A gift of stars by Renée Gendron

 

Published on July 18^th, 2023

317 pages

I read the digital version

Back Cover

The favourite niece of a king is abandoned by her husband after their wedding feast. Convinced her arranged marriage with the absurd stipulations advances the interests of her uncle’s kingdom, she tracks her husband to the dreary hinterlands of a remote kingdom. There, she discovers that her husband is a grumpy, overworked man struggling to keep a ragtag group of workers and guardsmen on track for a mysterious project.

Dangers lurk everywhere—attacking bears, cave-ins at the pit, a greedy tax collector threatening to expose the camp’s secrets, and plundering raiders.

She discovers her gruff and secretive husband has a handsome smile and a love of history, and is on a mission to save the world.

She can uphold her duty to defend her uncle’s kingdom and stand with her husband, or she can protect her heart, but she can’t do both. Which will she choose?

A Gift of Stars is the first book in the Nearer Realm Tales epic fantasy romance series. If you enjoy slow-burn romance with idiots in love, arranged marriage and grumpy-sunshine romance in a second world featuring a strong heroine, then you'll love Renée Gendron's engrossing saga.

My review

This book is a little different from what I am used to read. It’s not a historical or contemporary romance. The author creates her own universe, but Calanthe like a princess. After reading a few chapters, I imagined her as Diana, but speaking another language and living on the road.

It’s a cute story, if you forget that she was left out by her husband which I didn’t like much. I was #TeamSanders from the moment they had their first conversation. I also enjoy the fact that they didn’t feel in love the moment they met. It gave the reader to get attached to the two protagonists and let them enjoy the relationship. This romantasy was intriguing and was able to hold my attention until the very last line. As long as you like romance, I recommend it to you.

I give my start to Calanthe because she left everything, she knew to follow her husband that didn’t seems to care about her at the beginning. He could left her alone on the road, but he didn’t and the princess followed her instinct to survive and get the life she wanted.