Review: The Fae’s Bride by R.L. Medina

The Fae’s Bride (Silveri Sisters #1)
R.L. Medina

My Rating: 3 stars

Genre: Cosy Fantasy Romance
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
A busy witch. An enamored count. An enchanted villa filled with nosy sisters.

Alessia has more to worry about than the handsome new count everyone is fawning over. Mama’s health is declining, the villa needs repairs, and then there are her four sisters who always seem to be either in trouble or causing it.

With his Fae blood, Massimo never expected to inherit the title of count, nor the lands that accompanied it, and he certainly never expected to fall for the town’s quirky witch—especially when she clearly wants nothing to do with him.

It will take more than magic to bring them together.

Welcome to Zamerra where cozy fantasy intertwines with Italian cottage core and fairy core vibes. Within this gaslamp fantasy realm, you’ll find witches, fae, warlocks, house elves, and much more! Each standalone book features a sweet romance and heart-warming tale of family that readers can explore in any order.

My Review

I grabbed this one as I like cozy fantasy books and this one sounded promising. This book has a lovely cosy vibe that I really liked. There’s a strong focus on the importance of family as well as the focus on the sweet romance blossoming between Alessia and Massimo. I had a fun time reading this book, but something seemed to be missing to fully hook me. Nevertheless I look forward to continuing the series.

The Fae’s Bride follows the story of Alessia and Massimo. Both have their struggles, Alessia is a witch and the towns folk aren’t kind to her and her family. Where Massimo is a fae and now he suddenly becomes a count and isn’t sure how to handle his new responsibilities. The two meet as Massimo visits the village where Alessia lives. I liked the main thread of the story and romance, but there were some events or scenes that didn’t really work for me. Like the whole plot line with the house needing repairs and her mother’s health mostly seemed to focus as means to spur the romantic plot along.

I liked reading about these two and their connection was clear. Still I would’ve loved to see more scenes of them spending time together with just the two of them as now they were often surrounded by either Alessia’s family of towns folk. I would’ve liked to see them just talking about things and getting to know eahc other more as that part gets skipped over a bit. I wasn’t a fan of the whole back and forth they have going on with Alessia not wanting to date Massimo till the end for various reasons, reasons that then get resolved quite easily toward the end. Despite that I still liked their romance and seeing it develop. The epilogue was super sweet and romantic.

I was a bit overwhelmed when meeting all the Silveri sisters in the first chapter. And throughout the book continued to have trouble keeping them all straight. I am afraid I resorted to remembering who had which magical gift and not really recognizing them because of their personality. It was hard to really remember each sisters personality or even recognize the different personalities, but hopefully as the series progresses that will become easier.

The Silveri family are all witches and the count is a fae, there’s also a warlock and mentions of house elves as well as others. I liked the fantasy vibe of this, but would’ve liked a bit more focus on it and what it actually means in this world. Massimo is a fae, but I had no clue what that actually entailed in this world except for his pointed ears. Some of the Silveri sisters clearly have magic and we see a bit more of that, but Alessia doesn’t have any of those powers, only the ability to communicate with her villa and again not much attention is given to that. I didn’t really like how the towns folk weren’t as nice to Alessia and her family because of them being witches, it was nice to see things become better later on, but this mostly seemed to be because of Massimo and his role as count than due to the towns folk changing their minds.

To summarize: The Fae’s Bride is a cozy fantasy romance book with an Italian vibe. I liked the cosy atmosphere of the book and reading about the small mountain town of Zamerra. The Italian vibe was fresh as well. I liked the characters and romance, but had some struggles with this book as well. While I liked the romance, I would’ve liked to see more of them spending time together, getting to know each other and deepen their connection. There were also some events and plot points that didn’t really work for me, like the way Alessia keeps Massimo at a distance while her concerns end up being resolved quite easily at the end. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the side characters and especially the large amount of sisters Alessia has, I had some trouble keeping straight who was who and resorted to remembering their magical abilities instead of their personalities. I liked the magical vibe, but would’ve liked to see more of the magic as well as what it means to be a fae, witch or warlock in this world. I look forward to continuing the series!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.