By J.D. Ronan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Thank you J.D. Ronan, for providing me with an ARC in an exchange for an honest review.
Deadly Vow was a magnificent read, and I am going to detail why without spoilers! (Though I will come back in a few weeks and update once more people have had a chance to read it).
Before I get into content, I feel like this is really important to note when it comes to the validity and sincerity of my reviews. I have ADHD and tend to be a very fast reader, which in turn means that I tend to skim a lot if I find the story to be lacking in world building, plot, interest etc. With Deadly Vow, I was hanging on EVERY word. I devoured this story, but I did so without skimming, which is huge for me. My other ND besties will understand the significance of this!
With that said, I am going to give you a list of attributes that made me LOVE this book:
-Intricate world-building: I find this to be greatly lacking in most fantasy-romance novels these days. Yes, I understand when romance is involved people want smut, but my preference is that I will sacrifice the amount of smut or the timing for some expertly-done world-building, and oh my days, J.D. Ronan delivered on both fronts; no need to sacrifice either.
-Poetic Writing Style: J.D…YES-YES-YES. Another thing I find lacking in fantasy romance is the poetic writing style you often find in epic fantasy adventures. I will admit I can be an internal elitist when it comes to this-if that is a thing? I was a hyperlexia kid, meaning I was reading at a college-level in 4-5th grade (I started reading at age 2), so I was reading classics, high fantasy, Dostoyevsky, Wilde etc, at a really young age. Inevitably, it is kind of hard to impress me. I don’t outwardly usually state this, and I would never put down someone’s work because of it, because I know it is a unique thing about me and not necessarily anything against an author’s writing style. Enough rambling though, suffice to say, if Ronan’s writing did not engage me intellectually and emotionally, she would not be getting 5 stars!
-Slowburn Romance: This romance is POETIC. It is the magic-infused, morally gray, tension-filled relationship evolution of my dreams. I don’t want to say more, but Sabine and Keahi are the couple I want to read about in every book, ever. It is full of the perfect enemies to lovers-esque tropes, with none of the gross BS that can make some people uncomfortable and remove them from the world.
Run, don’t walk, to purchase Deadly Vows and support J.D. Ronan. Though I received a free ARC, I plan on buying a physical copy in order to support her. ESPECIALLY after an arc reader decided to pirate her book, which can cause major issues for indie-authors.
TL:DR: Buy this book IMMEDIATELY!! The poetic writing style blew me away truly. For this being J.D. Ronan’s first release and the writing to be THIS GOOD? Literally in awe. The world-building, the magic, the slow burn romance. You will love every aspect of this story. Told from alternating POV, something exciting happens in EVERY CHAPTER. You won’t want to skip a single person’s’ POV (I usually do lol) Thank you for writing a truly magical tale J.D., I cannot wait to see what’s next!
Emo Academia 