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First Published: May 11th 2016 by Friesen Press
ASIN: B01FIWHY6W
*This review is based on a ecopy of this book, which I was
sent by the author, this however hasn't effected my review of the book in any
way, and all thoughts are my own.*
Synopsis From Goodreads
Princess Haven was never meant to be Queen.
Her immortality has saved her time and time again, but when
the last of her royal family dies at her feet, she is next in line to rule a
nation on the brink of war. With no formal training on how to be Queen, Haven
must rise to the occasion with the help of her best friends, and personal
guard, or risk losing everyone she has ever loved.
With war to the West, and no escape to the East, the evil
tyrant Kadia sets her sights on the six kingdoms. Haven’s neighbors are quick
to fall under the swords of Kadia’s shadow soldiers, leaving a sea of bodies
and a clear path to Haven’s only home.
As Kadia’s obsession with Haven mounts, little time remains,
and Haven must make a choice; join together with her fellow Royals, and test
her immortality in a final stand against the evil Queen, or flee across the sea
to a foreign republic in hopes of salvation. Both choices have a cost. Both
plans could go awry. Haven must decide quickly, or she might be the only one
left.
Review - 4 Stars
This book although took me longer than normal to read - due to real life getting in the way rather than the quality of the book- this book managed to hook me. Within the first chapter we get to see Haven's immorality in action. This is something I was happy to see, because often when someone's 'secret or rare ability' is revealed in the blurb, as a reader I then have to wait half the book for the character to realise that they have this ability, that I have known about from the start - so frustrating. So no frustration for me from that aspect, Haven is the only one with this ability so nobody seems to really understand how it works, so it surprised me how much Haven was willing to use it despite not knowing if it work.
My favourite aspect of this book has to be Haven's character development. We get to see her change so much from the young queen who depended on reassurance from her advisers for decisions, to the strong and determined warrior queen saving lands and freeing people. I specifically liked that although she had the kind but 'warrior heart,' she still had to learn to 'own' her decisions and how to handle a weapon correctly. I also liked some of the slightly more secondary characters, I loved the way that Haven and her body guards interacted as they struggled though the difficulties together.
One of the only reasons which I didn't give this book fives stars was that this book is very war and political heavy for my taste. Now don't read me wrong I love reading about political manoeuvres and battles I just like there to be other things happening as well. This book does have a lovely romance and -for me - I would have loved to read more about the time these two spent interacting.
Overall, this book was full of fast paced, none stop action with just that hint of romance and the beginnings and strengthening of, what I guess will be, life long friendships.
