The Iron Crown Cover
Title: The Iron Crown
Author: Heat: Re
Genre(s): Romance Fantasy
Tropes: Friends to Lovers Bodyguard
Tags: fae faerie magic lgbtq gay m-m war ghosts pining
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Synopsis from the Creator:

After the last Faerie Civil War, the leaders of the magickal pantheons stripped the shining Seelie Court of its power and tasked the dark Unseelie Court with maintaining the natural balance of the world.

Ages later, a twisted intrigue throws the balance of all Faerie into ruin and ignites a new civil war.

Discounted by his family and haunted in the Unseelie sidhe, Queen Mab’s youngest son, Lugh, leads the Wild Hunt on quests across the dangerous Wylds. At his side is his best friend Keiran, a Viking rescued from death centuries earlier. Between Lugh’s uncanny gift for being in the right place at the right time and Keiran’s power of persuasion, they’re revered across the Wylds—as long as Lugh keeps his true identity hidden from the people of the Sluagh.

Keiran and Lugh have loved each other for centuries—as friends and brothers in arms. Lugh has long since put aside his romantic love for Keiran to protect their friendship. But with the looming war in Faerie and the ghosts of the dead dogging Lugh’s every move, Keiran realizes there may be room for romance between them after all, if only they can survive.

Rallying the Sluagh to fight in the looming war between the Seelie and Unseelie seems an impossible task. To achieve it, these childhood best friends will have to free Lugh from the restless souls haunting him and turn the tides threatening not only their growing love, but the balance of life and death itself.

Review: The Iron Crown, by M.A. Grant

[fa icon="calendar"] Apr 27, 2020 9:45:00 AM / by Suzanne

The Iron Crown is the third book in M.A. Grant's m/m fantasy romance series and I think it's my favorite. The first book is enemies-to-lovers and contains a fair bit of torture and a brewing war. The second is friends?-to-lovers and again... torture and war violence. This one contains a friendship-to-lovers romance SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS in the making. Lugh's human bodyguard/best friend Keiran has been by his side since Lugh was a young teen and rebuffed Lugh's sexual advances once when Lugh was an older teen. And then 700 years passed and Lugh is still convinced that Keiran wants nothing romantic from him. They sleep next to each other every night, they comfort and encourage each other, they do everything a long-term couple would do. And they're absolute idiots. Seriously. 700 years of pining.

Readers will be swept up in the political and strategic events, but the romance is never shoved to the back burner. Grant's plotting and pacing skill is evident in the balance of internal and external conflict, even if the book does run longer than I really had the patience for.

As a series reader, I was especially happy that Grant brought back the previous two couples but didn't let them steal the show. Those four men were naturally integral to the war planning and action, but unlike many other series, this final book didn't lose its way in wrapping up the previous romantic arcs.

In all, The Iron Crown was a satisfying conclusion to a great series. I look forward to more!

 

Suzanne received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Content Warnings: war violence, mental ghost invasion?, references to torture, references to child abduction and murder

 

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Topics: review