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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
tense
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
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Every book in this series pulls me in even more—this is without a doubt one of my favorites! Sikithad is the classic morally gray, broken hero who swears he won’t fall for the girl… only to end up completely in love with her. This book was so intense!
Sophia is our queen—she tamed the king no one thought could be controlled. She found her perfect mate, one who would start a war for her and watch the world burn in her name.
Sophia is our queen—she tamed the king no one thought could be controlled. She found her perfect mate, one who would start a war for her and watch the world burn in her name.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Murder
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
What a perfect addition to the Clecanian story! I am absolutely hooked on this series and every time I think 'oh no, how will Aveline navigate this scenario and still give us a core romance story' she assuages my fears and gives a perfect story!
The tropes:
-enemeies(ish) to lovers
-held captive
-arranged marriage
-second chance(ish)
-fated mates (well, the whole series is based off this trope!)
What I liked:
-Sophia! There wasn't a moment I didn't like her. Maybe a couple where I was thinking 'really girl? you're still gonna see this through/ be understanding?' but hey, this is a romance so... anyway, I loved how Sophia saw the big picture- how her arranged marriage to the King could benefit all of the kidnapped humans on this planet and despite Sikthand's mean words she knew she had to go through with it.
-The kingdom. It was so different from Tremanta(?) where 90% of the series has taken place and I loved it! Reminded me of Verakko's kingdom a bit. I especially loved the tattoos!
-The chemistry. Despite Sikthand's deep deep mistrust in marriage/love/ and all things of the like, the chemistry those two had was palpable. It definitely helped smooth over some of the more.. questionable content.
What was meh:
-Sikthand. For the most part, Sikthand was perfect in a broody, tough guy exterior kind of way. There was just a few moments that made me go .. ew. Like the voyeurism (which only works because of the chemistry the characters had), and the choking scene. I'm personally not into bdsm or choking in my romances/ sex scenes, so both of these kinks are really just personal icks for me and took me out of the romance of the story. I'm sure others would love them, and they are written extremely well! Just not my thing.
-Sophia's near-constant excuses for when Sikthand was mean to her. Like, I get it, this is a romance, but dang! How many times do we have to read about poor Sikthand and his trust issues when he's being kind of a dick.
But, a couple scenes really overrode any of the questionable content for me
1. When Sikthand finally realized he was being unreasonable. When he was letting his insecurities guide him and tried to 'test' Sophia to see if she would still marry him even if he didn't vote for her choice in representative. Sophia, rightly, got upset and said he would break her trust and how could she marry someone who broke her trust? Sikthand realized he was in the wrong (finally) and that it wasn't an issue of him v her people, it was an issue of trust between partners.
2. The council's meeting to discuss the new Tremanta queen! I had held off on reading this book because of the issue of the new queen essentially planning on forcing the kidnapped humans to mate with Clecanians. I didn't want to read a story of a forced-mating and watching a woman come to love her rapist or w/e. Luckily this story puts everything into perspective! Many Clecanians and kingdoms outside of Tremanta are disgusted with the new queen's plan! and the council itself states that they are playing the long game now. When Earth is reclassified and Earthling representatives come to the planet, do they really think they won't talk to the other humans? That the humans would remain quiet about their mistreatment? That Earth wouldn't be outraged? I love love love how the council said what every reader was thinking! That having a human queen and being a safe-haven for those humans would benefit their kingdom in the long run. LOVE IT!!
Overall, what a great addition to the series. I love every book and can't wait to read the next installment!
The tropes:
-enemeies(ish) to lovers
-held captive
-arranged marriage
-second chance(ish)
-fated mates (well, the whole series is based off this trope!)
What I liked:
-Sophia! There wasn't a moment I didn't like her. Maybe a couple where I was thinking 'really girl? you're still gonna see this through/ be understanding?' but hey, this is a romance so... anyway, I loved how Sophia saw the big picture- how her arranged marriage to the King could benefit all of the kidnapped humans on this planet and despite Sikthand's mean words she knew she had to go through with it.
-The kingdom. It was so different from Tremanta(?) where 90% of the series has taken place and I loved it! Reminded me of Verakko's kingdom a bit. I especially loved the tattoos!
-The chemistry. Despite Sikthand's deep deep mistrust in marriage/love/ and all things of the like, the chemistry those two had was palpable. It definitely helped smooth over some of the more.. questionable content.
What was meh:
-Sikthand. For the most part, Sikthand was perfect in a broody, tough guy exterior kind of way. There was just a few moments that made me go .. ew. Like the voyeurism (which only works because of the chemistry the characters had), and the choking scene. I'm personally not into bdsm or choking in my romances/ sex scenes, so both of these kinks are really just personal icks for me and took me out of the romance of the story. I'm sure others would love them, and they are written extremely well! Just not my thing.
-Sophia's near-constant excuses for when Sikthand was mean to her. Like, I get it, this is a romance, but dang! How many times do we have to read about poor Sikthand and his trust issues when he's being kind of a dick.
But, a couple scenes really overrode any of the questionable content for me
1. When Sikthand finally realized he was being unreasonable. When he was letting his insecurities guide him and tried to 'test' Sophia to see if she would still marry him even if he didn't vote for her choice in representative. Sophia, rightly, got upset and said he would break her trust and how could she marry someone who broke her trust? Sikthand realized he was in the wrong (finally) and that it wasn't an issue of him v her people, it was an issue of trust between partners.
2. The council's meeting to discuss the new Tremanta queen! I had held off on reading this book because of the issue of the new queen essentially planning on forcing the kidnapped humans to mate with Clecanians. I didn't want to read a story of a forced-mating and watching a woman come to love her rapist or w/e. Luckily this story puts everything into perspective! Many Clecanians and kingdoms outside of Tremanta are disgusted with the new queen's plan! and the council itself states that they are playing the long game now. When Earth is reclassified and Earthling representatives come to the planet, do they really think they won't talk to the other humans? That the humans would remain quiet about their mistreatment? That Earth wouldn't be outraged? I love love love how the council said what every reader was thinking! That having a human queen and being a safe-haven for those humans would benefit their kingdom in the long run. LOVE IT!!
Overall, what a great addition to the series. I love every book and can't wait to read the next installment!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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
I'd forgotten how much I loved this series! Such a cool mix of politics, romance, and sci fi. I loved the relationship between the two and the ongoing tensions between the humans and the Clecanians leaders. I can't wait for the next book to be out!
adventurous
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
I really liked the enemies to lovers plotline, and really appreciated that the action and plot was seemed really realistic for how both Sikthand and Sophia might react in their situations.
The core conflict of the book really centered on Sikthand's difficulty in trusting someone after being betrayed once before. There was definitely some character growth as Sikthand learned to trust Sophia.
I didn't feel as connected to Sophia's character and she really just liked art/tattoos and was human as her main characteristics. She lacked a little depth in comparison to how much backstory and development we see from Sikthand.
I liked the drama and how everything unfolded, but I feel like there were points that lacked some angst at the end with the wrap up of the book happening so quickly. The first half of the book is such a slow burn that by the time they finally get together, it seemed a little rushed.
The political backstory is still really interesting and I'm glad the characters from last book get what feels like a little more of a wrap up to book 6. I honestly wouldn't read one without the other to get a full picture of what happens to the humans that went on the global tour.
The core conflict of the book really centered on Sikthand's difficulty in trusting someone after being betrayed once before. There was definitely some character growth as Sikthand learned to trust Sophia.
I didn't feel as connected to Sophia's character and she really just liked art/tattoos and was human as her main characteristics. She lacked a little depth in comparison to how much backstory and development we see from Sikthand.
I liked the drama and how everything unfolded, but I feel like there were points that lacked some angst at the end with the wrap up of the book happening so quickly. The first half of the book is such a slow burn that by the time they finally get together, it seemed a little rushed.
The political backstory is still really interesting and I'm glad the characters from last book get what feels like a little more of a wrap up to book 6. I honestly wouldn't read one without the other to get a full picture of what happens to the humans that went on the global tour.