Vows of Gold and Laughter

The Immortal Beings, Book 1

By: Edith Pawlicki

Narrated by: Zachary Zaba

Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Determination drives them all. But can these powerful beings save the Sun Emperor before blood rains from the Heavens?

Jin is devastated. With her awful arranged marriage impending and her father fatally cursed, the goddess of beauty has little to gain from sitting around and worrying. So she ignores her siblings' cynical whispers and sets out with her husband-to-be to search for a cure.

Xiao numbs his pain with every swig of the bottle. But when his future father-in-law takes ill, the hopeless alcoholic knows it's his last chance to prove himself a suitable mate. Vowing to keep his betrothed safe as he accompanies her, he's shocked when their first discovery is a tomb...with a living occupant.

Bai is literally as old as dirt. As the First Immortal, he shouldered the responsibility of guarding the key to the Underworld. But when a beautiful goddess and her intended demand to unlock the dangerous realm and retrieve a potent remedy, he seizes the opportunity to woo the woman to his side.

Charmed by the arrogant man, Jin allows him to join their quest and fixes the key's treacherous flaw. But Xiao isn't buying any of his long-lived sweet talk and runs off to drown his jealousy in drink...while Bai holds tight to secrets that threaten to jeopardize everyone's future. Can these reluctant allies defeat an unknown enemy, or is their quest doomed to end in disaster?

Vows of Gold and Laughter is the stunning first book in the Immortal Beings fantasy series. If you like Asian-inspired epics, character-driven conflict, and unique magic, then you'll love Edith Pawlicki's breathtaking tale. Buy Vows of Gold and Laughter for a godly serving of exploits today!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Edith Pawlicki (P)2022 Edith Pawlicki

Good story. Like mythology.

I came in expecting a cultivation novel and was disappointed. But however the story I got was like skiping to the end result of cultivation and continuing the journey from there. The story reads like a mythology and has an interesting magic system.

A Unique New YA Epic Fantasy

I would like to thank lovebookstours and the author for this audiobook. I was attracted by both the cover and the blurb, and I enjoyed the story immensely.

The story is set among the Immortals based on Chinese mythology. It is a court drama that is a romantic fantasy. The Immortal Goddess of Beauty, Jin, is betrothed to her best friend, the God of Pleasure, Xiao. However, soon after, her father is poisoned, and these two 'useless' Gods are tasked with finding his cure. On their quest, they meet the First Immortal, Bai, and the thief, Nanami. Their love and vows are tested as they find love along their journey.

This is the first book in the Immortals series. The story moves at a nice pace and keeps the reader glued to it. I liked the world building, and the character descriptions. The characters grew with the story, and I really liked how they turned out. All the main characters, Jin, Xiao, Nanami and Bai, developed and matured as the story progressed. I especially liked how each of them faced their fears and conquered them. I resonated with the characters and grew extremely fond of them. The author got me invested in their quest.

There are enough intrigues, love interests developing along the way to keep the interest in the story alive. The writing is fluent and the story develops very nicely. There is some representation of the queer community in this story, which made it richer, especially since it is mythical.

The narrator was superb. I especially liked the way he made the characters distinguishable, both male and female.

The only reason I'm taking off a star in my review is because the ending was a cliffhanger. I wish the author had given some sort of a conclusion to this book and developed the story further in the next in the series.

I would still recommend this book to all YA fantasy lovers out there. It is not the usual run-of-the-mill story you get in this genre. There is enough uniqueness for you to take up this series.