Custom demanded that Prince Urban get a love mark tattooed to the side of his left eye as an infant, just like the rest of his people, but to him, the stupid things have only brought on the scorn of his father, the misery of his siblings, and caused his entire kingdom to go broke from fighting so many wars over the irritating ink stains. When Urban’s sister must travel to Donnelly, the kingdom … within the sand, for her arranged marriage to align two realms, he goes with her. But he no sooner steps foot inside their castle than his mark starts itching like a son of a bitch, telling him his one true love is near. It just figures, though, that the woman meant for him is completely forbidden. Now he must decide if he should ignore the persistent mark, telling him she’s the one, in order to avoid a possible war between kingdoms, or if he should discover whether she’s worth risking everything for so they can be together. Either way, his life gets sucked into chaos with threats of beheadings, dark magic lurking, castle traitors scheming, and sword fights eminent. Who knew one little tattoo could cause so much trouble? (ONE TRUE LOVE is the author’s first attempt at a fantasy romance. Please forgive her; she might’ve read an overabundance of Cassandra Gannon, Sarah J. Maas, and Eve Langlais books, then gone off to watch too many episodes of Supernatural, Game of Thrones, and Outlander, because this was the outcome.)
more
Action-packed and will keep you entertained from the very first page. Written very well and very in-depth. Fantastic world-building.
I really enjoyed this book. I used to only read paranormal books, but the last few years I’ve gotten away from them. I love Linda’s other books so I took a leap and decide to give her first paranormal book a chance. I’m so happy I did!!
You will fall in love with most of the characters in this series! There are a couple you’ll want to strangle!!!!
Urban is a man that you’re going to fall for. He is loyal and will do anything to protect those he loves. He is fierce and someone you want on your side!
I also loved Vienne, Allera, and Nicolette. These woman are strong and they go after what they want!
While I enjoyed this story I had some small issues with believing some of it. But hey it’s supposed to be paranormal so it really does work. This book made me want to start reading paranormal books again!!
4.5/5
I love the story that seemed to centered around Prince Urban’s love mark tattoo on the side of his left eye, and the “true love” that he wasn’t supposed to have. He wasn’t really a believer of it himself, because he thought it cases more trouble and misery that happiness. But when he brought his sister over to Donnelly for her to marry the prince and aligned the two realms, his mark suddenly itches, meaning, his one true love is near.
But his true love? Is already married, and heavily pregnant with a child. He would love to do everything to have her, if not for the insistent of his sister, Allera to stay out of trouble. He should avoid her at all cost. How is it possible though? When he discovers more fascinating facts about her everyday?
I have ideas who the traitors are, it didn’t came as a surprise, nevertheless, the circumstances on how they were able to catch and how they finally got rid of them did a number on me, especially on what they have to sacrifice for their HEA. I enjoyed reading it, including all those twists and turns in between. It’s not that heavy on the heart, I love the romance, the steam (who knows dreams can be as good as reality) and this whole new world that Linda Kage brought to life.
I have loved Linda Kage’s contemporary romance, and to read her on a different genre is a first for me. It is still a love story, but it has a dose of fantasy in it. I rarely read fantasy, and thank goodness I wasn’t disappointed. Linda Kage introduces us to a whole new world filled with tragedy, betrayal, magic, and love. I must say, not bad for Linda Kage’s first try on fantasy. Will Nicolette have her story?
****SPOILERS****
I’ve always enjoyed books by this author but I struggled with this one. While the world building was great, the writing as phenomenal as always, the characters well developed and the plot engaging, it had an element to it that I struggled with. Through the whole story.
Vienne, the heroine, is married until the very end of the book. Urban has a magical mark that alerts him when he meets his one true love and it lets him know fast that Vienne is the one. Soren, the husband, is not abusive, he’s not mean or evil. He’s just not involved or loving or romantic. And he doesn’t give orgasms. So it was hard for me to get behind any building relationship between the hero and heroine.
Urban fights against all his instincts to stay away from Vienne. It’s a pretty angsty read in that regard. While Urban is experiencing all the feels, Vienne is unaware of the mating bond that has consumed him and therefore, she is not suffering such emotions.
There is a lot of action moving this story along and I did enjoy that. Vienne is pregnant from the beginning and while I’m not a fan of heroine’s being pregnant when they meet the hero, I have to say that Urban was incredible when it came to Vienne’s baby. I loved his tenderness and care and would have loved to have more of these scenes.
This has a slow pace to it but not the type that makes you skim. It has a historical romance feel to it with the fantasy elements added in that I really enjoyed. Secondary characters were exceptional and I was just as invested in them as the hero and heroine without them taking over the story.
The steam here is about medium but I think I felt it to be so because this couple have sex in their dreams where they are able to connect. And as they’re having dream sex, I kept thinking that the heroine was emotionally cheating on her husband. Once they are awake, they are both aware of what took place in their sleep and it adds to the emotional cheating element. I just struggled with it.
Overall, I do have to say that this author’s first foray into fantasy romance was very well done as far as the writing goes. Again, it was my dislike for the married woman trope that bothered me. However, there will be more in this series and I do intend to read them.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
One True Love takes us on an emotional journey that shows us the true depths of love. Linda Kage creates a fantastical world where everyone has a one true love, even those whom don’t believe they do. Allera and Urban are brother and sister who come from a land that marks your face to alert you of when you met your true love. Their kingdom is the only one who practices this. After Allera’s one true love died her father, the King, arranged a marriage to a prince in a fairly new kingdom. Urban comes along for the ride. Once there he meets his one true love and learns she is definitely forbidden. Completely. While his heart breaks, he vows to make sure she’s always happy but from a distance. Here we learn what true love looks like.
Urban, at first, comes off completely cocky and you aren’t sure if you’ll like his brand of confidence. You learn quickly he’s so easy to call in love with. He would willingly sacrifice himself to make sure his one true love is fine, happy, and content. He’s so protective of Vienne and his sister that it was a nice change of pace from the back and forth you get from guys in books nowadays. Vienne was steadfastly loyal. She stayed loyal no matter how much she was tempted to stray to her one true love. She was so smart, and helped lead the kingdom with her brother in law the King. I truly thought she was a breath of fresh air.
Now why did I rate it four stars? How could I have loved the book SO much and not given it five? Honestly I wanted to. I just couldn’t get past how predictable the suspense and who done it was. I knew from the very beginning who the bad guys were. I wasn’t shocked at all. It also made me question how smart some of the characters around them were to never figure it out. Although is was predictable, I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed the world. I enjoyed the love story. Urban gives us a glimpse of how far someone who is very much in love will go to be selfless.
It has been a while since I had read a fantasy book. This was a nice comeback to that genre. I really enjoy this world so much, and all the characters were memorable. Linda did such a good job describing and creating this world.
For me, the romance in this story was sooo good. It was nice to see a different start between the main couple and see its development.
I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.
Spellbinding, Enchanting, Captivating, no matter how you say it this book was simply MAGICAL.Get ready to lose yourself in this fantasy world!!! You will be instantly pulled into all things Donnelly, a world of adventure, fantasy, and magic. Of twist and turns and not knowing what will happen from one moment to the next. A world that I must admit, I hated to leave when the book ended!!!
There are just so many memorable characters. Some you will love, and others you will love to hate!!! Linda Kage you did a phenomenal job of bringing Donnelly and the characters in it to life. I look forward to re-entering this enchanting world that you have created and finding out what’s to come next!!!
Linda Kage has outdone herself once again everything this woman writes goes into my top reads and One true Love is up there . When I saw that one of my favorite authors was coming out with a new book I couldn’t wait to get my greedy fangirl hands on it then I say the blurb then soon after the cover lets just say there was some jumping and maybe some clamping . Man this story teased my emotions and then some add in things I so didn’t see coming and a dash of forbidden romance you got a recipe for a amazing story . I can’t wait to see what comes next for these characters we get a little taste of who’s next and I . CAN’T . WAAAAAAIT .
copy provided for honest review
****************************************
hero=10 heroine=10 secondary characters= 10 Chemistry=10 steam= 5
romance=8 humor=7 darkness level= 4 action=4 mystery= 4
enjoyment=10 angst=3 story line= 10 Story ending=10
character development= 10 pacing= 10
cover=10 stars= 5
would I recommend this book=yes
would I re read this book= yes
would I read future books by this author= yes
One True Love is a fantasy romance. It is a blend of sweet romance with a pretty epic fantasy. It is the first book in the Love Mark Fantasy Romance series and sets the scene, introducing the reader to this new world of fantasy and magic.
Prince Urban escorts his sister to meet the prince she is betrothed to and discovers his own “One True Love”. But the hitch is that she is already married to someone else and Urban must pine from afar.
“I’d follow her to hell and back. She was my one true love.”
The story is full of romance, danger and adventure. There is lots of world building in this first book and plenty of opportunity for a true fantasy fan to get lost in this big story.
-3.5 Stars-