What Lies Beyond the Veil (Of Flesh & Bone, 1)
Harper L. Woods
Raised to be my father’s weapon against the Coven that took away his sister and his birthright, I would do anything to protect my younger brother from suffering the same fate. My duty forces me to the secret town of Crystal Hollow and the prestigious Hollow’s Grove University—where the best and brightest of my kind learn to practice their magic free from human judgment. There are no whispered words here. No condemnation for the blood that flows through my veins. The only animosity I face comes from the beautiful and infuriating Headmaster, Alaric Grayson Thorne, a man who despises me just as much as I loathe him and everything he stands for. But that doesn’t mean secrets don’t threaten to tear the school in two. No one talks about the bloody massacre that forced it to close decades prior, only the opportunity it can afford to those fortunate enough to attend. Because for the first time in fifty years, the Coven will open its wards to the Thirteen: thirteen promising students destined to change the world. If the ghosts of Hollow’s Groves’ victims don’t kill them first... The Coven is book one in the Coven of Bones series and ends on a cliffhanger. This is a gothic, dark-academia, paranormal romance and includes elements that may be triggering to some listeners.
Rebecca DixonGreat PNR with Romance Fantasy Feels and FABULOUS ENDING!
"I finished reading 'The Coven,' Book 1 of Coven of Bones series by Harper L. Woods and it was GREAT 🤩! (I am just a regular reader and not affiliated the author! There are NO spoilers 🙌) This book is getting A LOT of attention lately, so thought I'd give it a shot! It's categorized as a Paranormal Romance, but I personally think it feels like a Romance Fantasy (Fantasy Romance/Romantasy) because of the writing style & worldbuilding. If you love the relationship between Darcy & Orion from ZA, this is going to be your jam! I did enjoy this book, but I gotta tell you... the last 18% of it was PHENOMINAL! I get why soooo many people are in love with this book! I literally cannot wait to read Book 2 (FYI you can read it in Kindle Vella before Book 2 drops!) Here's some key elements! 💀 Paranormal Romance where it starts off in our modern world, but has worldbuilding regarding Witches & their governing structure/history (this made it feel like a Romance Fantasy to me) 💀 F/M 💀 Tropes: Academy, Alphahole, Enemies-to-Lovers, Forbidden Love, Secret Powers, Student/Teacher 💀 Witches 🧙, Vampires 🧛♂️ & Demons 👹 💀 More of a descriptive writing style with worldbuilding elements ✍️! 💀 Two POVs in the 1st person: FMC and MMC 💀 Starts off with the FMC's mother passing and the FMC trying to hide herself & her brother from the "Covenant" & Academy, but she knows she has a fated path she must walk... 💀 FIERCE FMC with SECRET POWERS 💀 Steamy 🔥 scenes with a controlling, snarky MMC 💀 No Romantic HEA, as this is Book 1 of a series with the same characters 💀 REALLY AMAZING ENDING & TWIST 🌪 💀 It's on Amazon's bestsellers list for Paranormal Romance (#3) 💀 FREE ON KU! So if you have KU, give it a shot for sure! It's also on Kindle Vella! 💀 Author's FB Group The Forrest - Harper L. Woods & Adelaide Forrest 💀 Fans of books with good/bad witches where the FMC is POWERFUL & GOOD, the main love interest is an enemy VAMPIRE, there's great STEAM (not too overpowering,) and where there's a REALLY, REALLY great TWISTY ending... may LOVE this! 'The Coven,' Book 1 of Coven of Bones series by Harper L. Woods ["
April 23, 2023 Verified Purchase
CandiceIt gets better
"When I first started this book I was so extremely irritated by the way the author wrote. It seemed off I guess. Some sentences didn't make sense and some of it just ran together which made it difficult to want to continue reading. However the story line of this is incredible. I loved the story so I wanted to continue reading. I don't know when it changed, maybe half way or 3/4 through the book but suddenly the writing was better. I felt more excited about what was coming next. For a book that is only a little over 200 pages it took me awhile to read. As I said before the writing in the beginning really killed me. The story follows Willow who is both an earth witch and a necromancer. She is the last of both the Madizza bloodline and the Hecate bloodline. She is forced to go into a school for witches where she meets her had master Gray (not really his name but that's what she calls him pretty much throughout.) She proves to be incredibly strong and smart and she is there on a mission from her father. In this realm male witches choose whether they wish to have children and give up their powers or keep their powers and bear no children. Since witches are few and far between now most males choose to give up their powers in order to have children to continue bloodlines. Willows father was a Hecate, her mother a Madizza both taught her early on what she was meant to do. Her mother teaching her that you must always give back that which you take with magic. So when you use earth magic a sacrifice must be given back. Her father who no longer has magic teaches her how to fight, to be cunning, to lie and do what she must in order to get the mission completed. He is a terrible person. But going in and knowing what she must do she doesn't expect to fall for the man she's meant to deceive. Gray is a vessel, a demon trapped inside a body that was made for him. Charlotte Hecate created them in order to stop demons from possessing humans. And semi control what they could do. As a Hecate she can unmake that which her ancestor made. Vessels are really just vampires except without the rules. They can walk in daylight but solely feed on witches to gain power from the witch. It is a pact made between both vessels and witches. Witches hate vessels and vessels hate witches. But everything is not as it seems. And Willow was not prepared for what follows. I rated this 3 solely because the writing style in the beginning murdered me to the point I almost DNF'd. But I'm glad I pushed through I'm glad that I gave the author a chance to redeem herself and continued on. As now I want to read book 2. This is my opinion, as with all my ratings read this books for yourself and decide if you love it or hate it. That's the joy of reading! ["
November 4, 2024 Verified Purchase