| Series: | Crown of Shards #2 |
| Pub. Date: | July 2, 2019 |
| Publisher: | Harper Voyager |
| Length: | 448 pgs |
| Source: | Edelweiss |
Magic. Murder. Mayhem. Romance. That certainly sums up this series in four words. When I started Protect the Prince, I was a little worried that I wasn't going to remember enough of what happened in Kill the Queen to enjoy the story. However, Estep did a good job at putting in subtle (and not so subtle) reminders so that everything started coming back to me fairly quickly. This is definitely a series that must be read in order, as it's a continuing story arc. So this review will contain spoilers for the first book, Kill the Queen, so proceed at your own risk.
So in the first installment, we saw the murder of Everly's entire family, and her defeat over her cousin and evil queen, Vasilia. Even though Everly was 17th in line for the throne, as the last of the Blair line, she now finds herself Queen of Bellona. So Everly must learn what it means to be a Winter Queen, navigate court politics, and try to stay alive in the process.
Following the murder of Prince Frederick, Everly and gang find themselves traveling to Andvari to restore their relationship with the King and royal family. The trip was arranged by our favorite bastard prince, Lucas Sullivan. Of course, danger abounds in various forms, the least of which being court politics, and the worst of which being psychotic murderous assassins. Though I never doubted her, Everly handled herself with maturity and aplomb, demonstrating great potential for her reign as Queen.
Unfortunately, our poor Sullivan is destined to experience disappointment and heartbreak, and my own emotions crumbled at his repeated resignation and hurt. The poor guy just can't catch a break when it comes to family and his love life. But I continue to love Sully and am holding out hope that he finds the happiness that he deserves.
The action in this series continues to keep me enthralled, and Maven and her bastard brigade are always crafty opponents. I am super curious to discover how Everly's long game is going to play out, and whether Maven engages in any rebellion of her own against her Morton king and brother. I have no doubt that there will be lots of turmoil in store for us as the series continues because I just don't see all those royal bastards giving up, no matter how powerful and intelligent our Winter Queen proves to be.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from the publisher.
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