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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow, this book was amazing from start to finish! Fast faced plot with frequent unexpected turns. Sometimes I really had no idea what they would do to get out of their situations. Lots of assassination attempts. Struggling kingdoms trying to form alliances and navigate the politics of avoiding war.
The book has complex characters working through their own issues. I was so invested in every single one of them. They had depth and were flushed out. The warrior was my favorite though! Put me under his spell with his calm, captivating authority like it did to the other characters. The Princess is naive, but she has a desire to learn and a strength to her that prevents her from being a damsel in distress. The assassin has endured a lot of trauma. He’s the slinky acrobat in black that’s deadly and also broken. There was so much tension between the characters. The spice at the end was fantastic and left me dying for the next book!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
When King Maddox’s kingdom is slowly burning and his fire magic can’t save it, he desperately needs a marriage alliance with Princess Jory of Astranza, whose family controls weather magic that might help his land flourish again. Plot twist: both kingdoms are hiding major secrets. Only Jory’s father can wield their family’s weather magic and he’s dying, while Ky needs to keep quiet about how the fires really started. Meanwhile, Jory’s childhood friend Asher has gone from palace troublemaker to professional assassin, and guess who just got a contract to kill the king and princess? Cue the moral crisis, because apparently even assassins have feelings when it comes to their first love. It’s political intrigue meets magical disasters with a hefty side of complicated romance.
Okay, but can we appreciate how Kemmerer managed to make me care about all three of these complex characters? Ky trying to navigate his kingdom’s crisis while being genuinely thoughtful with Jory had me invested in their developing relationship, even knowing Asher was lurking in the background with his conflicted loyalties. The character development was absolutely on point. Watching Jory grow from dutiful princess to someone who actually owns her power was *so* satisfying. And the way their relationships evolved throughout the book? The romantic tension was perfectly balanced with actual plot development, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
This book hit that sweet spot where I was genuinely invested in everyone’s journey, even when they were all keeping secrets from each other. The pacing kept me glued to the pages, and honestly, the complex web of loyalty, duty, and feelings between these three was fascinating to watch unfold. My only complaint is that now I’m sitting here desperately waiting for book two because I need to know how this emotional situation resolves itself. If you’re in the mood for fantasy romance with actual stakes and characters who feel like real people making difficult choices, definitely grab this one.
When King Maddox’s kingdom is slowly burning and his fire magic can’t save it, he desperately needs a marriage alliance with Princess Jory of Astranza, whose family controls weather magic that might help his land flourish again. Plot twist: both kingdoms are hiding major secrets. Only Jory’s father can wield their family’s weather magic and he’s dying, while Ky needs to keep quiet about how the fires really started. Meanwhile, Jory’s childhood friend Asher has gone from palace troublemaker to professional assassin, and guess who just got a contract to kill the king and princess? Cue the moral crisis, because apparently even assassins have feelings when it comes to their first love. It’s political intrigue meets magical disasters with a hefty side of complicated romance.
Okay, but can we appreciate how Kemmerer managed to make me care about all three of these complex characters? Ky trying to navigate his kingdom’s crisis while being genuinely thoughtful with Jory had me invested in their developing relationship, even knowing Asher was lurking in the background with his conflicted loyalties. The character development was absolutely on point. Watching Jory grow from dutiful princess to someone who actually owns her power was *so* satisfying. And the way their relationships evolved throughout the book? The romantic tension was perfectly balanced with actual plot development, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
This book hit that sweet spot where I was genuinely invested in everyone’s journey, even when they were all keeping secrets from each other. The pacing kept me glued to the pages, and honestly, the complex web of loyalty, duty, and feelings between these three was fascinating to watch unfold. My only complaint is that now I’m sitting here desperately waiting for book two because I need to know how this emotional situation resolves itself. If you’re in the mood for fantasy romance with actual stakes and characters who feel like real people making difficult choices, definitely grab this one.
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
|| Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVoyager for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review ! ||
It was awesome and I really am happy to find here again Brigid Kemmerer's killing point in all books I've read (3 series) : a character-driven story. And I love it /so much/.
It was slow. There's not a lot of plot twists. It's more political than magical. But the main characters!! Their character growth is really subtle. We get to learn more about them, their fear and their history, we get to see them grow in such tiny changes. We get attached to them, a lot. The one with the biggest and more visible character growth is Jory, but Asher's one is also really impressive but way more subtle, and I actually really enjoyed seeing the difference between them. Ky's growth is even more subtle, as it can almost been seen only through Jory and Asher's eyes.
Also ooooh gosh I'm so so happy the romance turned to be polyamorous!! It was just perfect, and I'm so happy the author did it that way and not a weird love triangle.
From the political side, I was really into it. There's not much really happening besides the beginning when the 3 of them meet, and some attacks after that. But here again, politics was way more subtle that usual. I got to ask myself what happened, trying to solve the puzzles about everything along with them, taking in each small infos. Trying to find who's behind all of that. We learn with them, we ask questions with them. We get to understand every single betrayal, hidden things, cold stares, reluctances between all 3 MCs. And that is what was making the plot addictive.
The ending leads toward an even more political plot for next book. And just like every single Brigid Kemmerer books I've read, as soon as I end a book, I want to read the next one... and get sad waiting.
It was awesome and I really am happy to find here again Brigid Kemmerer's killing point in all books I've read (3 series) : a character-driven story. And I love it /so much/.
It was slow. There's not a lot of plot twists. It's more political than magical. But the main characters!! Their character growth is really subtle. We get to learn more about them, their fear and their history, we get to see them grow in such tiny changes. We get attached to them, a lot. The one with the biggest and more visible character growth is Jory, but Asher's one is also really impressive but way more subtle, and I actually really enjoyed seeing the difference between them. Ky's growth is even more subtle, as it can almost been seen only through Jory and Asher's eyes.
Also ooooh gosh I'm so so happy the romance turned to be polyamorous!! It was just perfect, and I'm so happy the author did it that way and not a weird love triangle.
From the political side, I was really into it. There's not much really happening besides the beginning when the 3 of them meet, and some attacks after that. But here again, politics was way more subtle that usual. I got to ask myself what happened, trying to solve the puzzles about everything along with them, taking in each small infos. Trying to find who's behind all of that. We learn with them, we ask questions with them. We get to understand every single betrayal, hidden things, cold stares, reluctances between all 3 MCs. And that is what was making the plot addictive.
The ending leads toward an even more political plot for next book. And just like every single Brigid Kemmerer books I've read, as soon as I end a book, I want to read the next one... and get sad waiting.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As with all Brigid Kemmerer books I feel like I am part of the story from the get go, it’s like coming home. This is no exception. I was constantly skipping paragraphs because I needed to know what happened next. It was an effort to remind myself to slow down and savour the story.
I fell in love with Ky straight away, Jory grates on me at times but I think she will develop into a great queen and Asher is the quintessential’I want to fix him’ character. Brigid weave a beautiful and tentative love story between them that I just kept wanting more of. The romance and the political intrigue were beautifully knitted with the perfect sprinkling of fighting and action.
I am looking forward to more of this trio and watching Asher heal and Jory develop…I feel there is much more to Ky and I am here for that!!
I fell in love with Ky straight away, Jory grates on me at times but I think she will develop into a great queen and Asher is the quintessential’I want to fix him’ character. Brigid weave a beautiful and tentative love story between them that I just kept wanting more of. The romance and the political intrigue were beautifully knitted with the perfect sprinkling of fighting and action.
I am looking forward to more of this trio and watching Asher heal and Jory develop…I feel there is much more to Ky and I am here for that!!
“I’d find my way to you. King or not, magic or not, I’ll do whatever needs doing.”
An enjoyable adult debut from Kemmerer!
What I liked:
I really enjoyed the dynamics between Ky, Jori, and Asher. The three had really great chemistry, and I love that we got both a true enemies to lovers and a friends to lovers.
I’m intrigued by this world - the relationships between the different kingdoms and the politics of it all.
What didn’t work for me:
The pacing was very slow, and honestly not a ton happened. I do think that this has set up for a very interesting book two, but I do wish we got a little more plot in this book.
Warrior Princess Assassin is out August 12th! Thank you to Avon for this e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
An enjoyable adult debut from Kemmerer!
What I liked:
I really enjoyed the dynamics between Ky, Jori, and Asher. The three had really great chemistry, and I love that we got both a true enemies to lovers and a friends to lovers.
I’m intrigued by this world - the relationships between the different kingdoms and the politics of it all.
What didn’t work for me:
The pacing was very slow, and honestly not a ton happened. I do think that this has set up for a very interesting book two, but I do wish we got a little more plot in this book.
Warrior Princess Assassin is out August 12th! Thank you to Avon for this e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5/5 stars!
The Warrior - Maddox Kyronan needs an alliance to help feed his people
The Princess - Jory, the piece of the puzzle to seal the alliance
The Assassin - Asher, the one hired to kill then both
This was Brigid Kemmerer’s first really foray into the world of adult romantasy and I really enjoyed it! I loved Maddox “Ky” Kyronan from the very beginning and he’s definitely going to be a new book boyfriend for many!
This was a slow burn enemies to lovers and friends to lovers enemies to lovers story that had you dying to find out who was going to get pulled into another’s orbit the whole book!
The overall plot was a bit slow at times because there was a lot more romantic buildup but the ending was explosive and I cannot wait for book 2!
The Warrior - Maddox Kyronan needs an alliance to help feed his people
The Princess - Jory, the piece of the puzzle to seal the alliance
The Assassin - Asher, the one hired to kill then both
This was Brigid Kemmerer’s first really foray into the world of adult romantasy and I really enjoyed it! I loved Maddox “Ky” Kyronan from the very beginning and he’s definitely going to be a new book boyfriend for many!
This was a slow burn enemies to lovers and friends to lovers enemies to lovers story that had you dying to find out who was going to get pulled into another’s orbit the whole book!
The overall plot was a bit slow at times because there was a lot more romantic buildup but the ending was explosive and I cannot wait for book 2!
This was absolutely fantastic. I loved every minute of this, from the world building, to the banter, to the tension of the slow burn. Jory is the princess being married off to the enemy king, Ky, to secure an alliance. But when she meets him, he's nothing like she's heard. While they're slow to trust one another, a tentative alliance is beginning to form. And then comes Asher.
Jory's childhood friend, but currently an exiled assassin, complicates things with new orders from the Guild. He's torn and wants to keep her safe, but he soon finds he's going to need to keep the king safe as well. As the three of them try and fifure out who is trying to kill them all, their trust is tested. Repeatedly. When they finally have a moment alone, either between two of them or all three, we finally get to see them as just three people who are confused about who they love.
That scene when the slow burn finally burns is not one to read in public my friends. It snuck up and was so worth the wait 🥵🥵🥵🔥!
Jory's childhood friend, but currently an exiled assassin, complicates things with new orders from the Guild. He's torn and wants to keep her safe, but he soon finds he's going to need to keep the king safe as well. As the three of them try and fifure out who is trying to kill them all, their trust is tested. Repeatedly. When they finally have a moment alone, either between two of them or all three, we finally get to see them as just three people who are confused about who they love.
That scene when the slow burn finally burns is not one to read in public my friends. It snuck up and was so worth the wait 🥵🥵🥵🔥!