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Quick Info
Fated

• title: Fated
• author: Lila Mina
• publisher: Fierce Editions
• release date: 1.1.2021
• series: Temper Saga
  Book 5
• genre: Erotica, Paranormal, Romance
• diversity: POC, mental health
• content warnings: (mentions) death of child,(mentions) miscarriage, (ritualized) suicide
• rating: 5/5

Blurb
Fated

An action-packed & passionate adult LGBTQ fantasy romance set between feudal and modern Japan.

Four hundred years ago, they sailed across oceans and found a love for the ages.

Today, they must cross time to save it… and their lives.

Fearsome Japanese warlord Date Masamune has a problem. A dashing Spanish ship captain-shaped headache who gives his dreams a spicy touch, to his wife’s great amusement. But when the handsome captain arrives in his domain, Date discovers that a mysterious woman travels with him. A strange and odd-looking woman who’s been plaguing his mind for months. Is she a god-sent promise or a demonic threat?

Four hundred years later in Tokyo, the lives of Lana Martin and her wife Yuki are turned upside down. The soul of their husband Naruhito disappears, replaced by the man he used to be in a previous life and who hates her with a vengeance. The unbreakable bonds of love that tie her to her spouses are cracking, threatening her life and everyone that she holds dear.

Old and powerful enemies are back, and this time, they’ll stop at nothing to change the fate of the world. A race to fix what should never have been broken begins… and the solutions might be buried in the past.

FATED is the final book of the TEMPER saga, but can be read as a standalone.

The Queer’s Review

I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this bittersweet reading a book.

I was so excited for Fated but somehow I managed to surpress the knowledge that this means the end of the Temper saga. I couldn’t ignore that knowledge anymore while actually reading it though. I didn’t want it to end and even though Fated is over 600 pages long it still feels too short.

Are you wondering why? Because I just love this series to pieces! Everything from the characters to the worldbuilding to the writing style is just… what I want and need in a book.

You could read Fated without reading the other books first, but you’d miss so much. The way Yuki, Honda, and Lana get together, how they grow, what they have to get through, how Francesco finds his way into this family… and then enjoying how much they’ve grown and how it affects their daily lifes. Especially comparing Temper!Honda to Fated!Honda is… unbelieveable joyful and sweet.

But let’s get to Fated on its own. I’ve really enjoyed how Lila Mina ties every loose end together without it feeling in any way forced. And then opening up even more options which I’m really hoping will be explored somewhere down the line. But even without those new options I’m so down for her new series – the Honda clan having guest rolls is just the cherry on top.

There are so many different relationships with their own dynamics and every last one gets loving attention. But the relationships aren’t the only things that are detailed. I really enjoy how Japanese culture is interwoven into the actions and reactions and how it clashes with the Italian, Spanish, and historical Japanese culture. Since the author is living in Japan I believe it is respectfully done, but if there is a Japanese book blogger reviewing Fated (and the other books) I’m happy to link to that review to make absolutely sure.

I don’t know if I simply forgot or if the at times nearly poetical approach to language is a new development that might be a reflection of a more balanced psyche of our beloved characters. Either way I had to mark many sentences in my Kindle for further enjoyment.

Bookish Thoughts

Time travel is a trope that I am in theory very interested in but more often than not I end up feeling disappointed because I find the way a character has to acclimate to the new timelime very lacking. Here I get two characters who find themselves in a timeline not their own and both read realistic to me – and in a certain case very, very amusing.

Disclaimer

I’ve received a free copy through the author via StoryOrigin in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.