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A review by vwalklate
The Champion's Desire by Marie Lipscomb
5.0
4.75 stars!!! Natalie and Brandon are back, completely in love but hiding that fact from almost everyone at the Champion’s Guild headquarters, where relationships are forbidden. He is back in the game, so to speak, and she is his squire. There is so much pining in this book and lots of tension when they steal moments together. At one point I found myself flipping forward a few pages to make sure they didn’t get caught - it has been a LONG time since a book had me invested enough to worry like that.
The sex was just the right level of hot and emotional. The world building was great, better than Book 1 in fact, perhaps because this plot gave wider scope for its development.
The supporting characters were fab. My love for Viv is evergreen andI cheered for her when she walked away, even though I missed her presence in the rest of the book. Wasn’t sure about Darius at first but I warmed to him in the end, will he get his own story at some point I wonder? Felt very sorry for the Guild Master, what a thankless job. And Horrid Henry was just as spiteful and poopy as he was in Book 1 although I am a sucker for a villain redemption arc and I’m starting to wonder, based on his tears and dramatics at the end, whether we might get one....?
And OMG we have an F/F royal couple! Yes yes yes!!! This was in the sneak peek of book 3 at the back rather than this book, but it makes me so happy!!
Tiny nitpicking points similar to my thoughts on Book 1, I would have preferred dual POV rather than just Nat. And there was one point at the end when I got exasperated with Brandon and somewhat sceptical of his actions:when he beat Henry and dropped his sword to cheer, and Henry attacked him and he had to be saved by Nat. As a seasoned warrior, would Brandon really have let his guard down, knowing full well that Henry has previously attacked victors, including Darius in that very same tournament? But these are small teeny minor points. The plus size representation in this book (for both MCs), the equal roles of women, the lgbtq+ relationships, the world building, the love, the pining, the sex, it was fabulous. Waiting impatiently for Book 3!
The sex was just the right level of hot and emotional. The world building was great, better than Book 1 in fact, perhaps because this plot gave wider scope for its development.
The supporting characters were fab. My love for Viv is evergreen and
And OMG we have an F/F royal couple! Yes yes yes!!! This was in the sneak peek of book 3 at the back rather than this book, but it makes me so happy!!
Tiny nitpicking points similar to my thoughts on Book 1, I would have preferred dual POV rather than just Nat. And there was one point at the end when I got exasperated with Brandon and somewhat sceptical of his actions: