A Deal with the Elf King

✨ Enemies to Friends to Lovers✨ Only 1 Bed✨ MC has a pet✨ Fae vs ElvesI really liked the concept behind the magic in this book. The Natural World and Midscape are separated by the Fade, but the Elves’ land depends on the magic of a human queen to sustain balance of all the seasons. Without her, they fall into an endless winter. So every hundred or so years, a new queen is picked from the town of Capton and forced to leave her family behind to cross the face and marry the Elf King.Luella is literally forced to sit on the throne in order to recharge the land. I found it both extremely cool and unique, but also horrible for our FMC. Of course, over time, we all soften to the Elf King and his mysterious seductive ways. The politics were interesting, the side characters were fully fleshed out, and the character development for the two main characters was very well done. And I loved that Luella’s magic was connected to the earth itself. She has the power to grow and transform the natural world around her. And there are some pretty badass scenes were limbs and vines are used to snatch up her enemies!Everything in the romance category is mostly fade to black, so don’t get too invested in wanting smut. But I wholly believe the magic alone makes up for it. I will say, at one point he teleports her from the woods to her bed. Just saying.Best part of the whole book? Hook. Just a sweet wolf boy that is the bestest boy there ever was 🐺❤️This book is technically a stand alone, so everything wraps up very nicely. There are other books in the same world that I hope to read in the future!

*****Spoilers*****The imaginative skill it took to create this world was superb, as were the characters. I couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting. Luella is a 19-year-old girl who lives on this island with certain other humans that due to their proximity to the fae realm carry both a boon and burden. Their lives are longer than normal humans BUT every 100 years, a human girl received the queen's magic and goes to fae lands to be the queen to the elf king.Luella is called to be the queen and Eldas is the fae king. She's behind the 8 ball though because unlike her predecessors, she didn't receive years of training about her role and was in fact hidden by her friend and admirer Luke without her knowledge or permission. Luella is the island's healer with her own shop and tiny room abobe the shop which she shares with her mother and father. Just as they say their I love yous after years of friendship, but strangely with Luella refusing to run off with Luke because of her commitment to the town, the elf king and entourage show up. The elf king's presence is unprecedented but necessary because a year has come and gone without the island turning the human queen over to the fae. Duty minded Luella is not happy with Luke when she learns of his actions but now the queen is found, she departs to the fae lands with Eldas.Luella then spends the approximately 2 1/2 months she's in the fae land, she plans to escape before the coronation ceremony to Eldas which is in three months, looking for clues to get around the human queen requirement and learning about the fae, the human queen's role, herself, and Eldas. Luella and Eldas grow affection and love for one another but close to the end of the book, neither is willing to admit to it for some reason. In any case, they eventually get their happily ever after when Luella runs back to the fae lands which she does and chooses Eldas even after she's restored balance and is the last human queen.Such a good book but my goodness I couldn't get Luella sometimes. That she was so pissed at Luke for his deception was understandable but how she completely flips on him and the author tries to turn him into a villain I thought was overdone. For how the book started out, I was confused and upset by that development. Luella and trying to escape the fae lands, sighs. Because she thought she wasn't needed when she charged the throne once, the throne pulls her power from her to feed the lands. But Luella knows the queen remains in the fae lands except a trip to the island a couple times a year so not sure why she thinks she can just take off and be done with it after a few days. The wolf I loved but would've liked to understand why it showed up when it did, its connection with Luella was fortuitous a couple of times but still. Eldas was enamored from the start which usually gets me, but this time I couldn't help but wonder why. Maybe it's because he imagined his queen his entire life, and even though the reality was much different, he was more than happy to be fulfilling his role. At outset, I thought Luella was childish at times, and emotionally overwrought about most things for no reason. I also found it to be laughable that Luella solved this centuries old mystery in the 2+, not quite 3 months she was in the fae realm. And then why was the coronation pushed so far back from when she arrived? Why does no one question who she is when she wanders on her own even with no head covering or disguise? The second time, she's recognized and is victim to a failed kidnapping attempt. Oh, because she's not supposed to be seen prior to the coronation except by certain fae who run the castle.Anyway, page turner this one is for sure just would like a bit more from it and more believable events.

Words cannot express what I felt for this book … because all I feel is blah. Sure, there were some intrigue at some points in the story but overall I just felt very blasé to it all.Let’s start with the beginning. That’s probably the only part I actually had an interest in, when the world was built up with the mysterious deal between the humans and elves, Luella’s passion for her work and the relationship between her and Luke turned ugly. It hit high peak when the elf king himself got involved with the story and the whole Hades and Persephone and/or Beauty and the Beast set in. I was really all in at that point with the drama, the intruding magic, the cold elf king and the forced/arranged marriage. My only grievance at that point was the relationship between Luella and Luke. While I liked the betrayal and drama that came from it I just didn’t feel like the story gave Luella any reason to be in love with in Luke. Sure, I was told they grew up together and that he was protective of her. Key word here is “told” because immediately as the story starts he does nothing but make decisions for her and try to control her. The story gave no room to show him developing into becoming this way but instead had him start off as the bad guy from the get-go, hoping that us readers being told that he was once nice would do the trick. It just came off sort of forced and unbelievable in my opinion. Anyways, in the big picture that issue was small compared to everything else.The beginning is for developing good characters so the readers get pulled into the plot and world and I feel like it did manage that to some degree, but as soon as they arrive in Midscape it all just kinda fell flat. Gone was the ruthless ice king that came to take his bride and instead we had this manchild throwing temper tantrums when he didn’t get his way and instead of this passionate human healer we had this … I don’t even know. Not a lot of personality came from her other than her constant and repetitive ramblings about her duty as a healer in her village and breaking the cycle. Other than that she didn’t have much else to her to be honest. Sure, the story tried to play these characters off on each other to create some strong characterization, drama and a developing and intriguing relationship but their arguments were so stupid and immature that it failed on all points. Especially on Eldas side, being mad that she wouldn’t bend to his every whim and not break her patient confidentiality. Worst of all was that there were no recognition of his wrongdoings, but the story rather had Luella as the one constantly making amends and as the lead builder of the romance. Even the good and sweet times between them fell flat since they never really did much other than read journals. There was no chemistry between the two. How could it be, with so little to build off of between them. The entire relationship was just blah from arriving at Midscape to finish.Sometimes I felt like the story put a lot of focus into the world instead of the characters, with the rich descriptions, the races, the fade and the deal. However this just made the story boring, well more boring than it already was. For the world and plot to be interesting, the characters need to be interesting first since it’s through their eyes we readers are supposed to see and experience the world and what’s happening to and around them. This is almost more built like a tell and don’t show since the story kinda fails in the interesting characters department. Long descriptions of the world, the magic and so on wouldn’t and shouldn’t be needed if Luella and Eldas had development and conflicts that pulled me as the reader in to the world and plot. Instead of them spending days or weeks in a castle reading journals and sometimes arguing over petty things the plot had so many other opportunities that it didn’t take. For example Rinnis part in the story. A much more intriguing and reasonable conflict could be built out of jealousy over her and Eldas past. Or how about his mother’s role in the story which is pretty much non existent. There was a lot of resentment and anger there that could have been used. Hell, even Luella’s past feelings for Luke would do better to build a conflict, but sadly he just dropped out of existence as soon as the human world was left behind.Although a happily ever after I felt that the story had more it could offer that what it did, or rather instead of what it did. I had at some point excepted some sort of conversation about his father and the previous human queen to get more information about their relationship as well as Eldas mother. Even some discussion of the tradition of siring children through lovers was kinda left in the air untouched and if Eldas will be required to do this so that the heir can control the fade. So overall, a pretty boring and uneventful story with lost opportunities as information. Three stars at most.

Loved this.Flew through this book so quickly. I do love a fantasy romance.The lore of this world was great and kept it interesting. It wasn't just a romance with the barest hint of plot.Luella and Eldas were a lovely couple to follow. I liked their interactions and the slow build up of their relationship. I felt it was very well done. Not too instalove and not a lot of the usual romacn clichés which can infuriate me.Definitely will be looking out for the rest of this series. I love the world.I have a feeling this may be a book I'll come back to read time and time again.

This is the second time I've read and listened to this book, although it seems that I forgot to leave a review the first time, so here it is!!This was the first ever book that I read/listened to and doing so again has brought back those same feelings of wanting to read more of Elise's books!!I found it just as sweet and just as fantastic as I did the first time around!!It's a beautiful tale about how two people can find love in each other, even though it slowly sneaked up on them. After all they were thrown together out of duty and nothing else. Especially when poor Luella didn't even know that she was to be the Human Queen!! After all her magic had been hidden from herself too!!Eldas comes bombarding into the town she lives throwing his weight around, demanding that they handed her over, yet no one other than her "friend" even knew who it was!! He soon finds out why and all hell breaks out for a short while.All of a sudden she's married and whisked off to live in Midscape, the world of the Elves, Fae, Vampir, Lycans and Mer!! And then told to turn up to the throne room within the hour to sit upon the throne to herald the new spring. After all there's been a year of winter!!Well things don't go well at all between them and soon things are said and done.......Well long story short......They soon start to see each other as a man and woman and see things that no one else can see!! Things are made worse at times due to the youngest brother and of course their mother, who already hated the Human Queen!!Things continue to move on, until finally love is finally found!! But due to misunderstood circumstances things spiral and well....I've already given too much away, so if you want more then either buy the book or the audio book!!Or even better, but both, as I do prefer to listen to the audio as I read the books!! It honestly helps with the experience.Narrating this is Elizabeth Evans and she is a brilliant and very natural narrator and has such a great range, that each characters charm and complexities are shown throughout!!You can close your eyes and by the timbre or softness, instantly know which character it is speaking, without even hearing Eldas said this or Luella said that and so forth.What better way is there to get to know the Elf King and the Human Queen, than listening to such an amazing talent as Elizabeth's as they speed toward their Happy Ever After?!?!?! 💞💞

This stand alone book from Elise Kova is a must read for all fantasy romance fans! Elisa Kova has taken her writing to another level and I need more of this world!! From the very first chapter I was gripped, my heart was going crazy with every page - I’m soo so glad there was an bonus chapter to download (which I did immediately after finishing the book as I just needed more straight away!)It is everything that the author promised, a romantic antsy escapism based on a new magical elf/fae world with new magical rules. I fell in love with the brave and determined Larella and the darker elf king Eldas both thrown into their fate beyond their control. It is a tale about falling in love, duty and breaking traditions.It gives of both Hades and Phesphone and also Beauty and the beast vibes. I can not recommend this book enough if you love SJ Maas or From Blood and Ash.Thank you so much Elisa Kova for such an amazing book and I can’t wait for your next realise!

I asked for this for Christmas after seeing some book raving accounts on Instagram promote it, once I actually opened it and began reading I felt that I was very underwhelmed and somewhat disappointed.The story is written from a 1st person perspective which would be perfectly fine had it not been for the complete removal of background elements to immerse the reader into the world. The female character, clearly written as a strong lead, acted at times like a young teenager who thinks they know best which made it a struggle to enjoy her narrative on the situation, as although there are moments when the writer hits the nail on the head with dialogue, descriptions and imagery, other times it felt like I had stumbled across an okay written Wattpad piece of romance.The ending feels rushed, consisting of a couple of chapters where the plot is neatly tidied up, while the rest of the story is very slow paced. I would recommend getting it because the plot is great, the delivery is just questionable.

This is an intriguing fantasy premise that features some familiar elements from the real world, mixed with magic and fantastical animals. It’s definitely a slow burn romance, but there’s plenty of curiosity inspired in the opening chapters to spark the reader’s interest.Luella is the town healer, her magic has been hidden to conceal who she really is. Eldas is the Elf King who comes to claim the human who will be his queen, or both their worlds will be in danger. Both the characters are very likeable. They feel bound by their duty and put their personal feelings aside to ensure they do what is right. I like characters with a strong moral compass, plus it always helps to increase the tension when their sense of duty and their feelings war against the other.There’s a nice little ongoing intrigue, intertwined with the love story, but I have to say it’s quite drawn out. You really need to persevere to get through the slower paced parts of the story.The author includes some lovely description too. “Dawn has broken, painting the room with a watercolor brush of periwinkle and honeysuckle hues.” Little snippets like that made it a lovely read.If you like your romances steamy though, then this is not for you. The majority of the book only features a single kiss and some lingering looks and cuddles. We finally get to the hot and heavy stuff at the 75% mark and then the door closes. Harrumph! Another love scene follows shortly, but it’s brief and not very detailed.