Guest Review: Wicked Lovely (The Black Blade Chronicles #1) by J.K. Hogan

Darkness grows in the realm of Taleth. To the west, a power-hungry despot schemes to conquer kingdoms and territories alike by chasing an ancient elven prophecy that could give him the power to rule all. In the east, after a prince’s murder goes years unanswered, a princess learns there was much more to her brother’s death—and to her life—than she realized.

The House of Kjenelach is shaken to its foundation when Princess Sigrid is stolen away. Her faithful guardian, Sir Senne Clayward, reluctantly accepts help from his nemesis, a notorious halfling mercenary of questionable morals—but indispensable tracking skills—called Kasimir vas Hjardar.

Kasimir makes his living hunting monsters, both creatures and men. While he exists outside the law, he lives by his own unassailable code of honor. At the top of that list: never harm a child. When he turns down a contract to kidnap Sigrid and later finds out she was taken by someone else, he offers his help to the prickly knight tasked with protecting her.

Together, they embark upon a journey across the continent to save Sigrid and foil King Prosper’s plans to conquer Taleth. The way is fraught with dangers and pitfalls, from supernatural beasts to Senne’s deathly fear of magic, but they must not fail, for Sigrid may very well be the savior of the realm: the long prophesied Aisnellach Fuil. Somehow, the two men must set their differences aside and work together to rescue Sigrid, and possibly find love along the way.

Reviewer: Free Dreamer

Prophecies, magic, action and adventure with just a dash of romance? Count me in!

The prologue starts the book off with a bang. I was hooked right away. The plot is fairly action-packed and while there were no shocking turns, "Wicked Lovely" still proved to be an enjoyable page turner.

The setting is a bit generic. There's so many Fantasy books set in a world that's heavily inspired by the Western Europe during the Middle Ages. Some of the creatures we encounter seem to be vaguely influenced by Irish mythology. Kasimir is a halfling, which in itself isn't exactly innovative. But unlike all the other halflings I've encountered so far, he's not half human and half something else.

I'm usually not a huge fan of the enemies to lovers trope and this book certainly had a bit of that. It wasn't overdone, though, and since we got both Kasimir's and Senne's pov, I could relate to their actions and the animosity in the beginning. I didn't particularly care for the sex scenes, however. Since they were on the move a lot, hygiene wasn't exactly great. Not many baths for these two. And I'm sorry, but I just think rimming after a few days of hard riding and no bath to be found is just kind of gross.

Sigrid also gets her own pov, but not as often as the guys. From what there is, she seems a bit stereotypical. The wild princess who doesn't want to be a princess and doesn't behave like one at all. But she's only 15 and teenagers tend to rebel anyway.

The world building was good, but not great. I would have liked a bit more depth, but there are a lot of elements I really enjoyed.

Overall "Wicked Lovely" was a good read. Not amazing, but definitely enough to keep me interested in the series. I'm looking forward to part 2!

I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.