A Kingdom of Iron and Wine

by

Candace Osmond

This book begins with the fae lord of nightmares receiving a visit from an insane lady of the summer court. The lady wants a love potion, and in exchange for the potion, she agrees that the lord of nightmares can have her firstborn daughter – once she’s turns eighteen.

That’s not a spoiler – it’s all in the prologue.

The actual story begins with Avery, who’s just about to turn eighteen, moving from the countryside and into the city to study art at the university.

Once in town, Avery begins to discover that there is more to the world than she’s known – and then I’m not talking about the things a sheltered countryside girl discovers when she moves into a big city with a bustling nightlife (but there’s that too).

Avery finds fae, therians, monsters, an evil assassin (and two good ones), some more fae, insanely sexy vampires, and a school project that needs to be finished in cooperation with someone who on the surface appears to be a hateful bitch, but who may in fact just be lonely.

It’s fast-paced, entertaining, and funny, and I finished the book in about two days.

What I’ll whine about

I’ve always been under the impression that one’s not supposed to accept gifts from the fae, and especially not food. It seems that’s not the case here, and it played havoc with my expectations for the story before I figured it out.

Brain candy. While I thoroughly enjoyed the story as I read it, it’s been a few days since I finished it, and I’m having a hard time remembering much of the details.

What I’ll gush about

Brain candy. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. The story sucked me in, dragged me along, and spit me out the other side with that feeling you get when you’ve sat at the pub with a mate for a pint or two and then remember that lunch is over and you have to go back to work

It’s the kind of book where what I’ll remember is the vibe and the mood, and it’s a darn fine vibe.

The writing and storytelling. The book doesn’t really bring anything new to the table, but it’s very well done. The story never really drags, but flows smoothly all the way through, and the word-crafting is spotless. It makes this a real smooth and easy read.

Final words

This is some weapons grade brain candy to whisk you away from the real world for a while.

Find A Kingdom of Iron & Wine on Goodreads.