Silk and Steel #1: Silk & Steel

Okay so first things first you really need to read those trigger warnings. You can find them in the sample of the book and they pull no punches. I bought this book a year ago, started reading it and had to put it down bc of well those trigger warnings There are extremely disturbing themes in this book. It took me a year to come back to this book and finish it.For real. The trigger warning says implied incest, nothing shown. Really?? I mean Jesus this evil dragon queen is grabbing her sons you know what be warned some of it is indeed shown and it’s f’ed up.I would be cautious about reading this book if a person is already struggling with trauma of any kind, I’m afraid it may be triggering. I wouldn’t suggest reading it. Look for Tal Bauers books instead, he’s a great author who writes gay romance. Josh Lanyon is a good one too. As well as Alice Winters and Hayley Turner and Aimee Nicole Walkers Zero Hour Trilogy. These authors have heavy themes but not like this. It’s up to you though what you can handle and what you choose to do.SPOILERS and wait a minute! Did the blurb say Eroan was bisexual? Did I miss that? I mean he did have sex with Janna but he was thinking of Lysander the entire time 🤷🏼‍♀️After having to wash my brain in holy water a few times I can say that Lysander and Eroan do have heart and based on who they are as people, with Lysander SPOILERS away from his evil brood SPOILERS I can see their relationship developing into a beautiful one. But that doesn’t happen in this book. Not yet. There’s politics and scheming and war here. This isn’t a romance, but a story that happens to have two dudes falling in love in it.But these two certainly have stolen my heart.This was some serious world building. An intricate story. If you liked Game of Thrones and could stomach the themes in that show, then you can handle this book. Just make sure you take care of yourself bc it can be very disturbing.

DNF @66%I should've stopped way sooner. I really should have.I read the sample, it was awesome, so I bought it on a whim. I wanted something not contemporary, and something that's plot-driven. This fit the bill perfectly.My review is full of spoilers, read it at your own peril.The story starts with Eroan (love the name) who is an elf, sent to kill the dragon queen. The opening scene shows him chained to a wall in the dragonskeep. He got captured during the fight. But we haven't actually seen the fight, unfortunately. I would have loved to see that.He's been captured by Lysander, the queen's son, one of the dragon prince. If it wasn't clear before, yes, they can shift from a human body to dragon form.Eroan was so fierce and defiant, I liked him immediately.Lysander took a liking to him, but of course they were enemies.The world-building is good, though I have some questions, which I might've got the answers to if I read the whole thing. I'm not sure how the humans fit into the dragon and elf-world, how they lost the war. And where did dragons even came from?So it started out strongly for me. I liked where the story was going, and I liked the slow-burning romance. But. BUT!And here it gets tricky, also really spoilerish!There are things that just don't make sense to me.The relationships in this book are sooo messed up.First: Lysander and his mother, the Queen Elisandra.Lysander as the prince is destined to breed, but he can't perform when it comes to females. The Queen however is determined to fix that. She says Lysander is 'broken'. And she arranges a coupling with a female in the other clan.Lysander is miserable. He just wants to be free of the shackles.Through the whole story, there would be examples, when Lysander tries to disobey his mother, and she would punish him. Literally tries to kill him, or at least injure him enough that he could really feel it. And in some cases Lysander would fight back. So their relationship is very aggressive. One time she almost kills him. Yet, he goes back. Whyyyy? Why doesn't he just leave? Probably the queen would hunt him down, because she needs him to make the connections with other clans stronger. So he goes back, battered and bruised. He was literally dying. And they act like nothing happened between them, like that fight didn't happen. Why doesn't Lysander just kill her? He could've. He had several opportunities. Even before Eroan was captured. So I don't get it. It probably makes more sense out of context, but as I was reading, I just didn't get it.And then, after he finally killed his mother, and started a riot in the clan, he decided it would be a good idea to seek help in the other clan, where the Queen originally wanted to send him to breed. I guess he thought that the coupling was off the table, now that the Queen was dead. Well he thought wrong, he was again forced...or more like persuaded to have sex with the princess, who's name I don't remember.Honestly, Lysander seemed like a lost puppy to me. He just drifted from one place to another, without a goal in mind. What was he thinking would happen when he got to the Bronze clan?Second: Eroean and.... well every other elf.This happened a bit further in the storyline. Near where I stopped. Again, Spoiler!Eroan survived the horrors of the dragonkeep, and went home.He's best friend, Janna, awaited him. It turned out Janna was in love with Eroan, but her love was not returned, at least not how she wanted it, because Eroan, just like Lysander, was 'broken'. He couldn't be with Janna. So I was surprised when he initiated sex with Janna. How? Wasn't it stated before that he could only be with males? Or was that just an assumption by the Queen?And just before they had sex, Eroan argued that he can't and won't have children, his life is in the Order, he wants to fight the dragons. And then with a flip of a switch he decides that it's a good idea to make love to Janna after all?And there was Nye, an elf male, who's been secretly in love with Eroan. And there was some sexy times too. But then the image of Lysander popped into Eroan's head and the moment was ruined.To me it seemed like the authors were trying to draw sex out of every encounter. And it felt forced to me. Though there was only one actual sex scene in this book, around where I stopped. Before that there were only oral (forced).And one other thing I kind of understood, but not entirely. The Queen said Lysander is 'broken'. Which meant he wasn't into females. So he couldn't breed. And as the prince, that was a problem. I get that.But it seemed it was only a problem in Lysander's case, because the members of the Bronze clan didn't make it a secret that they're more open-minded and free-spirited in that regard. And that didn't seem to bother the Queen. And it didn't bother her either when she forced her harem to brake Eroan's will... in a sexual way. She even enjoyed watching those males pleasure Eroan.So poor Lysander was the only one the Queen didn't let off the hook. That's why I don't understand why he didn't kill her sooner.Aaand there was something else I wanted to say.... but now I forgot what it was. Anyway. I think this book was full of minor plotholes. I liked the idea of this, an enemies to lovers story, but I think it would have needed a bit more tweaking.

This was a lot different than the previous books I had read by this author, but it was just as fantastic.

I have to admit, this book had me turning pages, especially right in the beginning (starting a plot in a dungeon will do that, I suppose). The book did throw me for a loop, however, when *SPOILER ALERT* the main protagonist ended up in France. I knew that humans were a part of the author's created world, but I didn't realize that world was going to be OUR world, and France in particular (which seems very specific and yet also really random). The French that was spoken by the supposed French characters was also a pretty poor and "google translate"/"high school French class" representation of the language. The author should have researched better, or better yet, left that detail out entirely. If you can get past that part, the spice between all of the characters is pretty good. Hoping that it really heats up in the second book which I just ordered.

I think you just gottta let it all flow over you when you start a new fantasy so although I’m confused about cars and and solar panels and France it’s not jarring enough in a world where there’s dragons and elves and so this bizarre dystopia where everything is fractured and unfinished is quite charming in fact .Incredible opening , I love Lysandar so much and confided by him confounded and so sad for him and how much he’s had to endure in these first hundred pages !I can’t not read the second

Story and characters were great. The highly erotic and descriptive parts were wonderful, and bookmarked, lol. Was far from thrilled with the human storyline. Finally, there never seems to be a "pleasant" cross into the next book and no exception here. I had already purchased the other volumes knowing a good read was at hand.

O fim guarda novas possibilidades para o casal e espero que eles interajam mais e se apaixonem de verdade, e não fiquem só com a ideia do que um tem do outro até agora.

Prince Lysander stops an elf assassin from killing the dragon queen; and finds an ally where they might both be free from her tyranny.I confess I bought this a few days ago, and after seeing some recent reviews, it kinda skipped to the front of my reading queue.Lysander is a dragon shifter, and the second son to the ruling Amethyst queen.All of his life, he has been dismissed as weak and broken, because he is different. His mother is cruel and manipulative. She's the strongest dragon alive, and makes it clear that she could kill him if she wished. She's managed to twist this thoughts so solidly, Lysander is in a cage of her making.All Lysander wants is to be free, but he knows that can never happen as long as his mother rules.Eroan is from an Elvish order of assassins. He is the best they have, and has been tasked with one mission - to kill the dragon queen. When he's stopped by Prince Lysander, he's thrown into a prison, tortured and abused. He refuses to die and refuses to give up on his mission, even when given the chance to escape.This book has all the triggers. The author supplies a handy list of them, so you have been warned.I agree with her assessment that it is not a m/m romance.Although there is a growing attraction between Lysander and Eroan, and you're rooting for the pair of them throughout the book, it is not the main focus.This is a Dark Fantasy set mainly in the courts of the dragon shifters.The dragons have already won the war against humans and elves (who are all but extinct), but they have never lost their desire for power and dominance. The relatively-new race of Amethyst dragons are the most powerful, and rule over all.The queen uses her magic and might to subdue the other dragons, to force them into constant submission. She's relentless and ruthless and won't settle for weakness - even killing her own daughter, than allow a weak link.There is violence, and graphic sex (again, the sex doesn't overwhelm the rest of the story, it adds to the plot). It's bloody and brutal, because that is the world of the dragon-shifters.I really enjoyed this book, and I look forward to the sequel.

This book is dark, please make sure to check out trigger warnings.The characters were truly flawed in this book making this enemies to ... Lovers? Story difficult. They are both damaged and in the worst of situations. However neither of them are good and are both guilty of many things. However it is hard not to route for them.If you like dark twisty fantasy stories then this is for you.

This book is dark. It’s full of lust, abuse, death, sorrow and loss, so if you want a hea romance this is not the book for you, but if you want more of a challenge, read on.It is also about caring, perseverance against all odds, love and friendship and most of all, hope.The world and characters are beautifully crafted and nuanced. This is a world you feel you know but not as you know it. Every situation is life threatening and you know that not all will survive but that doesn’t prevent the shock at some of the events. Still reeling from the ending.If you read anything this year this should be it.Love this book and can’t wait for the next one.

This book had me at the very start. WOW, .ten out of ten. Just give yourself the pleasure,read this book.true love, a story spectacular ly woven. Brilliant. I really enjoyed this.