Review – A Tale of Two Djinns by Mina Khan

Where did you get the book: Book given by Author

Publisher: Self Published

Release Date: Out Now

 

A TALE OF TWO DJINNS is a sexy paranormal Romeo & Juliet story with genies, feminists, kickass action & adult fun.

Akshay, warrior prince of the earth djinns, earns the title of Crown Prince at a high cost when he loses his best friend in a battle against ancient enemies, the water djinns. Heartsick, he escapes to Earth to mourn.

Nothing gets the biological clock ticking (and elders lecturing) like almost dying in battle, so Maya, princess of the water djinns, travels to Earth for some no-strings-attached sex to fulfill her duty and produce an heir. But the beautiful and tough warrior gets more than she bargained for when she meets Shay.

Their not-so-simple one-night stand is interrupted by assassins and the world, as they know it, is changed forever. As Maya and Shay pull together to survive, both are determined to have their happily-ever-after and bring peace to their worlds — warring families, shadow assassins, and nosy busybodies be damned.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads*

I am always drawn to books which feature Djinns because they are one of my favourite supernatural beings and it is interesting to see the different takes some authors have on them. With A Tale of Two Djinns by Mina Khan, the Djinns are divided into different elemental groups such as water or earth. Maya, who is a princess and a witch of the Water Djinn, is also one of the powerful warriors for her tribe. However after a difficult battle with the Earth Djinn, Maya was injured defending her lands, and while she is recuperating she is  pressured by her family  to take a break as well as to find a man so she could beget an heir.

Unbeknownst to Maya, who goes  for some R and R at a cowboy dive bar on earth to look for some fun and a potential father for her baby. The candidate she’s drawn to is her enemy, Akshay who is the heir to the Earth Djinn. She had fought with him a few days before but is totally unaware that he is the enemy and a Royal Earth Djinn at that! They are instantly attracted to each other and share a very steamy night together but things go downhill when they are attacked by an Air Djinn and Maya gets injured in the fight and Shay takes her to his lands to recover. But she then realises she’s hooked up with an Earth Djinn and a Royal one at that and is in danger of her real identity being discovered.

This is really cute and enjoyable novella, with an exciting and fast paced opening battle scene. The world-building with different types of Djinns linked with elements was imaginative and established very well and I loved the rich descriptions of the setting and how the magic worked. I also loved the magical elements linked to each different type of Djinn and it was a great take on these mythical beings.

I  also liked the differences between each elemental Djinn societies – With Maya’s tribe, women have equality and can become warriors while Akshay’s family women are relegated to being wives and mothers and are coddled. Although the Earth Djinn’s lands are facing a huge drought and one of the reasons why they are in a war with the Water Djinns is due to access to water.

The romance between Maya and Shay was also engaging and the love scenes sizzled with sensual tension.  However, I did wish there was more time expanding the love story because I felt it was pretty rushed because it was a matter of days that they fell in love. I couldn’t really believe they would have such strong feelings for each other especially since they both come from opposing backgrounds and there was the true bond/mated trope which wasn’t really explored enough for me. I know this is a novella so there was time constraints but  I do wish the book was longer because it would have made the romance much more stronger for me.

Nonetheless both main characters were fleshed out and likeable and the premise and setting really made the story for me although I wished there was more time in the Djinn world. And I would have liked more on Maya’s witch’s ability because again due to the shortness of the story, there wasn’t much of an explanation on why it was so important and  different to other Djinns and how that linked to her bond with Shay especially towards the end. But I hope there is a full book set in this world because it was vivid and vibrant and I loved the tone and the setting in the Djinn realms.

A Tale of Two Djinns romance was a bit rushed to my liking but the rich world-building and setting made up for that. With two appealing lead characters and sensual and imaginative love scenes, this was a lovely, quick and enjoyable read and I think this is a really promising series.

I give A Tale of Two Djinns a C+