Book Tour & Giveaway: Val by Jennie Lynn Roberts

Val
Jennie Lynn Roberts
(The Hawks #2)
Publication date: April 22nd 2021
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

He’ll do anything to save her. And then he’ll say goodbye…

Being framed for murder, captured, and tortured for weeks didn’t break Val. But seeing Alanna every day, knowing she didn’t love him as he loved her, surely would. So, he’ll do whatever is necessary to stop the king from executing her…then he’ll walk away. Forever.

Queen Alanna gave up everything—including her soul mate— to secure the treaty that would end the war. Now, her husband wants her dead and any chance she had for true happiness with Val is ruined.

The king’s new guards are arrayed against them, the threat of war looms large, and their enemy has the upper hand. When all is said and done, will Alanna choose to sacrifice her own happiness to save her kingdom? Or will she risk it all for a second chance at happily ever after with Val?

Val, book 2 in The Hawks series, is a sexy, steamy, adult fantasy romance full of swords, shifters (kind of), and tons of action. But fair warning: This book is intended only for readers who love slow burn romance, fast-paced adventure, soul mates and found family—and characters who curse when they fight for survival. If that’s you, happy reading.

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Sequel to:

Jennie Lynn Roberts believes that every strong, kickass heroine should have control of her own story, a swoony hero to support her at every turn, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Because that doesn’t always happen in real life, she began creating her own worlds that work just the way they should. And she hasn’t looked back since.

Jennie would rather be writing than doing anything else—except for spending time with her gorgeous family, of course. But when she isn’t building vibrant new worlds, she can be found nattering with friends, baking up a storm, or strolling in the woods around her home in England.

If you want to talk books, romance, movies, reluctant heroes, or just about anything else with Jennie, feel free to contact her atwww.jennielynnroberts.com. But be prepared to settle in for a long chat if you bring up shifters, vampires, Star Wars, or The Princess Bride….

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3.5

(for the series)

Trigger warning for the books: rape

The Hawks by Jennie Lynn Roberts is a series of Adult Fantasy Romance books, each focusing on a different member of the Hawks (a group of Blue Coats or Palace Guards). At the time I am writing this review, I have not yet finished the second book of the series, Val, but I will come back and edit this post as soon as I complete it.

So far, each book gets its title from the male it focuses on. Book one is about Tristan, a Tarasque who feels betrayed when his best friend Val is accused of treason and sentenced to death after killing the king and having an affair with the Princess. As a reader, I found everything about that incident to be obvious and guessed from the start the actual culprit and how the events took place, though not all the details. However, this didn't make the book unenjoyable. On the contrary, I found it to be very action-packed and the Romance was sweet, believable, not your typical insta-love since the characters knew each other from childhood. They are not perfect, but they care a lot about each other and theirs is a relationship based on trust. When one of them thinks the other has betrayed them, they soon realize the bigger picture and are able to get back up and out of difficult situations, not getting into pointless childish fights.

Book two comes is as the title suggests about Val, following both the series of events that took place in book one, as well as other timelines: the past when Val became a Captain of Blue Coats and Princess Alanna's guard and how they fell in love but didn't act on it since she was already married to the Princes of Brythoria, as well as the "present", which is after the events of book one.

For me, the series would've been a whole lot better with more world-building. I am a sucker for anything Fantasy, especially Fae books so seeing the cover for these, I jumped at the opportunity to read them and take part in this virtual book tour. I was surprised, however, that there is no focus on the Fantasy aspects of the story. The author didn't use the name Fae or Fairy to describe her supernatural beings, but there are a few unique names mentioned such as Nephilim (some kind of truth/mind reader), Tarasque (who have an inner beast and can partially? transform into it when they get angry like claws getting out) or winged-type ones which I forgot the name of. But you have to figure most of it out yourself since there is no clear explanation while you are getting introduced to different characters, you're just putting everything together. Something I found strange was how little these supernatural abilities play a part in the story. Nim's and Val's wings sometimes have to be hidden to avoid them being recognized or they get mentioned for making Nim looking pretty in a scene and they are obviously crucial a few times for... well, flying purposes. Tarasque characters sometimes have their scales visible, colors varying from character to character, and their claws get out when they lose control of the "beast inside" but I didn't find the power being used to its full potential. Nephilim are literally a walking truth serum/mind reader and they only used their power once or twice which was frustrating since it could've saved them a lot of screw-ups with trusting the wrong people or not trusting the right ones from the start.

The history of the world is also a bit rushed. "Six generations ago, a young Brythorian princess had married a Verturian prince in a political attempt to tie the kingdom into one great nation." She dies during childbirth and Verturia is accused of murdering her. Why would they think that? I don't know, I guess they either had no common sense or were just looking for an excuse to choose violence. The war kept escalating every year and after being unsuccessful at winning for many year, king Geraint of Brythoria wanted to end it by marrying his son Ballanor to Princess Alanna of Verturia. And things get messy from here because Ballanor ~~has daddy issues and~~ wants the war to go on so he can prove ~~just what a badass motherf...~~ he is a better ruler than his father.

Despite these issues, the books are thoroughly enjoyable and for me a breath of fresh air after reading mostly YA Fantasy lately. The characters are mature, the story is very action-packed and when there is no fight or scheming involved, it focuses on the relationships between the Hawks as friends as well as the relationship between each of the male and their lover. I recommend it to those looking for a page-turner.

Follow the rest of the tour here.