Katastrophe Chef

Oh my god. I just finished this. I heard good things about it and it exceeded all my expectations. I feel stunned after finishing it and am sad that since it just came out, I have to wait a while for Book 2.

A Vow in Vengeance is a first-person enemies-to-lovers, morally grey FMC (Female Main Character), with a morally grey MMC ShadowDaddy, super interesting magic system, and some dark academia thrown in, and is the start of the new Immortal Desires series by Jaclyn Rodriguez.

The story is about Rune, a 20-year-old mortal who has lost her entire family – twin brother, father, and then mother, to the immortal Selection North of the Wall. After losing her Mother to the Druids years prior, she turns herself into a spy, assassin, and courtier to the Lord of Westfall. She burns all her bridges – literally burning down the Lord’s house after maiming him – and the only place she can run is to the next immortal selection for the Druids. Every year, the Druids, Elves, and Serephs choose 100 mortals to join their courts. None of them are ever seen again, and Rune willingly volunteers to be chosen in hopes of escaping her bounty, but also find and save her family.

During the selection, she meets Draven, the crown prince of the Druids, and the person making the selections of mortals. When she and 99 others join the Druids, expecting to be enslaved or worse, instead find they are turned into Druids themselves as changelings and given magic gifts based on Tarot cards. Rune’s tarot magic ends up being the rarest card, with only one other person sharing it with her – Draven. And that’s just the first couple of chapters.

This is full of twists and turns. Even if I guessed a couple of twists, I did not get them all. Five out of Five stars! Some Spice, but more plot than spice, as it’s somewhat slow burn.