Review: Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter

Blood Bound

Ellis Hunter

(Cursed Covenant #1)

Publication Date: April 28, 2026

Hardcover, 485 pages, Atria Books

Genres: Adult, Romantasy

Goodreads

A debut high-stakes fantasy romance trilogy set against a once-in-a-generation duel to the death between rival witches and dragon riders as they battle to control the source of all magic in their kingdoms. Perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, Throne of Glass, and Quicksilver.

 

You duel or you die.

 

Astrid has always known she is destined to die. She is the last Nachstern witch and heir to the Queendom of Arturea, cursed by a centuries-old covenant to duel the heir to the Kingdom of Vatra for the source of all magic: the Heart. And now Astrid’s time is up. She is heading into enemy territory to face Prince Zryan, the most powerful dragon rider in eons, with only her familiar, her potions, and her wits to aid her. She is going to die, and any chance her queendom has of curing the Blight that’s ravaging the lands and killing her people will die with her.

 

Meanwhile, deep in dragon country, Skylar and her travelling troupe arrive in Vatra’s capital, ready to profit off the legions of spectators swarming to the city ahead of the duel. She despises the royals and all they stand for, especially as the King’s guard murdered her mother. But when her best friend disappears, suspected to have been taken in the conscription, her search takes her closer to the royals than she ever could have imagined.

 

As the duel looms over the kingdom, Skylar and Astrid’s fates intertwine. They must battle a growing rebellion, their inner demons, and ultimately, those they love most, to determine if together they will save—or doom—their world.

My Review

Blood Bound has most definitely been advertised correctly. It is perfect for fans of Fourth Wing due to the dragon companions and deadly competitions, but I also think fans of Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen series would like this one. Blood Bound has powers, squabbling royal families, and attractive princes. It's basically like if Red Queen and Fourth Wing threw some witches and familiars in the mix. So of course I had a good time reading it!

The story starts out a bit slow, as it's introducing the two main POV characters: Astrid, the witch heir, and Skylar, a knife thrower in a traveling troupe. It took a bit for things to pick up speed enough for me to start caring for these two characters. I think it was due to the shorter chapters and the two separate POVs. However, events happened about a quarter of the way through the book that blew my mind. I totally wasn't expecting that twist. And the twists just kept coming. Some of them, I guessed, but there were a few that I didn't expect at all.

As for the worldbuilding, it was pretty good. There's a blight happening across the world with a hidden power source, corrupt rulers, and secret rebellions. Then of course, you have the fuzzy familiars, like Quincy the giant fox and Bastet the cat. And the beaver! Oh, so cute! I do think the ending was a bit rushed, which does have to do with the worldbuilding. I wish there had been a bit more foreshadowing for the finale, as the big reveal seemed to come out of nowhere. (Or maybe I'm just not as observant as I thought I was.) The ending still hooked me, though, so I'm ready for book two!

 Honestly, I enjoyed almost every aspect of the book despite some flaws. I think the only major weakness I saw was the relationships. Things just seemed to move so fast between various characters. It was a tad insta-lovey in a few parts, unfortunately. So, I think this is definitely a story more for the plot readers than the character/romance readers. While Zryan reads like a sexy male love interest, I felt somewhat disconnected from him. Again, I think that comes back to the shorter chapters each being from two different POVs. If the book had been a bit longer, it may have established his character a bit more. I think just one extra chapter of a tension-filled scene between Zryan and Astrid could have helped. Same for other relationships I won't mention due to spoilers. This includes non-romantic ones as well.

All in all, I liked Blood Bound a lot. It was a good time, and, once I got about 10 chapters in, it started reading fairly quickly. I often told myself to put the book down, but the next thing I know, I've read five more chapters. There's action, high stakes, and magic galore! I'm excited to read the sequel when it comes out.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Red Queen Cards 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.

Life sucks. Like a lot. It'll be better after this month. I hope. It'll probably even be better after next week. I wanted to take some time off this month, but people scheduled meetings. So frustrating. I might still do it anyway. But in addition to that, I ended up hurting my hip a few days after ApollyCon. I'm thinking the cart/suitcase lifting and bending is what caused the issue to form in the first place. I haven't been able to run because of the injury, so I've mostly been a blob. I'm hoping it heals soon so I can get back to better workouts. I also desperately need to clean my house.

As for the books I received this week, I have none. Well, technically, I do have some, they were just sent to the 'rents and I won't be seeing dear mom and dad until later Saturday. Darn. I did end up getting some Jemlin character cards, though. I had a friend of a friend pick them up for me at one of the conventions that happened in April. I think it was Sinners & Stardust. The cards are for the three main characters from the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard and Patch from Hush, Hush.

 

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

April Wrap-Up & May TBR

April was a crazy month. Like insane. ApollyCon came around again, so I, of course, spent way too much money, and because I originally thought I wasn't going to spend much money as an aide, I ended up ordering other things that month when I very much shouldn't have. I'm honestly scared to do my monthly book-budget calculations. It's going to hurt.

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in April

Lady of Shadows: 4 stars

The Summer King: 4 stars (my review)

Lady of Embers: 4 stars 

The Reaper: 3 stars

Lady of Starfire: 4 stars

Feathers So Vicious: 3.5 stars

Shadows So Cruel: 2 stars

I read seven books in April. Well, technically it was six full-length books and one novella. The novella was The Reaper by Melissa K. Roehrich, and it was technically bound into the Bookish Box edition of Lady of Embers, which I also read in April along with the other final two books in the Lady of Darkness series. Those were fairly long books, so that's why I didn't read as much as last month. I also read The Summer King by Jennifer L. Armentrout and the Court of Ravens duology by Liv Zander. All of these were physical copies, so I got them off my TBR. Technically, I did read the eARC of The Summer King, but I'd preordered a physical edition. Therefore, it counts as physical. Ha ha.

Books Bought/Received in April

April was terrible. Terrible! I spent so much! And I brought so many new books into my house! I have to go on a ban. Not a strict one, because those don't work for me, but something has to be done. I think I just have to do my "Can't buy any new books until I read X amount" ban. I already have some preorders coming, so that won't count or maybe I'll do an extra book for each of those. Like a read-one-if-I'm-bringing-one-into-my-house thing. Special editions are also iffy. Other than those, no new books. Anyway, in total for April, I purchased 33 books and received 20 titles for review or from preorders that I'd already paid for in previous months.

The 20 books I received included mostly things I got from ApollyCon, like the ApollyCon special editions of A Crown of Ruin, The War of Two Queens, From Blood and Ash, the Bookish Box edition of Visions of Flesh and Blood (preorder), Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter, The Rose Witch by Chandelle LaVaun, The Midnight Arrow by Zoey Draven, and A Darkness So Sweet by Emma Hamm. I got more than that, but I didn't keep everything. I wouldn't have been able to bring it all home if I kept everything. That's eight books right there. Some special edition preorders/previous month's orders came in for 10 books: The Last Starborn Seer FairyLoot March Adult book, Kings of Quarantine 1-2 luxe editions, A Tongue So Sweet and Deadly Bad Women Books edition, The Wolf King FairyLoot edition, the Arcane Guild Hunter set 1-3, and the Big A.S.S. Party and Shadow Princess luxe author editions. The final two books I received include a NetGalley copy of Turncloak by L.K. Steven and Cinder Vale by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, which was actually a B&N preorder, but I wasn't charged for it. I'm wondering if I paid for it with a gift card back when I preordered.
 

Now, for what I bought in April. It's awful. I received 22 of the 33 books I purchased. The B&N preorders consisted of Smoke and Scar, The Summer King, Rites of the Starling, City of Gods and Monsters, and Princeweaver. My ApollyCon-related orders included the Arcane Summer King omnibus and the Arcane Summer King individual novellas, three books by Emily Blackwood (only one is pictured here), Unrelenting Winds novella, Tales of Tiressia, the FBAA Grim Gates edition, and the Lover Awakened mass market edition. I also purchased the Kindle edition of Frozen by Stardust by Elizabeth Helen, the King of the Dark trilogy by Ariana Nash (Pango), and the first two Mistress of Lies books from Illumicrate. 

 As for the remaining 11 books, they include preorders. There's also some payment plans going on, but I've talked about those before, so I'll just stick with the preorder shame for now. The preorders include the Ink Pages FBAA 3 and 4 editions, the FairyLoot Servant of Earth set, an international edition of BOBAA, the FairyLoot edition of Furybound, the next Bad Women Books Romantasy sub pick, a Waterstones preorder of Riftbound, and the FairyLoot Penn Cole set.

Currently Obsessed With

I'm trying to remember all I watched in April, and I don't think it was a lot. The biggest thing was Invincible season 4, which I couldn't watch the last episode of because my free Prime trial ran out and I went to ApollyCon. I need to visit my parents' soon to watch that last episode. Lol. I also need to catch up on Daredevil: Born Again season two, and I started watching The Middle as a meal show. My ApollyCon roommates also had a bunch of movies on in the background during our hotel stay, but I'm not counting those because I wasn't really paying attention. 

May TBR

My TBR is actually the same from last month. Oops. I'm still reading The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde. I'm also still reading Lore by Alexandra Bracken. I very much need to start To Cage a Wild Bird by Brooke Fast and finish Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter, which I'm a quarter of the way into. I'm about a quarter of the way through Dhampira by Amy Pennza as well. Those three are NetGalley eARCs. I have a few other NetGalley ARCs, but those are the immediate ones. Other than the review books, I'm going to try to continue my Melissa K. Roehrich read-through and get through the final two Legacy books. I need to read J.R. Ward's Crown of War and Shadow for book club, and Rina Kent's new book is calling to me too. It's a lot, but I think I can get through at least half of these. I hope.

***

Okay, well, that's the month of April, plus some May sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!

Review: Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Our Rogue Fates

Sarah Glenn Marsh

(Rogue Devotions #1)

Publication Date: April 28, 2026

Hardcover, 352 pages, Alcove Press

Genres: Adult, Romantasy, LGBTQ+

Goodreads

On the hunt for hidden treasure, two former best friends turned adversaries must put the past behind them if they hope to make it home.

 

This childhood-friends-to-lovers male/male romantic fantasy in the tradition of Tusk Love and Sara Raasch crackles with tension and heat.

 

When he isn’t training as a Warden to become half the hero his father was, Griff Sayer is in the business of breaking hearts all across the town of Mayfair, although that slows down after settling in with his current boyfriend. Griff's ex-best-friend, Mal Pryce, meanwhile, is in business with whatever or whoever puts good money in his hands. Now in their mid-20s, Griff and Mal have only exchanged scathing looks and carefully barbed jabs since the fight that sent them their separate ways years ago. But all that begins to change when an attack Mal plotted for his shady boss leaves Griff near death and their childhood friend Alys is his savior, forcing them back into each other’s orbit.

 

Livid at his boss, Mal makes a deal to earn his freedom and Griff’s safety. He has just four weeks to retrieve an ancient treasure from Rotrose Mire, a remote swamp known for its ghostly and beastly dangers, the same treasure Alys’s beloved father Rhun had been searching for when he disappeared for good. Armed with a map and a broken blade of Rhun’s, Mal sets off—with Alys and a reluctant and newly single Griff in tow.

 

Yet the explosive tension between the two men—along with the dangers of the mire pressing in around them—make for a more difficult journey than any of them could have anticipated. As Griff and Mal peel back their tough facades, and shared feelings heat up in unexpected ways as they learn to trust again, they also realize that someone—or something—seems to be following their path. Someone who doesn’t want them to succeed, no friend to their parents’ old enemies, but also no friend to would-be heroes…

 

Our Rogue Fates is a second-chance spicy Achillean romance with the questing spirit of Dungeons & Dragons, perfect for fans of Critical Role.

My Review

Our Rogue Fates isn't quite a cozy fantasy story, but I think it gives those vibes. It's not a sprawling epic and there aren't paranormal love interests. It's just an adventure between three people who grew up together and have a tense history. The entire story definitely has a Dungeons & Dragons feel to it, as the three main characters are searching for treasure and random mythical creatures and obstacles get in their way. There are spirits, elves, orc heads, and a persistent knack for the main characters to get into trouble. Oh, and it's blurbed by Sean Astin. How the heck did that happen?! That's so cool!

I will say, however, that Our Rogue Fates isn't quite what I wanted it to be. I was hoping for something with a bit more umph to the world and the love story. Instead, the story was just a bit... messy. The beginning honestly threw me off a lot. I almost DNF'ed even though I try really hard not to leave my review copies unfinished. But this one, it just started out really slow and tossed the reader into a world that wasn't well described and wasn't all that interesting with characters who also weren't super interesting or even good people. They end up committing a terrible crime in the first few pages of their treasure-hunting journey that made it difficult to ever really like them at all.

Griff and Mal, the two male main characters, aren't introduced to the book particularly well. Griff is obsessed with Mal enough to where he leads his current boyfriend on and leaves him at a moment's notice when Mal comes calling. And Mal is a criminal who managed to arrange Griff getting stabbed, which is the inciting incident of the story. And Alys, well, I don't understand her at all. I think she has kids, though I don't remember anything about them or who her partner was/is. Also, Alys can randomly talk down trolls. Not sure how she did that. Honestly, I didn't care enough to question it too much.

 While I didn't particularly like any of the characters or the initial world building, I will say the story did pick up around the halfway mark. I think it's because of the romance. It actually made things interesting when Griff and Mal started talking to each other because, before that point, I had no idea why they had even liked each other when they were kids and how the fight between them lead to them going their separate ways. Halfway through, Mal and Griff were kind of cute together. Especially when one of them was injured and the other was playing doctor. And I was having some fun with the story through the last half of the book up until the very end. Now, I'm going to share some SPOILERS here, so look away if you don't want to be SPOILED. We didn't even get to see the trio obtain the treasure. The author completely skipped over that part after writing a book that was dedicated to a treasure hunt. I was flabbergasted when that happened. I couldn't believe an author would do that to a reader. And the actual ending was kind of nonsensical with flying dogs added for no reason whatsoever. There's also a book two coming out, which I'm surprised by. I think the story ended in a way that it doesn't seem necessary for more.

All in all, I am sad to label this book as simply "messy." It starts off with unlikeable characters, fixes it a little mid-way through, and then throws the plot into disarray at the very end. But maybe, if you're a fan of adventure/cozy-type stories where characters make stupid, deadly mistakes, Our Rogue Fates might be for you. I just warn against expecting a satisfying ending. Oh, I do love that cover art, though. It's very pretty.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The ApollyCon Damage 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.

Oh boy have things been crazy. I had plans to go to ApollyCon as an aide, but I got an actual ticket the Sunday before the con. And holy cow, did that mean some crazy last-minute packing to make sure I brought everything I needed to, which mostly consisted of books for authors to sign. I'll have those recap posts up at some point. I'm currently still recovering from the trip, so things are slow going. Plus, work has been terrible. I'm just tired and blah right now, and I need this weekend to rest.

As for the books I received, none of these are in any order whatsoever. Some I received before I went to ApollyCon, and others I received after or even during. Some are still missing (aka they're at my parents' house because I had them delivered there). It's all a mess because there are soooooo many. First up, though, is an Illumicrate order I made before I left for the con. Illumicrate had a sale for Lord of Ruin by K.M. Enright, and I'd been eyeing these books for a while, so I got both Mistress of Lies and Lord of Ruin on their website. Lord of Ruin did come with some flaws, so I think Illumicrate is sending another copy.

 

 

 

Right before I left for ApollyCon, my Arcane Guild Hunter set by Nalini Singh came in. It's just books 1-3. I'm not sure if I'll keep these or the other set I got, which I believe was from Faecrate...? I should probably remember who I ordered from. Oh well. The other set will arrive eventually, right? I think the artwork just doesn't look as good close up as it did in the concept art posts. I do plan to read the first book again and the sequels before actually deciding which set to keep though.

 

This particular set just arrived on the first of May because my parents came to drop it off. It's the FairyLoot Lady of Darkness set by Melissa K. Roehrich. I have a couple of different editions of this set now, but I'm hoping FairyLoot does a matching set for the Legacy series, which is a spinoff of these. So far, no book box has done a matching set, even though the worlds are connected. It annoys me.

 

 

 

 And here's the big one. The ApollyCon haul. I'll get into more detail of what everything is when I do my recap, but here's the list: A Crown of Ruin, The War of Two Queens ApollyCon edition, FBAA Grim Gates edition, The Summer King Arcane edition, FBAA ApollyCon edition, Visions of Flesh and Blood Bookish Box edition, The Prince, The King, and The Queen Arcane editions, all by JLA; Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter, Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward, Beg the Night by Emily Blackwood (I bought two other books by her, but those are at my parents' house), The Rose Witch by Chandelle LaVaun, The Midnight Arrow by Zoey Draven, A Darkness So Sweet by Emma Hamm, and Tales from Tiressia by Charissa Weaks, Unrelenting Winds by Melissa K. Roehrich. And there was also a sneak peek by S.M. Gaither for her upcoming Ashwalker book.

 

 

 

Like five minutes before I left for the airport, my dad handed me a box from Barnes & Noble with a couple of preorders in it. Those included Princeweaver by Ellen J. Morgan and City of Gods and Monsters by Kayla Edwards. I'm excited about both of these. Well, I'm excited about all of the books I got, and now my shelves are overflowing. I have to go on a book-buying ban ASAP.

 

 

 

I think I actually got these a couple of weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to include them in a haul. I ordered Ariana Nash's King of the Dark trilogy off of Pango or Mercari. I can't remember which. They were isolated for a while, as I've been having an issue with bugs on my front porch, where larger packages get delivered, so I wanted to be sure they hadn't been contaminated out there. They seem fine, though. Thankfully. I'm now having the post office hold my large mail, which has helped my peace of mind. I hate bugs. Books and bugs just don't mix.

 

 

And next up, I have two preorders that I've, thankfully, already paid for. One is the Big A.S.S. Party. It's a novella set in the Zodiac Academy world. The other is A Tongue So Sweet and Deadly by Sophia St. Germain. It's the Bad Women Books edition. The cover is very pretty. Actually, both covers for these are pretty. I will say, I did receive the next book in the ZA series as well, but it came with a dented corner, so I submitted for a replcament. The damaged one is just hanging around my kitchen while I wait to see if I have to send it back.

 

 

 

And lastly for the physical items, I have something I bought on a whim on Mercari right before knowing I was going to drop like $400 on a resale ApollyCon ticket. Someone was selling an Arcane dust jacket of AKOFAF for only $10, so I decided, why not? That way, I can use the reverse dust jacket. Now, I just have to find a book to put inside it.

As for ebooks, I have one: Frozen by Stardust by Elizabeth Helen. This is probably my most anticipated book of the year, besides the next FBAA book, which I don't think will release until 2027 based on what JLA said. I'm currently reading Frozen by Stardust right now, but I had it preordered on Kindle because I had some credit from them. I'm only about a third of the way in, but it's reading super fast. I'm glad the next two books are releasing this year, because it would have been terrible to have to wait another year.

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Prep 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.

It's the week before ApollyCon, and I can't believe I have to get ready. Packing, cleaning, planning. It's all stressful. But, even though I'm not going as an attendee this year, it'll still be fun. I hope. Other than that, I've just been doing the same ol' thing. I honestly would be shocked if something different happened at this point. Ha.

As for the books I received, I got The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman, the FairyLoot edition. It took forever to get this. I was getting sad seeing everyone else receive their copy. I also got my Zodiac Academy: Shadow Princess luxe edition from the authors. Only nine more books left in my large and expensive preorder for these special edition books. I might actually get the entire set before the end of next year!

 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Pretty Overuse 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 don't have much of a life update this week. I've just been working, watching TV, reading, sleeping. The usual. I guess technically I've been better about working out, so that's a positive. I'm slowly getting my groove back. Now, I just need to get work to calm down some more, get through ApollyCon, and then I plan to really be back into a good routine. Maybe I'll even sprinkle in some late spring cleaning too.

As for the books I received, I finally got the first book in the Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep series, which is Kings of Quarantine by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti. It's their luxe author edition, and it's very pretty. I also ordered a Daenerys Pop Mart figure. I'd been wanting this for a couple of years now, but it was a random blind-box type of thing and I didn't want to pay for multiple boxes to try and get a Daenerys when the other figures aren't quite as cute. Thankfully, someone was finally selling her at a decent price on Mercari.

 

 

 

I received my March Adult FairyLoot book as well. It's The Last Starborn Seer by Venetia Constantine. FairyLoot did a decent job with this one. It's pretty. The original cover was pretty too, though, so I'll have to see which version I prefer once I've actually read the story. I do like that the cover is purple. Purple is my favorite color.

 

 

And next up, I have some Barnes & Noble preorders. When I made these orders, I had no idea all of them would arrive and therefore charge me at the same time. I guess I need to pay more attention to release dates when I preorder. Lol. I ended up getting The Summer King by Jennifer L. Armentrout, Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox, Cinder Vale by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, and Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry. The good thing is I've already read two of these, so yay to not adding as much to my physical TBR!

 

As for ebooks, I have one: Turncloak by L.K. Steven. I tried really hard not to request this book on NetGalley. I was being good and I kept telling myself that I'd just check it out from the library on my own time. However, the publisher sent an approval email for me, so I didn't even have to request it. Sigh. I'm weak I tell you. And don't get me wrong, I want to read the book, I just have too many NetGalley ARCs that I need to get through right now. But, I couldn't say no. I have five months. I can do that, right?

 

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