Viciously Yours

Welcome to the Fae Realms

Alright my fellow spicy book dragons, where are my fae and magic lovers at? If you love fated mates, possessive fae kings, magical kingdoms, slightly unhinged MMCs, touch-her-and-die energy, crazy plot twists, hilarious banter, and plenty of spice, Viciously Yours by Jamie Applegate Hunter might need to make its way onto your TBR.

I actually started this series after hearing a clip from the third book involving a grown man screaming like a little girl over a giant spider. Yes, a spider. I was laughing hysterically and immediately needed to know what kind of series I was getting myself into. I was not disappointed.

Another thing I really liked is that the book includes a world guide at the beginning that explains the different terms you'll encounter. With fantasy books, especially ones introducing an entirely new world, I always appreciate having something I can flip back to when I'm thinking, "Wait...what the hell was that again?" And don't worry, there's plenty happening in this world.

Meet Rennick and Amelia

Amelia (FMC): An orphan living in the human realm, Amelia is sweet, intelligent, bookish, witty, playful, and fiercely loyal to the people she loves. She has a best friend named Clover and an adorable fennec fox named Eddy. Amelia has spent most of her life in an orphanage, but there is much more to the story of how she ended up there than she realizes.

Rennick (MMC): The future Fae King of the Mountain Kingdom, Rennick is serious, protective, hardworking, sweet, playful, and just slightly unhinged when it comes to his mate. He's got that delicious touch-her-and-die personality while somehow being a little naive when it comes to women. He cares deeply about his kingdom and its people, and his best friend Finn is one of the very few people he completely trusts.

The Gods Whisper One Name

Every royal in the fae realms learns the name of their fated mate on their thirteenth birthday.

When Rennick turns thirteen, the gods whisper one name. Amelia.

Unfortunately, finding his mate isn't as simple as hearing her name and going to get her. Before Rennick's parents can search for Amelia, a rebel attack ends in tragedy with the death of his mother. Eventually, Amelia is discovered in the human realm, but another problem quickly arises. The human queen won't allow Rennick's family to bring Amelia into the fae realm until Rennick becomes king of the Mountain Kingdom.

Why? Well... There are secrets surrounding Amelia and her past that I won't spoil.

To protect her, Amelia's identity is kept incredibly secret. Very few people even know she exists, and outside of Rennick and his father, only Rennick's best friend Finn knows who she is or where to find her.

So Rennick has found his fated mate. He just has to wait twelve years before he can actually be with her. I'm sure the slightly unhinged future fae king handles that wonderfully.

Twelve Years of Letters and Birthday Gifts

Since Rennick can't actually be with Amelia, he comes up with another way for her to get to know him. He writes to her. But there's an important twist to their correspondence.

The letters are completely one-sided.

Amelia has no way to write back.

Instead, Rennick spends the years leading up to their twenty-fifth birthday sending Amelia letters about himself so she can learn about the fae she's destined to marry. Every year for their shared birthday, he also sends her a gift. While Amelia learns about Rennick through his words, Rennick has a completely different way of learning about her. His owl familiar, Greta. Through Greta's eyes, Rennick can watch Amelia from the fae realm, seeing pieces of her life and getting to know the woman she's becoming.

I really liked this dynamic because these two are technically getting to know each other for years, but they're doing it separately. Amelia knows Rennick through his letters. Rennick knows Amelia through Greta. They both know things about the other before ever truly spending time together.

Ora, We Need to Talk About These Gifts

There's only one slight problem with Rennick sending Amelia yearly birthday gifts. Sir doesn't exactly know what women like. So he asks his friend Ora to help him pick them out. 

Very bad idea.

Ora believes she should be Rennick's mate, so let's just say she isn't exactly enthusiastically shopping for thoughtful gifts for the mystery woman destined to become his queen. The gifts she chooses are... Well... They're ugly. And Amelia knows exactly who is picking them. She may love and keep every single gift because it came from Rennick, but that doesn't mean she has to like Ora. And I don't blame her.

From Sweet Letters to Very Spicy Letters

One of my favorite things was watching Rennick's letters change as they grew older. When they're teenagers, his letters are sweet and innocent. He's introducing himself and giving Amelia a chance to get to know the boy she's eventually supposed to marry. But they're not teenagers forever. As Rennick gets older, those letters start changing right along with him. And eventually? Those letters aren't quite so innocent anymore.🔥

They gradually go from sweet childhood correspondence to considerably more intimate messages between adults. Remember, Amelia can't write back. So Rennick is basically sending increasingly spicy letters to his future mate while counting down the years until he's finally allowed to meet her.

Meanwhile, Rennick has spent those same years getting to know Amelia by watching her through Greta's eyes. By the time their twenty-fifth birthday arrives, these two know plenty about one another. They've just never gotten the chance to discover who they are together.

Finally, Their Twenty-Fifth Birthday Arrives

After twelve years of waiting, Rennick can finally travel to the human realm. Finally...

This is where their relationship becomes especially interesting. Amelia has spent years reading Rennick's letters. She knows his thoughts, pieces of his personality, and thanks to some of those later letters, considerably less innocent details about her future mate.

Rennick has watched Amelia grow through Greta's eyes. But they've never actually sat across from one another and had a normal conversation. They've never spent time together. They've never had the opportunity to see whether everything they've built separately will translate into a real relationship.

So despite technically knowing each other for years, they're still learning how to actually be together. And Rennick? He's been waiting twelve years for this. Sir is ready.

The Fated Mate Possessiveness Is Strong With These Two

Once Rennick and Amelia finally get together, you definitely get that fated-mate possessiveness from both sides. And I loved it. Rennick has some serious touch her and die energy. But Amelia isn't exactly immune to jealousy either.

Watching these two navigate other people getting a little too close to their mate creates some hilarious, possessive, and occasionally unhinged moments. Then there's Ora.

Oh, Ora.

Amelia already dislikes this woman before she even arrives in the fae realm thanks to those terrible birthday gifts. Once they're actually in the same world? Let's just say things get interesting.

Don't Let the Romance Fool You

For all the funny moments, romance, and spice, there's also a darker storyline running underneath everything. The rebel attacks haven't simply disappeared. There are deaths. There are secrets surrounding Amelia's past. There are questions about why she really grew up in an orphanage.

And there are some fantastic twists that change what you think you know about the characters and their world. That's what kept this from feeling like it was only a spicy fated-mates romance. There's actually a larger story happening around Rennick and Amelia, and some of those revelations set up what comes next in the series.

The Friendships Were Another Favorite

I really enjoyed the friendships in this book too. Rennick and Finn's friendship was especially fun, and I liked seeing how the supporting characters interacted with Rennick and Amelia rather than feeling like they existed solely in the background.

There's a lot of humor woven throughout the story, which helps balance the darker moments. That was actually one of the things that originally drew me toward the series. Any fantasy romance that can give me dangerous fae, rebel attacks, death, possessive mates, crazy secrets, and then have me laughing at something completely ridiculous a few pages later?

I'm probably going to keep reading.

And Yes, My Spicy Book Dragons...

The spice? 🔥🔥🔥 Hella spicy. Those letters were only the beginning.

After years of Rennick waiting to finally be with his mate, you can imagine there is quite a bit of built-up anticipation once these two are actually together. The romance has a nice mix of sweetness, possessiveness, jealousy, humor, and heat. And if you enjoy an MMC who can be loving one second and slightly unhinged about his mate the next? Rennick might be your guy.

That Ending Though...

I won't give away the major twist because this is one you should experience for yourself. But the ending doesn't just focus on Rennick and Amelia. There are some revelations involving other characters and future couples that had me thinking:

Whoa. Wait a damn minute.

And suddenly you're going to want the next book. Thankfully, these books are on the shorter side. I actually really liked the length. They're longer than novellas, so I didn't feel like the story was rushed or suddenly ended right when I was getting invested, but they're short enough to fly through. Which is dangerous when a series keeps ending with reasons to immediately grab the next one.

The Verdict

Highly Recommended For: Fae romance lovers, fated-mate fans, spicy romantasy readers, touch-her-and-die enthusiasts, readers who love possessive and slightly unhinged MMCs, magical kingdoms, royal romance, hidden pasts, funny banter, shorter fantasy romances, and plenty of spice.

Viciously Yours was a great start to the series and exactly the kind of fun, spicy fae romance I was hoping for. 

One of my favorite parts was the unusual way Rennick and Amelia get to know each other before they ever meet. For twelve years, Rennick sends Amelia letters so she can learn about the fae she's destined to marry, along with a gift every year for their shared birthday. Amelia can't write back, so while she's learning about Rennick through his words, he's learning about her by watching her through the eyes of his owl familiar, Greta.

I especially loved watching Rennick's letters change as they grew older, starting sweet and innocent before becoming much more intimate and spicy. Then you add their fated-mate connection, Rennick's slightly unhinged protectiveness, Amelia's personality, the jealousy, terrible birthday gifts, rebel attacks, friendships, crazy twists, hidden secrets, plenty of spice, and an ending that sets you up perfectly for what's coming next.

I was ready for book two.

Happy reading, and remember my fellow spicy book dragons, before starting a book please check the tropes, and always check for trigger warnings. Nobody likes an unfinished book because the tropes aren't your cup of tea or having a bad reading experience because of unexpected trigger warnings.