Voidwalker

Voidwalker by S.A. Maclean, 592 pages

Smuggler Fionamara has the handy ability to easily pop between worlds, helping the wealthy and unscrupulous transfer items without the taxes that usually come along with such shipments. However, her most recent job has gone sideways, unknowingly transporting a cartful of explosives in an attempt to kill the demon Antal, who rules over the territory where she lives. However, when she meets Antal following the assassination attempt, she slowly learns that while yes, physically terrifying, he's also a much more thoughtful and complex creature than she assumed. As the two hash out a plan to assist each other in bringing some lasting peace in the territory, they also discover an undeniable attraction to one another.

Solidly placed in the romantasy realm, this book has all the hallmarks of a good fantasy (well-created world and magic system) as well as a steamy romance (though I don't know if I'd call it enemies-to-lovers when one of them is an obligate carnivore that eats the other's species — maybe predator-prey?). It's the first of a series, and I'm intrigued to see where the rest of this goes. Not sure I'd recommend it to a romance reader, but for the masses of romantasy readers, sure.

Wooing the Witch Queen

Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis, 304 pages

Queen Saskia is a witch with magical powers galore, which she employs to keep her subjects free from invasion by the neighboring empire. Her efforts and magic take a lot of her time and concentration, so she's not able to do things like plan annual festivals and organize her vast library of spellbooks. So when a so-called "dark wizard" arrives at her door, she assumes he's applying to become the new librarian and hires him on the spot — even though he's actually an imperial archduke seeking refuge from those who would claim his throne on his own and has zero magical training. Calling himself "Fabian" and wearing a mask at all times, the archduke happily takes on the library organization task, and ends up falling for this witch queen that he was long taught to fear, while Saskia can't help her attraction to the mysterious masked librarian.

I always have issues with romance novels where one of the main characters is flat-out lying about who they are, and that definitely bugged me here. (I get why "Fabian" was so reluctant to accurately identify himself, but still.) The backstories for these characters were intriguing though I wish there'd been a bit more to them, and I also had a minor quibble with some dubious consent toward the end of the book. However, the supporting characters and worldbuilding were fantastic, so it may be worth checking out the rest of this series when it shows up.

Wooing the Witch Queen

 Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis, 304 pages.

Queen Saskia is desperately trying to hold onto her kingdom in a political situation where many of her neighbors would rather see her fratricidal uncle on the throne then a "wicked sorceress." She is totally dedicated to developing spells to stop the troublesome and aggressive imperial archduke next door from conquering her kingdom on behalf of her uncle, which leaves little time for either politics are organizing her inherited magical library. Little does she know that the archduke has at no point been in charge of his people, and that he has fled to seek her protection from his former regent, who he is sure wants him dead. Due to some early misunderstandings, Felix assumes the identity of "Fabian" a dark wizard who becomes Saskia's librarian. 

For reasons unknown, something about this cover really drew me to this book, and it was a pleasant surprise! It was overall a very sweet fantasy romance, with less villainy and evil then I would expect from a "wicked sorceress" and a "dark wizard." Both of the characters were mostly very sweet, and it was the kind of slightly ridiculous premise I prefer for my romances. I'd recommend this as a light fantasy romance novel about healing from childhood trauma, although maybe less for people looking for something with a darker edge.  

Hunt on Dark Waters

 Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert, 320 pages.

Evelyn is a witch who makes bad decisions. Her latest bad decision is stealing her extremely dangerous vampire lover's family heirlooms after a fighting and then jumping through (and exploding) a portal to an unknown location said vampire situationship was hiding in her home. The next thing she knows she's being fished out of the sea by a handsome sea captain at the head of a ship full of monster hunters and being given a legally required join-or-die ultimatum, so her day really isn't getting any less complicated. However, soon she's developing serious feelings for uptight Captain Bowen, and the return of those feelings is rocking the pillars of belief he's built his world around. 

I had to rewrite this review when it became very obvious to me that most of my gripes with this book come down to the fact that I am NOT the target audience for the "romantasy" genre. The writing was solid and the action was good, although the plot didn't go in the direction I expected (which I feel like is more the result of a very misleading blurb than anything else). I thought it was an extremely interesting choice to start with urban fantasy and then jump right into a portal fantasy, and that choice alone is honestly what has me the most interested in reading later books in this series. I was very compelled by the world-building, and wish I had gotten to see more of it, rather than quite so much romance, but again I suspect this is mostly a genre preference. I will say the fact that pretty much the entire plot hinges on a love-at-first-sight plot made it a little harder for me to buy into. Also, this was marketed as a pirate romance but the Cŵn Annwn are absolutely not pirates by any stretching of the definition, as they are literally the government. All gripes aside, this was still a fairly fun book to read and it had enough gems that I did recommend it to a few people I know in real life. A fun summer read with a very inaccurate blurb.