The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride (The Dead Lands)

I wanted to enjoy this book more but it took me longer than I’d like to admit to understand what was going on in this book I finished it and enjoyed it over all but I swear several times I was like what’s going on or idk what that means. Some things in the book didn’t have much concept but she was throwing terms out like we were supposed to instantly understand. I kinda felt like I was reading a foreign language on occasion and had to figure out

KU subscriptionEven though I read this through the KU subscription this time, I think I actually own this book. I’ve read it at least three times now. It is so magical, Kael is so swoonworthy with his kingly, conquering, butchering ways, and the way he immediately falls head over heels for Anja. As for Anja, she is a spirited, sweet princess who is looking for someplace she belongs. For most of the their journey back to her kingdom to save her people, she doesn’t believe it could be with Kael, even though he never withholds his admiration of her from her. Their affection and trust grows along the journey. If they are not my favorite couple of all e-romances, they’re in the top three.And that cover!!Kati Wilde is an excellent writer, and this medieval feeling fantasy is a great story, enhanced by the sweet relationship that grows between the two leads. I also like her other books that deal with people in the Dead Lands, and I really hope that she keeps writing them. Katie is one of those authors that I enter her name every once in a while just to make sure I catch her newest book.I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

What a story! I was not convinced I was going to like it but, as I got further in, I realized it was harder and harder to put it down!Kael is the new king of the 4 kingdoms. He was able to claim it by defeating/killing the horrible, gruesome prior king. Now that he’s won the crown and there is peace in the land, he finds that he’s incredibly bored. He’s not made to sit around and ruling in that manner. Things look up when he discovers his chief advisor has sent away for a princess to marry him. He finds it funny until he meets her and is immediately struck by her beauty and fierceness.Anja is from a magic wielding kingdom. Unfortunately, though, she’s a princess with no powers in a land that looks down on those that don’t have any. She sees her way out by getting married to the Barbarian king and finding a place where she’ll belong. Before she can do that, she just needs to save her parents from a mysterious plague that no one seems to see but her.Kael, while attracted to Anja, has little interest in keeping a wife that isn’t truly interested in him. Anja’s only plan is to stay around long enough to get pregnant and then kill the king in his sleep. This does not sound like a match made in heaven! Stick with it though. There’s a lot of inner monologue (they each get alternating chapters in their first person voice) about longing and desire because OF COURSE they’re interested in each other but don’t want the other to know. It was frustrating until it wasn’t.These are just 2 people, with incredible relationship baggage, trying not to make a mess of things. You are truly rooting for them to figure their stuff out so they can get to their HEA.I’m going to read more books in this authors catalog. I found this one enjoyable, exciting and sexy. It was a good, quick time.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/ 5First of all, friends, this is not a story about a mail order bride.Okay, technically, there is an instance of someone receiving mail about being a bride, and she answers that mail, but in context, it’s really more of a summoning of princesses in the area to come and marry this barbarian warrior guy.Now that we’ve established what this book is not, let’s talk about what it is… which is a darn good barbarian fantasy on KU. Obviously my bar for this is extremely high (see my post on Milla Vane’s two barbarian fantasy romances, and how deeply I love them) but I would solidly recommend this book, and give it a 4/ 5 stars without question.Kael is the new owner of a kingdom that he conquered from the ground up, but he’s dissatisfied with court life. Also, everyone is afraid of him, and his sad secret cinnamon roll heart hurts because of it. Anja is a princess on a mission, for her own acceptance and to save her parents (who are real dicks, to be honest) from some creepy spiders. Their relationship starts as one of convenience, but blossoms into a lovely story, as they work together to navigate the trials of ruling, and the tribulations of each other’s hearts.I loved Kael, and I loved Anja. I thought that they were a really lovely pairing, whose strengths and weaknesses complimented each other. The book missed a 5 for me because of the miscommunication trope (hate almost as much as secret baby) and I wasn’t quite invested in the spider thing, and a real awkward sex on horseback thing, but overall, this was a great fantasy read and I would absolutely recommend it!You’ll like this book if you like Game of Thrones, Ruby Dixon fantasy, A Heart of Blood and Ashes, and old-school Conan the Barbarian.Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 4/ 5 adequate spice, sort of slow burn.HEA: 🚢 solid, I ship. Best of luck to you, King Kael and Queen Anja!CW: Giant-ass spiders, parents who are jerks, gore, a fair amount of dirty talk, weird magical beasts.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it when I downloaded the sample but I did. I thought the fantasy world building in such a short amount of time was fantastic. I thought the entire thing from start to finish was great. There was a lot of heat but also a lot of sweet tension and growing feeling between the king and his queen. Overall, it had its steamy parts and it had it cute moments. The last chapter or two threw me. I was spooked by the woods by Anja’s kingdom and everything else that went down. The one thing I didn’t like was the title. I dislike the title so much. Midwinters Bride would’ve been fine. But I’m not the author so I don’t make the call. Overall, it was worth the read.

this is the second time that I've read this book. it's awesome. the romance, the funny situations, the growth of the characters, the world building. though it's a short story, it has everything. all the books from this series have. so thank you Kati for these wonderful storys.P.s.: I'm still waiting for mid summer bride. ;)

This is full of contradictions, in style, quality, and journey.It starts off a little light and ridiculous, but with good quality fun.It gets better. Intelligent, thoughtful, and surprising.It follows a few classic romance tropes, but done it such a way, they simply work.Though at one point, I question the continuity in character. The MMC is presented as highly intelligent, observant, and thoughtful. Yet he never questions, or realises the ridiculousness of expecting a virgin princess (who he would surely believe to be sheltered and coddled), to verbally state her sexual desires and needs, never mind understand them… That didn’t add up.The world building was fascinating and uniquely done, with well spread out information, among a decently plotted story.Then is the weirdly cheesy, OTT MMC backstory. With constant additions of unbelievable feats and adventures, more appropriate to a Herculean character.At the approx. 62% mark, the quality took a sharp nosedive for a chapter or two, removing all respect for the 2 main characters intelligence, and embracing the worst of romances climax tropes: misunderstandings that aren’t logical or believable; women who are all emotion, while men who are all stoic brawn; misunderstanding resolved to reveal whirlwind LoVe; and language and behaviour that doesn’t match a virgin.Then the story takes off again, with well scripted action that’s quirky and cult epic, and balanced by straight-man humour.All rounded off with an appropriately tongue-in-cheek HEA, and a small lead in for the next book.I have every intention of checking out more from this author, irrelevant to the misses, in hopes of experiencing more of the hits. 🍀🍌🤞

Livro com suspense, um pouco de ação, especialmente no fim, reflexões tocantes sobre a magia do amor (sim, brega de se dizer, mas é verdade) e um casal maravilhoso.

Anja is going to get herself a kingdom, even if she has to marry a man she doesn’t know and kill him in order to get it. Kael on the other hand doesn’t even know he’s looking for a bride. And when these two meet, things don’t exactly go to plan for either of them.I was expecting this to be just another easy read but it wasn’t. I really enjoyed the story from start to finish and loved watching the main characters learn about one another and fall in love. Kael is all alpha male, brutish, violent but with a tender heart he keeps well hidden. Anja is fierce, determined and a little broken, as she’s never really felt loved or even appreciated. Miscommunication, or rather careless words, cause the tension in ‘The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride’ and it’s quite something to watch, as their respect for one another is what seems to keep them apart. It’s a beautiful story which left me feeling inspired, and that’s what made it more than just another romance story to me. Read it and judge for yourselves. I’m confident you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Whoever said never judge a book by its cover was a fool. The cover of this book is awesome, beautiful, fantastical and strong. As is the story. The focus of the magic in the story deals with balance in the world. The story does just the same, there is a perfect balance between fantasy storytelling, adventure and downright dirty, coarse erotica. I loved it.