Rating: 4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC. It has not affected my opinions or my review.
About a year ago, the small village where Riela lives alone after the death of her father was threatened by a flood. Riela unlocked magical powers and managed to divert the water and save the village. Now one of the villagers has been savaged by a monster in the woods, and the mostly hostile villagers insist that she go into the forest and dispatch the monster for them. Unfortunately, Riela doesn't really have much control over her magical powers, and when she encounters a scary creature seemingly made out of tangled vines, which then divides itself into two, she's pretty convinced this is how she's going to die.
It would be a fairly short book if Riela died in the opening scenes; however, instead, she is rescued by a handsome, yet grouchy, mage and wakes up in his strange castle, where she initially can't go anywhere but where the castle feels like letting her go. While she's happy to have escaped death, Riela is upset when Garrick reveals that she is now confined to the forest. There's a magical spell that traps anyone with magical powers inside its borders, so now Riela can't return home. While Garrick claims she can stay in his magical castle (with a gorgeous library) and that he'll help her try to get better at controlling her magic, he also seems deeply suspicious of her and her motives.
Spending more time together, Riela discovers why Garrick is so suspicious of her. He is, in fact, one of the legendary Etheri sovereigns, and because of a curse, he has been kept away from his magical realm for the last century, and now it seems like Riela might be instrumental in helping him open the gate again. Was she sent there by his enemies with sinister motives, or is she what she appears to be, an orphaned village woman with no idea how to control her magic?
There are strong Beauty and the Beast vibes in this first part of a fantasy duology. The orphaned village maiden. The strange, magical castle in the woods (although there is no talking furniture in this one). The grouchy resident of said castle, and the maiden's inability to go back home. There is also a shapeshifting wolf, but he's the sidekick, not our hero. While the mystical, magical beings of this fantasy are called the Etheri (there's a bunch of different courts, ruled by various sovereigns), they are very fay-coded, both in their grace and viciousness.
When I received this ARC, I thought this was the first part in a trilogy. I am very happy to discover that it's a duology instead, and according to Ms. Mihalik's website, book 2 may be coming out towards the end of 2026. There was a lot to like in this book, although the stretch where Garrick's internal monologue seems to switch between how attractive he finds Riela and how convinced he is that she is some dangerous creature sent to entrap him somehow goes on for too long.
It's going to come as no surprise to anyone who has read fantasy in the past that there is more to Riela's identity than meets the eye, and the plot of the story is trying to figure out both how Garrick can get the magically sealed portal in his castle garden open again, so he can go back to his magical court, and why Riela's magic is so strange and she seems to be the key to getting the portal open again.
For the most part, I liked the banter between Riela and Garrick, and I especially enjoyed Riela's disastrous attempts to get the magical castle to conjure food for her. For the first half of the book, the entire story is just Garrick and Riela, but in the second half, more supporting cast are introduced, and I liked their interactions with both Garrick and Riela. This book ends in a good place, while still making me very excited to read the second part.
Silver & Blood comes out on January 27th, 2026.
Judging a book by its cover: Mostly, I really love this cover, drawn by the talented Luisa Preissler (although I'm not sure why Garrick appears to have forgotten to put on his shirt. The silver embroidery on Garrick's tunic is nice, as are the tiny white flowers in Riela's hair. The castle in the background and the red roses are also cool story elements to include.
Crossposted on Cannonball Read.
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