Fae, Fury & Meh Feelings: Our Vicious Oaths Review

June/July2026: Book Recommendation: "Our Vicious Oaths" by N.E. Davenport For our Season 1 finale, host R.J. (Rosemary Jean-Louis) welcomes back Book Club Bestie Reviewer Asiah Muhammad, by popular demand, to contribute to an honest review of Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport, a black romantasy author. And for the first time ever, the Must Luv Romantasy podcast is available in both audio and video formats! Listen as usual or watch the video version on Spotify and Apple Podcasts (coming soon) as we unpack whether this fae court dark romantasy is worth hugging or hurling! (This book is very spicy so there's a lot of spice talk.)

Key Takeaways:

• "Our Vicious Oaths" gave us fae politics, magic, war, enemies-to-lovers or rather enemies to “I lust you” tension.
• Real, strong portrayal of black males (in fae form) is praiseworthy.
• Lackluster characterization of black female fae main character and her squad was disappointing 
• Thick on lust and thin on plot, not enough equal attention to intriguing fantasy world. 
• The audiobook performances by Jeanette Illidge and Morris Kellswater deserve a shout-out.

Leave comment, send us fan mail or a voicemail about this review. We may read it on air one day. Shout-out to Ctaylor1220 on Spotify for being the first to comment!

By the way  we’re taking a summer break and will return in September with episodes leading up to the new Sarah J. Maas book release in October.

Follow Asiah Muhammad on IG: @taintt3ed

Join the MustLuvRomantasy IRL Book Club! 

Follow us on IG: @mustluvromantasy

Transcript

Welcome to our video podcast

R.J. 0:00

Welcome to Must Love Romantasy, your podcast for romantasy recs, reviews, and interviews. I'm your host, Rosemary Jean-Louis, but call me R.J. I'm a sci-fi fantasy lover who now runs two romantasy book clubs. And today we're doing something different. As you can see, this is my first video podcast to see what me and my guest reviewers looks like at our facial expressions at all. And of course, if you're listening as usual, that's okay. And we love our audio listeners. So grab your sword or your coffee and let's fall in love. One epic love story at a time. And on today's show, we're recommending and reviewing our dishes oaked by NE Davenport. So let's go.

Book Bestie Reviewer Asiah Muhammad Returns

R.J. 0:54

Hi, Book Besties. How are you doing? Because this is a special video episode. I had to bring back a special guest by popular demand, Book Club Bestie, Asiah Mohammad, is back for another review. All right, Asiah. How are you these days? Good, how are you? I'm doing great. Trying to stay, you know, cool in this heat, man. Got a heat wave going down in the south.

Asiah 1:23

Yeah, we got one here up north too.

R.J. 1:25

Okay. So remind everyone who you are. You know, you you don't need any uh you really should because you know you're you're famous. You got a fan. We'll get to that. But but go ahead and remind everybody who you are.

Asiah 1:41

Asiah, um, I'm a reader, heavy into fantasies and sci-fi. Um, romanticies are okay as long as it has some fantasy elements in it. And I'm a raver in my other part-time when I'm not reading and writing books.

A Listener Shout-Out for Asiah’s Honest Takes

R.J. 1:57

Excellent. And uh, we're still gonna kind of follow you to see how your authorship journey is going. So you can next time we'll be talking about your book, right?

Asiah 2:07

Fingers crossed, we're getting there.

R.J. 2:09

All right, all right. That's what we want to hear. So I was not kidding when I said by popular demand, you have a fan. So gotta read what the fan said. So commenter C. Taylor 1220 commented on the Quicksilver and Brimstone review. Um, and on the Brimstone review specifically, she said, or I mean I'm not sure, I'm assuming it's CT Taylor's a she, but we don't know that. So anyway, but CT Taylor 1220 said, Wow, I love this pod and I love the special guests. Asia's takes are so refreshing, and she she's keeping it so real about these books. So, shout out to commenter C Taylor1220. You were um you're our first, so thank you so much. And and Asia, what do you say to that?

Asiah 3:04

Oh my god, thank you so much. Because I realize, you know, when you're reading like reviews, sometimes like people are kind of really nice, like everyone consistently. So it's nice to know that somebody cares to hear something like more honest instead of more kind, you know?

R.J. 3:18

True, true. And you say things so eloquently as well. So that's why uh we love having you here and uh appreciate you taking time to come back and also be part of our video episode first ever. Um, and so people see what you look like and see those special expressions that you may make when you give those fresh takes, right?

Meet N.E. Davenport & Why We Picked This Book

Asiah 3:41

Yeah.

R.J. 3:41

Uh so before we get into our our review of Our Vicious Oaths by NE Davenport, did do you know anything about her before you checked out the book, before you asked you to?

Asiah 3:53

No, I actually did not. I did not know she had two works before this. I hadn't heard much about her at all, so and I went in blind.

Speaker 4:00

Okay, okay. So here's a few things to mention about her. Uh Annie Davenport, that she's a romance writer. That's how she started off, and then she switched to doing romantic uh books, and she's a black author. And we don't get a lot of that in romanticy. We get some, but not many. So that's one of the reasons why I was like, okay, let me take a step back from reading all of you know the popular, big name, whatever releases, and let's uh do a black author that maybe a lot of us may not have heard of. Just as you said, didn't know. So here we are reviewing, recommending, and reviewing it. Um so Asia, you also alluded to the fact that you like authors who plot things out, so she's a plotter instead of what are you what did call it, the prancer, the one who's like, I will just let the let it feel and let

Spoiler Warning

Speaker 4:55

me go where the characters take me. So she plans these out. She's got spreadsheets to show it. So I'm really interested to hear your thoughts uh and and get it all. Before we get to reviewing, spoiler alert. We'll be spoiling major plot points. So if you haven't read the book yet and you mind spoilers, pause now, read it, and come back. Please come back and watch or listen. Join in our little book club of uh this review. Um but if you don't mind spoilers, you're like, yeah, it's okay. Keep going.

Quick & Dirty Recap

Speaker 5:32

For this review, we'll be talking about the book overall, what we liked or what we didn't like, um, the character choices, plot points, uh love or lack thereof. Spoiler alert. Um but before we get into it, here's a quick and dirty story cap review. Here's what happened and our vicious oaths by N. E. Davenport. Khadija Mercier is a warrior princess of the Aether Kingdom. She's powerful, trained, and not interested in being treated like a political chess piece. Unfortunately, she's been promised since infancy to the Hyperion King Rashad because of a prophecy. Khadijah doesn't want this marriage, tries to prove she's more valuable as a general by capturing and killing enemy Apollyan court soldiers with her Nikita squadron, but she fails to convince her father, the king. So the night before the wedding, she has one last passionate night at the pleasure house she owns with a mysterious, tempting stranger. That stranger is Malachi, the king of the enemy of Pali in court. He's out for revenge against the clerics and kings who killed his parents, and he's got a unique plan to do it. On Khadisha's wedding, King Rashad reveals he learned about her gallions, is highly pissed, and attacks. It turns out Malachi intentionally bedded Khadija and leaked the information to cause chaos. Everything goes sideways. Khadija's father is killed. Malachi and his cadre soldiers enter the fray, wounding the High King, and then takes Khadijah to his court as a hostage. From there, Khadijah and Malachi enter into a series of tense oaths. She agrees to help him lure the High King. In exchange, he agrees not to harm her people and gives her mother and Nikita Squadron safe harbor and healing. After some humiliation, lots of I plan to kill you, but after I sleep with you a lot of times, first back and forth, court intrigue, and a surprise pregnancy, Malachi and Khandesha get married. They then realize they do really love each other and join forces to defeat High King Rashad in a pivotal battle and unite the kingdoms. The end.

Hug It or Hurl It?

Speaker 8:22

Okay, so now that we are all caught up in the plot, uh interested to find out what you are thinking about this book, Asia. How did you vibe with this book? Did you want to hug it or did you want to hurl it?

Speaker 2 8:42

I wanted to hurl it. I just feel like there was a lot of inconsistencies for someone who was a planner. I feel like if I'm gonna spoiler point moment, it is that more towards like the end of the book when they're kind of getting to the big hurrah, the last battle. There's just it's just things that just didn't make any sense. Like the Hyperion King, you know, he ends up showing up because he's like telling them, hey, I'm laying out my demands. This is what I'm gonna do. And if you guys don't do this, this is what I'll do in retaliation. And I'm like, okay. But then throughout most of this book, everyone's just smelling everybody. That's what the fai always do in these little romanticies. They're just my senses, their noses are so strong. And they can always smell when a girl is aroused, they can smell when she's pregnant, they can smell everything else, but they could not smell that this Hyperion king was not physically there. Just don't. They took me out the store and I was like, come on, y'all, come on. All of you, not even one person faced him. This whole bunch of people were here. Nobody knew he wasn't really there.

Speaker 9:50

Yeah, and especially since they were trying to follow his steps kind of all around and trying to plot things. So, oh, we're gonna be one step ahead of him. Um, we we already, as part of the the the storyline, they were making sure that uh the other kings in the kingdoms who were under uh originally aligned with uh Rashad the High King, that they switched sides and they got ahead of that and getting swearing fealty. Yet you know, they they couldn't quite get that part. So uh yeah, it's true. That that was um that was a plot point. Now, um that that was a I'll say that was a plot point or that we wish that kind of plugged that in. Um now

Who Is This Dark Romantasy For?

Speaker 10:48

this leaned more into the dark romanticy column. Um, who do you think this is for? I I think for the both of us it was like, hmm, yeah, maybe this was not for us.

Speaker 2 11:00

Yeah, I was thinking that because she used the C word a lot, and you know, the sexual scenes, and that's not really a black community word when we address anything sexual. So I was like, uh, that kind of took me out of it immediately when I heard that word. I was like, oh no, I don't like that. I didn't like that at all.

Speaker 11:22

And I think because I'm also not a romance reader, so what I have heard is that with some romance books, you know, they get in, they get into it like really pretty explicit. So given that she's coming from that romance writer world, um, maybe, and then again, dark romanticy, maybe that's also a thing about dark romanticy that they get very explicit. That that was a big like, whoa, okay, woof. I I am going to clutch my pearls right now because this is very explicit, that I was not prepared for it to be explicit, which is okay. If you are into, so I will say this if you are into like very explicit um sexual scenes and romance-ish scenes where they they are like really going at it, and you get really details of uh the how everything is going, that's great. That for me, it it didn't work. That that's how in terms of me vibing with the book, I had um I wanted to hug it. Like I was hearing all these great things. I've seen NE Davenport at festivals before. Really, uh really interested in um in reading it and uh well um as I was reading it like the first again if books if they capture you like the first few pages, you get excited. So for me, I did both. I did the audiobook and I read it. So the audiobook is what snap snapped me in because I really enjoyed how the two actors um really um vibed and did the characterization. But the first scene seemed pretty exciting and seemed like it was focusing on like more female empowerment and like with Khadijah and her uh Nikita sister squadron and the Congo motto um war serpent, flying serpents, that it was gonna be more like this more Amazon-ish, you know, um kind of uh uh uh like the the Black Panther sisters and like the uh Arkand Diaspora or something like that. Yeah, diaspora, like those I'm forgetting the the name of the the squadron, the the elite fighters from Black Panther. I don't want to mess up the name, but you know what, you know what I'm saying. I you know, I'm reading it and that's what I'm getting. And then it just slipped into whoo, they are just gonna knock boots a lot in this book, huh? Um like is there a plot? But we'll get to that. Um

What Worked: Magic, Worldbuilding & War Serpents

Speaker 14:11

kind of the next question then is so what did work and then what didn't work for you? Like for me, some of the magic world building was was um unique, like talking about void magic, which kind of takes away the light and and um the magic of other people. Um Khadijah is the main female character. She had something called Aether Bombs. The different kingdoms had like the elements were kind of tied to their magic. Um I did feel the the Congo motto war serpent uh animals were underused though, because initially, you know, they they kind of came out and used you saw they had a bond and they they spoke to Khadijah and her Nikita sisters, and oh okay, this is different. Usually it's dragons, okay. There's a different and then they disappeared for a good deal. Okay. So

What Didn’t Work: Lust vs. Romance

Speaker 15:10

what what about you? What worked and what what didn't work?

Speaker 2 15:16

I guess I'll say what worked was that I liked that it was a good representation of black men. Like they weren't kind of like super toxic or really bad or like super stereotyped. They were just regular, they were just human beings, and I think that really worked. I really liked that. That's a really refreshing thing to do. But what I don't like, there's just a lot of things that just didn't make sense. One thing that I don't like in an erotica when I'm reading them is that people lose the essence of romance. Just because they are having sexual relations does not mean that this relationship is building. Like you are just expressing and showing lust. And there's no way that they are falling in love just because they are sleeping around. And I think that that's why everybody in society, we're already kind of messed up anyways. Everyone's confused on how to love and how to share their emotions. And so when I read a book, I want it to be different. I want to, you know, divulge myself into a fantasy of like, if life could be better, how could I fall in love with somebody in a fantasy world? But like the books start modeling reality that like we're just sleeping around. So I didn't like that at first when they first met. They immediately just like sleep together and then they just keep sleeping together. And then they're like, oh, we love each other. I'm like, there was no romantical character building for this love. And then I definitely didn't like how he unrealistically, like when women will write a man, he's got this man just like torning out in his heart and his soul, like every moment of the book. Like he's constantly like, I love you, I would do this for you. I'm gonna show you that I'm better than this, I'm not this bad guy. And she was just like in the Lululand, the entire book. Oh, I'm gonna murder him, I don't even like him, I don't want to be with him. This is not real. And I'm like, girl, like your actions are not even matching your words, and you're just intentionally being cruel to this man now. And I'm like, I hate, I hate that I have to take a man's side. Girl, you are so mean to this man. Like, it was blowing my mind. I'm like, he's just giving it his um, and you know you like him, and you're just going out of your way and I'm gonna be cruel. I just didn't like that. That was just blowing me real bad. Even her mom is like, girl, everyone. But also, what was missing, did you like notice that as they were falling in love, everyone was just like so chill about that. Like, no conversations from either of their friends. Only their moms and the aunt wanted to talk to them and confront them. But your best friends had nothing to say about the fact that, like, for sure, Kadisha, you're falling in love with somebody that for sure is your enemy, though. And none of your friends, Lisha, none of them have anything to say. They're not gonna confront you at all. That was really weird to me.

Speaker 17:53

Well, I definitely agree with you on the um lack of progression in terms of their love, that it was it seemed like less, less, less, and then all of a sudden, I mean I love you, you know. Um, or or rather, a lot of times in these enemies to lovers books, there's that there is that tension that they know they like each other. Like and all the time. And and you have these cutesy moments where where that happens and it and it kind of bubbles up that, oh yeah, like it's a little flirt, it's a something. But I I didn't see enough of that. And instead, it was just as you said, it was I hate this guy, I'm I'm plotting to kill him. But you know what? Um, before I do that, I'm definitely going to sleep with him on Thursday. Um, after I do that, maybe fit in some time on Friday, but definitely by uh Sunday I got the knife ready, you know, you know, like come out, you know, make up make up your mind. You you you know you want to be with him. Um in terms of his character um of Malachi, um, and I do want to give a shout out, as I said, I I read the uh did the audiobook as well as read the regular book. Um I give a shout out to the audiobook uh voice actors. They were fantastic. It was uh Jeanette Illich uh did Khadija's voice and all the other voices, and then it was Mars Kellswater as uh Malachi or Mala Kaisren as they pronounced it in the audiobook. He had this very baritone, sexy voice, so you know, really uh yeah, very into that. Um I did, I did, I was a little disappointed with him that okay, so he's he's you know, he's a shadow

Malachi, Shadow Daddy Energy & Red Flags

Speaker 19:42

daddy. We don't I I I think her whole point of writing this type of character was that okay, he's a shadow daddy, he shouldn't love puppies secretly. You know, he's just he's supposed to be mean and he's he's got this certain trauma that is that is kind of driving his his um actions and way of being. Um but I I just didn't like how he was treating Khadijah, like how he was pay parading her around, like initially in the plot. Um when they did sleep together, um, the whole point of him of them sleeping together, and here's here's your point about well, could she smell that he was the the king of how how did she not know that he's king of Apolly in court? But anyway, we digress. Um but the whole point of him doing that was to shame her and get her shamed at her own wedding. And then when uh she convinced him to uh all right, uh or agreed to go with him to his court in exchange for protection for her people of her mom and her Nikita soldiers, one of them was injured, also to get that person healed. Once um he took her to his court, he was parading her around like, you know, almost, you know, like a little sex toy, actually. And and that part I didn't care for her. Although um one of these things I I did have to is to say it was trying to be sex positive in a sense-ish. Like she was like, Oh, there's nothing that he's doing that I'm not saying no to, that I didn't uh not consent to. So in that sense, it was, you know, it was okay um-ish, but it it just made me not get endeared to that to Malachi as a as a character initially, um, with him parading her around like that. Um, you know, have in the throne room, they you know, well, they they have orgies anyway. They're also orgies in this book, but they you know, they have orgies anyways. But you know, she's like, Oh, okay, here's my hostage. And uh first thing as a hostage on the throne room, you we're gonna have a you're gonna be part of the OG, the orgy. And she was cool. Oh, alright, alright. Alright, I'm cool because I I'm really in lust with you, so um cool. But it still it still didn't really, you know, sit too well um for me uh in in terms of that. So um let's let's then talk about these two characters because you did say that you liked um Malachi as a strong uh black male character. Can you talk a little bit more about that? Um despite his parading her around like his little sex toy.

Malachi as a Strong Black Male Character

Speaker 2 22:31

I liked that he was just realistic. One thing I can't stand about like fantasy books sometimes is that like they try to blur, they try to act like they're not trying to blur the lines between what's like black and white good and then like evil or like good or bad. And it's like they're in a world where they have to kill to survive. Like this is what they do for a living. This is their entirety of their existences. So we can't keep pretending like we're we're towing the line and I'm I'm holier than thou compared to this person. We have to kill. We have to go to war. He's a king, he has kingdoms, he has people to protect, and people get killed when he doesn't do his job. So it's either kill or be killed. So I just like that, like he was very confident in the fact that, like, I'm a ruler of these people, I'm gonna protect these people by any means necessary. And after what happened with my family, I definitely have trauma. So I'm just not gonna let what happened to my family ever happen to anyone else ever again. And so I really appreciate that he was consistent about that. Like he was very serious about that from the very beginning of the book to the end. Like he meant business.

Khadijah, Morality & Messy Power Dynamics

Speaker 23:31

Did you think though that it was warranted with Khadijah? Like she had these when they weren't having steamy time. They did talk some her for a few times. Um, but do you think it was warranted? Uh, there were some times where he was making some really harsh decisions, and she would kind of interject herself and say, Oh, wait a minute. Um okay, maybe you shouldn't kill such and such a person, or maybe you should spare this person because uh because of so and so, and it kind of started softening his heart. Um, given what you just said, that okay, this is a harsh world, he's a ruler, that he's gotta protect his people, especially what what happened with his parents. Do you think though that there is room there was room for him to start softening up?

Speaker 2 24:24

Yeah, because I I definitely agreed that the one young faith that she told him to save and then bring into the cadre, I was like, okay, I agree with that. Like, there was no reason to be intentionally cruel to him. He is literally just a child. That one to me was like a fair one. But like there were some ways that she was so holier than thou in her mind, as if she's not also killing people, too. So you don't then get to be the executioner and the judge on who is the one who gets executed. Like to me, it didn't make any sense. Like, she had a great time killing that one niece that came in to try to murder her. She had a great time burning her to ashes. But then when he's killing people, she's like, oh, no, no, no. And I'm like, girl, you're you wanted to kill him and you want to kill him right now. The whole book, she's convincing herself, I want to kill this man. Even when she was pregnant with his child, I still want to kill this man. So how are you better than him when you're just as much as a murderer? But then now I'm like, I'm the judge on what constitutes an okay murder and then who is not okay to murder. I just didn't agree with that. I didn't like that about her personality. I was like, I don't think you're much better than him, and I think you can copy.

Speaker 25:32

But Khadijah, in her defense, it was self-defense that, you know, and it was kind of interesting too that he came in and he was like, um, you killed this person. So, so as part of the plot, we we have her at his court, and there are different machinations happening. So this person wants to kill this person, and especially with with Malachi, they would they really are out for blood and they still want to get him. Um, so they figure they'd get him by getting her. Um and one of these ladies' maids type people come in to dress her for uh an event, a ball, or one of one of these events that's happening. And it it turns out it's revealed as they're talking that this lady's maid's like, yeah, actually, I was sent here to kill you. Um I I think she actually she came in with a a dress that was poisoned. Yes, was that that storyline. And then Khadija's was like, Well, I'm losing my mind right now. I I'm pissed, I'm mad, I'm I'm going, you're gonna okay. Let me let me get the information out of you first a little bit of why this is happening. Okay, that's good, great. Okay, all right, bye, and blast her to smithereens. And it was kind of interesting that you know when Malachi shows up and is like, hey, what happened? And he in a sense, he took the moral high ground. He was like, and you killed her? And you you didn't give us a chance to talk to her. So um that that was kind of interesting, but as I was saying, in her defense, um, she was she was defending herself. And I think probably as part of um the the book and the the plot that maybe she was kind of the moral center, and and and maybe that's why she seemed so high-minded and holier than thou, because she was she was kind of the the moral center element to his uh very angry uh times, morally gray. And I I honestly I didn't find Malachi morally morally gray. I just found he's a sh just a shadow daddy. He's just he knows his lane. He wants to protect his people, he wants to kill all these people who killed his parents, and then he just wants to take over and eventually, you know, get rid of her because um, you know, she came from a f the family that was also part of the plot.

Speaker 2 27:55

But see how that's that's still not fair, though. But I'm saying how she's going about it. Because the people that Malachi is killing, they all had something to do with the rebellion that got his family killed. So he's defending himself and his family and his in his royalty, his line. And so it's like she didn't have to kill that girl. She already had subdued her, she already submitted the information. You could have said, okay, and then let his guards come and take her away. They had prisons there. They talked about having prisoners. She could have been one. So that's why I'm saying it's like it just wasn't making any sense to me. Like, if you're anti-death and anti-murder, be consistent with that. You could have got the information and said, okay, bye, girl. But no, you were like, Thank you for the information. Now I'm gonna murder. But then when he does it, I got information from these people, which he did the same thing in that one scene where he gathered all the other um lords together after he felt like they had been conspiring against him. He got enough evidence against them. He questioned all of them, and then he was like, All right, I'm gonna kill you all. And she's like, No, no, no, why would you kill them? But you did the same thing, and so I'm like, it just to me, it just wasn't hidden.

Speaker 28:58

But it would have been a massacre, Asia. Gotta save them, them lords. But I I I I think I I I think I believe in in that part, um, he she wasn't able to convince him because a lot of people were dusted. But uh but I but I do agree. Uh, in in that sense, yeah, those those folks were trying to um to take him out as part of the political machinations and and um uh the the secrets that were going on. And if he didn't, then he would have been um in big trouble. But I you know, I I get what she's trying to she was trying to say that hey, um this is so many people, and and do you really want to kill them? Whereas in her situation, it was very up close. This this lady was right in front of her with poison, and you know, tensions are high, you you get pretty pissed off, you know, you're like trying to have a better day than yesterday, and someone's coming to poison me. And I think this was like maybe the second time that she had a couple of uh attempts on her life. So you know that that that happens, but um I I get it. So we politics, this politics of of um Malachi's parents getting killed and and who was behind it, that was uh um very uh uh essential to the plot and the world building. Um, but do you think there there was enough of that and the other aspects of the world building, like this prophecy that that Khadijah was like the savior of it all, and when she had the the baby of what they assumed was the the Hyperion king, uh everybody would kumbaya and get together and then it'd be great.

Did the Politics and Worldbuilding Go Deep Enough?

Speaker 30:51

That said, did you find that the world building and politics were deep enough to sustain the storyline?

Speaker 2 31:00

Um, not really. I think she could have gone in a better direction with what she was trying to build, because it's a really cool world with lots of different powers and lots of different um countries. And I just think we could have gotten more into the powers of because like you don't really hear much about the other powers or abilities from the other countries until the end, when she was like, I think this is why in that final battle. She was like, I think this is why the six courts are supposed to be combined because they are stronger together because of all these different types of magics. And then she just briefly is like, Oh, here's the six, and like this would be great. And then you see, like, maybe one or two different countries kind of show off those capabilities. And I'm like, I just wanted more of that and less of them like sleeping

Too Much Talking? Dialogue, Monologues & Pacing

Speaker 2 31:50

around and they talk a lot in this book, girl. Do you not? Did you not agree? I swear to God, it was like they had 30 freaking monologues in there just to talk about one thing that could have been simplified in like a sentence. Like, remember when she was on top of her, when Kadisha was on her kongamato, and her kongamano was like, Oh, I'm just gonna eat and burn all these people at the end in the final battle. She was like, Let me do this. And then Khadisha had like a whole paragraph to simply just be like, no, calm down. Chicken literally just told her, be still or calm yourself. We could have moved on, but we had a whole paragraph of her explaining to this kongamato, like, why she shouldn't do this. It was grating me. And I'm like, even the politics, it's just more telling than showing. It was so much talking, like everybody would just sit and just talk forever on and on and on about things that could be said in just a sentence or two. I think it would have been more powerful, considering how he's supposed to be terrifying, how she's supposed to be coming into her queenly role. If everybody just talked a little less, less is more. That would have been more terrifying to me personally.

Speaker 32:53

And that's interesting that you say that because um because I was reading it this time, I did notice like the sentence structure. She had these very like like a whole paragraph would like be a a sentence. So um, so yeah, that that was that was kind of interesting. But um, I do agree with you on that, that there was there was a a lot of talking and a a lot of like um words that that could have been like a phrase or something to to um explain certain things. Um, but uh I guess with all writers, you know, you you have your style and your your choice of um of building your worlds and building your stories. So I I think that was that was probably maybe her choice. But as a reader, uh I guess for the both of us, it was like, oh well, I guess I wish things were a bit more um haired down. Um we did

Khadijah and Malachi as a Couple

Speaker 33:53

we did already really talk about Khadijah and Malachi as a as a couple, um, somewhat because we talked about it more so in the you know the context of them being enemies to lovers and and how much they just really wanted to be just lovers, lovers, lovers rather rather than the love and and stuff. Um before I move on to the the villains and the MVP side characters, um is there anything more that you wanted to say about the two of them as a couple and also as being um the main um female character and the main male character?

Speaker 2 34:31

A couple of things that I like noticed was like I said, everyone will say enemies to lovers, but they just be in love from the very first time. They have the they do the do. It's like it's not you're not enemies. Like you just have a bad situation that you're in, but that doesn't mean you're really enemies if you're already in love from the very first interaction. Because for me, if they would have had like some hate sex or something from the first time, I'd have been like, okay, yeah, yeah, that's they're enemies still, but like, hey, we enjoyed this time. But it was like they did this thing and they were like, oh, this was incredible. And then they couldn't stop thinking about each other ever since then. So like you're like in love now. You're not enemies anymore. You're just people who like want to be together, but you know maybe you shouldn't because you're playing political games. Also, too. I just think when they were talking about things, he would say, like, oh, I just love how we banter. I love how we banter. You guys are simply not bantering right now. You're just a conversation. Like, no, that was making me so mad. I'm like looking back, like, am I crazy? Like, I went to read, because like they're talking for so long. I went back to look and I'm like, this is just a simple, regular, everyday conversation. This is not banter. Now, they had some banter kind of like in the beginning, but then after that it was gone. And then he kept talking about how much he loved it and it wasn't there anymore. And that was blowing me so bad. I was like, you guys are not bantering anymore. You like each other and you're conversing, and that's simply okay.

Speaker 35:58

You like each other and you're just conversing, and and that that's that's a great line right there. Um, but but also it was like it was kind of lust-like, I felt. And for me, by the end of it,

Strong Female Main Character… or Not Quite?

Speaker 36:13

and maybe this is this is also because it's this is a little bit of a different twist than typical um romantic that I've read. That there was, but I've heard that this is a trope, the surprise pregnancy. So they had that surprise. Didn't you just love that? They had that surprise pregnancy um towards the end of the book, and then his attitude before when it was just him being so arrogant and in my opinion, awful to her. Um, all of a sudden he's like, Well, let me take care of you. Did you do you want me to fluff your pillow or something like that? I mean I wish yes, wasn't breakfast. He did bring her breakfast. Um I I I wish that maybe had happened a little bit earlier. So then they could truly then develop their rel that their relationship would then kind of really develop um because of that. Because even as actually I I thought he was going to be mad. Um but I I wish if since instead he was not mad and he was kind of having that chain of Jivhart, I wish it wasn't so abrupt and sudden. And meanwhile, she's still on the but I'm gonna kill you on Saturday, but we probably will have some spicy time on Friday, even though I have your child. I mean, she's still in the planner figuring out when they could, you know, knock boots, um, even as as they're they're pregnant, as opposed to them leaning more so in on the emotional side of things. That that that's what I'm I was saying. That's where my eyes were rolling, and I was just like, I don't know, do I really want these two to get together? Because whenever they're in the room, all all she's she's like all always aroused. He, you know, she's always aroused.

Speaker 2 38:12

So then I want to kill you. It was like I hate you so much, but that sex though every time. I'm like, girl, do you really hate him? Right. I haven't seen him in a week. He better come back over here and do this to me again. I'm like, you're you're you're funny. Like they were they were something special to me. Like it was just uh all over the place with how they were trying to pretend that they hated each other. I think, too, that there were some weird descriptions in the book of how they were like laid out. And you know how like when you're reading the book and you're trying to like figure out how that is doing. So remember in the one scene in the end when they were talking, and she was like, arms still locked around his back, as he held himself up on his arms, so they gazed directly at one another. Your arms are locked around his back end, but you're making contact from the front?

Speaker 39:07

She's a contortionist, Asia. What is happening right now? Just all I gotta say. She's a contortionist. Um, but I mean again, different it was uh certain choices that were made for that particular uh coupling for this book. So choices were made. Choices that we perhaps didn't quite agree with, but that's how it was laid out.

Speaker 2 39:38

I still didn't like how she I hate when ramp like fantasies will try to say, like, this is a strong female main character, and I want that. I'm here for that. But then it's just not consistent, and then it just starts spiraling out of control. So, like from the very beginning, she wasn't powerful enough to stop her father, Silas, when he was there. She said she didn't even have enough strength to stop him. It was not more powerful than Kbaxi. Then Malachi, no, then when Rashad was there, she was like, she tried to throw some aether firebombs at him, and she was like, Oh, I don't have any strength to like do any damage to him. And then Silas wasn't more powerful than Rashad because Rashad killed Silas. And then Malachi is more powerful than Rashad because he takes his arm off, so she sees his strength. But then when she's throwing her aether bombs at Malachi, she doesn't have enough strength to do nothing to him either, which you couldn't have because you didn't have any strength for Silas or Rashad. But then she goes back later on when she's trying to make it seem like Malachi is into her. He's like, oh, she's so powerful. I actually kind of respect her. I was a little worried there when she threw that aether bomb at me that I snuffed out immediately, though, with my void magic. I'm like, we need to figure out whether we're saying she's strong or she's not, but like I'm just not sure anymore. But then again, like you said, with the kongamatos, there was just not enough attention to her strength on the kongamato. Because I'm like thinking, maybe she's not strong by herself. Maybe her and her kongamano are like big and bold and bigger. But then they barely spend time doing anything on that. So it just, I just didn't get the whole vibe that she was as strong as she was. She gave very powerless through a lot of it. And I think that a lot of her power just came from her just like talking and talking. And I'm like, that's not your strength, though. I want to see you beat some of these people up. I want to see your powers. I want to see your strength. I want to see you with your girls maybe take out some people. Correct. And that didn't happen either. So I just didn't get the strong female character from her that they were trying to convey. It just wasn't given that.

Speaker 41:47

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I I definitely agree with with you on that. That there was uh there seemed to be like a disconnect between that. That on the one hand, she's supposed to, she's saying that she's strong. It the book started out strong with her and her and Nikita War warriors taking out these Apolly and soldiers, but then as you got further along, not her maybe her power went went down and stuff. And then even and even um in the the final battle with her and Rashad, um, her, Rashad, and Malachi together, and and the

Power Scaling, Magic Rules & Missed Explanations

Speaker 42:25

two of them were really having a hard time taking um taking him out. Um, but they managed to come together and he would he was like, Oh, I kind of see that you have some strategy going on. This is Malachi to her. So I see that you're noticing that when Rashad throws out his power, um, like he was, I guess I think he was teleporting, and that that's why every time he threw out um Malachi threw out like his void magic, he couldn't hit Rashad because Rashad is teleporting. Uh Khadijah's same thing. But then she started to notice that there was like a timing situation with with how he would um disappear, and and they kind of um I don't know what was it, mind to mind, you know, talking or whatever. They figured it out again what they call it, telekinesis, not telekinesis, but you but you teleth telepathy. Um that that uh Malachi figured it out and was like, oh, this is why you're great, and okay, so I see what you're doing, and okay, then we're gonna get together. And I'm like, yeah, you know, it it mind you, didn't he say that she couldn't teleport? Um that Rashad couldn't teleport or her?

Speaker 2 43:42

Her. Didn't Malachi say, since you can't teleport, be careful. So, like, how would she know the timing of anything when she doesn't even have the skill herself? Like that didn't make any sense. So he would have noticed it.

Speaker 43:54

I did not think of that, but um, yeah, hey, yeah, yeah. I but But I but to me it was it was like if it felt a little gratuitous that okay that's that ultimate of them coming together as a couple that oh yeah now we're truly meshed because we're fighting side by side. I wish they had more earlier, like fighting side by side, where then you could see them meshing more as as a couple and him realizing, and then to your point, you see her being stronger because they're fighting together and he gets it. You know what? I got me a strong, you know, strong woman. This is great, you know, and I we could fight in battles together, you know. I can you got my back, and she's like, You got my back, rather than towards the end, it was kind of shoved together that, oh yes, we have each other's backs, and this is because there's no training arc.

Speaker 2 44:45

Yeah, there's no training arc, no building up of the powers, and I think there was a missed opportunity for her because she explained a lot of things, but then there were things that didn't get an explanation. Like there was no explanation for how come she was all of a sudden just getting more powerful just because she was saying so. I'm like, where is this power coming from that you didn't have before at that older battle? Before like it just and I'm like, is it because you guys are bonded and you bit each other that your powers are like interwielding? I don't know, but we never got an explanation on.

Speaker 45:13

Right, right. And lastly, with with just an explanation with them bit biting each other, which is kind of uh somewhat of a vampire um werewolf trope that they bite each other, and when they bite each other, they kind of exchange magic, and then that bonds them. And that kind of happened in one of their many, many, many spicy time moments. Because they just lost control and were in the heaps of the moment and stuff. Um, all right, so um getting down to it, just kind of like our getting a little bit to the final thoughts before we do the rating. Are there any MVP side characters that you were like, um, you know, I wish this person, you know, the A, I wish this person actually had their own storyline, their own book.

Speaker 2 46:01

Yeah, with the rune magic.

Speaker 46:04

Um uh Tristan. Tristan. Tristan! Okay, so you're you were into Tristan. I was into um Yeshira. Yeshira, um the mom. So Yeshira is Khadijah's mom who was not really officially married to uh the dad. She was more of a courtesan type person, but she knew things and she she was just the funniest, to me, the funniest person, kind of like this the the mom that is is was always like um the sophisticated mom who kind of all right, I had a kid, but you know, she was like the supermodel mom who had a kid but always always still looked great, you know, and and was kind of surpassing the kid too. Um that that's honestly the person that I wish that they uh that she maybe if she as she was writing the book, she was like, you know what, I'm going to trash I'm going to trash this storyline with Malachi and Khadijah, and I'm instead going to focus on Yeshua, because actually she's quite interesting. Um she she was a very interesting um person, kind of part of the machinations of getting um her daughter uh to be positioned to marry Rashad, with uh which Khadijah didn't quite like. But what I loved about her character was that she was a survivor, and she survived because she knew how to play the politics, and um she she knew how to play the men as well, and she didn't have to even wield a bomb a bomb or anything um to do that. And in in a clutch, like once Khadijah was pregnant, here she's her mom was like a healer type person. She's like, Hey, I got the tea, I I know what to do, and all this. So she could depend on her mom for that. Um, so that was mine. So you were talking about Tristan. Tell me a little bit more about um your interest in Tristan, who who's um Malachi's cousin, by the way, and

MVP Side Characters: Were Yashira and Nichelle More Than Friends?

Speaker 48:05

in this book, he's uh the cousin best friend rather than the cousin who wants to knife you to get on the throne, because technically speaking, he could have been, but go ahead.

Speaker 2 48:16

I do it though. What did you think about the mom being with Malachi's aunt though, and that's not getting enough information on that? What did you think about that?

Speaker 48:26

Hmm. So you so you mean the two of them kind of uh becoming best friends?

Speaker 2 48:32

I thought they were lovers. I thought they were sleeping together.

Speaker 48:36

Interesting.

Speaker 2 48:37

I'm pretty sure she was like saying that they were sleeping together because she was blushing.

Speaker 48:41

Oh okay. I I missed that. So maybe do a little bit of explaining there that so Nichelle is is Malachi's aunt and the mother of Tristan, Malachi's cousin, and she was kind of the regent once um Malachi's parents got killed, and when uh Yeshira was taken to the court um with um Khadijah asking for protection of her mother, all of a sudden her and uh Michelle they kind of hang started hanging out a lot. So you're thinking that there is some love happening behind the scenes there.

Speaker 2 49:17

Yeah, Malachi was looking at her, remember at the at that one event that they had, and he was looking over her and he was like, I've never seen my aunt laughing and giggling and doing all that and being that close to people she doesn't trust. And he was like, How did they get this close this fast? She doesn't trust very well. And then when he looked over her, he gave her like this unique look, like, okay, I see you. And I was like, What?

Speaker 1 49:38

I want to know more. And like, tell me more about this. What's happening there?

Speaker 49:44

Okay, so I I didn't quite that one uh went a little bit over my head. That was more of a, huh, I I think she's just having fun because she's she's not having to deal with the stress of being uh regent or whatever, but actually she found herself a little friend, maybe a little bit more than a friend. Uh well, we we could go on and on and you know talk a bit more about the the the the cadre, the Nikita Warriors, and the cadre was was uh Malachi's

Must Love Romantasy Rating System

Speaker 50:14

group of friends who he, you know, they were the pack of similar to the Nikita Warriors that they would fight for him and stuff like that, but um we end up go going on and on for days. So um I let's let's get to our rating then um of this book. And I did develop it back in April finally, so giving giving you some baseline of what to work with here, Asia. Um so here's the rating. The rating is one star, which means nope, do not finish. Um two stars means we shall never speak of this again. Three stars means meh, didn't really like it much. And uh four stars means I really, really liked it. And five stars means I'm rereading, I'm listening again and again. So where do you fall in that rating system for this book?

Final Rating

Speaker 51:10

That's a good rating system, right?

Speaker 2 51:12

I'm gonna give it a three. I mean, it's not something that I would never talk about. I mean, it was interesting, but it's just not something I'd read again, you know?

Speaker 51:20

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So that would be, you know, three. I I said three, meh, didn't really like it much, but that that kind of the reason why I put it like those two things together was more of a meh, you know, as you said, it's all right. Um, or um it could be didn't really like it that much. So I am with you. I'm with a meh, you know, number three stars. Meh. Um, you know, it it it it wasn't I think again, as we said at the beginning, that maybe this book was not meant for me because I'm more into slow burn uh romanticy, I'm finding um I like more the fantasy than than the romance. Um, but I I do like them equally, but I like them to complement each other a little bit more. And this leaned too heavily on the erotica part of it, you nick you called it. Um, but you know, I I wouldn't say let's never speak of this again. That that's that's for for the other books that we reviewed together before I developed this rating system. We will not speak of that again. Absolutely not. Oh boy, so um, I really wanted thank you so much for coming back, uh especially for making time to do our first video episode and getting video, you know, hot looking for the camera.

Speaker 2 52:45

Surrounding me.

Speaker 52:46

Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. So before you go, um in addition to the things that you you said that you're working on, where else can people find you if if you'd like to find them, if you'd like them to find you on the socials?

Speaker 2 53:00

You can find me on Instagram. I'm on there all the time. It is T-A-I-N-T-3E D. And I'm on there, Raven, reading, writing, so you can catch me doing print for anything, and then food, of course, too, if you like food.

Speaker 53:15

Love me some food, so gotta check that out. So, Asia, thank you again for joining us.

Speaker 2 53:22

Thank you. I hope you have a great day. Thanks everybody for listening.

Speaker 53:27

Watching and watching besties, what did you think of our video review? Well, drop us a comment, send us a text or fan mail, and we may read it later on in a show, just like we did with C Taylor 1220s. And again, shout out to you, C Taylor1220. That's a wrap for this episode, and also a wrap for this first season of Must Love Romanticy. Thank you for supporting us in this first season and endeavor. I'm taking a break in July and August, but I'll be back in earnest in September to do a countdown to the new Sarah J mask uh book. But if you still need or want a book club, the must love romanticity in real life, book club is going on full team ahead. Link is in the show notes on how you can join or you can find us in the book club app. So, until next time, happy reading.