Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove #1) by Shelby Mahurin

Serpent & Dove
Series: Serpent & Dove
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Check it Out: Goodreads

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

I can truly see why this book has been hyped up as much as it has. I flew through this 500 page book so quickly I’m still in shock over it. I did have some issues with it, but I can’t say that I wasn’t entertained tremendously. 

“Wicked are the ways of women—and especially a witch. Their guile knows no bounds.”

First things first, I loved Lou! I seriously couldn’t get enough of her and the unexpected things that came out of her mouth. She was sassy, selfless, and so freakin’ inappropriate. I love her and I seriously want to be friends with her.

It took me a WHILE to warm up to Reid. I know his life has got turned upside down, but some of the things he thought about  Lou in the beginning grated on my nerves. However, once we got to see how he was going to commit to the marriage even though it was forced on him, I started to see him differently. Even though he didn’t like her in the beginning, he still protected her and wouldn’t let anyone say bad things about her. Reading about him falling in love with her added years to my life.

”If she was destined to burn in Hell, I would burn with her.”

The sexual chemistry, banter, and relationship between Lou and Reid was great! The more into the story I got, the more I couldn’t help but root for them and want to fight anyone who wanted to try and mess with this bond. As much as people were complaining about the sex in this novel I was expecting this to be humpfest. There was only one sex scene but MAN did it pack a punch. Still fanning myself off over here! Oh, did I mention that we also got a “there’s only one bed” situation? GOLD! 

While Lou and Reid were good characters, there so many other great characters here. I adored Coco and her fierceness and Ansel with his loyalty. If I ever am in need of people on my side in an epic battle, it would be them.

Like I said at the beginning, there were some things that I had issues with that kept me from loving this completely. My number one issue was the black and white view of women. Ya’ll this really rubbed me the wrong way at times. I get that it goes with the story but come on! How many times can Lou be called a whore?! There were a lot of religious talks here and I’m just not about it. No mean to offend anyone but, that’s not my cuppa. Also, the last 20% of this book was very info dumpy and that really took me out of the story. I was so ready to see how things would unfold but was hit with a roadblock of information that could have been told earlier in the book. 

Overall, I can say that it did live up to the hype for me. While it wasn’t all time favorite, I really did enjoy it. I’m already excited for book two, Blood & Honey!

Also, Big Titty Liddy for president okay!

✨This was a buddy read with the lovely Autumn over at Chapter Malliumpkin.

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