A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic)

by Elise Kova

I enjoyed this but something just didn't hit right. I found the longer I read the vague feelings of discontent settled in. I enjoyed the world building although the reveal about the Elf King siring pure elf children from his elf mistress rather than the Queen should've been explained a lot sooner. It was driving me nuts the entire time trying to figure out Alice and Sevenna and their roles. The reasoning was okay I guess but it kinda kills the romance to hear all the Elf Kings have a relationship with someone else. . I would've liked to see more of the land and the people and Luella's powers. I liked Luella and Eldas for the most part. There was some wishywashy stuff towards the second half that felt forced. Luella started to drive me nuts with her ideas on duty and choice - was it really necessary to break his heart? Like I get where she was coming from but I also didn't like that she fight for him. Or something like that. I think that's where a lot of my dissatisfaction with this book comes from. I like the concept of choice but it also ruined the romance for me a bit. And I think I have very conflicting emotions about it. Rinni and Willow were great and I loved the friendship between them all - particularly Luella's relationship with Rinni. Hook was cool. Harlow was amusing - total jerk - but amusing nonetheless. The plot progressed fairly quickly, although there were some pacing issues - the first part was solid, the second fell apart a bit.

An enjoyable fantasy read. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.