Tamed by the Troll by Tracy Lauren

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Looking at some of the prompts I hadn't covered yet for Bang in the Night Bingo, I decided to find a monster romance. The one that's been on the top of my list for the past couple months is Tamed by the Troll by Tracy Lauren. This is the first book in her series The Perished Woods.  This also covered the prompts into the woods for Bang in the Night. I was also able to apply this to the prompt author I found in instagram for the 2nd board of Fall in Love.

Adelaide is struggling with her grief after losing her parents. She's been pretty much left alone to fend for herself and the property, but an Aunt has started taking advantage. Needing to escape the village and to find solace from her anger, she heads into the woods. Not so luckily for her the Orcs attack her village, leaving her the sole survivor. To escape, she runs into the Perished Woods. They have been the cursed woods that are warned about to every child. When the Orcs start chasing her down, Adelaide runs across Brom's bridge. Does she have the toll to pay?

First off, this book has been on my tbr for a bit now and actually was my suggestion when the Smart Women Read Romance Podcast did the Monster Romance Patreon live review. This didn't win the poll but I've been keeping it at the top of my list for when I was in the mood. This was definitely a fun fantasy romance and I really loved how much action was throughout. I feel like the story never stopped, but it also didn't feel too overwhelming. There were quite a few intimate moments between Adelaide and Brom as well that gave a little bit of breathing room.

Before I get too much into what I did like, I do want to mention something that might bother others. This is written with the feel of a historical fairy tale vibe. Adelaide's human village and world seem historical for sure with driving carts and there being knights. The speech though is very modern. At first it kind of took me out of the realism of the world a little bit, but once she was firmly in the fantasy part and just with Brom it didn't bother me as much. I don't need to have a fantasy to have the more high-born type language, but it is something that commonly happens. I just though I'd mention it.

I am so intrigued by the world and really loved Tracy Lauren's writing style. The world building didn't feel info-dumpy at all and I loved how little bits of creatures and villages were mentioned making the world feel full. I absolutely adored Brom. He was so sweet and caring for Adelaide. I also loved that he really pushed her to see past her anger and actually put words to her feelings. He was the perfect being for her at that time. Adelaide did take longer for me to connect with, but once she really started trying to deal with her grief and anger I started to connect her. Having lost a parent as well I couldn't imagine going through what she went through. While my grief journey didn't really include much anger, I can totally see why it was such a big part of Adelaide's. I also loved the road trip aspect and seeing Adelaide learn and explore the other world. There's some weird creatures and things that happened, but while putting me off slightly I also was super intrigued.

I'll definitely be picking up the second book in the series. It looks like it'll also be a road trip style romance and can't wait. I'm hoping to save it for a prompt in a reading challenge/readathon that is that or for FaRoFeb. Tracy Lauren's other books are mostly alien romance so I certainly want to try out her other series as well. I don't know if more is planned for this one, but I certainly hope so!

Have you read Tamed by the Troll?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Tamed by the Troll, Tracy Lauren, 5-stars, 0 days, eBook, 270 pages, published in 2019