A heart-wrenching fantasy romance perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas and Roshani Chokshi.An artist who inks magical tattoos….Rea is a Suveri, part of a tribe that can create tattoos with devastating powers. Bitter after the death of her father at the hands of a cruel general, she tries to get revenge…only to fail at her mission and be saved by a mysterious stranger who demands to know the … know the secrets of the Suveri’s tattoos.
A prince searching for power..
Sebastyen is the heir to the throne and a warrior who has shed more blood than any other on the battlefield. Though he may be royalty, his life is filled with endless wars and little fun. But the woman he meets offers a glimpse of peace. Intrigued by her rebellious nature, he agrees to fulfill three of her wishes in return for learning how to tattoo with magic. But as he spends more and more time with her, he cannot deny the spark of attraction that grows between them.
As a prince, he must marry for gain, not for love and Rea is blinded by her hatred.
Can two jaded people brought together by a bargain heal each other?
Note: Due to mature content, the book is intended for older readers. 18+
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(I received this title as an ARC. All opinions are mine and freely given.)
‘Ink & Arrows’ is one of those titles that just grabs your heart with both hands, unapologetically, right at the start of the story and then never lets go.
It’s no exaggeration to say I loved, LOVED this story, the richness of the main character and her romantic interest to be, and the odds against them even surviving. Let alone, doing so together.
Rea is a member of a tribe called the Suveri, absolutely loathed by the people in the city neighboring her small home. Her tribe specializes in tattoos with magical properties, both highly sought after and simultaneously scorned as something hideous. Sebestyén is a decorated General, a warrior, and a man destined to be Emperor of the very people who hate her kind. And she hates him.
Though Rea blames his kind for the death of her father, they strike a bargain. In exchange for teaching him the tattooing artistry of her people, he saves her from a dire circumstance and agrees to fulfill three wishes for her.
Their relationship is complicated, rife with conflict. They both harbor ideas of the other going into the agreement that may or may not be accurate and while she lives a life mostly free of restraints, his is quite the opposite.
Admittedly, I fell for him instantly. Though he was sometimes standoffish, there’s also just a sense of rather adorable wickedness about him when we first meet him. The more she rails against him, the more amusing he seems to find her. And fine.. fair.. characters like that are a bit of a weakness for me.
The story is beautifully written, the dialogue feels easy, and honestly.. I was emotional and invested through the entire book. I have no idea if there will be more. I can barely find any information about the author, but that just intrigues me further.
I have only one complaint.. and upon looking back at the rest of the story, it’s a small one. There’s a point where things wrap up rather suddenly.. like the author just decided.. “that’s it, I’ve done enough.” We’re sort of forwarded through a series of events that impact everyone pretty dramatically and just given a neat little ending. I really feel the events were important enough we should have experienced some of them.. but there’s just.. ‘decision’ – ‘time passes’ – ‘end.’
Nonetheless, I can tell you.. I hope there will be more. I want to see what the future holds for the people in the world of Ink & Arrows. I want to read more work by this author and only yesterday will be soon enough. No later.
By the description, I was expecting a romance somewhere along the lines of Court Duel (Sherwood Smith) or Archangel (Sharon Shinn), where two people who don’t like each other very much fall in love. That was not the case.
The book starts with our female lead, Rea, locked in a dungeon and losing the will to live. We learn that she is a Suveri, one of a nomadic people who roam the land free as the wind, and who are only barely tolerated because of their ability to ink magical tattoos. Sebastyen (see, male lead) is the heir to throne. Rea is in his dungeons for attempting to kill the man who murdered her father. We learn all of this in the first few pages, and then the book goes off the rails.
Sebastyen promises to free Rea from his dungeons if she agrees to teach him about Suveri tattoos. Rea makes it clear that she despises Sebastyen and his people, and will not cooperate. But wait! She changes her mind if the prince will grant her three wishes (what is he, a genie?) and then immediately squanders her first wish by asking for delicious food. Rea, he just saved you from the dungeons. He needs you alive to hold up your end of the deal. He isn’t going to let you starve. Also, if you have been on a hunger strike, and break it to go eat huge rich meal, you will not be able to keep it down. Details.
Rea lives in a shack on the outskirts of town, and seems to survive by foraging, scavenging and stealing from the townspeople. Sebastyen comes to her shack for the promised lessons, of which we get to see only one, which is very short. We also learn that Sebastyen is organizing a campaign to conquer a neighboring country. Somehow, in between his normal duties, he has enough free time to spend many hours (not that we see them) with Rea. It would have been beneficial if the author had written more of the lesson scenes. We readers needed those interactions and conversations to make the jump to tolerance, then friendship, then love. Instead, we are told that huge spans of time pass (chapters take huge 6 month to 12 month jumps) and are supposed to accepts that they are friends. Contributing to the thin story are the lack of supporting characters. By one third of the way into the book, Sebastyen has only spoken to three people: Rea, his brother, and his father.
The book starts off quickly, which not enough detail to support the story. The romance feels clumsy and forced because we don’t see enough of Rea and Sebastyen’s interactions to make any attraction believable. The world needs filling in, in every aspect. This book reads more like an outline for a story than a finished work.