I received this book for free from Advance Reader Copy, NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Silver and Blood by Jessie Mihalik Series: Silver and Blood #1
Published by Avon on January 27, 2026
Genres: Romantasy
Pages: 448
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Advance Reader Copy, NetGalley
Goodreads
On a deadly mission to kill the mythical beast that has been haunting her woods, a desperate mage finds her fate intertwined with the handsome and powerful man who saves her.
There’s something in the woods…
Untrained and barely armed, Riela reluctantly agrees to enter the forest and kill the deadly beast that has been attacking her fellow villagers as she’s the only mage available—or so she thought. When one beast turns into two, she fears her death is at hand, but unexpected aid from a scarred, strikingly handsome man with dangerous moonlit magic means a second chance at life—and an opportunity to learn more about her own fickle power.
After being rescued and healed from her fight in the forest, Riela awakens in a magical castle complete with a gorgeous library, a strange wolf, and the surly man who saved her life. Riela soon learns Garrick is not a mortal mage at all—he’s a powerful Etheri sovereign who has been locked out of his kingdom in Lohka for nearly a century, and his powers are weakening.
Trapped in his castle and surrounded by the treacherous woods, the spark of attraction between Riela and Garrick slowly ignites into fiery desire. But the more they discover about Riela’s magic, the more suspicious Garrick grows of her identity. As they unravel the secrets connecting Riela’s past to Lohka, the tenuous threads of trust between them begin to fray because Riela’s life—or her death—might be the key to regaining everything Garrick has lost.
I love Jessie Mihalik, and her Space Opera series The Consortium Rebellion is one of my favorites. So I’m not married to a genre, I love the authors voice and style, so when I saw her latest, Silver and Blood, a Romantasy, I definitely wanted to read it.
I have two things to say about this book: One, it’s spicy. Romantasy is hit or miss for me, and this was a hit. I also don’t think it’s easy to tell which Romantasies will have spice versus those that don’t, so I was pleasantly surprised with this one. And two, there’s cliffhanger…kind of. This book does leave you with a bit of a cliffhanger, but it’s not the kind where you’re mad at the book. This one leaves you wanting more, with a small hint of what’s to come.
I think that this world is exciting in the way of Kresley Cole and Karen Marie Moning. It’s very much mid-’00s PNR/UF vibes. I loved every page. The world-building isn’t overwhelming, and yet it’s extensive. I loved that too.
This book opens with Riela being verbally attacked by a mob of villagers. Her village, to be precise. And they want her to go into the woods and kill a monster that’s been killing villagers. She’s the only mage in her village, and she’s untrained at that. She once diverted the river after a dam broke, and it was the only time her powers ever did anything amazing. The only thing she can consistently do is create a little light that can help light her way in the forest. Her powers otherwise, are usually on the fritz.
So to avoid being attacked by the villagers, her friends, she leaves. But as she gets deeper into the forest, the beasts of the forest find her. And she’s rescued by Garrick, who it turns out, is the prince from her fairy tales. She had never really believed the stories her father told her, but here one was, in the flesh.
And he’s grumpy she’s here. He’s grumpy she was in the forest. He’s grumpy he had to save her. He’s grumpy he likes her.
But he saves her, and takes her to his castle, complete with an amazing library, and he kind of holds her hostage, kind of tells her that it’s not him, it’s the forest. And he kind of likes her. There’s a curse on the forest and anyone with too much magic will be trapped in the forest with all of the other magical creatures. Turns out, she has too much magic. But she can’t do anything with it.
This is where he begins to worry that she’s been sent there by his enemies. She is really insecure about a lot of things, so she tries to stay useful. The two of them have that back and forth where they want each other, but don’t, and I enjoyed that.
I feel like the back and forth will they/won’t they will bother some readers, but I am not that reader lol I enjoyed it. I also want to let you know that when they find out something that could be big. No, like BIG all caps BIG, that’s when a lot of the dynamic ramps up. This book does leave us on a cliffhanger, however, it’s not a Big Misunderstanding type of cliffy, it’s rather an ending to the current main action and the next book will be the new setting and new action. I’m being kind of vague on purpose 😉
I think if you like Romantasy, magic, romance, and spicy spice, you’ll love this. And if you’re just really looking for good writing, well-thought out characters, and an exciting story with Beauty and the Beast vibes (even though no one is a beast), I think you’ll love this. Enjoy it, my readers, you won’t regret it!
