Welcome to the seventh of my ‘Year of the Book’ posts, in which I take the books I received in my 2025 book advent – each cover representing an animal from the Chinese Zodiac – and review them for you!
July is the HORSE and the book is White Horse Black Nights by Evie Marceau.
Read on to find out more…
Blurb: We still worship the sleeping fae, though their magic only remains within a few of us.
Locked away for twelve years, Sabine Darrow’s only friends are animals she communicates with using magic. Now, sold as a bride to a villainous high lord, her greatest fear is trading one prison for another. But a potential escape lies in the form of her gruff yet achingly handsome guard, whose loyalty she is determined to break.
A huntsman with heightened senses, Basten “Wolf” Bowborn has more important things to do than transport his master’s new bride. With ancient creatures reawakening along the kingdom’s border wall, he is torn between his duty and his desire to investigate—until a forbidden attraction becomes an unyielding obsession.
Welcome to Astagnon—a kingdom of cruel games and corrupted courts, where the only thing more dangerous than the secrets slumbering underground is falling for the one person you can’t have.
Drawing inspiration from Snow White and the Lady Godiva legend, WHITE HORSE BLACK NIGHTS is a dark enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance that will take you on a journey you’ll never forget. This captivating story of a girl with a special gift is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Jennifer Armentrout!
Review: Considering I am not much of a romantasy reader generally, I was intrigued by the blurb of this one and the promise of Snow White crossed with Lady Godiva, then found myself drawn into the world and the characters, compulsively devouring it end to end.
Yes, there are some issues with realism – anyone who has ridden a horse ‘bareback’ (meaning that they are clothed usually but the horse has no saddle) would know that doing so with nothing between your private parts and unwashed horse hair is a really bad idea, for example! – but while I was in the midst of reading the story I genuinely didn’t care… it wasn’t enough to break my immersion in the plot. I even turned a blind eye to a horse ‘fighting’ in a tiny overcrowded cottage… Myst is a special horse!
I was fascinated by the idea of the ‘godkissed’ gifts and how Sabine and Wolf’s powers worked for them in the challenges they faced, and love the mythology of the fae being sleeping legends that have grown to god status in their absence and the misconceptions that may have built up in the retellings of said legends. I like how the stories of Snow White and Lady Godiva have inspired aspects of the plot and Sabine’s character but that this is not a retelling but an entirely new tale crafted from just snippets of those sources. And possible a bit of Beauty and the Beast too, in Sabine and Wolf’s initial meeting and journey to getting to know each other better.
It was interesting to get the story from both Sabine and Wolf’s alternating perspectives as it gives the reader insight into information withheld from each character and so we can put together the bigger picture of what is happening before them. It did make it a little frustrating when it came to certain conflicts between them, when just a bit of better interpersonal communication would have avoided much drama, but then there is justification for those lapses in the broken backgrounds of both characters, neither used to being able to fully trust anyone but themselves.
The story ends on, not a cliffhanger, but not a resolution either, as Sabine has to decide where her story goes next and who with – not an easy decision after the many betrayals in her life. And she (and the reader) have just had a sneak peak into the bigger forces at play outside of her own personal concerns. Obviously this sent me rushing to see whether the rest of the story is available and the mixed news is that there are a further three books currently released (yay!) and more to come (yay! but also not-yay as it means a wait for the final ending).
So, while there are some quibbles with some aspects of this first book, in the end I was won over enough that I will definitely be reading more!
About the author:
It’s possible I was born in the wrong time. I’ve always been drawn to the past, the future, other worlds—basically anywhere but the here and now. I write fantasy to satisfy my nagging curiosity that there is more out there, just beyond the veil.
Until I find a portal through a magical armoire, I’ll continue writing romantic fantasies with a touch of darkness and hint of magic.
Website: https://www.eviemarceau.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eviemarceaubooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eviemarceaubooks/
