3.5

I was captivated by the plot of this book from the start and will definitely be reading more of Jennifer K. Lambert’s books in the future. I loved both the female and male MC and loved watching their relationship with one another grow, from forced enemies to something more…
The writing was clear, and I could envision every scene perfectly like a movie through how much effort had been made in the choice of language and plot points.

The only reason my rating is not as high is just due to personal preference, as there was not a definite climax to the plot; it just felt like a lot of avoidance of a multitude of things, which I can see being built on if there is to be another book.

“Thank you for having my heart, for being both the question and answer.”

I’m still not sure about what to think about Never the Roses. First, this isn’t a Romance and that was quite disappointing –no matter the book’s other qualities– as it’s marketed as such (as far as I know).
The story takes its time to start, plunged into introspection then in an epistolary sparring match kindled by some books’ steals (or exchange, depending on the POV). Honestly, that part was strange and cozy, but I enjoyed it. But after that the story takes a turn and turns into a love triangle (which isn’t my cup of tea) propulsed in the middle of a looming war, each character being the puppet of a most powerful one. Every connection, even between the MCs, feels transactional, and it lacked, IMO, a true bond between them, even if I loved the banter (and the first part with the letters). However, this part too had its moments, and I loved the deepest themes like redemption and sacrifice (which makes me super bittersweet about the ending)..
In the end, it felt a bit like several books had been condensed into one, and it made it difficult for me to connect with the characters or completely care about what will happen to them. What I’ve loved, however, was the writing, especially in the first part of the book. It was magical in itself and was what made me turn page after page.

Thank you to the author and Pan Macmillan | Tor Bramble for the access to the eARC on NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed the dynamic and conversation flow between Oneira and Stearanos and their developing relationship was beautiful to read. The pacing in the first half of this book is what drew down my rating, but overall I did enjoy it and will read more by this author

4⭐
It was absolute delight—this book had me chuckling, crying, and completely swept away. The romance is tender, sweet, and unfolds at the perfect pace.

this book was not at all what i expected and it took me a bit to get into the story. Oneira is a powerful sorceress who’s decided she no longer wants a hand in all the war and destruction, so she retires and lives a life of reclusion in her cottage. the romance and the gradual connection built between Oneira and Stearanos, it was so sweet. the ending was a punch right in gut and that cliffhanger..!!!

”Thank you netgalley for the arc.”

Did I pre-order this book because it looked insanely pretty? Yes. However, I discovered that the book was also on Netgalley and of course I had to request a digital review copy. Luckily Tor Bramble was so kind to accept my request!

When I started this book I was afraid it was not gonna be for me. There is a lot of information in the first few chapters and it was hard to grasp all of it. However, now I finished the book and the first thing I'm gonna do when I get to hold my physical copy is reading the beginning again. Once the plot of the book started I was sold. Within a few chapters I started caring about the characters and I was not prepared for this book to shatter my heart in a million pieces.

If you're here for an epic plot about a fantasy war between two sorcerers, this is not your book. In a way this is actually more of a cosy fantasy. Those two sorcerers want only one thing: to live the rest of their lives in peace. The book is therefore basically a love story. A love story between two people who understand each other on a level no-one else will ever be able to understand them, connecting in a playful, slightly teasing, way.

Is there a part of me that would have loved to see more of the world and its magic? Yes. And yet there is also a part of me believing this book was perfect. It was heartwarming, it was hopeful, it was lighthearted, it was funny. It was also heartbreaking, therapeutic, dramatic, political and even a little bit sad. Basically, the book made me feel everything there is to feel and now I finished it I only want one thing: More of this!

This one definitely snuck up on me. It started off very slow, but the writing was gorgeous and atmospheric enough to keep me curious, and I’m so glad I stuck with it. The romance was sweet, snarky, and so full of heart, and the ending absolutely wrecked me in the best way. If you're into slow-burn magic, grief, and forbidden love with cozy vibes, this one’s worth the patience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bramble and author Jennifer K. Lambert for this eARC

Well this was an interesting read... On the one hand I loved it - the writing was beautiful, lyrical and had a very fitting dream-like quality to it. Lambert created a wonderful atmospheric setting. I loved it!
It also started out great with our MC Oneira living her quiet life after retirement. However it just took too much time for me for the plot to finally get going. I wasn't expecting aa fast, action packed adventure, but I did hope for a little plot development before the 60% mark.
I did thoroughly enjoy the last 20% even if the ending was somewhat unexpected for a romantasy.
3.5 stars

Beautifully written, stunningly descriptive, rich world building and two lead characters that fully have my heart.

Never The Roses is a magical slow-burn romance that is worth the wait. Perhaps a little slow in the beginning, but quickly picks up pace once the sneaky, mischevious and flirtatious exchanges between Oneira and Stearanos begin. They way they tease each other is so silly and petty but so perfect and watching their relationship develop and bloom throughout the story is rewarding and heartbreaking.

The last few chapters had me in a chokehold, feeling all of the emotions and the ending truly delivered the final blow that made my heart ache in equal parts dismay and hope.

Would definitely recommend to anyone who's fond of a little bit of magic, a little bit of spice, and a good ol' enemy's to lovers trope.

Huge, huge thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the ARC. It's much appreciated ♡

That cliffhanger was so good!!! i cant wait for the next book.
The world building was gorgeous and the story was written so beautifully it had me sobbing at the end.
This had forbidden love and the coziest and sweet vibes you could ask for. Genuinely this book had me giggling and kicking my feet!

Thank you NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and Bramble for the eARC.

Sometimes you know exactly what you want to read but can't find the book that fits the vibes. This is my book. I've been looking for this story for most of 2025 and here it is. It feels like it was written to specifically cater to this elusive mystery book I just wanted to read.
It's mature, it has emotional depth and believable trauma. It's not written just to satisfy trendy tropes. It's not about a teenager with the unrealistic life experience and skill of someone double their age. It's a slow and winding exploration of grief and love and healing.
I loved this book, it's made it onto my lifetime favourites list. I don't know whether to take the ending to be open to a sequel or just the loose drifting of a deeply emotional close to the tale. I don't know which I'd prefer it to be.

<i><b>"You cannot run all your life from who you are, from the road that's brought you to the here and now.”</b></i>

I’m in disbelief of that ending! I was not expecting that and it left me in so many emotions 🥹

This was the perfect slow burn romance to end the month of July! I fell in love with our main characters Oneira and Stearanos.

At the start I had difficulties getting into the book but I was invested to know what would happen next and I’m glad I continued.

From the banter between these to-to the steamy scenes and watching these to fall in love with each other and learn to trust one another and not feel so alone in the world.

Tropes
• Rivals to lovers
• Forbidden love
• Slow burn
• Tragic romance
• Dark past
• Unexpected ending


<b>Thank you to Jennifer K. Lambert, NetGalley, and Bramble for the chance to read and review this e-arc in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions remain my own.</b>

I wanted to love this so much. And it’s some aspects I did. I love the characters. I love the world. My only problem was I was bored or most of this. I’m not sure if it was too long, but I caught myself skimming in the last 25% of this book.

Oneira and Stearanos relationship was the best part of this book. However, they tried to throw a love triangle in which didn’t work for me and I cared nothing for. It really diminished the story in my eyes. I did love all the animals and all of the witty banter between the main character.

My other issue was that while i knew they both were from different kingdoms and we’re always at odds and never really felt like that mattered at all. Both kingdoms are ruled by horrible people and they’re basically sold to them as children.

I do hope that there is a second book although I’m not sure because I would like to see where it goes after that ending. I would recommend this.

3,5 ⭐️
Thank you to Netgalley , and Jennifer K Lambert for this ARC

This was one of those books that really creeps up on you. Enemy sorcerers and a slow burn romance, the story starts off slow and didn't particularly grip me to begin with. Further in though, it was sweet and charming, something I hadn't at all expected. By the end I was so glad I stuck with it!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Never the Roses is a slow paced, slow burn and descriptive story that deep dives into the mental health struggles that morally grey characters face. It shows the healing power of nature, pets and love. Focusing on the inner turmoil that our FMC is going through and that the only character (MMC) who understands and is able to help her through it being her enemy, her equal in all things.

That said, I found Never the Roses infuriating. I almost DNF a handful of times due to how slow paced it is and lack of anything actually happening. Do I wish I had DNF at 25% when no other speaking character had yet to be introduced? Yes, yes I do.

This book could have been a novella with how little plot and romance it had, including the open door spice scenes 🌶️. It felt like I was reading a side story of two morally grey sidekicks to our enemies to lovers MCs of our favourite series but it had too many adjectives and just needed to reach a word count.

This book simply was just not my cup of tea. I need action, excitement and a HEA 😭

2.5 ⭐️

This book blew me away. From the very first page, I was hooked — making it nearly impossible to put down.

The writing is beautiful and raw. The ending an emotional gut-punch.

I need book two!!!!

Sadly not for me.

While I loved the sound of this I found it too slow and felt like I spent the whole book waiting for it to capture me, which it didn't.

And after all that I at least hoped the ending would make it worth the read. Sadly again the ending let me down.

Hopefully one that others will enjoy but not for me.

2.25 ⭐️

This had such a great concept behind it, and I could see the author really loved the story she was trying to tell. It just didn't deliver for me. This review is LONG because I really believe there was so so much potential to this story.

This story is set in the aftermath, once the dust has settle over the big battles and campaigns, and everyone has gone home to live with the consequences.

Story: 2.5/5
Characters: 2.5/5
Spice: 🌶️.5 (rating chart at bottom for ref)
Pacing: 2/5
Plot twists: 2/5
Magic system: 2.5/5

We follow Oneria, the once great sorceress who laid whole cities to waste through her dreamwalking and overpowering magic, in the ‘after’. We see how she navigates a self inflicted isolation and then comes to connect with an old foe, finding solidarity in shared connection.

This book was full of so many opportunities, and I feel like none of them were fully taken. It was a book that should have explored trauma and the complexity around what that does to someone. It should have been this amazing story of the powerful connection and destruction of share trauma, how people to learn to live and love in the aftermath.
The throwing together of two magical powerhouses (according to the story) should have been filled with crackling intensity, suspense and a physicality that bordering on violence. This should have felt like a meeting that had the potential to crack the world in two. That could have been the conflict the plot revolved around:
How two people, scarred by a war they were forced to drive, from opposite sides, come together through forbidden correspondence, both with the potential to lay each other and the realm to ruin. How their trauma affects their ability to connect and find solace in the world around them.

It missed something amazing.

The first 25% was about Oneria's isolation, a really tricky angle from a reader's perspective. It was just, to be blunt, boring. And I struggled to get through the long, descriptive prose that dragged the already slow pace to a halt.
And with Oneria's great magical strength it felt like the slow isolation narrative could have been countered by an underlying fractured sense of self that exploded in bursts/episodes of repressed trauma.
Considering what she's been through as a character, I wanted so much more from her. I wanted to understand how she had come to the point where she would decorate a bier every day. It's almost like we missed the more interesting (if that's the appropriate word) spiral she had gone through. We were at the stage of acceptance without being part of that other intense journey, and it was just quite muted as a result.

The book started to take a turn about 55% through with some admittedly great verbal sparring and sexual tension. But it went soft very quickly. And what I mean by that is you have two incredibly powerful people, from traumatic backgrounds (seeing and being the perpetrator of soul destroying events) coming together. I expected more from the development of their relationship, I wanted them to struggle with not using that pain and trauma against each other.

Oneria and Em both acknowledged that everyone feared them, except together they didnt fear each other. Rather than tenderness, I feel that could have been such a great exploration of how that lack of fear would likely present as this overwhelming opportunity to cathartically aim their power, anger, trauma and fears at each other. Almost in challenge to see who would 'weather the storm'. I was so disappointed by how their tender and loving relationship came from nowhere, with no obvious people within their lives who would have taught them love was anything but an appreciation for power. That is all they've known!

So that's why I felt the characters fell flat, I didnt feel any complexity from them or depth of the history they had been dragged through.
Oneria was a strong sorceress, yet the second a pretty man comes through her doors she's a simpering mess? She felt tepid in her powers, which didnt seem to reflect the reality of her destructive past. I wanted her to be always on the edge using her magic, could she lose control again? What would that take?
Similarly with Em, he was meant to be an antagonist, and he didnt antagonise for long enough! I wanted them to be a magical powerhouse with such depth of emotional trauma and baggage that they almost destroy each other before they come together. I wanted that peril! I wanted this book to be their discovery of each other as the tether to the world they live in. For them to suffer through working through their history and trauma as part of their journey. I wanted it to be an emotionally hard read while we relived what their past had done to them as characters.

The magic system was... there? I liked the concept of the Dreamwalking, although I found the other powers that Oneria had a little... convenient? They didnt seem tied to any specific theme or area of magic, and just allowed her to do a lot of what she wanted. The fact she could read any language for example, just because all the minds of the world were in the dream with all living language?

And if I thought the verbal sparring around the middle of the book might have pulled it to 3 stars, I'm afraid that ending took it right back.

I just do not believe that Oneria, so traumatised by her involvement in the war, would ever ever go back to involving herself so easily. She is bedded and then suddenly everything else is swept away, and she's manipulated so easily?
And then she decides that she will sacrifice herself after killing the King, why? What is her motivation? Is she overwhelmed by the possibility of killing once more living thing (despite the fact her actions will cause the death of hundreds in the subsequent unrest) so she feel compelled to take her own life...? It was like a strange mike-drop.
I WANTED the war as a reader, I wanted a second book (the first ending with the revelation that the Prince (would be King) would proceed the war regardless of Oneria) to explore what Em and Oneria would do if they were thrown back into conflict on opposite sides of the war. The consequences of their trauma and love within the confines of the inevitable conflict, with them as unwilling political weapons. That would have been an incredible story, and a heartbreaking one.

I just think this story didn't hit where it needed to, and I didnt believe the characters. I wish the author had written the 'before' story, even if she'd kept it to herself, as I feel like this would have fleshed out the characters better. And I really do think they would have made different choices if the author had explored their trauma more.

Thank you so much to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ARC, all views and opinions are my own ✨

Spice rating:
- low to no spice, just kissing
🌶️ - Low spice foreplay, fade to black/closed door sex
🌶️🌶️ - One or two open door “soft” (not overly explicit) sex scenes and/or spicy foreplay
🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Multiple open door explicit/detailed sex scenes and detailed spicy foreplay
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Lots of open door sex scenes and spicy detailed foreplay
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️- more sex than plot

Never The Roses presents a fascinating premise, and I was eager to dive into it, expecting a truly immersive experience. The cover is absolutely stunning, setting the stage for what I hoped would be a captivating read.

While there were aspects of the story that intrigued me, I found the pacing to be quite slow, which made it difficult to stay fully engaged. The prose is richly detailed, creating a vivid atmosphere, but at times, the level of description felt overwhelming and pulled me out of the narrative rather than drawing me in.

Despite these challenges, I appreciate the depth of the author's vision and the care taken in crafting the world within the novel. While it wasn’t entirely the experience I hoped for, I can see how readers who enjoy a highly descriptive, atmospheric style might find it appealing.

Thank you for this e-arc.

NEVER THE ROSES 💜✨ 4.5⭐️

I.AM.OBSESSED.

Reading this 20% in I wasn’t expecting to be feeling the way I feel now as I’ve finished it. My thoughts are just opposite ends of the spectrum. The writing is so magical and dreamy ( a tad over descriptive for me at times). It’s not a fast paced romantasy with loads of action, twists and turns but I love it? It’s so refreshing to read a romantasy where you’re so embedded in to the love story.

Oneira FMC - powerful sorceress, retired from the Gilded Courts of men, secluded herself from the world and vowed to never use her magic again after the war, especially after a traumatic disaster. We have-
-Chartomancer - channel magic through runes of all kinds
-Oneiromancer - giving voice to thoughts giving a tangible reality (Oneira- FMC)
-Apantomancer - work magic through chance encounters with animals

“Some prince might happen along, somehow evade her wards and traps - through the purity of his heart or some such; it was only a dream of a tale, after all - and attempt to awaken her with a kiss”

Oneira is powerful enough to travel physically through the dream. She could create food, objects and walk through the dream but the food isn’t nutritional enough so she has created a garden.

Oneira has dream walked to another sorcerer’s library, the library of stormbreaker aka his majesty’s sorcerer, Eminence Stearanos MMC - oh and did I mention stolen a book from his collection? Yes, well this particular book she wanted about roses for her garden. Stearanos, my sweet letter writing MMC, he grew on my so much throughout the book and I felt so connected to his character.

When Oneira dream walks again back to Stearanos’ library, she taunts him, almost like a secret battle of power. She casts a sleeping spell and arranges books in different orders just to infuriate Stormbreaker. I’m really intrigued and invested into the story now, I think it was just a slow start.

I would go into reading this book not expecting the twists and turns of a gut wrenching, action packed novel because it’s not. It’s a love story that’s very captivating and an emotional romantasy read.

“The Key turned.
The lock gave.
And something in the world shifted.
Like and unlike, his magic lashed the inside of her skin”

“I will. I’ll wait forever for you, if need be. I am a patient man, something about me you’ll find most rewarding.”

The romance, my heart is aching and yearning. Completely in love with this book! PLEASE TELL ME THERES BOOK TWO! I need to know what happens.

✨ POLITICAL INTRIGUE
💜 UNIQUE MAGIC
✨ ENEMIES TO LOVERS
💜 SLOW BURN
✨ HE FALLS FIRST

Thank you so much Tor Bramble & Jennifer K. Lambert for the E-ARC via NetGalley.

I really struggled with this one. It’s a quiet internal inspection of one’s self, and what happens if we don’t like what we see, when we truly see ourselves in the light. It has potential to be a beautiful piece, but for me it was a struggle to settle with.