I want to catch these fae criminals almost as much as I want to breathe.
It’s all I can think about… wilting just as fast as my mood, tied to my emotions as they are.
I won’t have to fake this smile for much longer, though.
Soon, when the party is over, my dear old dad will be back to traveling the countryside with his latest conquest, and I’ll get back to my true calling:
Bounty hunting all the criminal fae that seek to bring my kingdom to its knees.
My latest set of bounties may be proving more difficult to hunt down than usual, but I’ll get them.
I always do.
At least that’s what I think before they bypass my carefully laid trap and catch me in theirs instead. Now I’m being led through parts of my kingdom I was told never to step foot in, kidnapped by a group of fae that isn’t scared of me, my reputation, or my clout.
These fae are well-built and burly, cocky, and mean. They’re out for blood, and really don’t care if it’s a princess’s that gets spilled. In fact, I think they might enjoy it.
They’re utterly shameless.
AUTHOR’S NOTE AND TRIGGER WARNING
SHAMELESS FAE is book one in a fantasy reverse harem romance series, so there will be a cliffhanger. It also has drug references, foul language, violence, sexual situations, and content which could be triggering for some people. It is only intended for readers 18 years and older.
For more information about this series, and other titles by Cilla Raven, please visit www.cillaraven.com.
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Z learns some hard lessons from the Fae who’ve captured more than her attention. Great read with a well built world and an in-depth backstory. Can’t wait to find out what’s next!!
“Always expect an arrow to the face, Z.”
Zinnia is a princess by day and The Ghost – a fae bounty hunter – by night. Her list of people who can be trusted is short, but her reflexes are sharp. She’s cunning, she’s fierce, and she is about to learn that the rules to the world aren’t exactly what she thought they were.
“I have to keep people at a distance, hold my tongue…and play the part of the future queen perfectly, even though I’d rather pull all the feathers out of my big black wings than stand on tradition, ignoring all the problems in our nation as if they don’t exist simply because it isn’t my place to do anything about them yet.”
Duality is both a blessing and a curse – a freedom and a binding – and it’s a major theme and moving force throughout this amazing start to a new series from Cilla Raven.
“’Until a fae girl is married, her words will have no bearing.’ As if my mind doesn’t work until I’ve had a cuff placed on my left wrist and a pretentious royal fae dick inside me…”
There’s a whole lot of social relevance and plenty of heavy hitting points in this “airy genre fiction” if you pay close attention. Raven has created a window to a world sharply divided by caste and heavily impacted by social injustice and prejudice. In this world, castes are physically marked upon each fae and indicated by the color of their wings. Crossbreeding between castes is illegal and acting beyond your station in life is frowned upon. What’s a girl to do, then, when she desires to be more than just a pretty face? When she seeks vengeance for past harm? When she sees the hurt in the world but is not allowed to address it, ironically, within the bounds of her role as a royal figure – because, after all, she is only a girl.
“I realized pretty quickly that I’m happiest when I’m out hunting bounties, when I wear a disguise, when people don’t change who they are while they talk to me.”
Despite the chafing of the cuffs of royalty that bind her in the role of princess, Z finds power in her ability to hide in plain sight. It’s ironic that, only when she disguises herself in her role of The Ghost can her true self be seen and valued. This is the only time she truly has the freedom to think and act as she chooses, without the social expectations and limitations of her royalty and her father.
“Today, you were just a princess, just a small fae girl who couldn’t do anything to help your mom, but starting tomorrow, you will learn to be more. You will become everything you need to be to face this evil world – a fae that strikes fear into the hearts of those that would do you and yours harm.”
In the same way that there exists duality between Z’s existence as princess and Z’s secret life as The Ghost, there are also the dichotomies of good and evil, of innocence and maturity, and of before and after. There are two sides not only to Z, but also to the world around her (and the people within it), and often, the line between those two sides is thinner than you might expect.
“You will never be caught unprepared like your mother was tonight,” he paused for a breath before he continued, “You will become what she needed to be.”
Shameless Fae is, perhaps most importantly, a story of becoming – of self-discovery. As Zinnia ventures out beyond the walls of the city for the first time, so too does she venture beyond the walls of the preconceptions she has held and had reinforced her entire life. In order to move forward and find her way in the world, she must first learn to fully recognize her potential and to become what the world needs her to be. This is a heavy burden for one person to bear, but Zinnia has the Doconqueh to help divide that load and to travel with her on the path of discovery – both of herself and of the truth of the world around her – and I love the beauty of the relationships that Raven has woven into this group.
“He wasn’t checking off a box labeled, ‘sleep with the princess,’…He wasn’t looking beyond me at all. He was right there in the moment with me because I was what he wanted right then. Not my title, not my kingdom, just me…”
I won’t go too deeply into the relationships within the Doconqueh, so as not to spoil anything for you, but I will say that, what Z lacks or has lost in her own true family, she more than makes up for with this band of rebel misfits. She finds people who can see her for who she truly is and love her all the more for it, helping her to become who she has the potential to be, and who her people need her to be.
The only thing I found disappointing was that the romantic relationships developed so late in the story, and that there wasn’t much development to them even then. There were flirtations and even a significant encounter, but then that dynamic got shoved to the background of the story in a fairly confusing way – with a new character of romantic potential introduced at the end, before romantic developments had really been explored fully with the existing group.
All that said, I am incredibly eager to see what happens with all of these dynamics in the next installment of Fae Bounties, as I have theories and hypotheses galore, and there is so much amazing potential! I think Cilla Raven has crafted a beautiful world with so many parallels to issues we are facing in our own world today, and I absolutely can’t wait to see how Zinnia and her rebels deliver justice and find themselves – and one another – in book 2!
I received a free copy in exchange of an honest review.
Princess in the light of the day, bounty hunter in the darkness of the night. Since her mother murder, princess Zinnia Thornfire has been living a double life. People know her as The Ghost, a mysterious bounty hunter that catches criminals at the darkness of the night. While hunting the ones that murdered her mother, she’s captured by four rebels. But it seems that they are not capturing only her body but also her heart.
Wow. This book is amazing. Zinnia is super confident that gets her captured. She has good intentions for her people but her sheltered view of life is changed them. The guys (and girl) are hot and I love how crazy Lazlo is. I can’t wait to see more of him and the Doconqueh!
Interesting new series!
This is the second series by Cilla, and I am hooked! This is about Z, who is a princess by day and The Ghost (a bounty hunter) by night. Z suffered a tragedy at a young age. Ever since then her life’s mission has been about trying to find the people who did this to her. She believes she is fighting on the “right side” of things and has become someone the rebels fear. But what happens when she finds a group of rebels who begin to change her mind? What happens when she is forced to look at things from a different viewpoint? Well if you want to know you need to read this!
The writing of this series drew me in. Cilla has once again created a world that I want to be in. The story line is one that might have been done before, but Cilla manages to put a fresh spin on it, so it doesn’t seem repetitive. This author is quickly becoming a favorite of mine and I can’t wait to see what she does in the next book.
This book is so good. Character development and plot are amazing. You won’t be disappointed reading this.
Raven has created a interesting new world. Z is a Princess by day,and The Ghost by night. I love seeing her dual sides.
When she tries to bring in 4 criminals, the tables are turned. I love the psychopathic, yet sweet Lazlo, Priya is awesome, Roan is a little bit of a mystery, and Quinn is kind of a jerk, but he grew on me 🙂 I can’t wait to see what happens next in this series!
This book was amazing! I cannot believe how many unexpected revelations that happened. These revelations kept me reading. I literally could not put the book down and cannot wait until the next book is released. I loved the characters and their relationships. I also loved how strong the main character is and cannot wait to see romantic relationships develop in the next book.
This is my first book by Cilla Raven, and I have to say…I’m hooked! I don’t know what I was expecting with this story, but, man, I couldn’t put it down. Shameless Fae has such a well thought out storyline and some complex world building that really draws the reader in. Z is an amazing main character. She has a purpose to keep her motivated and strong, she’s smart and could be a huge benefit to the kingdom if given the chance, and although she has a plan for vengeance for what happened to her mother, she doesn’t let it always cloud her judgement when she is given other facts or information regarding what occurred in the past. I also loved the Doconqueh. Their familial relationship really made it easy to like them despite them being somewhat criminals. There is a definite back and forth trying to determine whether they can be trusted. Are the “bad guys” really bad? Are the supposed “good guys” worse than you imagined them to be? The Doconqueh may have been guilty of their crimes, but once you see their reasoning, you start to warm up to them even more. The line between good and bad is such a thin one that it really depends on why the crime was committed. Was it from pure hatred or was the offender thinking about the greater good and how the effects of their actions would benefit the people as a whole? This was such a fun read and I enjoyed that I couldn’t always take the characters at first glance to really know them. I look forward to getting to know them more in the next book, when the real adventure begins!
This was an amazing story. Well written and intriguing, it captured my imagination and captivated me. The characters kept me guessing and the storyline was fantastic. Can’t wait to read the next book.
This book keeps you on your toes from the beginning to the end! I love Z! She is so beyond strong despite what has happened in her life. She pushes the boundaries of what is expected of her and I love that aspect of her. I cannot wait to see what happens next in this series!
Shameless Fae is an adventure that asks the question; can we get past unfounded biases? The world building, the writing style and the characters are good with a lot of depth. I think this will be an interesting series to follow.
This was truly excellent reading. Complex world building and thorough and believable character development make this book stand apart. I absolutely love The Ghost in all her duality. The book is action packed and yet emotionally charged. The group she finds herself with will probably end up becoming one of my favorite harems because of the diversity and meaningfulness of each of their characters. Attacking social injustice, prejudice and societal depravity in a fantasy RH series was a big task but the author did a beautiful job. I look forward to seeing where she will take us from here.
cilla ravens 2nd ever series starts off here with shameless fae and it is one hell of a ride lol i loved this book from beginning to end and everything in between z is an awesome mc and awesome character in general her duality between her personalities was one of if not the main thing that drew me into this new world z is a fae princess and a bounty hunter known as the ghost shes on the hunt for the ones who killed her mother when she was still young and she spent the years after training and eventually began bounty hunting this book is one hell of a ride and there will be more to z’s targets that meet the eye and shes also in for one hell of a wake up call about things throughout this book wanna find out more well youll have to dig into this book and find out yourselfs trust me you wont regret it one bit 🙂
Great original ideas. Perfectly written and fully developed characters. Amazing world building and perfectly accompanied by a great story line. Well done! Cannot wait to read more of thos ragtag group, and thier story. Devoured this entire book so quickly I surprised myself.
It’s a good start to what could be a fun adventure! There is a good set up for what I’m sure will be the relationship between the FMC and her harem. The writing is good and there are very few if any errors in it. Warning that one of her harem looks like it will be a girl so if you don’t like F/F be aware that it may come up in the coming books but was not addressed in this book. There are surprises toward the end! I like the character development and am interested to see how they evolve. Give it a try!
I am so upset! I did not want this book to end. I was drawn in from the very first line, “Living a double life is a double-edged sword.” I could not stop reading this once I started. There is a huge twist in this book that I did not see coming which just added to the awesomeness. Oh, and when a couple of characters come together, wow! It was so hot. I want more right now. Waiting for the next one is going to torture but I am so excited about it!