Back of Book: 

A magical weapons master might be the key to saving the continent; if only she didn’t have to fake date a dangerous fae leader to do it.

Rose ran from her grief and the fae courts to a reclusive life in a remote village. When the encroaching mist plague hits too close to home, her sword proves more valuable than she could have imagined—unfortunately, the handsome fae from the market notices, too.

Deadly and determined, Luc is more than he appears. While Rose may realize she’s the continent’s best chance for survival, his plan to hide her in plain sight as his romantic partner when he drags her back to the center of fae politics might take more convincing.

Together, they’ll unravel a history of selfish gods and corrupt leaders, and Rose must decide if Luc is her enemy, ally, or more as he threatens to uncover the secrets she's kept long buried.

An adult romantic fantasy set in a world inspired by United States National Parks. Fans of cozy vibes but higher stakes will love this enchanting new series with fake dating, elemental magic, an animal companion, and a strong female main character. This book will appeal to readers of softer fantasy stories like A Deal with the Elf King and Emily Wilde’s Encylopedia of Faeries. 

Book Number: One 

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance | Mystery 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

The start to a high fantasy trilogy featuring magical compasses, elemental magic, and rogue gods.

After fleeing her past life, Rose now lives on a secret island as a magical weapons master. Rose doesn't mind her life of solitude. After all, she's not truly alone with Arie, her shapeshifting companion, by her side. When the dangerous mist plague hits close to her village, Rose's simple life is disturbed. A handsome fae by the name of Luc is now desperate for her talent as a weapons master because he believes that her forged weapons are the only thing that can combat the mist plague. Knowing that her magic might be the only chance to stop the deadly force, Rose reluctantly agrees to accompany Luc back to the court's capital as his fake girlfriend. As the two look deeper into the plague, they begin to realize that more is amiss than they ever could have imagined.

I actually unknowingly started the sequel series to this one first, so now I'm playing a little bit of catch up. I absolutely adored "Bargains with Benefits" so I was excited to see what this series was all about. Being familiar with the magic system made it easy to dive into this world and I found it fascinating to learn more about the kingdom's lore. "Compass Points" is definitely more of a high fantasy adventure whereas "Fae by the Bay" is a cozy romantasy, but they are both great reads despite their differences.

Rose is definitely a character that is shrouded in mystery, and one must unravel her secrets as the story progressed. She's a strong-willed woman who is willing to fight for what she believes in. Her companion, Arie, is a menace to society. He is a devilish shapeshifter who disappears and reappears at a moment's notice. Luc seems to have just as many secrets as these two, but despite this, he makes a great addition to their group. Rose and Luc may not have met under the best circumstances, but they get past their differences rather quickly.

The fake dating element in this one is pretty peak. Luc ends up being a pretty prestigious member of the fae court, so they need a legit reason for Rose accompanying him that doesn't arouse suspicion. Of course, this leads to the two pretending to be together romantically, though their feelings become real soon enough. The fact that they are forced to share lodgings and a single bed definitely doesn't hurt in this situation either.

The magic system in this world is pretty neat. Each court is represented by the point on a compass, and each court has a ruler called a Compass Point. The four courts are referred to as: Norden, Suden, Vesten, and Osten. Norden (north) is home to the water fae. Osten (east) are made up of the wind fae. Suden (south) is where the earth fae reside. And finally, Vesten (west) houses the fire fae. Each point of the compass has their own magical specialty and worships a different god or goddess. The gods created the fae to watch over the world and to act as a check to keep the gods' power in balance. Some of the lore gets pretty deep, but the surface level concept itself is cool despite it not being the most original.

The mystery involving the shadow plague keeps this story rolling along smoothly. This element keeps an air of suspense present throughout the whole book and has me keen to figure out just what in the world is going on. I look forward to finding more answers in the coming books.

Overall, "Compass Points" is a great start to this fun fantasy mystery trilogy. I am intrigued to figure out just what is up with the mist plague and how much power the gods still have. Rose and Luc are fine protagonists to follow, and their fake dating scheme turned real romance is so fun. Seeing their romance bloom farther should be exciting. I have enjoyed Witt's writing and humor in the past, so I'm glad to see it's consistent across her series. I look forward to reading the next installment soon!

Audiobook Note: Kasi Hollowell did a great job with narrating this one! Her character voices aren't anything special, but I feel like they captured the specific characters nicely. I think young Rose was probably my favorite voice of hers. The audio quality seemed a tad off, but it wasn't enough to bother me after I original noted it. I will continue listening to her read book two on audio, so I think that means it passed my listening test. 

Back of Book: 

“Technically, the continent is doomed if you can’t figure out how to work together…the good news is there’s no way for the Compass Points to trust each other less than they currently do.”

-- Arie

Before the Compass Points can confront a god, Rose will unite them the only way she knows how: through their magic.

To forge her weapons is to know the heart of the wielder. Uncovering the secrets that have plagued the fae courts longer than the mist will not be an easy task. But it may be simpler than predicting how her magic entwines with the Suden Point’s unprecedented power—and the growing bond between them. 

Book Number: Two

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance | Mystery 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

The second installment in the romantasy series "Compass Points" that follows fae with elemental powers that are trying to stop a dangerous mist plague. 

Now that the Compass Points know that there is a rogue god on the loose, the four fae are doing everything in their power to stop him. If they are to trap a being as powerful as an Earth god, the four Points are going to have to work together. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. The four fae courts have never gotten along and the same goes for the Compass Points. Rose, Luc, Juliet, and Carter are now going on the journey of a lifetime in the hopes of uniting their elemental magic to subdue a god that has wreaked havoc on the continent for far too long. 

This book certainly suffers quite a bit from book two in a trilogy disease. Most of this book follows the four Compass Points walking across the continent to get from one location from the next. As you can probably guess, this doesn't make for the most exciting story. However, I did really come to forge a deeper connection with all four of our main characters and learn quite a bit more about the magical lore of this continent, so it's an interesting enough read. 

One of my favorite scenes from this book has to be when the four Compass Points come together to try to fix the giant hole that's on the cover of this book. The gritty details behind this massive hole are quite interesting and the work that the four have to do with one another to make the hole disappear is a great scene where they four finally learn how to start working together. 

Rose and Luc are an established couple at the start of this book, so that's fun. I'm not the most invested in their relationship, but they do make a good pair. Rose is feisty and steadfast whereas Luc is protective and earnest; they compliment each other well. They have been through a ton together and care for each other a ton, so I approve regardless. 

I wasn't exactly expecting the book to end the way that it did. For how slowly this book was paced, I was surprised at the showdown that happens at the very end. I wasn't expecting much of these events to happen until book three, so you can considered me surprised. I'm a little bummed out by the cheap strategy that was pulled at the end to create a conflict for book three, but that doesn't mean I'm not desperate to get my hands on the third book. 

Luc gets his own PoVs in this book, which is pretty darn fun. Being inside of Luc's head gives a much fuller picture to this story, especially when Rose and Luc's relationship is concerned. I'm assuming this will persist through book three too, which is another thing I'm looking forward to. 

Overall, "Tangled Power" is definitely the second book in the "Compass Points" trilogy. The pacing is rather slow and not a ton happens, but you are really given a chance to get to know Rose, Luc, Juliet, and Carter as they journey across the continent together. I also enjoyed learning more about the gods' history and the magic system they helped create. I may have been bored by this book a few times, but you can bet that I'm still very invested in this story and am quite curious to read its conclusion! 

Audiobook Note: Kasi Hollowell returns as Rose and Michael Gallagher joins her as Luc. I think adding Luc's voice to this story made listening to it more interesting, as experiencing both voices side by side made for a more diverse listening experience. I feel Hollowell's performance was stronger in this book than in the first, and Gallagher's was strong right out the gate. I look forward to listening to the third audiobook in this series if I'm presented with the opportunity to! 

Back of Book: 

A bond strong enough to unite the continent is one she’ll cross realms for.

Their temporary solution to a god-sized problem leaves the Compass Points with only one option–to journey beyond the veil. Carter and Juliette’s secrets, now surfaced, make the path clear. But the realm’s ruler has secrets of her own, and the machinations of the Lost God are more far-reaching than anyone expects.

If they’re to restore balance and rid the continent of the mist that plagues it, Rose must trust the connection that’s been building deep in the heart of her magic since she first met the Suden Point. Being bound may be an impossibility, but Rose and Luc’s path has always defied expectations. 

Book Number: Three (Last Book) 

Genre: Adult | Fantasy | Romance 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

Rose and Luc's story comes to an end in this romantic epic fantasy conclusion. 

After Luc took a rogue god beyond the veil at the end of book two, Rose will do anything within her power to get her partner back and restore balance to the continent. She knows that she will have to combine the Compass Points' powers in a way nobody has dared tried before in order to trap a god for good. 

It saddens me to say that this series would have functioned better as a duology. Personally, I thought that both books had a ton of boring details that I didn't really care to learn, so I think they could have been stronger if books two and three would have been merged. Beyond that though, I still think the magic system is really cool and I found most of the characters to be extremely likable. 

I found it a bit annoying that we banished the MMC to another realm and dropped his PoV in this book, but at least Rose and Luc had a way of communicating with one another eventually. It's still a bit of an oof in a romantasy book though when the love interests literally aren't together for the entirety of the final installment. 

One thing I immensely appreciated about this one is the fact that Juliette and Carter are major players and we get to know more about both of them. All four Compass Points are cool characters, and I thought it was fun that both Carter and Juliette had to use their unique abilities to conquer specific obstacles they encountered in this book. 

The segments that were set 500 years in the past and followed Celeste and Andi were sooo boring to me. I feel all these segments could have been summarized in a journal entry that Rose can across in one of the libraries. I definitely would have rather had Luc's perspective remain rather than these historical tidbits that I couldn't bring myself to care about. They were so numerous I don't even want to think about what percentage of this book they actually took up. 

The plot of this one was alright, though it got insanely repetitive after a while. Rose and the other Compass Points are searching for a way to trap a god and go into the realm of death in order to save Luc. They journey through the veil many times before they are actually successful with similar results occurring again and again. The process was certainly tedious at times, but at least the ending of this book wraps up this entire saga nicely. 

Overall, I think "Bound Paths" have a ton of flaws but was still a decent read. It was hard for me to feign interest in many parts of this book though, especially the segments set in the ancient past. Rose and Luc have such a sweet bond, but they are unfortunately separated from one another for most of this book. Seeing the four Compass Points work in tandem to solve the issue of the imbalance on the continent was my favorite part, though I wish that this book would have differed more from book two. I fear I can't really warrant this book being a trilogy when books two and three felt so similar in plot, structure, and vibes. This series gives more lore into the world of the "Fae by the Bay" series, but I can't say that it's one I loved. I really think the characters are great and the magic system is stellar, but everything else is a bit subpar. 

Audiobook Note: Kasi Hollowell is such a fantastic narrator! Their voice fits Rose so well, and I love the energy that they bring to this audiobook. They always sound jovial, but they can bring solemnity into their voice when needed. I'd love to hear more of their work in the future, because they do an amazing job of bringing a wide variety of characters to life!