Hey, you know what’s great? Serotonin. I’m back from my little menty B with a new book review. Small disclaimer: if heavy smut/spicy content isn’t your jam, then you might want to skip this one. The premise of the plot depends on successful conception to continue the Empirical reign and we all know how the birds and the bees work. So. You know.

In the world of The Blessed Vessel by Venus Cox (*eyebrow shimmy* great name, right?), every generation, the Goddess of Unity, Hoku, blesses the realm with a, “daughter born of humans…one capable of bearing a child to any of the other races. It was a gift given to only one to breed a ruler capable of bringing the realm together despite the differences of their races.” Here’s the thing though, to ensure political neutrality, each of the six lands need to be given equal shot at creating the next leader of the realm. See where I’m going with this? Booktok gets it. If you guessed “why choose” then you get the prize. Good job, you. So smart. *Forehead kiss*

Sonta Gwynriel knew at the age of 17 that she was a Blessed Daughter. She came from humble beginnings. Her mother had been living on her own since she was kicked out of her house for disobedience at 16 years old. She had no choice, but either sell her blood to vampires or her body to paying customers. Sonta was conceived by one of the unions and never knew her father. After Sonta grew old enough to ask why so many men came around the house, Sonta’s mother found a local woman, who would be able to watch Sonta during the working hours. One of the children in the family was Lilah, with whom Sonta became fast friends. They grew up together and, eventually, became lovers. When it was time for Sonta to accept her role as the Blessed Vessel, she purchased a small cottage for her mother on the edge of the kingdom and brought Lilah with her to the palace. While at the palace, Sonta began her intensive training in Hoku’s religion, politics, traditions, and, even, pleasure coaching.

We enter the story on the morning of the Great Ritual, the day that Sonta would meet her Coterie and perform mating ceremonies with each of them…publicly. Each of the six lands, elected one male representative (Elf, Fae, Vampire, Merman, Mage, and Shifter), who would participate in the Great Ritual and cohabitate with the Coterie until the paternity confirmation. Once the paternity was confirmed, the non-paternal males would be encouraged to remain at the palace to help the Blessed Daughter birth and raise the child. However, they were not obligated to do so. This becomes important later in the story.

Let’s talk about this set up for a second. The state of the union is precarious at best. The beings in each land don’t particularly get along with each other. They all endure this tradition with the hope that one day their kind will impregnate the Blessed Vessel and get a chance to address the issues that favor their race. Also, they put all of their faith into the Blessed Vessel, a woman chosen by a goddess to not only birth, but wholly prepare the child to ascend to the throne. Talk about putting every egg in one basket. I do love the creativity here. We’ve all read various takes on a politically unstable world, balancing on a razor edge of peace and war. But have those books relied on seven beings fucking for the good of that world? No. No, they have not.

We have to address the promise of the premise because Venus knows the job. There’s a Vampire? Blood play. There’s a Shifter? Primal play. The Mage? Elemental. Not sure how Mermen get it done? You’ll learn today. The Fae Prince even teaches Sonta some of his language – you all know how much I love that. And in the second book, there’s a road trip, which is another trope that I love. You into fashion? Dress porn. Venus clearly writes for the people and doesn’t leave anything on the table.

The majority of book one is low angst…well until the end. The one part that hurt my heart is that during Sonta’s duty to the realm, she can only physically engage with her Coterie. This means that her relationship with Lilah has to be platonic. Prior to the Great Ritual, Venus gifts us with a beautiful scene between Sonta and Lilah that is equally loving as it is sexy. We truly feel the loss of that romantic side of their relationship. Yes, being able to continue the friendship is still valuable, but throughout the book, their longing for each other is palpable. I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing their reunion in book two.

Speaking of book two, it’s called The Blessed Coterie and she is thick, coming in at 792 pages compared with The Blessed Vessel, which is 310 pages. Although I’m only halfway through, I’m loving how Venus has transitioned the story from a delicious erotic romance into an epic high fantasy novel. In book two, we are faced with conflict, complex political discord, intense character development, and a whole lot more angst. The world expands quite a bit, as the Coterie begins their tour of the realm, celebrating the paternity reveal. Right now I’m at a point where I can’t quite trust some of the beings that I’ve met in book one, along with new characters that I’m meeting for the first time. There’s more secrecy than we originally thought, so I’m on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what’s going on. All I’m saying is that EVERYONE BETTER BE OKAY. I will riot.

This was another fantastic acquisition from Stuff Your Kindle Day back in December. So far, most of the books I downloaded that day have been excellent! As for Venus, according to my google search, this is her debut? Really Venus? Just comin’ out the gate with a banger? Well done. Well done. She has a website, which you can check out here, but what you really want to check out is her Tik Tok (@venuscoxbooks). It’s a treasure trove of art, impressions, and context for these books; a Blessed Vessel/Coterie mood board. I’m going to wait until I finish The Blessed Coterie, then I’m going watch the fuck out of those videos. Anyway, if you read one or both of these books, you know what to do!