TITLE: ⟫ Ronan
AUTHOR: ⟫ G. Eilsel

SERIES: ⟫ Mate’s Mark #1
RATING: ⟫ 3.5/5

BLURB:⟫ It’s been almost a century since the veil fell and monsters invaded the world. We didn’t give the humans an opportunity to retaliate as we charged in and took over, and I was at the head of the front lines with my sword in hand. A perfect soldier, fighting the battles that ultimately put my people in charge of this planet. Half of humanity was slaughtered, and in the decades since the invasion, things have only gotten worse. Tensions between the rebel humans and monsters grew as the climate changed, and temperatures rose as resources dwindled. The sun scorched away plants and trees, leaving behind a husk of a planet where everyone fights for survival.

The Fates were furious at our violence, and now we’re trapped inside the hell we created.

We’ve all heard tale of the Mate’s Mark, and how we’re destined to find our fated mate. One human, one monster – foretold to be the cure to this cursed world and repair the damage that has been done. What was once the cause of curiosity and intrigue has turned into nothing more than a mockery. Decades have passed, and not a single pair of fated mates had been found.

Until now.

Until me.

Until the night I pull off my armor and find the mark staring back.

Author’s note: Ronan is a First Person Dual POV MM Monster Romance series with explicit content intended for readers 18+. It is the first in a series that will have an overarching storyline carrying between books. While this series ends with a guaranteed HEA, individual books end on more of a HFN basis. The feature couple’s story will be resolved, though there will be some unanswered questions and mild cliffhangers that lead into the next in the series.

REVIEW: ⟫ This is the first book by this author that I have read and in some respects, I was pleasantly surprised. The writing was engaging, with a clear tone for each of the protagonists and an interesting premise. To a certain extent, I found the storyline very similar to the Monstrous series by Lily Mayne, with monsters and humans finding love with each other, and the mate mark as an added bonus.

I did feel like the story could have been shorter – some of it felt a little repetitious and labouring of the point – but the length did allow the relationship between Cameron and Ronan to grow at a steady rather than speedy pace. The intimacy between the two of them built gradually but was very nicely handled, especially in terms of the physical differences between the species.

The over-arching plot of mated pairs was nicely introduced and it was definitely interesting finding out that Ronan and Cameron were not the first and only. The supporting characters were entertaining and I can well imagine at least one new pairing that could sprout from this book. Overall, I enjoyed reading it and will probably keep an eye out for the next in the series. As I say, perhaps a little tightening up of the storyline could have helped but that’s a relatively small point in an overall good experience.

I received an ARC from BookSirens.