A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic, 1); Elise Kova

This is my first book by Kova so I didn’t have any expectations going in, but she really does live up to the hype! I was expecting more Beauty and the Beast vibes from this story, but after the first few chapters this leaned more into the Hades and Persephone reimagining instead. Which was fine! I loved watching Luella and Eldas struggle to find balance between themselves and their worlds. Their romance was emotional and tender, with just a little on page spice that kept this from going full NA. It did get a little slow for me in parts as I felt things were a bit redundant with how often Luella reminds the reader that she is a healer and has to get back to her small town. I kind of wish we also got some of Eldas’ POV in this book, but with it written in 1st person, I understand why we didn’t, I just thought he had such an interesting perspective that there was enough of a story there to give him more of a voice, too.

---

All in all, this story was sweet, emotional fluff, which is exactly what I was looking for. I think my biggest complaint comes down to some world building elements were made a big deal of at the start of the book, and then dropped part way through and were never resolved or brought up again which made me question why they were there to begin with. But, overall, Luella’s and Eldas’ love story helped make up for that. This is a very pleasant 4 stars from me, and I’d be curious to read more in the Married to Magic series for sure!