Emigh Cannaday

There is a sort of antagonistic relationship between the two main characters which develops into the very obvious and inevitable romance in a kind of enemies-to-lovers-lite setup but the flip happens way too suddenly which leads to some stilted, unbelievable, and painfully cringeworthy dialogue.
One second they can't stand each other, the next they are all apologetic and nice to each other and suddenly they are attracted to each other like crazy.
The H is a skeptic that doesn't believe in magic of any kind but our h is fae. But she refuses to prove it to him for forever. I have seen setups like that which worked pretty well on the premise that the fae character just didn't care about the skeptic doubting her and couldn't be bothered to prove anything, but in this case, she is incredibly annoyed about it. Early on we don't know if she even could prove it, but later on, it becomes clear that she could have the whole time, but instead she whined constantly about him not taking her word for it. And it's not only her. Other people around them also treat his skepticism with an insulting amount of condescension despite anything supernatural clearly being a secret in this world. It's frankly painful to read.

But the main problem that overshadows this otherwise at least mediocre story is the inept writing.
The failure to implement "show, don't tell" is the biggest shortcoming here.
Everything is communicated through awkward dialogue like: "It hurts badly. I am in incredible pain." answered by something like "I am so worried about you. I can see that you are in pain." They don't curl, or gasp, or choke, or grit their teeth, or shudder, or moan. They say "I am in pain".
I admit this example might be a bit overexaggerated but it honestly reflects the writing competence.
The point is that, especially when trying to create dramatic scenes, the writing is simply very bad.

Furthermore, the writing lacks any subtlety. The author doesn't trust the reader to come to even the most blatantly obvious conclusions on their own and always has to painstakingly lay every little thing out so even someone with an IQ at room temperature could understand.… (mer)

This review is about the story within called ASHES AND SMOKE: KNIGHTS OF ST. LAZARUS by Rebecca Royce, and Heather Long.

Such a great treat. My only quibble is it ended far too quick! I can only hope they plan on expanding this universe into a new series. Nika is a Phoenix. Nope she's not from Arizona, but flares into flames and rises from rebirth once more from those same fires. She and her love James, and fellow Knights were orphaned and now fight to help save people from demons. Things are suddenly changing as what they'd long believed dusty old prophecies, might be more than just the myths they'd thought. Who will come out victorious and what do these prophecies entail? Take a peek into this interesting universe and help with rebuilding from the horrible Australian Bush fires. These authors never disappoint, and when these two fierce women join forces magic happens!… (mer)

No rating, as I didn't finish the book and only made it to the 17% mark.

The paranormal romance genre is tough for me. I've found some I really enjoy. But I also find a number of well-written books in the genre that just aren't my cup of tea. This is one of those.

When 60% of the story is the female lead gushing her feelings about the male lead, I just can't take it. It just seems like the book is constantly trying to find another way to say, at length, over and over and over again, repeatedly, ad nauseam,"Oh, my. What is this feeling that rushes over me whenever I'm near him?"

Funny. Reading the blurb again, I'm not sure what attracted me to this book in the first place...… (mer)