Winter King by Juliana Haygert
Series: The Wyth Courts #1
Published by Indie on 6 November 2020
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Pages: 198
Format: eBook
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His court is dying, and she’s his only hope …
Monsters of the Tywyll Forest have poisoned the Winter Court, unleashing a prophecy that demands a human sacrifice to save the withering land. Willing to do whatever it takes to save his people, King Cadewyn of the Winter Court ventures to the human world in search of one insignificant life to claim...
Amber was used to her life being in shambles, but getting kidnapped and whisked off to a magical fae realm was a new low, even for her. While feeling drawn to the fae King by a sizzling attraction, her apprehension builds to a panic over why he brought her there.
When Cade discovers that Amber is his mate, can he still carry out his plan to sacrifice her? Or will the malicious plotting of others within the court leave Amber trapped in the mystical realm with nowhere to run?
POV: First Person, Dual
Ending: HEA
Content Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, Some Violence
Pace
At 198 pages, I spent too much time reading Winter King by Juliana Haygert than I should have. The pace was just okay, enough action happening within the plot to keep the story moving enough but it didn’t really hook me, suck me in, like it should have. At my usual reading pace, I should have finished this book in an afternoon and it took me almost three days! But I can’t place all the blame on the pace and plot because they were actually not too bad compared to the characters…
Characters
I am not generally a violent person but Amber was driving me to towards a life of crime. I wanted more conflict from her, she was too agreeable all the time. Like I get it, she’s kind-hearted and selfless, blah, blah, blah, but people can feel and experience multiple things at once. She acquiesced to be sacrificed was too easily. She was practically giddy about it, spinning around a field a-la Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, announcing to the universe that, yes, she had made up her mind and was going to sacrifice herself after about 10 minutes of contemplation. I could not relate.
Maybe that’s a sign I’m too stubborn for my own good but I like to call it self-preservation. I would hope that if I was kidnapped and told I was going to be killed to save a random kingdom (that I had zero connection to), I’d want a bit more information and maybe think on it for a bit longer than a single night.
Unlike Amber, I think that Cade is a much more developed character and experiences a wider range of emotions, although he seems to just cycle through the same ones. His internal conflict between duty and desire is more compelling and makes him the more interesting character.
Without Cade, I’m not sure I could have finished the book because Amber was driving me bonkers.
Is Winter King by Juliana Haygert spicy?
Yes, there are a couple explicit scenes after a slow-ish burn and a fair bit of build-up. The scenes are written decently well but they are a wee bit vanilla, in my opinion. Still, I would classify Winter King as a lower-end spicy read.
Tropes
- Kidnapping
- Curse
- Royalty/Court Intrigue
- Slow Burn
- Magic
- Fated Mates
- Fae
- Gods/Goddesses
My Thoughts
Overall, I thought Winter King was an okay read. I probably wouldn’t read it again and I don’t feel super compelled to continue with the series, although each subsequent book features a different royal couple so Amber likely won’t be there to annoy me anymore.
The writing felt very surface-level to me. I tend to create an image of the scene and characters in my head and I had a lot of trouble picturing this story. More telling, less showing. The fact that I didn’t DNF is a good sign but it just didn’t tick my boxes.
Regardless, I think if you aren’t a big fantasy reader because you don’t like the complexity of the world-building or learning the intricate magic systems and you like a sweet romance then you might enjoy Winter King. It wasn’t my particular taste but that’s not to say someone else won’t love it.
Recommended For
You might like Winter King if you’ve tried fantasy before but found it too long and complicated and you prefer a sweet romance with a good-hearted heroine and a bit of spice.
