Clio is good at all sorts of things. As a nymph, she’s great at outdoorsy nature stuff. As a nymph living in exile, she’s got the “blending in with humans” thing down pat. As a nymph living in exile because she possesses the rare ability to mimic magic, she’s had to pick up some unique survival skills. But stealing from the most dangerous spell weavers in the Underworld? Not so much. …
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what she has to do to earn a ticket back home. Conning her way into the night realm may have gone pretty well, but now she’s got a new problem. His name is Lyre and he’s a sinfully alluring incubus, a dangerously skilled spell weaver, and the only thing standing between her and stealing some damn magic.
Maneuvering around him without blowing her cover shouldn’t be that difficult, but chaos has been dogging her every step, monsters hide behind beautiful faces, and Lyre keeps saving her neck even though they’re enemies. Kind of enemies? Either way, her mission is getting complicated fast, and in the Underworld, even one mistake could prove fatal.
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loved this book and the characters
I absolutely love Lyre and Chloe
The Night Realm
Spell Weaver Series, Book 1
By: Annette Marie
Narrated by: Melissa Moran, Greg Tremblay
This is sooooo good! An imp that looks like a beautiful woman is asked to do a job for a Prince. She agrees before she finds out she has to go to the underworld to fulfill the requirements! She can mimic spells but she is supposed to be human. Things go sideways when her contact is an incubus she met topside. It’s funny, full of great characters, romance, some suspense, and a very enjoyable read!
The two narrated are fabulous!
Oh, the incubus may be sexy but it is not x-rated!
Annette Marie is the proverbial pot of gold: an author who consistently delivers high quality well written, well edited, grammatically correct, original, entertaining stories. She invites you into her worlds and you never want to leave.
Every time I finish one of her books, my first thought is to read it again, to savor the characters, their development, and their relationships. The relationships developed in her books, both friendships and romantic, develop gradually, revealing layers and connections that strengthen over time. She creates people, not tropes.
Her plots are strong, complex, and keep you riveted. The worlds she creates are internally consistent and vividly imagined.
I realize this is a generic sort of review, but I plan to leave it for all her books. From the Red Winter series (mythic Japan); to the Steel & Stones series, including Piper and Ash, and the Lyre and Clio books; and the Guild Codex series, now including the Robin Piper demon-training: I have yet to find anything less than pure enjoyment, and great respect for her talent.
WOW!!! I was pulled in from the beginning! Fabulous fantasy world, I absolutely love this series of books, the action starts straight away, and the characters are well defined early on and blossom throughout the series, you can feel the tension building between the main characters and each book always leaves you wanting more. The sub plots plus twists and turns keep you surprised and intrigued. Be warned though once you start reading this series you won’t be able to put the books down so be prepared for some binge reading.
All of the gods and stars in the sky shine down on me! This book is such a masterpiece! This book has rattled my heart. (But each and every Annette Marie book that I’ve read has shaken up my heart. And for the better.) Annette Marie’s Steel & Stone series is one of my all-time favorite series! And her Red Winter series was just as heart-shattering. Every single thing that this glorious woman writes is magical. She has truly been blessed by the gods and we the readers get to reap the glory with all of her memorable stories. -sigh-
I really loved the world building. It is so complex and absorbing. Having already read
Annette Marie’s Steel & Stone series, I was already familiar with this world. I love that this new series set in the same universe built upon what I already knew. It was a deeper look into the underworld. We get a glimpse of Crysalis inside of Asphodel, where this book primarily takes place, in the Steel & Stone series, but we delve in so much deeper in this book. I also love that while this series is part of a greater universe, it was also self-contained so that a new reader that has not read the Steel & Stone series could easily pick up the feel for this world.
The plot was completely flawless and expertly crafted. The flow of the story was so fluid. The story is absolutely riveting. I read this in one sitting because I simply could not put the book down. I had to know what was going to happen next. I literally could not stop reading. I have never been so grateful to miss a full night’s sleep. This book is well worth the sleep-deprived headache that I received as a result. The intricacy of the plot is really what made me keep reading. The plot twists were surprising and the foreshadowing was layered into the story incomparably. The author has a genuine talent for storytelling.
The characters in this book are so distinctive and I was easily drawn to them. Lyre was a character in the Steel & Stone series and it was an absolute delight to get to know him more intimately in this series. After reading the Steel & Stone series I was so curious about Lyre’s past and this book clears all of that up and really expands upon his character for the universe as a whole. I adored Lyre in the Steel & Stone series and reading this book has only strengthened that feeling. He is immediately likable and evokes so much emotion in the reader. Clio is a new character and she is just as delightful. She is so innocent, thoughtful, and it is completely easy to fall in love with her. This book has set up what I can only expect to be an incredible character arc. I can’t wait to see how her character grows throughout the rest of the series.
This book contains the best kind of romance. It is a slow burn romance and the characters come together naturally. They get to know each other and they share a common interest/talent. They also come together because of circumstance and fate. It was really beautiful because they both realize that the other is the only person in each of their lives that has ever really done something for them without wanting anything in return. There is not much in terms of physical romantic scenes, but the scenes where they are together have so much romantic tension that it will make you swoon. I cannot wait for more!
Overall, it was such a pleasure to revisit the Steel & Stone universe. I have such a hankering to reread the Steel & Stone series. It is literally gnawing in my stomach with want to reread the series. I can only assume that this feeling is akin to being under the influence of an incubus’s aphrodisia. I will forever be a fan of Annette Marie! I will read everything that she writes. If you have not had the pleasure of reading any of her books then I highly recommend doing so because you are definitely missing out. I am going to promptly start the second book of this series. After I finish this series I am definitely going to reread the Steel & Stone series. I just want to live inside this magically delicious world.
Title: The Night Real
Author: Anette Marie
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc
Number of Pages: 358
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult/ New Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Date Read: 12-04-2018
Favorite Quote: “Clenching her hands until her fingernails dug into her palm, she broke into a run into a run, fleeing the corridor, desperate to escape the building. To escape this place. To escape this world.”
Review:
I wasn’t sure if I’d like this book but one of my book friends loves this series so I had to give it a try. I must say, I’m glad I gave it a try. I really like this book.
The world was build very well and It was interesting. I really liked how there are two worlds, well three when you add earth, the overworld which has demons which has tons of light, and the underwold which also has demons and is more dark than anything.
What is this book about
This book is about Clio. She is a overwold demon called Nymphs. She has royal blood but has been cast out of the overworld and is currently living in Earth. She is working jobs for her brother who is the prince of their land in the overworld.
On one of the jobs her brother has her go to the underworld. She is to visit Chrystalis, a place where demons live/work. Some demons are giften at weaving spells for other demons. Clio is to go and have a master weaver commission a spell for her. Clio need to get that spell in order for her people to stand a fighting chance into defending their land from being attacked by a neighboring, and ruling caste of demons in the overworld.
In Crystalis she meets a master weaver whom is to work with her and create a spell for her. Although he’s nothing like she would have thought. It’s a young, very handsome and charming man called Lyre. Lyre is an incubus so ofcourse he’s extremely attractive. He oozes sensuality. And to make it worse she already met him. He was one of the reasons she failed to finish her assignment her brother gave her.
Lyre didn’t expect the skittish, clumsy stunning woman to commission a spell from him. He is curious to know what makes her want a spell in the first place. He is drawn to her and he really shouldn’t be.
When things go south Clio and Lyre don’t have any other choice but to work together.
What did I like about this book.
I loved Lyre. He is such a sassy, attractive guy. I could tell there was more to him than meets the eye. He wants to be more. He wants to be free, free from his family.
I liked Clio but I could tell she was very naive. I hope she’ll grow a bit because if not it might not end well for her.
I like Clio and Lyre together, their banter was hilarious.
There were something I saw coming, that where a bit predictable but overall I really enjoyed this book. Now that i’m a bit more familiar with the characters and the world Annette created, I can’t wait to read the next few books and find out what will happen to Clio and Lyre.
I was also interested in Ash. He seems like such an interesting character. I really hope we see more of him through out the series. I like him.
Rating:
4 1/2 I loved it stars
The Night Realm is the prequel to the Steel & Stone series and sets the stage a little for that series. It was ok. Clio has a few twists as she maneuvers her way through the underworld and her interactions with Lyre make this a fun read. It just didn’t hit all my go-to buttons to make it a great read, which is a little disappointing after the Red Winter series.