle courtier, Avianna now toils as a laundry maid. She owes the landlady two moons’ rent, and she’s destroying her one asset—her looks. Her best and only plan to escape poverty is to lure hapless Jeb Doolihan into marriage.
Jeb’s handsome and rich… and boring. And Avianna can’t stop thinking about her new friend in the village, the humble fairy Thorn. Thorn actually talks to her, unlike most men. He’s teaching her to read. And now he’s starting to look far too attractive.
But Thorn’s a fairy. And fairies can cast love spells.
Avianna is determined to resist his charms and pursue her goal. Thorn doesn’t fit the picture of the secure life she’s always wanted. But when they escape together from a pirate invasion, that picture starts to change.
Once a castle courtier, Avianna now toils as a laundry maid. She owes the landlady two moons’ rent, and she’s destroying her one asset—her looks. Her best and only plan to escape poverty is to lure hapless Jeb Doolihan into marriage.
Jeb’s handsome and rich… and boring. And Avianna can’t stop thinking about her new friend in the village, the humble fairy Thorn. Thorn actually talks to her, unlike most men. He’s teaching her to read. And now he’s starting to look far too attractive.
But Thorn’s a fairy. And fairies can cast love spells.
Avianna is determined to resist his charms and pursue her goal. Thorn doesn’t fit the picture of the secure life she’s always wanted. But when they escape together from a pirate invasion, that picture starts to change.
264 pages, Paperback
Published March 20, 2022
2 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 19, 2022
2.5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Everything she'd had was gone, thanks to the sodding revolution.
Second in the Sylvania series, The Village Maid stars Avianna, the castle mean girl from book one. I haven't read the first in the series and clearly I missed a revolution started by a Princess, some peasants, and fairies. It seems to be a democratic revolution that hit the land where the royal ruling class is now more on equal footing with the working class. While it's obvious that I missed a lot, I thought the author did a great job working in little summaries throughout the story, instead of beginning info dumping, to give new readers a pretty good idea of past events and why Avianna is now working as a laundry maid as she bemoans how fabulous her life was in the caste.
What would it be like to be with someone like Thorn---quiet and polite, and always thinking about her?
In the beginning, Avianna can come off as a pill, she is constantly complaining about having to work and how she just wants to meet me a man to life bond with and have him take care of her while she sits in the lap of luxury. This surface Avianna slowly gets scraped away as the story, told throughout from her perspective, reveals more about her background and hidden hurts and truths. When we first meet Avianna she has just tumbled a man in a room above a pub and is thinking about the men she has been tumbling in search of someone to life bond her. She comes off very mercenary, when we learn more about her past and how she lied about her family background to get into the castle and closer to the opportunities she wanted in life, I found myself liking how she was a hustler, something heroines don't always get to be.
A Fairy love spell, Avianna thought in shock.
The author describes this book as cozy fantasy romance and after years of being burned by misleading categories, I was pleasantly surprised at how much those descriptors fit this. If you're a frequent reader of cozies, it will probably take a little bit of adjusting to how much “tumbling” is discussed here, think of this as cozy sex positive with a lot of talking about it but only a few foreplay and bedroom scenes. The cozy, constantly talking of tumbling, and how Avianna wants a big, muscly, rich boy, swirled together to give this kind of a immature tone to me, I don't know, maybe a New Adult feel. Avianna is twenty but she talked more like a high-schooler. While Avianna is looking for love in all the wrong places, she frequently gets help from her friend Thorn. Thorn is the quietly good guy friend in glasses and suspenders and oh, a fairy. You'll want to shake Avianna every time she dismisses Thorn because he doesn't have muscles.
With all the men she'd tumbled, no one had ever touched her like that---like it was all about her.
There's a lot of Avianna thinking about finding men to tumble so she can get life bonded, which will hopefully pull her from her current destitute position. This takes place in a medieval-ish time period (modern vernacular), so combined with lack of opportunities for women and Avianna's past of con artist parents that gave her a stressful and tense past, if you don't appreciate her hustler mentality, you can at least understand it. As Thorn helps and sticks up for Avianna more and more, she does start to see him in a different light but then childishly ascribes her feelings to him putting a fairy love spell on her. Avianna is a bit of a frustrating character.
What if she started over? What if she had a blank page---what would she write on it?
Mostly Avianna is trying to find love and then dealing with her burgeoning feelings for Thorn while all set against a backdrop of people feeling a bit lost after the revolution, pirates coming to town to enact some skullduggery, Avianna's parents making a surprise appearance, and some secondary characters to fill out the world and town. Everything here is more along the lines of soft, we don't get too in depth anywhere, the world-building or characterizations, besides Avianna. Thorn was really more sketched, you'll think he's sweet but he'll flicker out of your memory pretty quickly. I spent more time wanting Avianna to open her eyes to Thorn than enjoying them together but they did have some foreplay scenes, which sometimes I think romance can bypass in favor of right away penetrative sex (Thorn is a virgin but a reader!). I loved the map at the beginning of the story, every fantasy should have one and I enjoyed how the author tried something fresh with cozy and fantasy in the romance genre. If you're ok with not going into depth, some immaturity vibes, but looking to land somewhere soft with your reading choice, this would be good new pick-up.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Everything she'd had was gone, thanks to the sodding revolution.
Second in the Sylvania series, The Village Maid stars Avianna, the castle mean girl from book one. I haven't read the first in the series and clearly I missed a revolution started by a Princess, some peasants, and fairies. It seems to be a democratic revolution that hit the land where the royal ruling class is now more on equal footing with the working class. While it's obvious that I missed a lot, I thought the author did a great job working in little summaries throughout the story, instead of beginning info dumping, to give new readers a pretty good idea of past events and why Avianna is now working as a laundry maid as she bemoans how fabulous her life was in the caste.
What would it be like to be with someone like Thorn---quiet and polite, and always thinking about her?
In the beginning, Avianna can come off as a pill, she is constantly complaining about having to work and how she just wants to meet me a man to life bond with and have him take care of her while she sits in the lap of luxury. This surface Avianna slowly gets scraped away as the story, told throughout from her perspective, reveals more about her background and hidden hurts and truths. When we first meet Avianna she has just tumbled a man in a room above a pub and is thinking about the men she has been tumbling in search of someone to life bond her. She comes off very mercenary, when we learn more about her past and how she lied about her family background to get into the castle and closer to the opportunities she wanted in life, I found myself liking how she was a hustler, something heroines don't always get to be.
A Fairy love spell, Avianna thought in shock.
The author describes this book as cozy fantasy romance and after years of being burned by misleading categories, I was pleasantly surprised at how much those descriptors fit this. If you're a frequent reader of cozies, it will probably take a little bit of adjusting to how much “tumbling” is discussed here, think of this as cozy sex positive with a lot of talking about it but only a few foreplay and bedroom scenes. The cozy, constantly talking of tumbling, and how Avianna wants a big, muscly, rich boy, swirled together to give this kind of a immature tone to me, I don't know, maybe a New Adult feel. Avianna is twenty but she talked more like a high-schooler. While Avianna is looking for love in all the wrong places, she frequently gets help from her friend Thorn. Thorn is the quietly good guy friend in glasses and suspenders and oh, a fairy. You'll want to shake Avianna every time she dismisses Thorn because he doesn't have muscles.
With all the men she'd tumbled, no one had ever touched her like that---like it was all about her.
There's a lot of Avianna thinking about finding men to tumble so she can get life bonded, which will hopefully pull her from her current destitute position. This takes place in a medieval-ish time period (modern vernacular), so combined with lack of opportunities for women and Avianna's past of con artist parents that gave her a stressful and tense past, if you don't appreciate her hustler mentality, you can at least understand it. As Thorn helps and sticks up for Avianna more and more, she does start to see him in a different light but then childishly ascribes her feelings to him putting a fairy love spell on her. Avianna is a bit of a frustrating character.
What if she started over? What if she had a blank page---what would she write on it?
Mostly Avianna is trying to find love and then dealing with her burgeoning feelings for Thorn while all set against a backdrop of people feeling a bit lost after the revolution, pirates coming to town to enact some skullduggery, Avianna's parents making a surprise appearance, and some secondary characters to fill out the world and town. Everything here is more along the lines of soft, we don't get too in depth anywhere, the world-building or characterizations, besides Avianna. Thorn was really more sketched, you'll think he's sweet but he'll flicker out of your memory pretty quickly. I spent more time wanting Avianna to open her eyes to Thorn than enjoying them together but they did have some foreplay scenes, which sometimes I think romance can bypass in favor of right away penetrative sex (Thorn is a virgin but a reader!). I loved the map at the beginning of the story, every fantasy should have one and I enjoyed how the author tried something fresh with cozy and fantasy in the romance genre. If you're ok with not going into depth, some immaturity vibes, but looking to land somewhere soft with your reading choice, this would be good new pick-up.
June 9, 2022
Avianna wants to bond with a man and The Village Maid opens with her on that exact mission.
The Village Maid is a fairytale, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance about a woman looking in all the wrong places for a love. Avianna was a bit unlikeable for me at times, her character really took a while to grow on me and even at the end of the book, I wasn't completely sure I liked her. Thorn, on the other hand, was the most loveable character. He was the perfect counter-part to Avianna and her shenanigans.
Being the second in a series, I imagine it would've been a bit easier for me to get into the story if I'd read the first book, BUT each book can be read standalone. There were a few references I think to the first book, but nothing that was completely confusing, thankfully. Once I got into the flow of the writing and the created world, I definitely enjoyed The Village Maid and plan to read the first book, The Forest Bride.
Thank you to Jane Buehler via LibraryThing for the ARC to read and honestly review!
The Village Maid is a fairytale, slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance about a woman looking in all the wrong places for a love. Avianna was a bit unlikeable for me at times, her character really took a while to grow on me and even at the end of the book, I wasn't completely sure I liked her. Thorn, on the other hand, was the most loveable character. He was the perfect counter-part to Avianna and her shenanigans.
Being the second in a series, I imagine it would've been a bit easier for me to get into the story if I'd read the first book, BUT each book can be read standalone. There were a few references I think to the first book, but nothing that was completely confusing, thankfully. Once I got into the flow of the writing and the created world, I definitely enjoyed The Village Maid and plan to read the first book, The Forest Bride.
Thank you to Jane Buehler via LibraryThing for the ARC to read and honestly review!
July 19, 2022
Avianna once lived in the castle, surrounded by handsome landowners, princes, and wealth. Her only goal was to marry well and be taken care of for the rest of her life, but she was having too much tumbling all the eligible men to settle down. When the castle fell, Avianna was left penniless. She found work as laundress but is still looking for her prince charming to lift her out of poverty. She will bed every man in town if that is what it takes to find him. Thorn is just about the only man she won't tumble, and he's not quite a man, he's a fairy. He's just a good friend who looks out for her, he's even teaching her to read and keeping her safe from scorned ex lovers. But what if being a friend is just the beginning of what he wants. He wouldn't stoop so low as to place a love spell on her, would he? A well imagined fantasy world with flawed and fun characters. Lots of steamy moments and adventure. I need to read the first book in this series!
November 22, 2022
This book was such a welcome surprise! I don't often read romance novels (though I do sometimes), as I find the standard tropes too trite, and the enemies to friends storylines are usually somewhat unsettling, what with overdominating, unlikeable male leads, and toxic relationships that are saved by passion and deep-down-hearts-of-gold... I digress.
This is not that! It's smart, for one. Smart and funny, Buehler's characters have edges, and despite some of them being fantastical beings, they come across as real. There are no truly 'good' or 'bad' guys - they're all a mix, like real people. The protagonist is deeply flawed, but you can see why she is the way she is, and why she wants what she wants. Also, she's hilarious, and sad, and bitter and strong. Like I said, she feels real.
The writing is beautiful. With apt descriptions, interesting settings and great dialogue, the story moves quickly, pausing to taste here and there, teasing between predictable and unpredictable, commonplace and magical. Now the romance... I am fanning myself as I type. It is *quite* well done, and that's all I'll say about that, in case my mother reads this review. (So steamy!)
My takeaway: I read this book as a standalone, without reading the first in the series, but I was well able to piece together the world that Buehler created. Smart, funny and well-written, this was a great light read. I am definitely going to order Buehler's Forest Bride next!
This is not that! It's smart, for one. Smart and funny, Buehler's characters have edges, and despite some of them being fantastical beings, they come across as real. There are no truly 'good' or 'bad' guys - they're all a mix, like real people. The protagonist is deeply flawed, but you can see why she is the way she is, and why she wants what she wants. Also, she's hilarious, and sad, and bitter and strong. Like I said, she feels real.
The writing is beautiful. With apt descriptions, interesting settings and great dialogue, the story moves quickly, pausing to taste here and there, teasing between predictable and unpredictable, commonplace and magical. Now the romance... I am fanning myself as I type. It is *quite* well done, and that's all I'll say about that, in case my mother reads this review. (So steamy!)
My takeaway: I read this book as a standalone, without reading the first in the series, but I was well able to piece together the world that Buehler created. Smart, funny and well-written, this was a great light read. I am definitely going to order Buehler's Forest Bride next!
dont-want-to-read
June 23, 2022Saw a review
April 28, 2022
3.5
wait but this was actually v cozy and fun?
wait but this was actually v cozy and fun?
May 11, 2022
Imagine princess bride and Ella Enchanted… with a little “easy” leading lady and virgin boy. Then there are fairies, pirates, mean girls and girls who sleep around to trap one for marriage.
I love this. I just don’t understand how this is not more famous!!! I read this because there was a recommendation on Reddit and I come here and there are only 5 reviews with less rating. I almost gave up… thank god, I didn’t.
This book is sweet, warm, romantic and magical. The girl sleeps around and is sad because she is not able to get a husband. She is poor, desperate and beautiful. She thinks that’s the only way to get a man is to sleep with on the first date.
The boy is always there for her. In the shadows, supporting her, helping her, rescuing her.
Then are mean girls and the female rivalry done right. Oh I really like this book.
I love this. I just don’t understand how this is not more famous!!! I read this because there was a recommendation on Reddit and I come here and there are only 5 reviews with less rating. I almost gave up… thank god, I didn’t.
This book is sweet, warm, romantic and magical. The girl sleeps around and is sad because she is not able to get a husband. She is poor, desperate and beautiful. She thinks that’s the only way to get a man is to sleep with on the first date.
The boy is always there for her. In the shadows, supporting her, helping her, rescuing her.
Then are mean girls and the female rivalry done right. Oh I really like this book.
July 23, 2022
Ok, I'm not sure what I was expecting with this book, but it read like a YA novel but with decidedly more mature themes than YA.
Avianna used to be a castle courtier but is now a laundry maid. She dreams of escaping poverty by luring a wealthy man into marriage. Meanwhile, her fairy friend Thorn always has her back and is a true friend. I'm not spoiling the plot by saying that in the end Avianna and Thorn end up together because she finally realizes that her ideal mate was in front of her all this time. This is a traditional storyline -- and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem was that Avianna was so incredibly shallow and prejudiced (all she wants in a man is muscles and good looks, and he has to be human, etc.). Even when she starts to acknowledge her own feelings for Thorn, she tries to tamp them down by telling herself that a fairy could never make a good lifelong mate. Nevermind that Thorn is pretty much perfect.
I guess I just found Avianna so irritating that I had trouble enjoying the story. The plotline itself was entertaining, especially after throwing in a pirate attack, and Avianna sort-of redeems herself in the end, but I still didn't like her and wanted Thorn to end up with a nicer girl. LOL
Avianna used to be a castle courtier but is now a laundry maid. She dreams of escaping poverty by luring a wealthy man into marriage. Meanwhile, her fairy friend Thorn always has her back and is a true friend. I'm not spoiling the plot by saying that in the end Avianna and Thorn end up together because she finally realizes that her ideal mate was in front of her all this time. This is a traditional storyline -- and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem was that Avianna was so incredibly shallow and prejudiced (all she wants in a man is muscles and good looks, and he has to be human, etc.). Even when she starts to acknowledge her own feelings for Thorn, she tries to tamp them down by telling herself that a fairy could never make a good lifelong mate. Nevermind that Thorn is pretty much perfect.
I guess I just found Avianna so irritating that I had trouble enjoying the story. The plotline itself was entertaining, especially after throwing in a pirate attack, and Avianna sort-of redeems herself in the end, but I still didn't like her and wanted Thorn to end up with a nicer girl. LOL
July 3, 2023
I love a good redemption story. If you read the first book in this series, The Forest Bride: A Fairy Tale with Benefits, you might remember Avianna, one of Rose's ladies-in-waiting. She was closer to a villain than a hero in that one, catty and mean and out for her own pleasure. (If you didn't read that yet, you might want to start there: this book stands alone quite well, but I think you'll appreciate the breadth of Avianna's changes better if you read the other book first).
Well, this is the story of what happened to her after the events of book 1.
I very much enjoyed her slow realizations of what happiness might really look like and who might be the right person to help her find it. Our hero, Thorn, was maybe a little too perfect to be completely believable--patient, kind, and nearly completely selfless, but I still liked him quite a bit and the contrast he made to Avianna's other beaus worked well in the story.
Well, this is the story of what happened to her after the events of book 1.
I very much enjoyed her slow realizations of what happiness might really look like and who might be the right person to help her find it. Our hero, Thorn, was maybe a little too perfect to be completely believable--patient, kind, and nearly completely selfless, but I still liked him quite a bit and the contrast he made to Avianna's other beaus worked well in the story.
June 26, 2022
This was a light read and enjoyable altogether. Extremely light on plot; we spend most of the book just getting to know each of the characters, and then there's a rather out of nowhere bit with some pirates that propels the novel to the end. But I liked the people of the story, especially Avianna and Thorn, young Alfie, etc., as well as the world building. I had no idea it was the second of a series or I wouldn't have requested it over on LibraryThing if I had, but it didn't seem to matter and I was glad I did. Not a work of great literature, but fun.
May 10, 2023
If it wasn't for one faerie and one merman, this would just read as a historical to me. I didn't read the blub well enough because I didn't realize Thorne was the love internet. I'm glad because I liked him immediately and he was the sweetest. I didn't read the first book so I'm not 100% sure what went down but I'm kinda hoping there's a redemption arc for Prince Murkel
January 17, 2024
This was a slow burn fantasy romance. I loved the opening of the book and following Avianna on her journey to true love with Thorn. Thorn was a fun MMC while not your typical romantasy hero he is sweet and supportive. The two made an interesting pair. If you enjoy cozy romance with a touch of adventure and a sweet heat level, definitely give this one a read.
July 19, 2022
good book. i enjoyed it a lot. the characters grew and developed pretty well. and i felt the relationship between them was palpable. yay
February 11, 2023
Very much enjoyed. This series introduced me to cozy fantasy, and I think it's created a monster (but a cute and cuddly monster like Grover or Elmo). Full review soon!
May 21, 2022
I received the Village Maid through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers so thank you to them and Jane Buehler for sending me a copy.
Overall I found the story to be delightful and fun. If you're looking for a feel-good, fantasy story with a little bit of spice then I think you'll really enjoy this book. While Avianna starts off as mean and unlikable you really grow to love her and emphasis with her struggles to trust in a world that has not treated her kindly. And Thorn is just perfect, where can I get myself a kind, book loving fairy boyfriend like him?
The completionist in me also had to pick up the first book in this series, The Forest Bride, and I would highly recommend doing it as well. This can be read as a standalone but reading the first gives you a more rounded picture of why our characters are in the situations they are and give you a background on how the world is set up.
The story is face paced and an easy escape into a cute fantasy world. I'm looking forward to the next installment from Buehler.
Overall I found the story to be delightful and fun. If you're looking for a feel-good, fantasy story with a little bit of spice then I think you'll really enjoy this book. While Avianna starts off as mean and unlikable you really grow to love her and emphasis with her struggles to trust in a world that has not treated her kindly. And Thorn is just perfect, where can I get myself a kind, book loving fairy boyfriend like him?
The completionist in me also had to pick up the first book in this series, The Forest Bride, and I would highly recommend doing it as well. This can be read as a standalone but reading the first gives you a more rounded picture of why our characters are in the situations they are and give you a background on how the world is set up.
The story is face paced and an easy escape into a cute fantasy world. I'm looking forward to the next installment from Buehler.
October 18, 2022
Fun, feel-good fantasy romance, featuring poor Avianna’s village problems, with a sprinkle of pirates and politics. After rebellion overturned the court, former lady Avianna must eke out a living doing laundry and errands at a humble lodging house. For a court lady, stability came through marriage, so now that her life of leisure is gone, she’s more desperate than ever to find an eligible man to charm into being her life partner. However, as the months pass and Avi’s prospects remain dim, she has to consider if all she desires is riches, or if a simple yet industrious life can take the place of her previous aspirations.
Avi is in a unique situation, and I enjoyed this look at how a sweeping political movement impacts each individual in different ways. Luck and fortune had brought Avi up to court, then seemingly abandoned her in the dusty village. I believe the whole revolution plays a part in the first book, but without having read it I enjoyed this book as a standalone story.
I’ll admit I struggled with Avi. She’s privileged and unafraid to be mean, but she does grow, and the other characters come into their own as well. Also, her love life is not the tumultuous triangle I thought it would be as teased in the synopsis. Her interests change as she learns more about herself (and the suitor(s) she leaves behind) but she doesn’t do the whole teenage act of being wishywashy or leading anyone on.
(On that note, this is an adult book.)
**Thanks to LibraryThing for the ARC**
Avi is in a unique situation, and I enjoyed this look at how a sweeping political movement impacts each individual in different ways. Luck and fortune had brought Avi up to court, then seemingly abandoned her in the dusty village. I believe the whole revolution plays a part in the first book, but without having read it I enjoyed this book as a standalone story.
I’ll admit I struggled with Avi. She’s privileged and unafraid to be mean, but she does grow, and the other characters come into their own as well. Also, her love life is not the tumultuous triangle I thought it would be as teased in the synopsis. Her interests change as she learns more about herself (and the suitor(s) she leaves behind) but she doesn’t do the whole teenage act of being wishywashy or leading anyone on.
(On that note, this is an adult book.)
**Thanks to LibraryThing for the ARC**
Read
February 17, 2022I'm excited for my second novel because it's (to me) the perfect representation of a "cozy fantasy romance." The heroine, Avianna, just wants to pay her bills and have fun with her friends and find a companion, and that's what the book is about. She never has to save the world or battle evil. (There are some pirates, but, well... .)
When I wrote the first book in the series, The Forest Bride, I hadn't yet figured out what I was writing. I thought fantasy romance had to have a battle and that the fairies had to be evil. So I started out by writing that, but since that's not really who I am, the story mutated into something else. I still love it, but it doesn't feel completely cozy to me, since it contains some bits and pieces of the original draft that couldn't be removed. (Note: The Village Maid contains spoilers for the major plot points of The Forest Bride but can be read on its own.)
Anyway, I'm glad I figured out that I don't want to write epic plots with nonstop danger and darkness, and I'm excited to share this story.
When I wrote the first book in the series, The Forest Bride, I hadn't yet figured out what I was writing. I thought fantasy romance had to have a battle and that the fairies had to be evil. So I started out by writing that, but since that's not really who I am, the story mutated into something else. I still love it, but it doesn't feel completely cozy to me, since it contains some bits and pieces of the original draft that couldn't be removed. (Note: The Village Maid contains spoilers for the major plot points of The Forest Bride but can be read on its own.)
Anyway, I'm glad I figured out that I don't want to write epic plots with nonstop danger and darkness, and I'm excited to share this story.
December 18, 2022
A light read for sure. I felt like there were a lot of plot threads that were introduced in what was only meant to be a few days for the characters, but it felt like many of them weren't followed through in depth. The little explicit sexual content that there was, was sweet. The main romantic lead was cool. Interesting relationships between characters were introduced but also felt like many weren't followed through with enough.
April 23, 2023
it should be criminal how cozy reading this series is, it's so warm and always leaves me with fuzzy, happy feelings after. the only thing i didn't like was this trope annoys me greatly but it's a me thing. otherwise, liked this one very much.
April 11, 2022
Very sweet and cozy. A quick read that makes you smile. Perfect for a rainy day or evening after a rough day at work.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews