RELEASE DAY REVIEW: Sacred Struggle – Book 1 Tales of the Vanir – Rochelle L. Wilcox

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Sacred Struggle: Book Cover Sacred Struggle:
Book 1 Tales of the Vanir
Rochelle L. Wilcox
Romance, Fantasy romance, Paranormal romance, Dragons
self
5/22/2025
Kindle
Amazon

Amazon Link: Amazon

An elf hiding from a malicious queen.
A rider whose dragon will be tortured if he chooses his fated mate.
What will they risk when forbidden love threatens everything else?

In the land of Vanatia, Sifa’s doomed to the elven prison if she’s found.

Desperate to unearth the queen’s secrets, Sifa’s chasing answers by doing the city overseer’s dirty work. But when her boss sends her with a dangerously handsome dragon rider to the brutal prison she barely escaped years ago, she fights desire even as she confronts demons she’s still battling.

Fhord’s torn between his dragon and fated mate.

When Sifa joins him on a job, he spurns their bond because in Vanatia, dragons suffer when their riders sin. If he flouts his oath to the crown by harboring an elf, Fhord won’t be able to shield his beast from the queen’s wrath.

Terrified Fhord will discover her secret and betray her to the monarchy, Sifa battles their growing passion. And though Fhord’s dragon will pay the price if he falls for Sifa, his need for his mate may outweigh the risk.

Can Sifa and Fhord overcome their yearning for each other as they journey toward the prison that could threaten her freedom and his bond with his dragon?

Sacred Struggle is the enthralling start of Tales of the Vanir, a fantasy romance series being rapid released beginning May 22, 2025. If you enjoy fated mates, forbidden love, and slow-burn romance, with dragon riders, found family and quirky sidekicks, you’ll adore this page-turning tale of lovers learning sometimes it’s futile to fight fate.

Sacred Struggle has an HFN ending with a mild cliffhanger, and will appeal to readers of Fourth Wing (Rebecca Yarros), Crescent City (Sarah J. Maas) and When the Moon Hatched (Sarah A. Parker).

Author's Note: Sacred Struggle includes open-door spice and explicit language, with torture of people and dragons, as well as sexual assault and depravity (but not between the main characters), and genocide (of elves).fter that.

Review By Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team

Amazon Link: Amazon

Sifa, an elf and spy for Belvin, hides her identity to avoid imprisonment. She is searching for a way to return home and uses her job with Belvin to put her in a position to find information. Sifa escaped the nest, a place of torture where she suffered horrendous torture for information about where she came from which she doesn’t reveal.
Sifa, on a mission for a madam, meets Fhord, a Dragon Rider who knows she is his mate. Despite his rescue attempts, she insists on completing her assignment. After finishing the task for Belvin, he gives her another dangerous mission. Now, partnered with Fhord, she must rescue a woman from the nest a place she knows and fears.
Fhord knows that being with Sifa would be life threatening so he does everything he can to stay distant from her, something she is not happy about. Their trip to the nest is filled with danger and that is where Sifa saves a dragon from being tortured. Rescuing the dragon just adds to the danger.
Sifa forms a bond with the dragon, and although it is a challenge to keep her alive and hidden, Sifa is fully committed to this responsibility. Sifa and Fhord find themselves isolated, and the attraction between them intensifies, causing confusion for Sifa.
As they near the nest, Sifa realizes that being caught again could mean severe punishment or death. They manage to evade the constantly appearing guards. She begins to grow closer to Fhord while he still tries to maintain his physical disconnection to her. Fhord knows that revealing Sifa is his mate would be dangerous to both.
The rescue is successful until guards discover Sifa after following Fhord, who led them to her location. Consequently, she ends up confined in a cage at the nest. Now Sifa’s worst nightmare has come true she is once again at the mercy of the Drottning and she believes that Fhord betrayed her. She had begun to trust him, a mistake she will suffer for.
This book contains unexpected events, undisclosed details, and violent scenes. It describes various forms of torture, and Sifa finds herself in the same situation as before.
The story ends with unanswered questions which hopefully will be revealed in the next book.

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