Wilds of Surprise
Stolen Crowns
Fairy Tales, Folklore
M&F Books
September 12, 2024
E-book
372
A cursed land. A mysterious rival. A lethal sport of survival.
I’ve spent my life raised to be a spouse. My husband has no clue about my secret passion. I hunt for magical and uncommon artifacts, hoping that in the future I can be part of the esteemed Academy of Historians & Students.
When the unthinkable occurs, I’m given a chance to discover a divine relic belonging to one of many historical seven spirits, a lightning bolt with lethal powers. Discovering it may very well be my ticket to becoming a member of the academy. The catch? It’s been stolen by the bone collector, a nemesis who additionally has a penchant for accumulating historic objects—and who crosses over right into a mysterious land with the bolt in tow.
Now I’ve to observe him into this wonderland of dying, the place nothing is because it appears, most of all of the bone collector. To outlive and get out, I have to do one thing I by no means thought I’d. Work with him. Thriller and intrigue encompass us, and what we start to find not solely unravels all the pieces we thought we knew about our world and our magic . . . however much more terrifying, about ourselves.
Wilds of Surprise is e-book 4 in Stolen Crowns, a collection of steamy standalone however interconnected fairytale retellings. This Alice in Wonderland retelling is ideal for followers of banter, (very) snarky heroines, and slow-burn romance.
A Wonderland for Adults Who Like It a Bit Scorching
Tee Harlowe’s fourth e-book within the Stolen Crown collection, Wilds of Surprise, made me really feel like a child once more, watching the prim and correct Alice let her curiosity get the most effective of her and fall down the rabbit gap. After studying Harlowe’s reimagining of Snow White, Peter Pan, and Tangled within the earlier three books, I’d must say that, to this point, her Alice in Wonderland-meets-Indiana Jones has the most effective world-building but. Harlowe actually let her creativeness run wild with this one!
The central figures are Emory Growley, a woman of the Frost Courtroom trapped in an terrible marriage to a Sky Courtroom ambassador, and Maverick von Lucas: tutorial, hearth elemental, and historic advisor to the Frost Courtroom’s queen. Each are sad with their current circumstances and yearn for a life stuffed with journey and keenness. Assuming aliases—Emory because the White Rabbit and Maverick because the Bone Collector—they start to hunt and recuperate misplaced artifacts from the period of the Seven Spirits and the Outdated World.
When the White Rabbit and the Bone Collector come face-to-face, Maverick suggests a sport. They resolve to fulfill yearly at numerous historic places to seek for an artifact. The principles are easy: no magic and no disclosure of identities. It’s purely a contest to say the treasure and the yr’s bragging rights. Over six years, their rivalry turns to banter, they outdo each other, and typically even rescue one another from life-threatening conditions. Via these annual challenges, they uncover a friendship and attraction that’s simple.
Theirs is the connection that drives this romantasy. Whereas not my favourite romance inside the Stolen Crown collection, it nonetheless had loads of tropes I am keen on and spicy scenes, together with:
- Secret identities
- Hearth and ice elemental magic
- “Who did this to you?”
- Nemesis-to-lovers
- He falls first
And, in fact, quotes resembling these that melted my coronary heart:
That bought a smile out of her. The primary smile I’d ever seen from Emory. It lit up this whole rattling forest. It lit me up. Neglect the fireplace. Neglect meals. I simply wanted her to maintain smiling like that, and it could be sufficient to maintain me for all my days.
My favourite a part of the e-book was Harlowe’s distinctive tackle Wonderland. Emory, Maverick, and Driscoll (sure, Driscoll returns, followers!) change into misplaced within the Wilds, which is later revealed because the ruined Star Courtroom and cursed with all issues curiouser and curiouser. Envision timber with watchful eyes, winds that heed whispered instructions, lakes reflecting one’s future, and blood beetles buzzing tunes from the Mad Hatter’s tea celebration. It’s wildly imaginative. It’s compelling. And it saved me flipping via the pages till the ultimate chapter. I can solely think about how a lot enjoyable Harlowe had scripting this e-book.
Tee Harlowe’s Wilds of Surprise is a standalone story, however I’d extremely advocate studying any e-book which you could from the Stolen Crown collection.