Review: Bonds of Fate by LJ Andrews

The Bonds of Fate is a collection of three novellas based in The Broken Kingdoms world created by indie author LJ Andrews. Each novella follows a fan favorite couple from the original series and tells their love story. The Bonds of Fate contains, These Vicious Games (Nik and Junie), These Cruel Vows (Sol and Tor), and These Wicked Lies (Halvar and Kari).

So far there are only three novellas, BUT the author has hinted strongly that more could become available in the future.

The stories are told independently from one another, so you can read all of them or pick and choose the couples that interest you most. HOWEVER, you do absolutely have to read The Broken Kingdoms first. These novellas are sweet and to the point. You are already expected to know (and hopefully love) this world and these characters. Plus, the novellas mention events of the main series, so there will be massive spoilers if you do not read them first.

You DO NOT have to read them to read the original series. They are simply bonus content for your enjoyment.

If you don’t already know, The Broken Kingdoms is a 9-part, independently published, romantic fantasy series. It is all available through kindle unlimited. Or if you prefer physical copies you can purchase them from LJ Andrews’ website and Amazon.

*** It is important to note that these set in a dark fantasy world. They are intended for mature audiences and have a list of trigger warnings included for you.

I absolutely LOVED all three of these novellas. The love stories were beautiful and interesting. I love seeing events from different character’s perspectives. With these we got to see different character’s motivations, understand them better, see what they were doing before the events of the main story, and, of course, watch their romances blossom.

What I love about Andrews’ work is that her characters always feel genuine and unique. You truly feel like you know these characters and understand their motivations. They are always complex individuals who do not feel like copycat or generic characters.

I also really enjoy LJ Andrews’ writing style overall. It is easy to read while still being immersive. I can easily picture the world she’s creating and feel the emotions along with the characters.

The Bonds of Fate is not available in stores. You can purchase it solely from LJ Andrew’s store here or at here signing events (where she has a very pretty signing exclusive version). However, she has made all of these novellas available for free on her website as ebooks. You can download them here as BookFunnel downloads. Don’t worry! You can then send them to your kindle or preferred reading device!

These Vicious Games – Features Niklas and Junie. Set in the Eastern Kingdom. Should be read after reading books 4-6 of The Broken Kingdoms to avoid most spoilers and have a better understanding of the characters. To avoid ALL spoilers for The Broken Kingdoms, it should be read after all 9 original books.

These Cruel Vows– Features Sol and Tor. Set in the Northern Kingdom. Should be read after books 1-3 of The Broken Kingdoms to avoid most spoilers and understand the setting. To avoid ALL spoilers, it should be read after all 9 books.

These Wicked Lies– Features Halvar and Kari. Set in the Northern Kingdom. Should be read after books 1-3 of The Broken Kingdoms to avoid spoilers and to understand the story as this one takes place during the events of the first three books.