Publication Date: 01st July 2025
Genre: Romantasy, Cozy
3.5 Stars
One Liner: Insta-lust, peeps!
Guinevere, the daughter of an ambitious merchant knows she has to marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire and be his obedient wife even if what she wants is a life of adventure and freedom.
However, when her caravan is attacked by bandits, she is left stranded on Amber Road and has to travel with Oskar, a half-orc who saved her during the attack. Grumpy Oskar has a soft side that intrigues Guinevere.
Soon, they have to decide where to go on separate paths or fight for their HEA.
The story comes in Guinevere and Oskar’s third-person POVs.
My Thoughts:
First, let me clarify that I had no idea what Critical Role was supposed to mean. I thought it was some new series or a multi-author series in making a set in the same fantasy world. But… it is a setting from the famous Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) game. If you already know this, good for you. If you are like me, hi-five!
Since the page count was less than 300, I knew the book wouldn’t have a lot of development. Still, I love that cover, so I had to read this.
The beginning is quite good in a way that we start right in the middle of the said bandit attack on the FMC. Starting with action is a great choice, though this won’t work for everyone. Some prefer to have a bit of an intro before launching into fights.
However, we get enough backstory in bits and pieces, which is how I prefer it to pages of info dump. The idea is clear almost right away. The FMC is sheltered, naïve, and pretty much squished under her parents’ thumb. The MMC is poor, hardworking, and Grumpy… yes, with a capital G.
The magic elements were great, and I really wish they were explored in greater detail. For non-DnD peeps like me, a bit more description of the setting and worldbuilding would have helped (a lot). You can go with the flow, though.
Insta-lust starts a bit too instantly, though given the page count, I should have expected it. No probs. This could have worked better if the plot was a little more complex. It’s rather thin and straightforward with no real surprises, so the whole thing loses its charm in the second half. It becomes yet another romantasy with smut.
The ending is as you would expect it from the genre, though it leaves me with some practical questions about livelihood and stuff. Let’s be honest, you can’t survive on air and love for long.
The FMC has violet-colored eyes, and I rather liked the range of comparisons the author came up with to describe her eye color at different times. From lilac to amethyst, we go from flowers to gemstones. (Mind you, this may annoy some readers but I found it cute.)
To summarize, Tusk Love is a lighthearted romantic fantasy set in the world of DnD. Despite the uneven pacing, I didn’t find it boring at any point. It could have been better, yes. But it wasn’t bad.
Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Worlds, for the eARC.
#NetGalley #TuskLove
