Book Review
Title: A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic #1)
Author: Elise Kova
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance
Rating: *****
Review: As many of my readers will know I don’t have a great relationship with fae books, especially fae romance books but this was a book club pick for December, so I am willing to give it a go. I also haven’t read anything for Elsie Kova before and I hoping this might be the book that changes my mind on fae romance novels. All I knew about this book before hand was that it follows Luella who is chosen by the Elf King to be the Human Queen of Midscape, but it is labelled as both a Hades and Persephone retelling as well as a Beauty and the Beast retelling which is giving me ACOTAR vibes which isn’t a good thing as I really disliked the first ACOTAR book and DNF’d the second. The opening to A Deal with the Elf King reminded me a little of the Reaping in the Hunger Games as the town of Capton is waiting for the elves to arrive at take the Human Queen, who will the only woman in the town with magic, but none have been found. Luella is a herbalist making her tonics for the day when her friend Luke mentions running away, like Gabe does with Katniss and she refuses because of her work but she is madly in love with him. However, I had some issues straight away with Luke’s toxic masculinity as he declares he and Luella are getting married without even mentioning it to her and tells her that she doesn’t need to work because all she needs is him completely disregarding the fact that her work makes her happy but finally that evening the Elf King arrives and he is nothing like Luella imagined. We do get some history on the treaty with the elves and a lot of worldbuilding around the magic system. It seems that the elves magic allows the people of Capton to live longer than regular humans on the other side of the Fade, however, the lack of a Human Queen means the magic is fading resulting in the Weakening which is causing the people of Capton to get sick and die earlier than they normally would.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, a young girl named Emma faints during the meeting with the Elf King, it is discovered that Luella is the Human Queen and the necklace that Luke gave her years ago has been suppressing her magic even since and she realises that he doesn’t love her, he just wanted to own her and her speech during that scene was amazing and really endeared me to Luella. However, it also means that she has to marry the Elf King immediately as there is no time as the barrier between their worlds is fading. As they prepare to cross the Fade, Luella realises the King used magic to make her comply during the ceremony and openly defies him by returning to say goodbye to her parents before they cross the Fade. We also learn that the Human Queen’s are normally trained to be the wife of the Elf King, but Luella hasn’t had this and I am interested to see where the story goes. Upon arriving in the Elvish lands, it is clear that something isn’t right there, but Luella has no time to take anything in as she is swept away but before she is, she learnt that her wedding ring protects her from the Knowing, a gift all elves have to uncover the true name of a person, animal or object and manipulate it and her husband is called Eldas and might be the son of the previous Human Queen, Alice. Eldas himself is quite cold and reserved but he has been respectful towards Luella which bodes well for the rest of the novel. As she is made to look like a Queen, Luella is pondering on what her role will be in the world but as soon as she sits on her throne the magic flows through her, almost attacking her, taking power from her which comes close to killing her, but the King saves her by using her true name; Saraphina. Once she awakens, she meets Willow who explains the origins of the Fade and the role of the Human Queen to her and seems like a friend when they are interrupted by Eldas’ brother.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Luella gets to meet Harrow, who forces her to entertain some other elves but displaying her magic which in her weakened state isn’t good but Eldas comes to her rescue. When she explains what his brother has done, he tells her that her magic is calling to them and she needs to learn to control it, but she hasn’t been taught that due to her magic being hidden from her and she manages to get Eldas to agree to be her teacher and she does find herself feeling something for him. When they have their first lesson about Luella controlling her magic, the pair end up having an argument which results in Luella hitting Eldas, but she does manage to change her true name during this scene as he is trying to control her. After storming out, Luella gets lost in the castle and ends up outside Eldas’ private rooms and eavesdrops on a conversation he is having with Rinni where she learns he has been isolated in the year they have been waiting for a Human Queen and his enemies have tried to make him out as weak. Rinni counters this and pleads with Eldas to get to know Luella and allow her to know him but Eldas doesn’t feel he can give her a family, community, or love because it would interfere with his duty as King but if anyone understands duty then it is Luella, and she does find herself a little jealous of Rinni in this scene as Eldas is different with Rinni. Luella soon decides that she can’t stay in the elves world since there are people depending on her back home and decides to try and escape. She manages to make it back to the mountain passage where she encounters a wolf, the very same one she and Luke came across as children and it guides her to the Fadestone, the corner of the elves power where Eldas happens to be waiting for her. The pair communicate their issues with one another, and Luella mentions that she wants to find an alternative to the Human Queens as Eldas gives her three months to do, if she hasn’t found a solution in that time, he can’t postpone the coronation which would bind her to their land meaning she could never return home except for a few days in Midsummer.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, I really liked how Luella was a strong character but not overly powerful as even she admits she needs Eldas’ help and support. I also liked how the characters have miscommunications but solve them through talking before they develop into major issues. Luella is beginning to gain some control over her magic with Eldas’ help and the journals of the previous Queens but when Harrow stumbles into the greenhouse obviously sick, Luella manages to persuade him to let her treat him and she cures him very easily. When he asks her why, she explains her job as an herbalist back home and she saw it as her duty, she also sees that Harrow is jealous of his brother as he is the youngest which reminds her of friends back home. Harrow also tells her that the Kings don’t have an intimate relationship with the Queens and often take lovers for their heirs which Luella doesn’t feel comfortable with since she does see Eldas as her husband whether she doesn’t like it or not. When a Fae delegation arrives, Eldas cancels their daily lesson as he has to deal with it, so Luella convinces Rinni to take her into the city for furniture for her rooms despite it not usually being done until after the coronation. There is spots one of the elves with Harrow the first time they meet, Aria before she is kidnapped. At almost halfway through the novel, I was finding A Deal with the Elf King to be interesting, fast paced and very easy to read and the romance elements have been very light so far in the novel, so I was excited to see where it is going to go. Hook, the Fadewalking wolf, has become a close companion to Luella and he is one of my favourite characters so far especially after he comes to Luella’s rescue after the Fae kidnap her. Eldas is forced to kill the Fae man in accordance with their laws which hurts Luella, but she understands the weight of the duty Eldas carries. We see the pair becoming closer but Eldas is harbouring some secrets about his relationships to the previous Human Queen, Alice as he compares Luella to her but refuses to talk about her.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Luella recruits Rinni to make a true effort to know Eldas in the wake of her rescue and the opening of her eyes to how cruel Midscape can be. Luella even goes as far to clarify the relationship between Rinni and Eldas to make sure she isn’t going to be overstepping in making an effort to pursue Eldas’ affections. After Rinni finally gets Eldas to accept Luella’s invitation to dine together we see the first proper step in them developing a relationship which even ends with the pair sharing a kiss thanks to Hook. However, Eldas soon breaks the moment by telling Luella she has to leave Midscape before fleeing himself and I have a feeling that his reaction to this kiss is linked to something in his past, something we don’t know about yet. The next day Eldas is reading the Queen’s journals and asks Luella for the others which are in the greenhouse but once they arrive, Sirro drags in an unconscious Harrow for Luella to heal again. She immediately gets to work while explaining how she healed Harrow last time and is happy to do it again because she understands he feels lost and needs comfort and healing more than anyone right now. She also gets to meet Eldas’ mother Sevenna and the rocky relationship between them since she all but abandoned Eldas soon after his birth in favour of his brothers. In light of this, Luella and Eldas both seem to realise that they are heading for heartbreak if they give into their feelings since Luella wants to leave before the coronation and being tied to Midscape and she also knows that Eldas would outlive her anyway so either way would cause them pain, but we can feel the attraction pulling them together which makes an appearance whenever they are alone.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Luella is having to charge the Redwood throne more often as her power is weaker compared to the other Queens and this can be seen as subjects are complaining that the fields aren’t producing, and their people will go hungry unless the King does something. However, in letting the throne drain away what little power she has is already taking a physical and emotional toll on Luella and it is slowly killing her which only makes the need to break the cycle greater, but with every day that passes Luella’s heart is being torn into two, between home and Eldas. Luella is also beginning to suspect that the half-elf half-fae Aria is behind Harrow’s mysterious illnesses and that she is plotting something with the fae, but she can’t get anyone to believe her just yet since she has no evidence. She also find relics belonging to former Queens and when she holds them, she gets flashes of memories that just might be the key to unlocking the information that she needs in order to break the cycle of the Queens. As Eldas and Luella plan to visit his other brother whose wife is due to give birth around the time of Luella’s coronation they won’t be able to make but before they head there, they stop at the retreat of the previous Queens which happens to be a small cottage. There Luella and Eldas are free to be themselves without the pressure of their roles and they decide to give into the feelings between them and live only for today not matter what tomorrow holds and while the sex scenes are overly explicit (a shame!) it is clear sex was had numerous times between the pair before they continue the journey, where Harrow and Sevenna will be meeting them but after arriving, they still haven’t arrived which is being to worry Eldas and his brother.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we get to see everything come together and I don’t jest when I say the ending of this novel literally broke my heart and then pieced it back together leaving me an absolute mess of tears. Luella and Eldas’ love story was epic, and I am definitely going to have to read more of Elise Kova’s work if this is the level that she produces at. I was a bit disappointed to learn that the Married to Magic series is going to be a companion series which means we won’t see Luella and Eldas in starring roles again but as more supportive characters because I desperately wanted more from them to see how their love worked out, whether they had any children and so much more but I am completely satisfied with this book and I will be recommending to everyone that says Fae romance isn’t for them as I thought the exact same thing before picking up this book.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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