The Heiress and the Orc: A Spicy Monster Romance Review

The Heiress and the Orc book review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Title: The Heiress and the Orc
Series: Orc Sworn Book 2
Author: Finley Fenn
Page count: 470
Genre: Monster Romance
Age rating: 18+
Spice: 3/5: Open door and plentiful with little kink
Published: March 4, 2020
Tropes: Friends-to-lovers, fated mates, groveling
Trigger warnings: May contain spoilers. Visit https://finleyfenn.com/books/the-heiress-and-the-orc/ for full list.

The Story So Far: What The Lady and the Orc accomplished in the world of Orc Sworn

Welcome to my review of The Heiress and the Orc, a spicy monster romance with orcs. In the last book, The Orcs and Humans build a successful peace treaty due to Jules’s bravery. In the second book in the Orc Sworn series, The Heiress and the Orc, we discover the world of Finley Fenn’s books now that this treaty has been laid out. Spoiler alert: nothing much has changed. Most humans still look at orcs with disdain, looking for ways to bypass the law to conjure up a war.

In The Heiress and the Orc, we meet Ella, the wealthiest heiress in the land. According to misogynistic laws, she must marry a lord within six months to keep her estate. Then, we find out the now ladylike woman had befriended an orc long ago. Now, during her engagement party, the orc has returned to honor their pledge they made 8 years ago.

“You shall never belong with them. You belong here, in these trees, under the sun. You belong with me.”

Plot & Spice: Natt and Ella’s Story

The plot was very engaging, only to lull during the cluster of smut scenes. This *is* a spicy book, and I cannot count this against it. The plot picks up only to go into maximum overdrive, and I was hooked until I finished the build-up to the climax in one sitting. The spice was plentiful, more than I usually read, with voyeurism, rim jobs, and excesses of come- the usual amount from an orc romance, of course.

Characters: Underground in Orc Mountain

Ella, the Heiress and Lady

I’ll admit, Ella irritated me through the first 50% of the book. Her flaky and unsure characterization wasn’t permanent. The buildup to Ella finding herself and what she wanted was so satisfying. In all, I wound up really liking her and her journey at the end.

In the first half of the book, I was somewhat irritated with Ella, as her character came off flaky and unsure. For instance, Ella would give into her feelings for Natt, immediately regret it, and run away. It got old fast. In all fairness, she had an impossible choice to make: enter a loveless marriage to keep her family’s estate and honor her father’s wishes or lose everything and stay with Natt.

I will say though, I wound up really liking Ella and her growth. Ella winds became a strong character and finally fought for what she wanted.

Natfar, the Speaker

Now, Natt was a passionate, fun character. He had a bit less depth than I would have liked, even though Finley Fenn made it work for the plot of The Heiress and the Orc. In my opinion, to tell this story, Nat had to have this sort of backstory. Lastly, I think Finley Finn did a fantastic job after spoiling us with Grimarr.

On that topic, I did not like him as much as Grimarr in the first book of the Orc Sworn series, The Lady and the Orc. Natt’s backstory explained why he hadn’t met with Ella in the past 8 years. In contrast, Grimarr’s seemed a lot more fleshed out. Besides that, the sacrifice Grimarr made was more justified than Natt’s in my opinion.

Now, the side characters were fantastic. I loved how supportive Jules, the only other human woman, was of Ella and I loved their interactions together. Out of all the side characters, John was my favorite. He seemed different from the other orcs, with a human name to boot. The next book is about him, so I’m excited to start it.

Overall Review:

Overall, this review of the book The Heiress and the Orc will sing its praises. The plot and world building had me obsessed. While with a little lull in the middle, I felt it was a little tedious. I was getting impatient with the slowness in the middle. However, looking back, I see that the author gave us clues to a bigger picture. In that discovery, I cannot fault the book at all.

*Minor Spoilers*
The betrayal plot twist came out of nowhere for me, but I did see the signs. Admittedly, I didn’t put it together at the time. The character redeemed himself in the end though, and I’m happy with the growth that character went through.

The characters were lively and likable. Lastly, the author’s plot twist was pretty clever, and Fenn built it up inconspicuously. I am very excited to continue with this series. Thank you for reading my The Heiress and the Orc review!

Can’t get enough of monster romance and romantasy? Follow my instagram here! https://www.instagram.com/whatlivvyreads/

Want more monster romance and romance recommendations? Find some of my reviews here! https://whatlivvyreads.com/category/romantasy-book-reviews-and-more/