Between Tides and Thunder Review

Between Tides & Thunder by Leena Kazak
Published by Leena Kazak on March 31, 2026
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 496
Format: ARC
Source: Provided as part of book tour
Goodreads

She was raised to hate him. Now she shares his bed.
Princess Mayah of Tundrayn isn’t allowed to want. Not freedom. Not love. Not even her own future. Instead, she’s spent her life healing others’ pain and swallowing her own. But when her father strikes a fragile alliance with enemy-kingdom Arbinj to crush a rising rebellion, she is bartered into a marriage she didn’t choose for a crown she doesn’t want.
She expects a prince. She gets the Dark Commander.
Zevayr is ruthless, unyielding, and a stormwielder with a reputation soaked in blood. He is everything Mayah was taught to fear. Yet as they race across rebel-torn lands, the less certain she is of where the monster ends and where the man begins.
In Arbinj’s glittering courts, the Rebellion surges and dangerous secrets stir from Mayah’s past—secrets that could shatter her kingdom, and her heart, if she lets them.
The question is not if Mayah will betray, but who: her people, her love, or herself?

 

 Julie’s Review:

Between Tides & Thunder is getting full 5 stars because I inhaled it in like two days (a 500 page book)! When everything seems to be going well and our main characters are in a happy place and we’re not even halfway through the book? Oh you know something bad is imminent. This book grabbed me, broke me apart, then put me back together. And it managed to do it in one book (yes – a standalone). And – get this – it’s a *journey* book and it was done so well that I didn’t even get bothered by all the walking.

Princess Mayah is being married off to a warring kingdom’s crown prince to “secure the ceasefire” which is a dangerous situation to be in. She’s about to marry into the kingdom that killed her mother and her best friends. Instead of the betrothed coming to get her, the Dark Commander brother arrives to pick her up instead. Zev is her biggest nightmare and literally the bringer of her greatest fears – he’s a storm wielder and her nightmares are full of the thunderstorm when her mother was captured. She has healing magic and has tirelessly worked on healing the warriors the Dark Commander has injured. So we’re starting from legit enemies here. And his brother the actual crown prince is even more cold and cruel.

Their carriage gets attacked enroute and they end up all alone without any transportation, and have to walk for a month to get to the other kingdom. During that month they really get to know each other, end up sharing their deepest fears and traumas and grow to trust each other. This Dark Commander frightening warrior has a soft side and is more honorable than she gave him credit for. The tension and yearning is deliciously present, and Zev has to keep reminding himself he is delivering her to marry his brother. The attraction and pull between these two is something serious, and when the slow burn finally fully ignites, it is long after our hearts have been torn out and stomped on.

The elemental magic system is fun – we have earth wielders, storm wielders, water wielders, healers, and then some illegal magical abilities like heart and truth wielders (which some kingdoms put to death immediately due to their dangerous nature). Mayah is terrified of storm wielders because they can kill with one lightning strike, and Zev describes to her how much worse water wielders are because he watched his best friend painfully die from being drowned and frozen at the same time. So yea, this war has been brutal.

Then when it seems like things might just be going right, the ultimate betrayal occurs. And it took me by such surprise. The twists and reveals in this book, I mean maybe I should have seen a few of them coming after a while, but I was riding the ride, feeling the vibes, and enjoying the gasps. How do you come back from such a betrayal? How can you trust someone again when you never knew if they were telling the truth at all?

The main characters are complicated and their interactions with the pull and push really shape them into changing their understanding and their plans. Both are fierce and protective but kind in their own ways, fighting for and standing up for what they believe is right. But when both are betrayed and unravel, they have to rebuild themselves with the truth.

The book was so fast paced, for a story where the characters spend so much time traveling, there is so much that happens. Both with external and internal battles, there is never a slow moment. The banter, the not-flirting-flirting, the building desire and denial of that desire, the protective cuddles and the angry fights. The “baby” and “my wife” moments. I devoured it all. It was so unputdownable and so perfectly balanced between all the moments of happy playful times with devastation and heartbreak, and we all had to earn the ending.

Tropes you might enjoy:

• Enemies to Lovers
• Warring Kingdoms
• Elemental magic
• Standalone fantasy
• One Bed/Tent, One Horse
• Forced Proximity
• Betrayal and Lies
• He Falls First
• Childhood Traumas
• Arranged Marriage
• Warrior Commander with a soft side and good heart

 

Thank you to IRIS Influencer Society for the chance to read this ARC!

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