A very enjoyable new direction for Jessie Mihalik…
I’ve been a fan of Jessie Mihalik’s writing for a while – see here and here for a couple of reviews. But with Silver & Blood, she has not only has shifted genres, but has really stepped it up, creating a book that I, for one, will put on my comfort/re-read list for the future. And not very many books go on that list.
Silver & Blood starts with a bang. There’s a snarky and book-loving human, Riela, with more magic than she should have, and definitely more magic than she can control. And there are some nasty villagers who force Riela into the nearby forest, ostensibly to kill a monster that attacked a village huntsman, even though everyone knows he was more likely “hunting” some local female – and not wild game – that night among the trees. Of course, once she’s in the forest, she meets a broody fae king: Garrick, King Stoneguard, the Silver King. Childhood poems have always warned that meeting the King of Stone will end in one’s death, but rather than killing Riela, he saves her from the monster(s) instead. Things progress nicely from there, although there is a bit of a cliff-hanger at the end. It’s kind of a nice cliff-hanger, though, if such a thing is possible.
If this all sounds a bit trope-ish, it is. But Silver & Blood is so well done that it doesn’t matter. As I’ve said other times, tropes exist for a reason, and that reason is because they work. I’m terrible at genres and sub-genres, but Silver & Blood is definitely a new arena for Mihalik to play in, and she pulls it off with panache. The writing is crisp, the plot flows nicely from scene to scene, and the characters behave in wonderfully snarkish ways. And what’s not to like about a semi-sentient castle and a wolf who seems much smarter than he should be as support characters? My only complaint, which is common for me with most romantasies, is that I mostly don’t feel the spicy parts add much to the story. I’m definitely a fan of less-is-more in these moments, so I often end up skipping over some paragraphs or pages. Which does make a book quicker to read. But someday, some author is going to hide something critical to the story in the middle of one of the steamier parts, and I will likely miss it.
Interestingly, there are some nice hints of Milhalik’s new direction in her recently published Books & Broadswords, which is a compilation of two fantasy/romance short stories that were originally published on her website. (See my review here.) So if you want to get a hint of whether you will like Silver & Blood, you could pick that up for $2.99 and give it a try. Info and links for Books & Broadswords are also down below.
All-in-all, I loved Silver & Blood, and was happy to read on Milhalik’s blog that she finished the copy edits on the second and final book in the duology, Roses & Stone, back in November, and that it is tentatively scheduled to come out in late 2026. And isn’t it refreshing to have something other than a trilogy sometimes…
Oh yeah, and what a gorgeous cover!
And, second oh yeah, my thanks to Avon/Harper Voyager/NetGalley for my advance review copy!!
Buy Silver & Blood at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Kobo US | Kobo UK | Kobo Canada
Buy Books & Broadswords at: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | Kobo US | Kobo UK | Kobo Canada