Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
I think about this book quite often. I read it four years ago and I still haven’t picked up the second book yet. It’s high on my list but I know it’s a longer read so I’ve been putting it off. Anyway, I read this four years ago and didn’t write a review, so I’ll really be straining my memory to write this post.
Now Lou and Reid are actual enemies. Reid’s whole life is dedicated to hunting witches, so his hate for Lou goes deep. You can imagine just how fiery and passionate this relationship gets. Especially when Reid is tricked into marrying Lou in order to save her life (if this isn’t what happened and I’m remembering wrong, please let me know – I do remember this having the marriage of convenience trope).
I’m starting to think I should re-read this book in order to continue the series. The fact that I never wrote a review for it is pushing me to think this is a good idea.
Synopsis: Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
And love makes fools of us all.
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Keeping to my theme of having a real enemies to lovers and a rivals to lovers in each post, this time I’ve chosen Beach Read as my rival option. I adored this book, like a lot. It’s the only Emily Henry book I’ve read (I got just under halfway through the People We Meet on Vacation audiobook. I’m going to give it a second chance) but I’d still consider her a favourite author – that’s how much I loved this book.
The rivalry in this book comes not necessarily from the characters hating each other, but rather from a bet that the other person couldn’t write a book in a contrasting genre to their own. You just know when the characters are constantly harmlessly bickering they’re going to have a deeply passionate relationship.
I don’t remember if the ‘rivalry’ lasts very long as I read this book quite some time ago and my review isn’t very helpful (thanks past me), but do be aware that this isn’t purely a romance book. There’s a lot of nuance around character dynamics and the sections where January and Gus were doing research for their books was interesting (one is a romance in a cult). The romance is beautifully written though.
Synopsis: A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.
Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really.
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Like this post? Why not read this one too: ARC Review: Red and the Wolves by Cherry Zong