With that ending, I know there'll be at least one more book, and I need it badly, and fast! I need more of Arianna and Rion and I need to know what happens next and how all the dots are connected. Regarding the "spice" level, I don't require all of my books, especially fantasy reads, to be "spicy," but there are certain assumptions one comes with when there's an age-gap, enemies-to-lovers, fantasy captive romance. That said, even though I abhor a closed-door romance, an intentionally light "spice" level doesn't inherently take away from the story unless there's also a "light" amount of sexual tension and chemistry in the characters... which was unfortunately my experience with this story, especially because they fell soooo fast.

When 18-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country's greatest enemy. From award-winning author J.E. Reed comes a breathtaking new series full of curses, love, and survival.

I did like the setting and realm, it was magical and brilliant with wonder. I thought the world building was impeccable and well developed. The fae setting, a growing war between enemy kingdoms, and the chase of being on run and finding refuge in a commander not known for being kind was a very well, thought out balance. This book begins by introducing the main character, Arianna, who has been captured and enslaved. I really liked that the author does not give the full story upfront, but reels you in slowly. You learn about her anquish and pain she is experiencing and piece by piece how she came to be there. His trust issues did annoy me quite a lot though. After the first one, I couldn't not roll my eyes every time he explained what had happened to him.

Let me start by saying that if you like romance, fantasy, enemies to lovers and “you touch her/him, you die”, this book is for you! Loved the beginning. A true enemies to lovers with tropes i adore! I thought the magic and fighting scenes were fantastically done as well.General Rion is ruthless and commanding. He relishes in his reputation as The Demon-a vile creature incapable of love or compassion. With a secret no one can know, Arianna strives to placate him while plotting her escape, but sometimes fate has other plans and rumors can't always be trusted. Nobody told me it was the first book of a series. Imagine my surprise when I got to the cliffhanger ending 😭😭😭 The female main character also overthinks everything to the point where half the writing in a chapter is her worrying written down. Rion, aka The Demon, is one of the sweetest and most complex male MC I have ever read! Of course, he looks intimidating and scary at first, but I loved those first moments he starts to open up and show some vulnerability. Their relationship loosely reminds me of Beauty and the Beast, because Arianna is the only one that sees beyond the monster and into his soul. From award-winning author J.E. Reed comes a breathtaking new series full of curses, love, and survival. A queen in hiding. When eighteen-year-old Arianna is stolen from her family and sold into slavery, she spends months disguised as a half-breed Fae struggling against the devastations of a decade-long war. But she never expected to find herself at the mercy of her country’s greatest enemy. General Rion is ruthless and commanding. He relishes in his reputation as The Demon-a vile creature incapable of love or compassion. With a secret no one can know, Arianna strives to placate him while plotting her escape, but sometimes fate has other plans and rumors can’t always be trusted. She’ll have to make a choice. Kill the most feared male on the continent or stay and let a forbidden bond take root. But what will happen when he discovers her secret? The Divine and the Cursed by J.E. Reed – eBook Details

However, the reason I’m rating it low is that this book is desperately in need of an editor. There were so many errors that it consistently brought me out of moments in the book. There is a scene between a villain fae and his commander that was super unnecessary and felt like not trusting the readers to connect the dots. There were some errors in the sentences and the pacing didn’t make sense. She'll have to make a choice. Kill the most feared male on the continent or stay and let a forbidden bond take root. But what will happen when he discovers her secret? Finally the slavery aspect. The couple meet when the female MC is the MMC’s slave. At the beginning he doesn’t make a strong stance of being anti slave at all despite us later finding out he’s a lord and could have been fighting harder for that instead of just sneaking his slaves out. It feels like we’re supposed to excuse him and his family having slaves cause “they treat them well” which will make you hate any main character. I found it hard to love this MMC a lot because HE AND HIS FAMILY HAD SLAVES and wasn’t more vocal about abolishing it, rather just making sure they were treated nicely.My heart broke for them so many times. I ugly cried a lot, so I craved the sweet moments as much as I crave chocolate ice cream...every damn minute.