House of Bane and Blood by Alexis Menard

TL;DR: An arranged marriage leads to romance, with a dash of a fantasy world.
Source: NetGalley, so many thanks to the publisher!

Plot: Nico and Camilla are in a forced marriage and ‘hate’ one another…. and then they don’t. And need to work together.
Characters: I know folks love this MMC but he felt fairly standard, as did our FMC.
Setting: There was a lot of promise here! I liked the idea of the world, I do wish we’d gotten a lot more.
Fantasy/Romance: The romance was not my favorite and I wish we’d gotten more of the fantasy aspect.

Summary:

Magic, smoke, and steam swirl in the air. High in their mansions, the ruling cartels play games of blood and secrets, while monsters lurk in the alleyways below.

Once I was the most powerful heiress in this city. Then the Attanos killed my father and left my family’s business empire in ruins. I’ll do whatever it takes to get it back…

So when the man who destroyed my world offers to pay our debts—in exchange for my hand in marriage—I have no choice but to accept.

Nicolai Attano is everything I was raised to hate. Arrogant, heartless and devastatingly handsome, he leads a group of criminals with lethal magical abilities.

I know I can’t trust him, but Nicolai claims his offer is strictly business—if I help him find the serial killer who stalks the streets on his side of the city, he will release me from our contract. As we plunge into an underworld of magic and forbidden desires, I can’t deny the attraction drawing me to my new husband… or the thrilling power I feel whenever he’s around.

Can I hunt down a killer and escape with my life, before the most dangerous man in the city steals my heart?

Thoughts:

You ever finish something and you think “Well that happened.” That’s kind of where I am. House of Bane and Blood has been so hyped for so long I was genuinely very excited for it. Then I picked it up, and put it down. Picked it up… and put it down. Ultimately this one shook out to a very average read. Nothing I think I’ll remember for years, nor do I think I’ll continue the series. But, I gave it a try!

The voice in this one is very familiar, so familiar in fact that I’m sure I’ve read it in many other books of this genre. The romance was okay, though I can’t say I was overly excited for it. The world also has a lot of promise but I can’t tell you it was deeply explored or executed in a way that made it stand out.

This one felt ultimately like ‘Mafia Romantasy’ in a fantasy world with a dash of angst at the beginning. It ended up feeling like how all Starbucks drinks taste in the end. Like the all the others of it’s kind, not horrible but not amazing.