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Review

“We want what we want. Even when we know it will destroy us.”

5 stars!

OMG, what a fantastic read! An exciting, engaging, fast-paced dark romantasy with action, drama, and the most fabulous, chemistry-filled and steamy enemies-to-lovers romance. The characters are sensational, with a bold heroine and an irresistible villain hero, and the love story is epic. I loved everything about this book!

This is the first book in the Broken Accords series, which will be a series of interconnected standalones. This book is a completed story with a super-satisfying ending, and there are a fabulous bunch of side characters introduced and set up for their own books, and I am so freaking excited to continue on with the series.

Bryony Devaliant is a human princess of her realm, and her single purpose in life is to die over and over. Every two weeks she is ritualistically killed and then reincarnated. The blood she spills upholds the shroud protecting her world and appeases the gods after her family was responsible for a deadly uprising centuries earlier. But when Bryony’s people begin to worship her instead of the king of the gods, he wants her out of the picture and sends an assassin to kill her for real.

Evander is a god who has spent his life killing on the orders of his king. He knows of the Devaliant family and the curse that Bryony lives under, and he is only too happy to fulfill his duty. But when he meets his target, she is nothing like what he expected. A strong and fierce opponent who stands up to him instead of cowering away, she makes him feel something for the first time in centuries.

For a moment all I can do is stare at her, this wild, reckless creature who sees the monster in me and snarls right back.

When Bryony is attacked and ends up hidden away in Evander’s castle home, he decides to keep her alive for his own entertainment, and that’s when things really start to get interesting.

“Teach me to fight.”
I don’t hesitate. “Done.”
Her eyebrows shoot up. She wasn’t expecting that. Probably assumed I’d laugh at her. “Just like that. I thought you detested me.”
“Oh, I fucking loathe you.” It’s important she understands this. That every mercy and moment of kindness are gifts I grant for my own amusement. “I hate everything about your family. The sound of your name makes me want to tear out your throat. But I have no intention of letting anyone else kill you. Nothing that’s mine gets broken unless I’m the one to break it.”
“How generous of you.”
“I’m a giver.”

This is a true enemies-to-lovers romance. Evander and Bryony genuinely hate each other, and that hatred is buried deep. It’s not just a little bit of snark, there are generations of animosity, and they literally want the other dead. But the unwanted but fiery attraction between them is impossible to ignore, and the chemistry is electric!

We want what we want. Even when we know it will destroy us.

The attraction is there pretty early on, but the love story has the feeling of a slow burn, and my heart was pounding with anticipation at each and every interaction just waiting for something to happen. It takes a while for them to get over their mad hatred of each other, and the sexual tension builds to epic levels before anything actually happens, and when it does… holy freaking hotness. The steam is high, and the sexy time is frequent and intense, and leads to all sorts of complicated feelings.

Monsters like me – we don’t just love. We obsess. We fixate. We annihilate anything that threatens what’s ours.

The building relationship between Bryony and Evander is beautifully written. They are both complete badasses, so the moments of vulnerability and connection between them bring so much emotion, and I loved watching Bryony slowly start to break down Evander’s walls. They are both carrying so much trauma, and the tender moments between them are so beautiful. I couldn’t get enough of the two of them together, and as they fall into epic, life-changing, soul-deep love, I couldn’t get enough.

“I love her, I love her, and it’s the most idiotic, suicidal thing I’ve ever done in the entire thousand years of my existence. And I would rather let the world burn that lose her.”

It’s emotional and intense, but it’s also witty, playful, and really funny. The banter is sensational, full of snark and sarcasm and it’s all so entertaining. And while Bryony and Evander are falling in love, we get to enjoy the excellent world-building as we come to understand the world, get introduced to the key players for the series, and gear up for the exciting finish. Because gods and humans aren’t supposed to be together, and these two have literal trials on their hands to claim each other and the future they so desperately want together.

Such a great read, this one is a fave for 2026, and I absolutely loved it.

5 huge stars.

I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Victoria Aston and John Hartley, and it’s such a great one to listen to! The narrators do a great job, and Hartley, in particular, is fabulous at bringing Evander to life. I can’t wait to listen to this one over and over again.

 

The Broken Accords