Review: Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport

Our Vicious Oaths

N.E. Davenport

Publication Date: October 28, 2025

Paperback, 528 pages, Harper Voyager

Genres: Adult, Fantasy/Romantasy

Goodreads

Enter a new world of romantic fantasy from award-winning author N.E. Davenport—a journey of powerful magic, enemies-to-lovers, and political intrigue—as a warrior-princess and a vengeful king from rival fae courts form a fierce alliance to take down a merciless despot.

 

Princess of the Aether Dominion, Kadeesha wants nothing to do with fae politics. She is a warrior, first and foremost, and believes her greatest strength is leading her squadron of elite winged serpent flyers to protect her homeland. But bound since infancy to be betrothed to the Hyperion High King, ruler of all Dominions, she has no choice but to do what men have chosen for her.

 

Repulsed by the idea, she decides to spend one last night of freedom—in the arms of a dangerous stranger who takes her to sexual heights she’s never experienced before…but who is only using Kadeesha to set a trap for the High King

 

 For the High King and the kings of his six Dominions were responsible for the decimation of the Apollyon Court, and its new king, Malachi, wants his pounds of flesh.

 

 On Kadeesha’s wedding day, Malachi and his special forces attack. Her father is killed, and Malachi wounds the High King, ultimately taking Kadeesha as hostage back to his land.

 

 But she is no true hostage. The two form a pact: she will help lure the High King so Malachi can kill him once and for all, and he in turn will not harm Kadeesha or the Aether people. And as much as Kadeesha hates politics, she is now the Queen of her folk. Fae bonds are unbreakable…and so, perhaps, is the attraction Kadeesha and Malachi feel for each other. For even as they must publicly display their connection to provoke the High King’s jealousy, they struggle to resist the powerful allure between them in order to achieve their ultimate goals.

My Review

If you're looking for a romantasy book with a tension-filled relationship similar to Amber V. Nicole's Gods & Monsters series only set in an all-out fantasy fae world, I think Our Vicious Oaths could definitely be for you. It has characters with magical powers, kongamatos (giant serpent dragons), and two main characters who loathe each other.

The two main characters are fairly antagonistic to each other. At times, I got a bit uncomfortable thinking "Oh, we're doing that? Okay." It's a very unconventional relationship in a fantasy romance story simply because of their thoughts and actions towards each other. The female main character, Kadeesha, is an aether fire-wielding, kongamato-riding princess who reeeeally wants to kill Malachi, the king of the Apollyon Court. She even plans to kill him when things seem to be going well in their alliance. And Malachi, the shadow-wielding king, has a tendency to play the bad guy to everyone except his close companions. So yeah, reluctant allies to lovers with enemies to lovers thrown in too. Like I said, she wants to kill him, and he is extremely... intense.

Now, I was worried their tension wouldn't work because of how their original meeting played out in the early chapters of the story. It was a bit underwhelming when the characters first got together. However, their tension gets better as time goes on, and the intimate scenes are much more impactful. So, keep reading, even if those first few chapters throw you off.

 The two main characters having to work together to defeat a tyrannical bad guy is a good plot. Very solid. And it works well for a standalone like this. I will say, the book did have a weakness, though. Its clunky sentence structure was difficult to read at times. For example, the sentence, "His other hand moved to cup her hip, his fingers splayed along its length, a possessive brand that was searing." The sentence could have ended with "a possessive searing brand" to be more impactful. This is just one of many examples. And although these sentences did hinder my enjoyment a little, I was still able to read the book without any major issues.

That being said, I do think the plot and characters carried this story. The two main characters were feisty and powerful with unique personalities in an interesting fantasy world. I do wish the side characters in Malachi's Cadre and the kongamato flyers had more time to shine, but maybe that means spinoffs in the future? Seeing the side characters romances could be fun...

All in all, Our Vicious Oaths was a good time. It has cool shadow and fire powers, characters seeking vengeance from evil rulers, and battles with dragons. I think romantasy readers will enjoy this one just like I did.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Review: The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe

The Blighted Stars

Megan E. O'Keefe

(The Devouring Worlds #1)

Publication Date: May 23, 2023

Hardcover, 544 pages, Orbit

Genres: Adult, Sci-Fi

Goodreads

When a spy is stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, she must first figure out how to survive before she can uncover the conspiracy that landed them both there in the first place.

 

She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

 

He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

 

Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.

My Review

Do you like the worldbuilding of The Expanse series, or even The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes? Are you a fan of The Last of Us? Have you read YA sci-fi books like Illuminae or Aurora Rising and just want something a little more sophisticated? Then, The Blighted Stars is the perfect next read for you.

The Blighted Stars follows two primary POV characters, with a couple of other POVs thrown in every once in a while to shake things up. Tarquin Mercator is the geologist son of one of the ruling families in the whole space system, and he's out to prove his family isn't killing worlds. So he undertakes a mission on another mining planet to find answers. Naira Sharp, on the other hand, is the disgraced and imprisoned bodyguard of Tarquin's father, and Tarquin is the one who helped put her away. When she gets printed into a new body on the same ship as Tarquin, well, a lot of things go wrong. Especially when they're forced to crash-land on a dying planet. The Blighted Stars definitely has the suspense of a stranded-on-a-deserted-island story and add onto that some creepy creatures, mysterious infections, and people keeping big secrets, and you get a wild ride.

The worldbuilding in The Blighted Stars is heavy. Like the author really did her research, or at least, she made up some really cool, smart-sounding stuff. And while this is a science-heavy book, for those who are less scientifically-minded like me, it was still easy to drift over those explanatory sections and not miss out on the next plot development, except in a couple of cases. So don't worry about memorizing all the things. But, if you're a fan of geology, biology, or epidemiology, then this will be right up your alley.

The two main characters are also super fun. It's a bit of a gender flip. Instead of the rough-and-tough survivalist guy, we get Naira Sharp, the badass female bodyguard, while Tarquin is the more peaceable character with knowledge about rocks, not fighting or leading. He also has a cute (or so I imagine) robot companion. I genuinely liked Tarquin and Naira's dynamic. Their conversations and banter were great. I was pretty devastated whenever they were apart, as those chapters dragged a little bit. Time flew by so fast when the two of them were bickering at each other. But, that could just be the romance reader in me that loves the relationship tension. However, this 100% isn't a romance book. It's just the first book in a sci-fi series that has romantic elements.

All in all, I enjoyed this first book, and I want to read book two whenever it releases. It does take some time to get through this 500-page tome, but it's worth it. Just don't pick it up when you have lots of things going on. You'll want to dedicate some brain power to this one.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The Oops Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

As I'm typing this post, I have one more day left in a giant work grant (due Friday at 10:59 p.m.), and then I'm free! I have three days off and no major deadlines for quite a while. This project has seriously been stressing me out, so I'm glad it's almost over. Plus, Memorial Day weekend is here and I'm excited to organize and clean my place. I may even do some spontaneous furniture shopping if I get in the mood, though I've spent way too much money to justify that plan.      .

For my book haul this week, I actually have two ARCs. I don't get physical ARCs very often, so it's always a treat. I won a copy of Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs from the publisher, and I requested The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero-Lacruz from Orbit. Unfortunately, I requested The Sun and the Void by mistake. I mixed it up with another upcoming release that has a similar title and cover, Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mairely Lares. Oops. Sorry, Orbit! While I'll still give The Sun and the Void a chance, it may take me a bit longer to get through since it's not something I'm gravitating towards right now.

 

Next, I have some ebooks. I ordered the ebook of Kresley Cole's Wicked Abyss because I don't remember reading it. I honestly don't think I have. It's not marked as Read on Goodreads, which baffles me because I usually read the Immortals After Dark books right as they come out. I guess I'm going out of order with this one, since I've already read the book that comes after it. Good thing Kresley's timelines are so overlapping. I doubt I missed much by skipping this one. I also bought this because I had some Kindle credits that were going to expire at the end of the month. In addition to Wicked Abyss, I got Malum Discordiae by Ashlyn Drewek on Kindle Unlimited. I'm reading it now, and it's giving me major The Covenant vibes, if you've ever watched that amazing witchy movie with Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, and Taylor Kitsch.

And here are some more Kindle Unlimited books. Or technically novellas. These things are freaking short, and I'm mad because the second one ended on a cliffhanger. Bro and the Beast is just a fun, dumb story (in a good way) about a dude who gets sucked into a werewolf-romance book and ends up being the mate of the book's hero. It's a wild ride, and book three comes out on Sunday, so I may sneak it in between the thicker fantasy titles I'm reading now.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Pre-BookCon Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

I’m currently at BookCon as this post is going up, or at least, I’m on my way to BookCon. This’ll be the first time I’ve been. I don’t think I’d have ever bought tickets if I didn’t live in NYC. What’s sad, though, is I probably don’t appreciate it as much as I would have even a year or two ago. I’m so used to just getting ARCs now from work that the appeal isn’t as major. Of course, I may be completely flipping my lid once I actually get there, but we’ll see…

Artificial Condition by Myke Cole (ARC)

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf (ARC)

Slammed by Victoria Denault

Buffy Season 9 Volume 3

All of the books except for the Buffy comic were grabbed from my work’s Take Shelf. The Buffy comic came from the library. It’s in much better condition than the other three comics I checked out from the library in May. Those were very bent. That just puts more pressure on me to make sure this one stays unbent. Eek.

What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Oops I Did It Again Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Well, I’ve officially been back from my Midwest vacation for an entire week. I’m back to the ole grind now in the ever-dirty NYC. Somewhere along the way, though, I think I picked up a bug. Not sure if it’s allergies or just a cold, but I’ve been feeling funky. It’s not terrible or anything, just off-putting. Plus side, being back at work means I get to pick up more ARCs!

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig

The title of this post is dedicated to these three ARCs. Once again, I raided the Take Shelves at work. I have waaaaay too many ARCs. I don’t know how I’ll ever read all of them. (Spoiler alert: I probably won’t.)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 Vol. 2 Omnibus

Another oops I did it again came when I bought this comic. I had almost finished volume one, and I decided I should just go ahead and buy the second one. Thankfully, my library has most of season nine, so I won’t have to purchase any of those individual volumes until the omnibuses come out.

And last for this haul is my preorder swag for Claire Legrand’s Furyborn. I’m honestly surprised this came already. I figured I wouldn’t get it until after the book releases later this month. I’m also a little sad that the map and the bookmark are bent. Boo...

What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Take Shelves of Doom Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

This week has gone by really fast. I feel like I just wrote my last Stacking the Shelves yesterday. But, I’m pretty darn happy everything is going by fast because today is the day I’m flying home. And hopefully, today is the day I get to see Avengers: Infinity War! I’m pre-scheduling this post, so I’m not even sure what the heck the day is going to hold.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young (ABM)

The Traitor’s Kiss by Erin Beaty

The Midnight Dance by Nikki Katz (ARC)

Child of a Mad God by R.A. Salvatore (ARC)

Between the Blade and the Heart &

From the Earth to the Shadows by Amanda Hocking (ARCs)

The Handsome Girl and Her Beautiful Boy by B.T. Gottfred

Well, for books this week, I had a pleasant surprise. I found out where the Take Shelves are at work. As you can see, I went a little crazy. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to read all of these, plus the ones I nabbed earlier this year. I’m going to have to get on that. Yikes.

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

I also bought Ash Princess during Laura’s launch event. I’ll have a recap of that up tomorrow. Thankfully, though, I’ve already read this one.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga

And, lastly, I have two ebooks that I got this week. Kiss of the Royal is a review copy from NetGalley, while The Royal We was an impulse buy. The Royal We was only $1.99 on Kindle, so I one-clicked it. I’ve been craving some royalty contemporary romance after finishing Rachel Hawkins’s The Royals. Any recommendations for such books?

What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Triple ARC Edition

 "Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

This week was definitely better than last week. While I did hurt my back last Friday (again), with rest and relaxation, it is now perfectly fine. (In case you’re curious, I injured myself at the gym. I felt the riiiiip right as I was doing a squat. It was super fun times.) And the family drama from last week has settled a bit. More importantly, there has been NO SNOW. I’m so excited. Sure, it’s drizzled a couple of times, but it’s been warmer. I love it. I can’t wait until I don’t have to wear a coat everywhere.

Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey (ARC)

Faller by Will McIntosh (ARC)

For the books this week, I have three. These two are ARCs from work. I have finally brought the last ones home. Whew! At least that’s finally over with. I’m done hauling bundles of ARCs on the subway.

Royals by Rachel Hawkins (ARC)

I was actually lucky enough to get on the blog tour for this one. It was a total coincidence. I just happened to email Penguin Teen’s publicity assistant when she had one place left on the tour. Yay for me! And thank you to Penguin Teen! This one came with some really fun royal wedding swag! I’m super excited to read this one. I’m actually letting my roommate borrow it right now. She reads faster than I do, and I probably won’t get to it until next weekend anyway.

Other than that, I did buy a book this week, but it won’t be in until Sunday or Monday. I’m still under for my book-buying budget, though. So no worries there.

What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The Quadruple ARC Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Okay, so it’s been a ridiculously busy couple of months for me. I’ll post an update tomorrow with a longer explanation, but I just want to apologize for not letting you all know that I was going to be MIA.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve accumulated some books that I thought you’d all enjoy looking at.

Avenged by Amy Tintera

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Bersker by Emmy Laybourne (ARC)

In Some Other Life by Jessica Brody (ARC)

The Way to Bea by Kat Yeh (ARC)

The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris (ARC)

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero

The Paris Review (literary magazine)

Flame in the Mist was a graduation present to myself from myself (and a little bit from my mom). Oh, and in case you were wondering, the dustjacket is safe; it’s just at my parents’ house. Avenged was a treat-yourself buy, and the rest were provided from the publishers. Thanks, publishers!

As you can see, I’ve got a lot of reading to do and very little time to do it in. I’m not even sure where to start…

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: The Darkest Promise by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Promise

Gena Showalter

(Lords of the Underworld #13)

Publication Date: June 13, 2017

Hardcover, 384 pages, Harlequin Books

Genres: Adult. Romance, Paranormal

Book Depository | Amazon | Goodreads

New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with a sizzling Lords of the Underworld story about an iron-willed sovereign and the somber beauty who melts him with a glance.

Possessed by the demon of Misery, Cameo isn't allowed to experience joy. If she dares, her memory is wiped clean. With no other recourse, she sneaks into a land more fantastical than any fairy tale, determined to find the one man with the key to her redemption.

Lazarus the Cruel and Unusual rules his kingdom with a single unwavering focus: to build his army and annihilate his enemies. Nothing distracts him until Cameo. He is relentless in his quest to make her smile and seduce her into his bed.

As dark forces conspire against them, threatening to destroy the fragile bond they've forged, the once-calm Lazarus grows crazed. Every heart-stopping kiss and wicked touch causes Cameo to teeter on the brink of happiness. But if she falls, she risks forgetting him forever.

My Review

The Lords of the Underworld are back, and I’m already waiting for more!

Finally! Finally we have been blessed with Cameo’s book. I’ve been waiting on the Mother of Misery’s story since I finished the first three LOTU books years and years ago. I always knew her man would be amazing, and yes, Lazarus lives up to that title.

Let’s talk about the characters of The Darkest Promise first. Cameo is a great character. I love how she doesn’t back down and she’s bada$$, even with a macho man by her side. Her character/demon development also really fit well into the plot points of the story, despite not being mentioned in previous books. Lazarus, Cameo’s macho man, was very nice as well. *wink, wink* He’s a very unique paranormal creature, and I’m still not sure exactly what all he can do powers-wise.

What I wasn’t so sure about for this book at first though, was the two characters’ relationship. It seemed like they went from having an awesome tension to having some weird high school crush. In one of the previous LOTU books, they bickered at each other, but in this one, it was just some awkward narcissistic banter. HOWEVER, while I did miss that tension, I did grow to enjoy Cameo’s and Lazarus’s interactions fairly quickly.

Speaking of narcissistic banter, I am getting a little “ugh” at seeing this in romance books today. Example: “Concentrate on your man. Or rather, my smorgasbord of masculine delights.” This line was said by Lazarus, and I’m just not feeling it. Would any man, or person in general, really say that to their significant other? I know this is fiction, but I do like believable dialogue…

That’s probably my only major qualm with this book and books 4-12 in this series. The other stuff’s just minor things I noticed. Because, really, there was a lot of action, the plot moved along really well, there was an abrupt ending that left me wanting more, a lot of twists and turns in the middle of the book (the ending was a tad predictable, but every romance story requires a HEA, right?), and the book even has an awesome timeline at the end to refresh readers! Oh, and all of the Lords are seen or mentioned in the book, and they’re all together! Yay! I can’t remember the last time they were all in the same area at the same time.

If you are in any way a fan of Kresley Cole or J.R. Ward’s books, you’ll love Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series. If you can’t decide whether or not to pick this one up, do it! You won’t regret finally knowing where Cameo’s story takes her. Also, some pretty major plot points for the entire series happen in this book. Just FYI.

Side note: I am a little disappointed by the title. Usually, the titles play into one of the narrator’s demons, but that really wasn’t the case for this book. Plus, there are a lot of The Darkest P books in this series (i.e., The Darkest Prison, The Darkest Passion, The Darkest Pleasure). Love the cover, though!

*Note: I won an ARC copy of this book from the author. This in no way affected my opinion/review.