A battle-scarred knight who dreams of peace. A secret princess who knows the Empire’s darkest truths. And a marriage written in blood and betrayal.
Their marriage was forged by the end of a war. Now it’s all that stands between them and the Empire.
Traitor Son & Stardust Child by Melissa J Cave
Series: Empire of the Stars
Published by Owl and Bear, LLC; Book 1 November 1, 2024, Book 2 April 11, 2025
Genres: Historical Fiction | Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy
Pages: 394 & 482 Kindle Edition
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley: 1 | 2
Add to Goodreads: 1 | 2
Buy on Amazon: 1 | 2
T/W: Child abuse, bullying, death, demons, emotional abuse, profanity,
Rated: Adult
★★★☆☆
The Empire of the Stars series, written by Melissa J. Cave, currently has two books. The third in the series is releasing in November 2025.
This review will cover both books in the series.
The writing is really good. Characters with personalities brought to life on the pages with their interactions with one another, as well as their dialogue. Ophele is depicted as a mousy girl, abused by her foster parents growing up. She is also very clever and well-educated, regardless of those shortcomings. Then there is Remin, a bear of a hero who the king hates so much that his death is always imminent due to his suspicious behaviour.
The first chapters of Book 1 were strong. We are brought into this world, which seems to be filled with wars and magic. However, after Ophele is wed to Remin it becomes this enemies-to-lovers trope. It wasn’t so awful, but it does get spicy, with lengthy descriptions (if that’s your thing). I skipped these scenes – I don’t enjoy that in stories I read. It was very unexpected and unnecessary for me.
A lot of the time throughout both books, it seemed repetitive and dragged on.
I guess this type of novel falls under the cozy fantasy genre, with an emphasis on building a town. It is mostly mindless and menial.
There are some fantastical elements, such as demons that attack the towns in the area during the summer days. However, there are also a lot of strange cross-references from our real-life world, such as using the Gregorian calendar naming system. It would throw me off whenever a character would say “July”, “August”, etc. Perhaps creating a new calendar system, or simply saying “the summer of year,” “the winter of year,” could have worked too.
The story just fell flat. It could have been so much more. No actual cliff hangers at the end of both books, but a lot of unanswered questions remain.
Unfortunately, I will not be reading the third book.
I struggled through the second book the most and was close to DNFing (I saw the book through only because of the writing and characters, Plot not so much).
This may be to the liking of others who enjoy this kind of story or reading experience.
★★★☆☆
