Published: April 26, 2022
Publisher: Independently Published
Series: The Elf Queen #1
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 598 (Kindle)
My Rating: 3 Stars
Synopsis:
In hiding all her life, Layala prepares for the day the wicked High Elf King Thane will come to steal her— his powerful mate. She trains to take her revenge for the wrongful execution of her parents, who died for her freedom.
Now that day has come, forcing her to come face-to-face with what she’s hidden from: a dangerous, dark-haired, warrior king determined to marry her.
After she’s shoved into a black carriage pulled by six ominous steeds, Layala makes plans to take her captors’ lives and free herself…
…but Thane has a secret that makes it impossible for Layala to slay him. She has an even darker truth that makes loving her forbidden, no matter how much Thane wants to touch.
Dare to dive into this whimsical and deeply romantic story inspired by Hades & Persephone, The Lord of the Rings, and a sprinkle of Norse mythology. A tale that will grip you from the first page and stay with you long after the last.
I’m always on the lookout for a fun new fantasy romance series, so I picked up Bow Before the Elf Queen when I saw it was an Audible daily deal recently and dove right in. This book really starts with a bang – the main character is born with magic and the fae king has her parents killed when they won’t hand her over to him. A family friend flees with her and raises Layala in a human village where she learns to fight and plots her vengeance against the royal family, but particularly the king and his son, who she was mate-bound to as a babe.
Thane, now high king, kidnaps Layala from her home so that they might fulfill the mate-bond before their time runs out. Layala was never told, but if that bond goes unfulfilled the pair of them will turn into pale ones, which are fae who’ve turned into vampiric monsters. Fortunately, Thane isn’t the monster that he was purported to be and the two of them turn to finding a way to sever the bond even as they begin to grow more fond of one another. There ends up being a lot of “will they, won’t they” as the two grow closer and then inevitably find something to be furious about and of course they get tragically separated towards the end of the book. Some of the romantasy books really follow a particular plot formula and this is no different.
That being said, I ended up liking the story and the characters overall despite the predictability. I do think the story could have been edited down because it was a hefty book (almost 600 pages) with middling plot movement and character development. The emotional impact wasn’t all that strong and the writing wasn’t all that descriptive – I couldn’t tell you what anything looked like aside from a few of the characters. I’m not sure I’ll continue on with the series, but this was a pleasant diversion and I like the cover art.
Powder & Page 
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