What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone Series)

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Now, Caelum the love interest is just...bland for me. He spews pretty words every time he opens his mouth that are what's supposed to make him endearing and charming and whatnot, but he has no personality whatsoever except being possessive of Estrella. The author seems to be really good at making you not like a book during like 75% of it, and then catching you good at the end so well that you have to read the next book.

When Estrella meets Caelum, she isn’t sure if he can be trusted. Especially since most man have shown her, they can’t be trusted. But there is something about Caelum that speaks to her. And when Caelum is the only one she can turn to, she is forced to trust him with her life. The world building is incredibly weak and there's little clarity. The spice is written with heart, the romance is written with heart, but the rest comes across as bland. The pacing is entirely too fast. For a high-fantasy where we have seemingly complex dynamics, the details are glossed over as the plot just continues to progress without pausing to explain anything. The ending was not what I was expecting. Now I just want to know what happens next! Where the story takes off from here. I'll definitely be reading the next book!We find about Brann and why he was acting the way he was in the first book. He has been her guardian for centuries and kept her protected. We also find Fallon who is the other girl who has the crescent mark and could possibly be the Queen's long lost daughter. However we are led to believe it's Estrella with all the powers she is displaying but once they go to the Fae world - Fallon starts changing and it's revealed it's her. So what the hell is Estrella??? She is captured and Caelum is probably taken prisoner for his betrayal. Basic✨ There is no subtle foreshadowing. We allllll know whats coming but we still have to GET there.

Personally, I didn't see a problem with the hero. Sure he's low-key villain adjacent but he treats the heroine like a damned princess, keeps her satisfied in all ways, and has stated quite a few times that he would burn the world down if she's not in it. Refusing all that? Couldn't be me but the heroine is surely doing her damnedest to try. Throughout. This. Entire. Book. Especially I would say Estrella. She was so annoying. The point was to make her soft, but she’s tough, and how she is this “feminist” and whatever. But she was annoying, and gullible, naïve. She blindly believed in her brother, left her mother behind without too much thought, did all these spur of the moment actions, while continuing to believe the fae are bad. ALSO THE FACT SHE NEVER THOUGHT HE IS HER MATE?????????? HOW DENSE DO YOU HAVE TO BE? Shes just very dense. Very gullible. I don’t know how else to explain her. Just very annoying. And the narrative felt like, im not like other girls, from both mcs actually. I had such high hopes. This was an absolute disappointment. It stripped all the good parts of from blood and ash, an ember in the shadow, A court of thrones and roses and made just an absolute mess of a book. Review Summary: Not a bad read on KU/Kindle. Does include sex/steam/spicy elements and series does get darker as it continues. Series of 4 books, final book to publish in Dec 23.For nearly 400 years, the Veil has protected us from the Fae of Alfheimr. In their absence, our lives have shifted from decadence and sin to survival and virtue under the guidance of the New Gods. I’ve spent my entire life tending to the gardens next to the boundary between our worlds, drawn to the shimmering magic like a moth to the flame. I would have rated it lower but Caelum made me bump up the rating. His love for Estrella is so so pure, it's hard not to love him for that. The angst is good but quite repetitive. I found myself getting tired of it in the first half, but the second half of it was good. What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods is the first book in a dark romance fantasy series on kindle unlimited. The second book in the series comes out in August 2022. Estrella did push away a lot because of the events at the end of book 1 and I understand her hesitation to allowing herself to trust Caelum again and giving herself completely to him but you know deep down his love for her is true and real. To find out he has been celibate in every single way for the last 300 years was amazing. The moment he found out about her existence he no longer persued others and truly waited for her. I love these types of MMC's.