Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Aveyard, Dark Unicorn is the first of the new and mysterious adult fantasy series Horn Sworn.Princess Wrenyve knows her oath to return her Kingdom’s missing artifact, the Heart of Spellshallow, means one of the King’s children will die. Even if Wren is cunning, fast, and strong enough, there’s a good chance it will still be her.Without the Heart, … her.
Without the Heart, magic will flee the land faster than the night flees the day. Without the Heart, Spellshallow, and everything in it will cease to exist. As her brother’s shameful thievery is uncovered, Wren must swallow her pride and accept help from allies whom she knows she can’t trust:
– Thackery is the ambitious son of the richest and most powerful councilman—her very ex, scorned lover—and the wounds Wren caused him are still raw.
– Calen isn’t a boy at all. Trapped in human form after a hideous defeat, Calen may have lost his horn, but is still a unicorn—a self-serving, treacherous scoundrel, as dangerous to any man who crosses him as he is to the innocence of every fair maiden.
– Luckily for Wren, she was already doomed.
To find the Heart and restore the magic, to retrieve the lost horn, Wren and her unfortunate travel companions must survive three separate realms—each more deadly than the last. Unknown enemies and strange magic hinder their way, and yet the most perilous thing is what lies within their own hearts.
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I enjoyed this book. The book is full of action and adventure. The story is unique.Fast paced story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I have not read a bad book from this author yet and this book is no exception! The great plot and character development kept me so engaged throughout the entire book that I had a very hard time putting this book down until the very last page was turned!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
She has to return the spellshadow even though it means one of them will die. Without it being in the kingdom magic will disappear from the kingdom. It is not going to be easy but it is something she must do. How will she get on? Will she be there one to die? See how she gets on
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Wren is Heir to the kingdom of Spellshadow, and a mage. All magic in the kingdom stems from an artifact called the Heart. When her jealous brother, Pieter, steals the Heart and sells it to Hashir the Collector, Wren and a nobleman’s son, Thackary, are sent to retrieve it–and Pieter. Without the Heart, all magic in Spellshadow–and Wren–will leach away forever. A world without magic? Unthinkable! Early in their search, they encounter Calen, a Unicorn who’s lost his horn. He offers to tell them how to locate the Heart if they help him retrieve his horn. A quest is born.
I really liked this book. I love fantasy stories, especially quest and hero’s journey plots. This unique take on unicorns was very cool – I liked Calen a lot. The beginning was a little muddled for me, and I was confused, but once they hit the road and hooked up with Calen the story took off. This was a wonderful mix of classic fantasy with unique world and characters. The ending was a lead-in to Book Two, and I’m not overly crazy about cliffhangers usually, but the way this installation wrapped up works. Looking forward to Book Two.
4 CRANKY STARS
This is a decent story about a magical kingdom. I can only give it 4 out of 5 stars because it wasn’t memorable to me and I finished two days ago. I truly hope that book 2 will be more engaging. I think I have a problem with it because unlike most women, I can’t believe that so many young women in stories lately run off to save the world without help. It seems especially dumb in the magical world when one doesn’t know what kind of magical beings they will encounter. Then, they do get in trouble and they are so happy that they brought someone along to save them.
In this series, the King’s son Pieter (who of course is irresponsible) steals the Heart of Rune which supplies magic to all of Spellshallow and its people. Of course, the princess (who is heir to the throne) must find him and restore the stone. Her father forces her to take a guard with her and off they go on their adventure. They encounter many trials in their quest. They finally find a Seer who tells them where they must go and who they must find. Turns out this is where they meet the Unicorn. It’s a strange turn of events as the quest continues.
I wasn’t expecting the ending which is a good lead in to book 2. The story itself was well written but as I said above, a little underwhelming.
I really liked this unique book. Princess Wrenyve agrees to the command of her father the King to do what ever it takes to get a special artifact know as Heart of Spellshadow, which gives their kingdom its magic, back even though they know that it was her brother who took it. Thackery Wren’s ex is commanded by the king to go with her on her quest and they hear that a Unicorn knows how to get the Heart back he tells them that he will tell them on one condition that he gets his horn back. This ends on a cliffy and I cant wait to get book 2.
Dark Unicorn: A Unicorn Shifter Novel (Horn Sworn Book 1) by Taylor Haiden is an amazing story that I have had the privilege to read. This is book number one in this amazing start to a brand new series writen by brand new author for me to read. I can not wait to read next next book in this series and I highly recommend this story to everyone who loves reading about fantasy and paranormal romances in their stories.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I’ve been looking forward to reading this book. It did not disappoint. Great storyline and characters. I loved the adventure and want more. I highly recommend reading this book.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I have not read anything from Taylor Haiden before, but I was pleasantly satisfied with what I have read. The plot was creative and the characters were great. .Wren and Calen were a great team even though Calen is known to be dangerous. I enjoyed this very much and recommend it for those who enjoy paranormal books.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A new series called Horn Shorn and the one thing I hope is better in the final book is the text. I found that this copy gave me a headache because of the size. I will read the next book and see if it is written better. The story was interesting. Maybe I got a bad copy. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I wanted to give this 4.5 stars. I hate cliffhanger endings. I had read a beta copy of this book and would have dropped it to 4 if that ending had been in place. The ending ends with a mile cliffhanger but all story lines have been wrapped up sufficiently.
So the basic story. Boy (Thackery) loves girl (Wren). She likes him. Wren being the princess she is, does not want to get married just to please her father the king. By the way, as the story opens, her (evil) brother has stolen the heart shaped rock that provides her family and the kingdom with magic. Without it the kingdom will fall to chaos. The king sends Wren to recover the stone at any price (yes, kill her brother). He also orders Thackery to go with her and he still loves her.
As their magic is fading they head off through a magical woods and somehow make it through. They know a rumor that says there is a magical creature in a town, a unicorn, who can help them recover the stone, at a price, he wants his horn back and the stone and the horn are at the same place. So off they go, an interesting love triangle. Wren loves the unicorn (Calen), Calen loves any woman but more he loves himself, and Thackery loves Wren. (Yes you may need a scorecard to keep up with all of this).
The rest of the story and attempting to retrieve the stone is the meat of the book and I will leave that to you. Somehow they are able to ward off magic attacks to get to the stone and horn. What happens next is what you need to read.
While I enjoyed the book I recommend the book, I would advise there is almost a sex scene in it, but it does not complete. I say that because Christian friends of mine may not share my views here. You have been warned. Also, the nature of magic could be a problem for some, not sure why because you love Tolkien and Lewis.
Preteen and up. Lots of kissing going on (after all, the unicorn loves any woman he comes in contact with.
This story was a mix of magic and adventure that was very addicting and fun to read. I read it in one sitting because it hooked me quickly. I just had to see if Wren would catch up to her idiot brother and find the Heart before all magic disappears. And the setup of a fallen Unicorn was very cool and I cannot wait to see what he ends up able to do next because what he did in this book and the hints dropped were amazing. I liked what world building was described and cannot wait to see what is revealed next. And the ending was fun. I did like the overall writing and feel of the book.
Magic, mystery, suspense, action, romance….it has all that. Fast-paced it gets right into it right away.
Dark Unicorn
Interesting characters with lots of trials that need to be faced and overcome throughout an intriguing story
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is not your Mama’s unicorn…
OK, unicorns are not all cute rainbows and sparkles, prancing in the meadows. Truth is, they are cunning, sexy, confrontational, egotistical creatures. In other words, more human like than not. When Princess Wren heads off to try and recover her kingdom’s lost artifact, she is helped by her ex-boyfriend, Thackery, and they recruit additional help from a drunkard named Calen. From the start, what could possibly go wrong, does, including jealous, testosterone fueled tension between her two escorts. What’s a princess to do? This is such a change from fantasy books I have previously read, but I LOVED IT!! I can’t wait for the next one.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.