Secrets of a Rose

Royal Blood Series, Book 1

By: Adina Chiles

Narrated by: Jacclyn James

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

A kingdom built with secrets is bound to unravel. During the month of Amira, the silver moon emerges, and the kingdom of Zyra comes alive with anticipation for the annual ball. Mellana Goodwick, finally at the rightful age of 16, receives her first invitation, but when unexpected events take place, immediate regret sets in.

Mellana finds herself caught in a strange storm—casting down green lightning and filling the sky with ear-splitting thunder. To make matters worse, the kingdom comes under attack by Prince Lorian, a man removed from the line of succession for murdering his sister, the future queen, and her newborn child.

After escaping the attack with her best friends, Mellana stumbles upon a box left by a woman named Rose. With the power to see glimpses of the future, Rose warns Mellana of hidden powers the kingdom has covered up and Lorian’s desire to unleash them all. Rose instructs Mellana to gather the sacred article from each of the seven kingdoms before Lorian and his deadly group can gain access to them. Together, the items unlock a barrier that is meant to stay shut.

In Secrets of a Rose, Mellana will discover remarkable abilities that stir around her—and some that even rise within. In order to keep what she loves, she must embark on a race against the person who dares to threaten it all.

©2022 Adina Chiles (P)2024 Adina Chiles

An epic and pulse pounding adventure

I was provided a copy of this title for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

On the lookout for a super fast paced and engaging YA fantasy? Want a series starter featuring an epic quest, a broad cast of characters and a plot that goes from zero to one hundred in an instant?

You’ve found it. Adina Chiles did something with this book, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting my chance to return to this world.

Excited for the 2nd to be narrated!

This was an easy listen that was enjoyable and kept my attention! The story felt a little slow at times, but it was during times of sweet relationship building so that made up for it. I loved the characters, and I’m excited to see where they go. The narration was beautifully done! I really hope they’ll get the second one done soon so I can give it a listen. Loved the epilogue!

Loved It So Much

To hear this amazing story on audiobook form was amazing. Loved the narrators voice she really did an amazing job. As always this series will always be a 5 stars for me.

Great Story!

The authors written description of the characters non-verbal reactions really help you visualize the scene. WELL DONE!

Beautiful all around

I really appreciate how this story was narrated , because it flowed nice and beautifully. I highly recommend this audiobook and story!

Fantastic

I really liked the story and loved the narration. It was perfect match for this book and made me want to keep listening after I finished.

The overall story and world building is amazing

⭐️: 5 stars

✨original book review july 2022 with additional notes on the reread from earlier this year ✨

This is the debut book from Adina Chiles, the book was a wonderful adventure of magic and friendships. It was a breath of fresh air and like nothing I have read. The main character was interesting and relatable. I think I caught some buding romance between a few of the characters and I want to know more. The main character Mellana is a fun heroine and the friendship between her and Jewels is so sweet. I can’t wait for book 2, and will be adding this series and this author to my watch list.

Revised after rereading- omg I forgot how wonderful this book was I mean when you read a book and you can go back and just be blown away by how great the world building is and the characters are fun and fleshed out they grow so fast in this series and I loved every moment of this book again and can’t wait to jump in to book 2

✨ Audiobook review ✨
I love listening to books while I read with them so I catch more information…. Being dyslexic this helps me out so much m. The narrator did an excellent job of articulating the words and voices of the characters. The emotion of the book was spot on. If you have auditable I would recommend checking out this book for sure.

Really great YA fantasy with fantastic narrator

Secrets of a Rose was really fun to listen to. It took me a little to get into, but once I did I was full in! There is wonderful friendship, adventure, hidden magic, and all of the things that you hope for in a YA fantasy book. While this is the first in a series, it doesn’t end on a massive cliffhanger, which I really appreciate. Instead it sets up the story to continue, and I will certainly be continuing with the next in the series!

I really enjoyed this book, and honestly younger me would have torn it up too!! This was definitely my go to style growing up and not much has changed it seems 🤷‍♀️

Now for the audiobook review… Nichole James crushed this. Her voice was perfect for this story and I LOVED all of the different voices each of the characters had. Getting the correct narrator for the book is tough, but this selection is honestly just flawless 🤌🏼🤌🏼

If you are an audiobook person looking for a fun YA fantasy to listen to, I definitely have to recommend this book.

Beautifully Narrated Story

Secrets of a Rose is a YA fantasy full of secrets to discover, found family bonds, and a race against the returned murderous prince, Lorian, to recover the sacred articles he intends to misuse.

While we don't see our initial cast becoming friends, as that has happened off-stage, their bonds are strongly portrayed throughout the story. We follow a large cast of characters who are coming of age and discovering their unique abilities. The different types of abilities are one of my favorite aspects of the story- I'm a sucker for them. I can't wait to see if a certain character who wasn't showing signs of having magic will wind up getting them in future installments.

I listened to the audio of this, and the narrator, Nichole James, did wonderfully. I loved her voice, and she's one of the best narrators I've listened to when it comes to changing the pitch/tone of her voice for various characters. It made the audiobook easier to follow and more interesting.

Some of the character reactions and interactions are a tiny bit unbelievable from time to time, but as a YA story, I feel this is super easy to overlook and focus on the world and adventure the characters are embarking on. I think the best solution would have been to make this edition in the series longer, to give more time to really focus on all the characters and world-building more efficiently.

I recommend this to anyone who likes:
->Fast reads
->Younger YA appeal
->Royalty & hidden royalty
->Fantasy adventure
->Hidden powers
->Found family & strong friendships
->Large character group
->When you can clearly tell why the title of the book was chosen (if nobody else loves when this happens, I guess I'm just the odd weirdo out lol)

Awesome Narrator!

Exciting fantasy with beautiful writing, and great job by the narrator for bringing these characters to life!