3.5 ⭐️

Overall I enjoyed the book! I appreciated the world building, and that there are a few types of fae, combining elemental and mermaid vibes. I realize I'm biased, but I enjoyed that the FMC is a marine biologist, and that she's actually mature! Our MMC is a protective cinnamon roll of a warrior who is always there to encourage the FMC.

The first chunk flowed quickly and held my attention, making it a fast read. The middle slowed a bit as history and depth were being added, and the last 10 or 15% picked back up again.

Though there's insta-attraction (there's a bond, after all), the romance took time to develop, and I appreciated that they didn't just jump each other right away... though there was plenty of that once it started.

My biggest issue was that there were a few times the plot wasn't believable in order to create drama. I know that sounds ridiculous to complain of an unbelievable plot when we're dealing with fae and mermaids. 😉 But our FMC is the princess and we know her life is in danger. Yet multiple times she is rather too conveniently left unguarded and 💩 ensues... the first time it happened, I found it frustrating, but I could deal with it. But by the third time it seemed a weak tactic to add more drama to the plot.

That said, I still enjoyed the story overall and would recommend it seeing as my main issue is certainly a personal preference.


🫢 Occasional cursing, including F
🌶🌶🌶 Multiple open door scenes; PDA with LGBT characters
⚠️ TWs listed in front of book and on the author's website

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the early copy. I'm leaving this honest review voluntarily.

Thank you S.T Fernandez, NetGalley and Azalea Press for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

The overall premise was EXTREMELY intriguing. Water Fae with an intriguing water magic system. When I initially came across this, it was giving all the Atlantean vibes so many of us love.

However there were significant things in this one that gave this reader an ick. The term "cock pocket," and the quick obsession that the bandmates had. This ideation was ruined for me with the MMC's parents roles. The part where his dad quickly seemingly was able to move on shortly after his mate of over 500 years left a bad taste. I also don't enjoy when books are needlessly wordy. I felt things were overly described and drug on, causing me to flip ahead at times.

The Veiled Heir (Book 1 of The Heir of Atlantis) by ST Fernandez is a romantic fantasy novel. One of my favorite things in a fantasy novel is the world building. This novel does an excellent job describing the beauty of the different realms. As I read a long I could almost imagine being there especially in Atlantis.
The plot was well developed and filled with emotions. The characters especially Asherah are well fleshed out and brought to life on the page. The love and chemistry between her and Draevyn is that of a fated mate.
Overall this was a great read and if you enjoy romantic fantasy this is a great choice. I can not wait for book 2.

I’ve never read a book by this author before but I absolutely loved it! Thank you so much for the ARC! I loved this story, it was extremely well written. Will definitely be on the lookout for more books by this author!

I overall enjoyed this book but it’s not one that I would likely reread in the future. The beginning and end were amazing but it really lulled through the middle. I loved the characters but it felt very surface-level. I didn’t really love some of the dialogue as it didn’t feel very natural at times. I will probably read the next book

Ash's world gets turned upside down one day when her, her mother, and her father, are attacked. This attack leads to Ash learning about what she and her family truly are. Her mother is the Queen of Atlantis, her Father is the king, and Ash is the heir, and it quickly becomes her duty to rule Atlantis, when her mother is murdered. Ash is thrust into a whole new world, one that she must become the perfect Queen for, even though she knows nothing about Atlantis or it's people. Ash is then given a short time frame where she must prove to those who don't believe in her and want her removed from the throne, that she can be a great queen to her people.

What I liked:
- I enjoyed the magic system, and having the magic based on the type of fae that the characters are, although, in the next book, I am hoping for a bit more distinction of this magic system from other magic systems that are very similar. Throw in a few curveballs, add some more layers, the works.
- I did like the writing style. I felt like it was a great ratio of dialog to descriptive wording. While the writing at the beginning was a bit slow, it did improve greatly by the end of the book and the second half flowed a lot better.

What I did not like:
- This book includes fated mates/bondmates, which I do love, however, I prefer the type of mates where there is a build up before they become obsessed with each other as soon as they see each other. The chemistry was good, but I feel like they just went from strangers, to obsessed within a couple of pages and that really is way too fast for my tastes.
- Dear Author.... Was the term "cock pocket" necessary when discussing anatomy of the water fae? Every time I saw that word, it just made me really want to skip to the next page.
- The side relationship between Ash’s Dad and her friend. That just seemed to come out of nowhere. Ash’s parents were together for 500+ years, bondmates were told to basically just love each other until forever, and then her dad moves on less than a year after her mom was murdered. I don’t think that was necessary, and it takes away from the main story line, which is Ash trying to prove herself
- Ash’s training sometimes seemed to be put on the back burner in the story, as if it wasn’t a part of the main storyline. It was mentioned here and there, sometimes there were scenes, but if Ash has 6 months, and was told her training would be super intensive, I feel like it wasn’t treated that way when it came to including more details on her training to show her development in the book. This led to some confusion for me about whether or not the main plot was the romance, or Ash learning her heritage and how to be a queen.

All in all, do I plan on continuing the series? Yes, I can see myself reading more of this series. I did like this book, and am curious to see what happens after the ending of this book, and in what direction the story will go from here. I do think that the ending was a nice bump in the road that was thrown in and I want to know how everyone attempts to get around it.

The Veiled Heir by S. T. Fernandez is a truly wonderful romantasy that will have you in ALL your emotions. The world-building is beautifully done, the characters are all well-developed, and the elemental magic of the different realms reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Asherah’s (MFC) character development is well thought out and delivered in an amazing way and her relationship with Draevyn is the perfect mix of steamy/sweet I love to see in the fated mate's trope.

Reading the descriptive world of Atlantis that Fernandez created is like stepping into the world itself and I WISH that it was real! The plot of the story is very straightforward and Asherah’s battle to claim the throne is steeped in politics, enemies, and a very vengeful relative (that can kick rocks in my opinion) but through it all Asherah conquers each blow that’s sent her way. There is so much to love about this book it’s hard not to ramble about them.

The one issue that I had with the book was that at the start the writing didn’t seem very hesitant but as the story progressed the writing became more “confident” for lack of better words. The ending cliffhanger killed me and I need the next book ASAP. So many unanswered questions and I can see The Heir of Atlantis series soaring to the top of romantasy book charts!

Fantasy books with info dumps are my least favorite fantasy books. The writing really held this back for me. I also found the fmc to be tame and naive. The training and ignorance really bored me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters, and the insta connection didn’t do it for me. I felt like there was zero character development and the characters felt shallow and one dimensional to me.

The premise is really intriguing and the ending was wild but it wasn’t enough to keep me engaged and rooting for the main characters.

I also can’t read about webbed feet I’m sorry.

Thank you for the arc. It’s out now.

4.5/5 stars
3.5/5 spice

Tropes:
Elemental Fae
Atlantis retelling
Hidden identity
The chosen one/Prophecy
Princess/ Bodyguard
Forced proximity
Fated mates
He falls first
Political intrigue
Queens rule/Queedoms
Dual POV
Cliffhanger

Loved how this series is starting despite a few issues I had with the decisions made by a few characters. I'm really excited to see where this will go. That cliffhanger killed me and upset me but I'm also itching for the next installment.

Highly recommend for fans of merpeople, elemental magic, the chosen one, and fated mates. This is open door and very spicy after a certain point. Please read the trigger warnings before reading.

3⭐️2.5🌶

Welcome to Atlantis, a Queendom ruled by Water Fae.

Our FMC, Asherah, was raised as a human and is Heir to a Fae throne she didn't know was hers. She faces a daunting task to save humanity, and her crown. Dealing with grief over the loss of someone very important to her, a passionate love is found with the Commander of the Guardians.

I found the plot to be good overall, but at times it contradicted itself and felt lost at times. I loved the first ÷/- 20% of the book, as well as the last +/- 20%. However, the middle was meh for me. The plot didn't get exciting for me until the last 25%.

I love that The Veiled Heir has a diverse cast of characters and is queer normative. 🙌 I also love the way mental health is viewed and prioritized, as is bodily autonomy.

The characters were good, but I wanted more. I wanted to care more about them and what happened to them. I wanted to feel. I did love to hate a couple characters, and did care a little about the mains.

The dialogue sometimes didn't read internally as sounding natural. I read a few snippets aloud to DH, and they sounded natural that way. I've never tried that method before, and I'm not sure what to think about it yet.

The romance didn't hit for for me, too insta-love. There was too much focus on the romance vs. doing what she needed to save humanity, or world building, exploring her new surroundings, etc. I do prefer my books to be more on the fantasy side than romance side, though.

The spice was ok to good overall. When the term "cock pocket" was used, I couldn't get past it. All I could hear and see were Hot Pockets ads/jingle. I think this term was the author's version of a merman cloaca, but I just couldn't. 😂

As for the prose, at times I loved it and others not so much. Usage of words like "haters" brought me out of the story. It didn't feel like it fit, tbh it fit like a fish out of water (swing and a miss 😅). The writing contradicted itself at times. For example, at one point a character says, "I'm not asking you to be happy about it, _." Shortly after, in the same conversation, he says, "Please. Try to be happy for me."

That ending was great - enough that I plan to continue the series even though I didn't love this book.

Some important but potentially triggering topics are mentioned in this book, like racism, xenophobia, and SA (on page, not to completion). For a full list of TWs as well as content warnings, please see the author's website or the beginning of the book. It's available for free on KU.

Overall, it was decently good, but I feel it could have been great. I have hope that the 2nd book in the series will be more of a hit for me.

If you're a fan of Fourth Wing, ACOTAR/Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Lightlark/Alex Aster, From Blood and Ash/Jennifer L Armentrout I think you'd enjoy this book. 😊

I received an eARC of this from @netgalley this is my unbiased review.

I enjoyed this unique blend of Atlantis and Fae mythology. The cover and title caught my attention, and the beautiful cover design delivered. The story had excellent world-building, memorable characters, and a satisfying plot. The unexpected spice added some excitement to the story. Overall, Draevyn is a compelling character that added to the enjoyment of the book.

Asherah Delmar's life is thrown into turmoil when instead of heading off to continue studying marine biology she finds herself being whisked off to Atlantis. Not only that, but her mother is the Queen and now has been assassinated leaving her the only heir to the throne to a world she like the rest of the 'humans' thought was just a fable.
The premise of this book excited me a lot. It is just the sort of story that captures my interest, but in this case I am sorry it left much to be desired. Unfortunately the pace was significantly off. What started with a bang and brisk pace quickly slowed to a mere crawl and for approximately 60% of the book I seriously contemplated giving up. Only in the last 20% did anything happen within the plot.
The characters were OK but the development was predictable. You were virtually given the key points within the first few chapters and then it took the rest of the book to spell them.
I am also wondering who the target audience is. The writing style suggests a younger audience but then there is strong sexual elements which would indicate older.
Overall I felt that the book could have been shortened to give it more punch and better pace.

Prepare for the ultimate mermaid book!

If you love any of the below, I think you’ll like this book
💧Fairy tales of Atlantis or mermaids
💧Fae rivalry
💧Elements of earth, air, water, and fire
💧Bonded mates
💧Slow burn into smut
💧Female-led societies

The plot was so good and while it was easy to see where the story was going, I loved how it all played out.

There are some parts of the story where it starts to set up for the ending or additional books regarding what the characters will need to do to fulfill a prophecy. But towards the end those parts seemed out of order for what I expected which felt a little chaotic. That was a little hard to follow but a small thing.

After the cliffhanger, I’m anxiously awaiting book two!

A fin-tastic story about finding your true self and love. Tropes that I was excited about were bonded mates, elemental fae, guardian/princess relationship. The Veiled Heir by S.T. Fernandez was truly a whole journey with a cliffhanger leaving you wanting the next book NOW! We follow Asherah "Ash" as she discovers she is the heir to the throne of Atlantis and a Water Fae who now has to learn about her new world, powers, and history in order to become Queen. Along the way she starts having feelings for Draevyn, her very sexy male Guardian. But all isn't fine and dandy in Atlantis or the fae realm. Not only are there water fae out for her crown but there are fire fae out for blood. Honestly, I was a little let down about how often she finds herself alone even after they make it a big deal that she needs to be protected at all times.
I'd highly recommend this book if you're looking for a brand new, just-started series and enjoy magic, new worlds, and smut. I had so much fun reading The Veiled Heir and I am looking forward to the next book in the series to see where Ash's journey goes next!
Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I have very mixed feelings about this book.

I really enjoyed the first ~40% of it. The premise was interesting and different, I was really getting into the story and the world was super cool and intriguing. There are so many things about it that I wish were explained and/or explored more!
Unfortunately the next ~45% became increasingly boring and repetitive - Ash recieves a lesson about Atlantis/being Queen, she thinks about how hot Draevyn is. She gets taught magic, she thinks about how hot Draevyn is. Bad guy antagonizes or threathens her, she thinks about how hot Draevyn is. Rinse and repeat.
At some point they get together and we replace thinking about his hotness with sex.
Then at the 85% mark the story finally gets moving again, but at this point we already know exactly what's going to happen because the hints were more like a step-by-step guide.
Now I know this all doesn't sound very positive but, and it's a big but, the ending has left me with high hopes for the other books in this series and I definitely want to know how Ashs story continues!
3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Azalea Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book based on the gorgeous cover and description; it seemed like the ideal summer mermaid fantasy. My favorite parts about this book were the lore and the magic system, which clearly had time, effort and detail put into it….and of course the sharks. The rest was a disappointment for me and I sadly will not be continuing the series.

The fantasy world I was looking forward to the most was riddled with real world elements, sayings, characteristics, book and trope references (and so much more but I’m trying not to spoil) to the point I couldn’t lose myself in the fantasy and it all felt disconnected. The relationship felt very instant love and seemed very “these characters love each other because that’s the plot.” Beyond the relationship, so many of these characters simply seemed to just lack intelligence (I’d go into detail but again, trying to avoid spoilers). I found myself frustrated and struggling to root for any of them. I also struggled with pacing, the climax and predictable outcomes.

I’m trying to word this without spoiling but my biggest concern about this book (that I think people should know about beyond the trigger warnings) lie in an aspect of the “fated mate” bond that reminded me a little too much about a very specific aspect of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (if you know, you know). It turned the relationship into something very different and it truly ruined the “romance” for me. If you read Breaking Dawn or know what I’m talking about, and that storyline made you uncomfortable, then this book is not for you.

As always, reading is subjective. What is not meant for me may be wonderful for you; if you read the trigger warnings and they don’t bother you and you are still intrigued and then by all means! I wanted to love this and it great potential but I personally would not recommend.

Wow I love a unique fantasy story, I love a fantasy story that pulls from less commonly used and fading cultures, I love finding new types of fae stories!!!!

What an absolutely fun journey this story took us on. Asherah thinks she’s just a normal girl living in the Florida Keys, studying marine biology and working on tourist water adventures, but surprise- she’s the secret heir to the queendom of Atlantis!!!!

From learning about the different elemental fae to training to control water to speaking to sharks to finding a special connection with her guardian Draevyn to building a wonderful group of friends around her to manipulating her scales to make her into a mermaid to discovering secrets about a world she didn’t know existed- asherah goes on QUITE an adventure. And that’s all to set up a seemingly adventurous journey in the next book!

The romance was very insta love (as is to be expected in a fate situation if you catch my drift), Ash waffled a bit and had to be reminded to get out of her head a lot, and some parts of the story were definitely easy to predict- but that’s all just the baseline. What comes from the story is so much more!! The twists are fun, the characters are extra cool with sick powers, the connection to indigenous Caribbean culture and language is wonderful, and the world building is top notch. The last 30% of the book just absolutely FLEW and I can’t wait to find out more about this world on our next quest through Atlantis!!

Thank you so much to ST Fernandez and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

AI voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, S. T. Fernandez and Victory Editing for this ARC.

The Veiled Heir is book 1 in The Heir of Atlantis series.

Asherah Delmar was looking forward to start her marine biologist course but the day before she's due to leave, she's followed by two strange men. But when she gets home she's sent with her dad to Atlantis, where she learns her true form and that she is the Heir to this queendom and now must prepare to be queen as her mother, the Queen, was murdered!

I really liked Ash when I first started reading the book, she sounded like a true heroine. The world-building was okay too. However, at about 35%, the book really dragged and was boring as there wasn't much going on. I was quite surprised with how the main villain kept getting away with everything when everyone knew exactly who was tormenting Ash; it got quite ridiculous, boring and hard to believe that Ash's friends and family kept leaving her alone with random people despite the danger to the Heir.

Overall, there was great potential but more than half the book felt like a waste of time and then a lot of things happened in the last 10%, most of which suspected.

Ashera finds out that she’s secretly the princess of Atlantis after growing up with humans for the first 22 years of her life. While fleeing from attacking fire fae, her mom, the queen of Atlantis is killed making Ashera the next in line for the throne. Lots of people are mad, there’s scheming, and a group of people are specifically out to kill her and make her miserable.

I’m mostly mad about the fact that this went through editors and beta readers and nobody mentioned that Earthos and Airelandia are BAD names for realms. The names for everyone are so like try hard fae sounding fake names. Melysa is a bad name for a character. Reneah is a bad name for a character. There are normal English spellings for those names we don’t need to make it quirky. The first probably third of this book needs heavy edits and it was hard to get through. The phrase “cock pocket” should NEVER be used, and the physiology of the scales doesn’t make any sort of sense (specifically shaping what is essentially skin into a tunic? Or a dress???) other than all that, this was a creative and inventive take in the legend of Atlantis and I did enjoy it in the end. I am still VERY mad that when Ashera has a whole group of her friends who have endless knowledge on Atlantean politics, she’s screwed over by one of those laws that anyone including her father the king should know???

I really enjoyed this book! As a lifelong mermaid fan the setting of Atlantis and underwater Fae was a winner for me. The world building was great and I found myself eager to learn more. I liked most of the characters but I struggled a bit with some of their decisions or their reasoning for lack of action.

The cover is beautiful and I especially enjoyed the second half of the story. I'm not really a fan of cliffhanger endings but it still felt like a whole story which I liked. I'm looking forward to the next one!

Thank you Netgalley and Azalea Press for this ARC to review.