Loved this one to bits! Not your typical fantasy or romance, but still has loveable tropes and characters. Would definitely buy the hardcopy

Thank you NetGalley and City Owl Press to give me this ARC!

This book can be said is really to the point with the story of want they to convey. Without further ado, we are immediately introduced to the characters who will accompany us throughout this book and are also introduced to the conditions they are currently facing.

Arya, one of the runners who is now 20 years old and this is her last year to become "The Chosen" who will carry out her duties in the outside world but if she fails to become The Chosen then she must leave the mountain where she has lived for 20 years and living a different life from the one she knew so far. Until finally she had the opportunity to become The Chosen and carry out her mission. Without knowing that the world she knew so far was very different from the one she knew.

The built world is interesting because here they lose the sun and only have night every day. The world that is described is quite detailed, although the setting used is not too much in this book, but it is able to help build the reader's imagination.

The conflict raised is actually very obvious, but because of the good writing, while reading, I really enjoyed every moment that was described. Here also very much action is described complete with blood, monsters, weapons. And the depiction of the action presented is very good and suspenseful. The climax of the conflict is well described even though the tension is less pronounced.

For the character of Arya, I really like her. She is strong, smart, brutal, and honest. The female character who is very strong even beats the male character, Azriel. I love Azriel but I think his existence is greatly defeated by Arya. But, as a couple they are amazing. Starting with small fights until they finally can really care for each other. It's not difficult to like Azriel but at tough and crucial moments, Azriel doesn't come. It's a shame even though the combination of the two seems to be very deadly.

The story in this book is finished even though the author made this as a series. Looks like it will be more of an introduction to the world than the continuation of this book's story

I enjoyed it although, it was a little slow for me in the beginning. But I felt myself hooked on to it as the story picked up the pace. It was enchanting and beautifully written. I really liked how intriguing and strong the plotting, and the characters were, especially the female lead character! I simply loved her. I would definitely recommend it to the people who love fantasy romance with the themes similar to Sjm and JLA.

I just finished reading this and I want to read the next instalment already. I am absolutely in love with this book. I was in awe of the captivating characters, the beautifully descriptive writing style, the amazing build up and the plot!!
The most easiest five stars I could have ever given!

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC of Empress Crowned in Red

I was really captured at the beginning of this book! It fell slightly flat mid way through but I still liked the characters and the overall plot. I cant wait to see what book 2 brings.

There was so much potential in this story! It started so well, and I was utterly hooked, so I was pretty disappointed that it fell slightly flat after that. The characters were nice, and the plot was interesting, but I couldn't connect to the characters or the sense of place.

I would recommend this to newbie fantasy readers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mystic Owl for the eARC!

3.5 stars, but rounding up.

A Night of Wings and Starlight was a quick, fun read that I really enjoyed.

This was a quick and a fun read I enjoyed it but I unfortunately didn’t feel connected to the characters. However, I really liked the vivid descriptions and was hooked on to the story; it was entertaining. Overall, it’s a 4 star read for me.

I didn’t finish this book as it just wasn’t for me but that is only my opinion and I hope others read and love it! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to try this one early!

This book was given to me as an ARC in exchange for a review.

Really enjoyed this!

A fun, quick, easy read with likeable characters and an interesting take on vampires.

Arya is a runner, destined to serve her queen by running through the dark lands plagued by vampires outside the safety of the mountain she’s from. On her first venture out she meets a watcher; Azriel. Azriel has Arya questioning everything she thought she knew and it quickly becomes clear that things are not as they seem…

This story was original and I enjoyed a slightly different take on vampires. I’ve read a lot of vampire based books but this felt fresh and new. Similarly, the watchers were also interesting creatures and felt different to fae in other books.
The romance was nice and I enjoyed seeing a female main character with a sense of humour. It also has spice if that’s your thing and I actually found a fair few poignant and beautiful written quotes too.

However, what has stopped me rating it 5 stars is that fact that everything felt a little rushed. Sometimes things felt underdeveloped and I would’ve liked to have seen more detail and world building. The relationship in particular seemed to go from 0-100! As others of said, the ending also felt a little anticlimactic and too easy.

Having said that, I did still enjoy the book and I’ll definitely be reading book 2.

First sentence of the book: "There were only three rules in the world I lived in: be quick, be quiet, and be careful."

Excuse me? When I read that, I KNEW I was going to enjoy whatever journey the author was going to take me. Such a striking first line.

While some aspects of this book reminded me of ACOTAR (MMC's personality emulating Rhys, MMC is named Azriel, the phrase "under the mountain") the premise and plot felt wholly unique. The concept of a divine being going rogue, causing the gods to stop time and suspend the world in eternal darkness so the mortals have no choice but to adapt and survive? Amazing. A whole settlement existing under a mountain, where children train to run vast distances, and undergo trials of life or death while blindfolded, for the chance to become "chosen" and essentially run across the kingdom on missions for the queen? Spectacular.

I absolutely adore that the reader can tell how passionate the author is about running, I love how strong willed and impressive Arya (the FMC) is, I'm obsessed with Az's charm, and I could not get enough of their banter!

However, there are a couple things that kept me from rating this a 5:
-The speed that Arya and Az's relationship progresses in like a week was very jarring and unrealistic (realism is not expected in fantasy, but this is romantasy, so I do want/hope for a convincing romance), therefore I'm not entirely sold on that front.

-Without getting into spoilers, I felt that Arya completed some tasks with too much ease. Yes, she's the chosen one, special and more skilled than others, but these tasks were meant to be challenging to even immortals so the fact that she got through them relatively unscathed? Not a big fan.

-This book has such an incredible premise, but it does read like it's barely scratching the surface. I hope that this is because it's the first in the series (and the authors' debut) so we'll get more in the sequel, because I would love more background on Az/the watchers/the lore/everything!

Overall, I thought this was a delightful, fast-paced, romantasy read. It's the first of a series, but I do think this installment could serve as a standalone if need be. I am so intrigued, and excited to see where the author takes this story next!

Rating: 3.5 rounded to 4.

This book was a fast-paced adventure! As in - please keep all hands and legs tightly clutched to your sexy winged Watcher at all times, 'cause it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

In a world cursed with perpetual night, our main girl, Arya, has been, quite literally, living under a rock. But, once she becomes the Queen's Chosen, it's finally her time to run out (again, literally) into the world to stretch her legs and break through the oppressive walls of her past.

Nothing, though, breaks through the walls around her heart like the aforementioned Watcher with silver wings and an even more silver tongue. While their relationship unfolds a little quickly for my taste, it was nonetheless enjoyable, especially the flirting and the more spicy scenes.

Watching Arya's story unfold was vividly dreamlike and yet tangible at the same time. There's something so refreshing about seeing a world filled with magic and wonder only to be reminded that normal bodily functions/limits are still very much a thing.

And omg, the running! I am by no means a runner (unless I'm running my mouth, of course), but this book exuded such a passion for running, I damn near wanted to pound the pavement myself. And, *ahem*, speaking of pounding...the arm of my chair got quite the beating from my laughing at all the fun banter in this book (my goodness, what did you think I meant? get your head out of the gutter!). But really, their banter was witty and unstrained. So much so that the verbiage actually became informal to the point of starkly contrasting with the rest of the dialogue. It was fun to see a bit of contemporary diction, but it definitely threw off the narrative a smidge for me.

While there is an ease to the story that I very much liked (it had excellent flow), there was also ease to the plot that I wasn't the biggest fan of. It seemed like the conflicts that did arise were overcome rather conveniently - especially at the end.

I had a couple of other minor plot-related issues, but I wouldn't want to give anything away. Plus, I'm hoping that since this is the first book in a series, some of my questions might be answered in the next one!

Thank you, NetGalley and City Owl Press, for the ARC!

Link to Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4692652268

I received an eARC copy of this absolutely fantastic book! Which, as I have mentioned in other reviews, I have a really hard to reading because looking at my screen too long makes me sick, but with this, I Read it in 2 days, and got caught even reading it at work. (WHOOPS but totally worth it!)
An super short, fun and easy read, This book has got a little bit of everything! A kick ass heroine, an interesting story with a good bit of world building and lore, stunning imagery, sword fights, monsters, a male suave enough that even I, as a gay girl, did a little eyebrow raising of approval, and a Map(!) in the front of the book. I love a fantasy book that includes a map. A+ all around.
Oh and did I mention that it’s spicy?? This is not a book for your teenager. Mature audiences only for sure. 🥵😍
I would love to see this book appear in one of my subscription boxes sometime in the near future!!

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

If you’re looking for an exciting and captivating fantasy romance build around and interesting world, look no further.

In Arya’s world, the eternal night has banished the dawn for a hundred years and human civilization is forced to survive under darkness and escape the deadly creatures that prowl in it. After training hard for years, she is finally chosen by the Queen to be a runner, delivering messages between the kingdom’s cities. During her first trip, Arya was prepared to deal with the threat of the blood-thirsty vampyres, however, she was not ready to come across an arrogant yet, undeniably handsome winged Watcher, who would overturn her world, her beliefs and steal her heart. Suddenly, our main heroine is faced with her new role as the huntress, responsible to break the curse that plagues Valdihr and return the dawn to humanity.

All in all, this was an easy and enjoyable read, built around an intriguing world with angel like warriors fighting against an evil queen, vampyres and huge water serpents and a strong female character who is ready to confront them all in order to save her love and the human kind. My only complaint concerns the final confrontation between Arya and the Queen, which I thought was resolved rather quickly and it was rather anticlimactic.

Ultimately, this was a solid 4 out of 5 star read for me, because even though there was no complicated world building or epic battles, it was well-written, the narration kept a good pace throughout the book and romantic side-story was exciting.
Thank you to NetGalley and City Owl Press for the ARC.

What drew me to A Night of Dreams and Starlight was the entirely beautiful cover and what really convinced me was the blurb.

It’s a Fantasy Romance, Strangers to Lovers, in a quest to save the world from the evil.

While normally I enjoy a good fantasy the pace was incredibly quickly in both love and plot wise. I’m more a fan of good, normal pace where the characters get to know each other and start falling. The plot isn’t badly explained per se, but I repeat, it was too fast and not enough information.

With all this said, I’m curious of how book 2 will be.

Thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing me with an ARC.

Somewhat confusing, but very interesting - with a white haired, winged male that can save me any day.

I was immersed in the atmosphere of the story from the very first page. From there, it was an easy read with good characters and plenty of action. I loved the idea behind the story: a world in perpetual darkness and the people who struggle to survive in it.

The relationship moved too fast for my liking, but I loved the banter between Arya and Azriel and their sweet and spicy moments. Honestly, the relationship moved faster than the plot which is impressive considering the plot was fast-paced.

“You’re still an ass.” I gasped, my feet floating above the sand. “But an incredibly beautiful one,” he muttered in my ear. “Aye, that too.”

Some elements reminded me of ACOTAR, e.g., the personality of the male MC was similar to Rhys, his name was Azriel, and "under the mountain" was mentioned. I think the similarities may be too much for some readers, but I found the story original in it's own right.

I was surprised, and disappointed, with how fast the story ended. I personally would have liked it to be longer, perhaps with some elements fleshed out more. However, I really enjoyed it and would not hesitate to recommend to other readers.

"There was no place else I'd rather die than running though the wastes of my world, nothing else I'd rather consume me than the eternal night."

This was a fun easy read.

The insta love was very insta but that didnt take away from the story being good. Ill definitely read the next!

Arya was a chosen runner picked by the queen to retrieve and important message, however she started to doubt her queen when she met an immortal winged Watcher who called her the Huntress.
For years, the world hasn't seen the light of the sun and now Arya could be the only one who can bring down the cursed queen and bring back dawn to the world.

A fast paced action-packed story filled with betrayals, love and witty banter. Add in winged immortal creatures, brave mortal heroine and dangerous monsters into the story will attract fantasy readers for sure!

The story is well written and the readers get to know the world building and the background story slowly throughout the story, so there's no info dumping, which is great.

My absolute favorite character is Arya. She's a strong heroine and not just a damsel in distress. She wanted to make her own choices without people telling her what to do. I admire her for that.
Not only that, I love the witty banter between her and Azriel. Azriel is the type of love interest that you'll swoon over, I wish we got to know more about him or even read his POV.

To be honest, I would have given this a higher rating if it wasn't for the insta love connection between the two main character so early in the story. After knowing only for a couple days, they are willing to die for each other...(?)
Moreover, I wish the length of the book is longer to give space for the characters to develop.

Overall, this is quite an entertaining fantasy romance debut novel! The ending was wrapped up pretty nice and I'm still able to enjoy it despite the insta-love romance.

I'm looking forward to read the next book in Eternal Night series, A Deal with Darkness coming out this November. I think it'll be like a prequel to this book.

Actual rating: 3.5⭐

Thank you to Netgalley, Alexis L. Menard and City Owl Press for granting me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I feel so lucky that I decided to review this book! I’m obsessed with it and I can’t wait for the sequel!

The characters are all well developed and interesting. I could resonate so much with the main character that I would like her to be my best friend. She is witted, determined, driven and a badass.

The plot is amazing and the world building accurate and complete. I liked the descriptions of the places and nature and basically everything in it.

A thing that I loved in the book is the humour and sarcasm. For me, that’s what I liked most of all and what makes it different from other fantasy reads.

This is a read that gave me a book hangover! So read this and thank me later!

Arya has wanted nothing more for the past 20 years than to become one of the Chosen, the Queen’s elite runners sent throughout the realm to complete tasks during the eternal night. When her dream finally comes true, she couldn’t be more excited to embark on her first run outside the mountain. But not everything is at it seems in the eternal night….

Alexis L Menard takes us on an adventure through a dystopian world, causing us to fall in love with her characters at break-neck speed. A Night of Wings and Starlight is a quick, easy read that fulfills the reader’s desire for fantasy, fighting, and fate. I’m eagerly awaiting book two!