ARC Review - By Any Other Name by Kate King

 Thank you so much Kate King Quinn for sending me this ARC!

Title: By Any Other Name

Author: Kate King

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Series: Standalone

Pages: 374

Synopsis:

He’s seduced by the darkness, but she’s always been his sun. In the elite university town of Stratford, Massachusetts, a secret society of eight wealthy and influential families use occult witchcraft to maintain their power and privilege. The entire society is dangerous, but the bitter blood feud between rival families, the Capulets and the Montagues, makes them almost as infamous as Stratford itself. Etta Capulet has always been a good girl. Roman Montague is anything but good. But despite their differences, their vicious family rivalry, and years of curses, threats, and murders, Roman has secretly loved Etta as long as he can remember. So when he hears her moaning his name through her open bedroom window, he vows to make her his… Until death do they part.

Review & thoughts:

By Any Other Name is a Romeo and Juliet retelling with dark academia setting, a touch of paranormal and great enemies to lovers romance that I really enjoyed! 

Roman and Etta’s families have hated each other for as long as anyone can remember. When their feud reaches new levels and Roman and Etta are forced into arranged marriages neither of them wants, they decide to take matters into their own hands and end the feud once and for all with their own marriage of convenience… but when their long hidden feelings come to the light, they will realize their marriage might be more real than they thought. 

I was really excited when I first saw this book, a Romeo and Juliet retelling with dark academia, enemies to lovers romance, marriage of convenience and some spice? I had high expectations and definitely wasn’t disappointed, this book is really good. I loved Roman and Etta’s relationship, they were really great together and I liked that despite their families hating each other, they didn’t just accept this situation and wanted to end it. While Etta annoyed me a few times, Roman was a perfect book boyfriend, he loved reading and there was the case of ‘he falls first’ here which I loved! It was amazing to read his POV and realize how much he has always cared for Etta and what he was willing to do for her. I also liked the paranormal elements, I wasn’t expecting that but it made this story even more interesting. My only complaint is that this book could be a little longer so everything could be a bit more fleshed out and not rushed, but I still really liked this book, the plot was past-paced and interesting and the characters were amazing. 

By Any Other Name is a really fun and quick read for everyone who enjoys this genre. I already can’t wait for the next book in this series of standalones!

Rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5