Quick Synopsis – Maid Marian’s life is over. Her cowardly father has betrothed her to the most reviled man in the land: the Sheriff of Nottingham. Devastated, she’s sent on the quickest path to meet her husband, through the fae-infested Sherwood Forest.

But everything changes when her carriage is attacked by the most feared fae of all: the Merry Men, followers of the infamous Robin Hood. Kidnapped and waiting on the Sheriff’s rescue, Marian finds herself surrounded by the magical creatures she’s been raised to fear. But the more time she spends in their presence, Marian realises that not everything she’s been taught by her family is true.

And Marian can’t help but find herself drawn to her captor – the sinfully handsome Robin, who stands between her and returning to life amongst the humans. As the Sheriff’s men close in on Marian’s location, she will soon be faced with the ultimate choice: the family she’s always known, or the love she can choose for herself…

Song This Reminds Me Of – crooked the road by Mon Rovia

Publication Date – Oct. 13, 2026

Bookshop Link – Wench by Erynne Rivers
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Content Notes – There is a lot of misogyny and sexism in this book. There is also multiple male characters threatening to sexually assault or rape the main character. There are also multiple mentions of selling women. This book contains violence, blood, vomiting, torture, and war. This is an adult romance book with explicit sexual content.

Spice Rating – 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Overall Rating – ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Review – I love a good retelling and to me this fell in that category. We have the classic tale of Robin Hood form Maid Marian’s point of view. But Robin Hood and his Merry Men aren’t just rogues, they’re fae! And Sherwood Forest isn’t just a wooded area, but the stronghold of the fae and other magical creatures. I read this book in two days, if I didn’t have responsibilities, I probably could have powered through in one sitting. I loved that Marian wasn’t a damsel in distress, but she did have to deal with unpacking a lot of her own prejudice. The fae and humans have been fighting for as long as anyone can remember. Marian’s father runs a forge responsible for creating weapons of iron and fae ore, weapons that Marian helped create.

Marian isn’t just the fair maiden, she’s also smart. When her father racks up debt the Sheriff of Nottingham forces him to offer Marian’s hand in marriage as payment. Marian tries to escape, but she fails and the Sheriff is all too happy to promise to break her. On the day of her wedding, she’s confined to a carriage as she travels to meet her bully of a fiancé. Of course, her carriage gets set upon by the Merry Men and she is captured. This really kicks off the story of Marian meeting Robin and how they both learn from each other.

I really liked how the author dealt with Marian and the various fae overcoming prejudice. Marian frequently reduces fae to stories she grew up with, refusing to eat the food they give her because it will make her forget herself and other such superstitions. It takes her a good chunk of the book to overcome knee jerk reactions because of the way she was raised. It felt realistic to have a character facing that what she grew up with was a racist caricature. There were two things I didn’t love, one is there was no map in my copy. It’s possible that the actual published book will have a map, but my ARC didn’t and it made it hard to understand the scope. I also didn’t love the ending, it felt too ambiguous. I would have like to know if this is a series or a standalone.

If you like retellings and fantasy romance, this is the book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 Avon for the early copy, all opinions are my own.